papajoe222

So, my fishing season is over and I'll be putting the winter cover on the boat and jacking up the trailer this week-end. Prior to covering the boat, I'll be emptying all the tackle I have in it. Prior to putting that in storage, I do a quick inventory to see what I'll need to replenish during the off season. That's when I begin to put together a Christmas/Birthday list. If I'm looking for a new reel, or rod I'll start searching the web for what I like, I don't need another combo, but that never deterred me. I'll save the bait monkey a visit and give him a courtesy call and we'll go back and forth until either Christmas, or my birthday in early Jan. roll around. If by some slim chance the wife or kids don't get me something off the list, then I just gift myself. Whadaya think? Too early??? I could hold off until after election day................

It depends on the size and if the bait is solid, or hollow and how fast I intend to present it. A 5/8oz on a 5in. or 6in. hollow body would be difficult to keep at that depth and retrieve it slow enough to get a good body roll and tail action.

I always have a few rods pre-rigged and set up others as conditions warrant. If it’s a lake I frequent, I’ll scope to find out the depth of fish activity and base my other choices on my findings. If it’s a new lake, or one I may not have fished in a while, I’ll cruise around looking for both a starting depth and potential spots to fish. After entering those waypoints, I’ll return to them with my rods rigged accordingly. .

I didn’t read all the responses pertaining to the map, but regardless of the water level dropping, the contours don’t change. The shortcoming of the map is the fact that they are marked at five foot intervals. I suggest graphing any area you intend to fish to locate the exact location of the structure and what the bottom composition is. That and the presence of any cover will give you a good idea of potential areas, not only now, but for spring and summer locations.

Mine is a 7ft. ML/Fast casting rod I built using a Forecast spinning rod blank I acid wrapped the Fugi guides. I paired it with a Daiwa Alphas 103. The biggest fish I've landed on that combo was an 11.5lb cat just today. I never doubted the equipment and it performed better than I'd hoped for.

The lakes around here close on the 31st, so I played hooky from honey do's today and got out on the water. I only had four hours to fish, but I made the best of it: Four LM bass, the biggest was my best for the year from this lake, 4.5lb. Six trout, the biggest was 16in. Four giant perch and the the grand slam on my last cast was an eleven pound cat, all caught on the same BFS combo and a 1/4oz. Blade bait. I never picked up another rod. Last game of the season, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and I crushed it! Freddie Freeman ain't got nothin' on the old man.

For me, 5/8oz. is a little heavy for a 5in. I throw mine on a St.Croix 7' MH/Fast, 15lb. YoZuri SuperSoft and a 5.9:1 Daiwa Fuego. That being said, I also slit the belly on both my hollow and solid paddletails for a weedless presentation and rarely fish them deeper than 12-15ft. You may want to go to a heavier power for that weight, but keep your line in the 14lb. range to keep it from prohibiting the bait's action.

Yea, I've been experiencing this. Every season as far back as I can remember, there's been one lure that's produced better than what did the previous year. That excludes soft plastics and jigs. Crankbaits one year, spinnerbaits the next, even topwater from pre-spawn, to iceup. Then there's years when hard baits just don't produce well at all and lately, that's been the situation. Sometimes it's the same category of lure, but a different style. Flat sided cranks seem to be hot one year and the next it's square bills and the third year, flat sided are back hitting clean up.

I'm lucky, I'm retired. If I plan to go fishing and the wind is out of the east, I simply change plans. Cut the grass, load up some ammo, read a book, etc. I put in enough week-end time on the water with the wind out of the east when I worked to swear off doing it once I retired. Did I catch fish back then? Yes, but very few and I worked hard for every one of them. I'm easy like Monday morning.

One way to avoid those 'traps' is to study the lake you'll be fishing beforehand, take into consideration the season and recent weather, then put together a loose plan on where to start your search. Do just that, search until you either locate fish or at the least some sort of cover on or near a structural element. Then determine the depth and activity level of the fish. Now you have a loose pattern of where to find more fish. Catch fish on a second spot and you can refine your pattern to eliminate more water. If conditions change during the day, at the very least you know where they were and can then deduce where they may have gone, or if they're still there, what you need to change to continue catching.

There really isn't an all around line for the presentations you mentioned. Mono will work, but 14lb. is a little overkill for everything but T-rigs. Fluoro is a good choice for everything but topwater. If you're going to purchase line, I'd go with 12lb mono. For moving baits, I don't concern myself about line visibility and for T-rigs, I've been catching bass on mono for decades in some super clear water. I don't think fluoro gives you much advantage there as it does with sensitivity and a more direct connection to your bait (no bow in your line).

I don’t adjust for backhand casts, but I do make sure the rod loads up on the back cast. I sounds like you may e attempting to just lob your bait resulting in reduced distance.

I don’t subscribe to that line of thinking. IMO, if one of the three sizes/styles of a bait aren’t producing, I switch to something similar, as suspending crank or Fluke for a jerk bait or a swim jig for a spinnerbait. All is based on knowing the fish are there and that they’ve indicated something wasn’t quite right with what I offered to begin with.

IMO, for wind to be a major factor in fish location, it needs to be prolonged. A one day shift won’t move the food chain unless, as in your situation, it’s a very small body of water. My recommendation for you, is to follow the wind to start with. If that is where there is warmer water flowing in, all the better.

Welcome to BR. Take some time to check out the videos and articles. Search the different forums,too. There’s a lot to learn here. Start with seasonal patterns and expand on them. Spring, if you know some spawning areas, pre spawn areas you can up your catch rate by focusing on them. Postspawn areas will be similar to the pre spawn ones, but a little tougher to produce. Summer, Concentrate on cover, both man made and natural. Any with deep water nearby are prime. Bottom transition areas can be goldmines Fall, treat it similar to spring, but follow the forage. When there is current from heavy rainfall, look for anywhere the current is interrupted and look for areas where the water clears up.

Fish Head underspin for exposed hook. https://discounttackle.com/products/fish-head-spin-underspin-jig?_pos=5&_sid=64ac221b3&_ss=r Flashy Swimmer for weedless.

If I could throw only one of the two, it'd be a silent one. If water clarity gets to the point where the fish need a rattle to get their attention, it isn't where I want to be throwing a jerkbait. I have and will throw a rattling version in super clear water for smallmouth as they will come up 20+ft. to hit one. I believe that rattle on the twitch gets their attention and as long as I pause it long enough after the twitch, I don't concern myself about the noise factor.

When I suspect this is happening to my presentations, I break out my blade baits and tail spins. I present them similar to a jigging spoon with more of a slow, steady raise of the rod tip and then letting it fall on semislack line. The fast drop after the slower rise, triggers any bass that may have followed it up. Steep drops and bluffs get the same treatment most anytime of year.

I Would call it technique specific and yes I am very much so inclined. I have purchased or built rods specific to the technique I plan to use them for. Some have dual purpose, but the intended one is why I have it. One specific rod is one I built on a medium/mod spinning rod blank rated for 1/8-3/8oz. The only presentation I use it for is hair jigs, specifically 1/8-3/16oz. ones. Paired to a Daiwa Alphas and 6lb. mono, anytime I feel the need to 'finesse' that rod is on my deck. I could use my jerkbait rod, which would be a suitable substitute, but then what would I use for jerkbaits?

I only throw two styles of worms, ribbon tail and straight tail. If I were forced to choose one over the other, the ribbon tail would be my choice. Culprit, Zoom and NetBait. If I weighed them all, I'd bet somewhere around ten pounds at the season's end. Add five for the spring opener.

I'll continue to learn what makes women such complex creatures. I've studied my wife for 55yrs and I'm still only halfway into the forward of that book.

Jeez. How hard do you need to set the hook on a frog? Better yet, why are you posting about fishing for frogs (it's called frogging BTW), this is a bass fishing forum. OH YEA, I'd say something about your hair color, but it isn't necessary. Sorry, I couldn't help myself. In my hayday, we used 5.5ft. broomstick rods and mono for fishing plastic worms. I would remove all slack while pointing my rod tip at the water, swing as hard and fast as could upward and end up with the rod tip somewhere between 11:00 and 12:30. With the newer rods and line, I never get it past 2:00, but I still try.

We had a thread here for jokes. I'm too lazy to look for it, so I thought I'd start a new and improved one. It really isn't new and it's only improved because yours truly thought to revive it. Some of my favorites are blond jokes; Three blonds are sitting on a river bank each with a pole in hand. The game warden approaches and asks to see their licenses. We don't have them because we don't need them. What do you mean you don't need them, you're obviously fishing. With that all three reel in their lines and attached to the end were magnets. See, says the first blond, no hooks just magnets. We drag them along the bottom collecting all sorts of debris and cleaning up the river in the process. Well I guess you're right. You don't need a license for that. Have fun and thanks for your efforts. As soon as he was out of earshot the blonds began laughing so hard their sides started to ache. What a moron! How'd he ever get to be a game warden? Doesn't he know there are steelhead in this river?

My question: WHY?

The guy in the cart looks like a regular poster her on BR, but there's no doubt about the guy pushing him. Next time, just give Glen a call. Heck, he may even escort you to your boat. BTW, I liked your old avitar better. Just saying.