papajoe222

The first thing to make note of is any point within casting distance and its contour. Another thing you should look for is areas where the bottom composition changes. Areas that you can see where the grass line ends are the easiest to spot, but, with lake levels down, you can sometimes see where a muck bottom changes to gravel or rock. Keep in mind when you’re mapping where you’ll be standing and casting from when the water level returns to normal.

Thanks. I'm due for another pair and the other half is asking what I want for our anniversary.

I've been dealing with this issue for over 15 years and it doesn't take three days for my shoulder to flare up, more like three hours. I use a roll cast 75% of the time and don't pitch at all. If I can't reach a spot by flipping, I back off and cast to the spot. I do a couple of things to prolong my time on the water. First off I take three Ibuprofen prior to an outing. second I limit the amount of cranking I do because that is the one time I always use an overhand cast. Once off the water, I rub a CBD cream on the area if it's bothering me. I know it seems like a lot to go through, but There's no way I'm giving up fishing and I sure as heck amNOT GETTING SURGERY. I suggest you do see a doctor, though. Physical therapy to strengthen the supporting muscles and a light exercise routine could keep you fishing for a long time.

I do and I don't, but I prefer not to as I've had the trailer hook catch up in the gills with the main hook in the mouth. I actually don't have a combo dedicated to spinnerbaits. If I tie one on with braid, I'm sure to add a trailer hook. With mono, I rarely do.

Me too. I like the way the gel 'sticks' to my hard baits.

Arkie style refers to the jig head design, which was, I believe, first introduced by Arkie Jigs.

Feathers will slow the tail movement of walking baits and are best suited for ones you'll be working slowly and pausing often, or when you want to keep it in a small area, but still impart action. The feathers will collapse and then expand when the bait pauses. That can get you more bites. The downside is when you attempt to work the bait fast. The added drag at the back of the bait makes it difficult. Thinning out the feathers gives you a little of both worlds, but I opt for no feathers on any of my Spooks.

Anise, or fish oil. Many of the commercial scents are based of of these. Many of the garlic and crawfish ones use fish oil as the carrier for the scent. A number of the first scents to hit the market used Anise oil. The BaitMate line comes to mind.

Your first consideration is the combo you'll be using. A spinning combo is well suited for 1/4oz. baits and possibly 3/8oz. if it has the backbone to set the hook. 3/8oz.-1/2oz. is a good place to start. Blade size and style are more important, IMO, than skirt color. Bigger blades give off both more vibration and flash and in stained water, both are a plus. An Indiana blade is versatile as it gives off plenty of vibration and can be worked faster than a Colorado blade, and more vibration than a willow blade. Unless the water is very murky, natural colors (white, chartreuse, or combinations) will work just fine. For working the muddy water, I go darker. Remember that most bait fish don't change colors, some just get lighter, or darker depending on how much light they're exposed to.

It’s much cheaper to go to a thinner wire hook than it is to switch out line and with a Med. Power rod, you’re going to need to do one or the other. Also, check out one of Glen’s videos where he talks about setting the hook when fishing soft plastics. Not catching any fish is frustrating. Loosing fish is a confidence breaker.

There are a number of off the shelf baits that'll run 15+ft., I'm talking body size here, not overall size. The bill is actually longer than the body on a couple that I have. I don't use deep diving cranks much anymore, but I still fish the depths with baits like a Bandit , or a Norman FatBoy. I use a pencil style weight with a wire that extends down from the weight and rig it like a C-rig. I keep the leader around 2ft. long and work it slowly when I feel the wire start bumping rocks, or when it transitions from hard to soft bottom. It takes some practice to cast any distance, but you can troll it, too.

I don't care what they say, SIZE MATTERS! I regularly fish small bodied cranks in deep water (15ft.+). Most of the cranks that will reach that deep or deeper are fairly large. More often than not, that smaller body bait will out produce one of the big boys. The big girls like 'em, too.

I've been using 30lb braid for spinners and buzzers for years. IMO, on most baits the fish focus on the bait, even in clear water. The reason one gets fewer bites on soft plastics/braid is because something seems wrong or unnatural to the fish. Maybe it's the line and maybe it isn't. Most guys play the odds and switch to fluoro or mono.

I had problems with my fluoro leader breaking on the hookset, too. Once I switched knots and adjusted my hookset, I never looked back. Now I use a double SanDiego Jam knot, though I guess the double is a bit overboard. I’d always used a ‘cross their eyes’, or very hard hookset for single hook presentations, but it really isn’t necessary using braid. A good reel and sweep the rod style will get the job done without the shock to your leader.

The only wake bait crank I've ever thrown is the Mann's 1-Minus, but I rely more on a single Colorado blade spinner bait. A couple of times during the retrieve, I'll let the blade break the surface. Killer presentation.

I was fishing a local club tourney with my son-in-law. i had a limit, but I knew it wouldn't be enough to win the pot, With about 20min. left to fish I pulled up to a spot less than 100yrds from the weigh-in and caught a nice 18in. bass. As I culled it, he says he needs to hit the little boy's room and can't wait. I run him to shore and back out to that same spot, only to catch another 18in. and a 21in. before heading in to weigh. I ended up winning by a big margin, but I was last to weigh just as he got back from his emergency. When he saw me pull that 5+lb. out of the live well, he swore up and down at himself for not staying and fishing the spot. I would have won the bet I had with him for big fish with any one of the fish I culled, but that big girl really made the win sweet. That was nine years ago and when I bring it up to him, he starts his rant all over again.

I hit the lake for a quick outing and upon my return to the launch, three guys were giving advice to an angler with a hook in his palm. The advice ranged from letting a Dr. at the nearby ER take it out, to pushing it through and cutting it below the barb, to 'just get your long nose and pretend you're unhooking a fish (arrrggg). He tried removing it himself and was getting in his car to go to the ER when I asked if I could try a way I'd used just prior that day. One pop and he couldn't believe how easy and painless it came out. The only downside to an attempt to remove a hook this way is that there must be someplace to hold the hook eye down on. Unfortunately for j bab, that was not the case. Sometimes you need to let professionals remove a hook and if you're not comfortable with the area where the hook, is err on the safe side do just that.

I went the bearing swap route a number of years ago. Depending on what you consider improvement over stock bearings, it's difficult to actually pinpoint it. Unless the bearing fails, on a quality reel switching bearings isn't needed. I clean and lube spool bearings twice a season. Acetone followed by a flush with water, allow to dry and a drop or two of a good oil and I'm still using reels that are over ten years old.

I basically go with the color of the main forage for the body of water I'm fishing. For my home lake, that's bluegill and Live Target offers the most realistic one I've ever used. The other color that I really like is a red craw and Bill Norman's Chili Bowl is my fav. I don't care what body of water I'm on, I know it'll flat out catch fish. As for retrieves in a pond, assuming there aren't any lay downs or brush piles, I'd go with a bait that will dig bottom without a lot of effort on my part. Crank it down until it's digging bottom and work it by slowly pumping the rod. You can tell when, or if, the bottom composition changes, if and when the depth increases and will feel when the bait starts to load up with any vegetation. Thats when you stop raising the rod, let the bait float up and repeat. The bait doesn't get fouled and the bass have a hard time resisting it.

If you're bank fishing, I figure you have a limited number of spots to fish from. It's difficult to catch fish using only one technique in that situation and adding big swim baits to the equation is asking for a lot of frustration. The thing about catching big fish is knowing where they hang out and then choosing the right presentation. I think you're striking out on both. What I'd suggest is hold off on throwing the swim bait until you find fish with another presentation with a similar profile, depth range and retrieve speed. Then break out the big gun and see if grandma is out there with the kids.

I depleted my supply of junebug on an outing last week and had to use some CrawPapi to finish out the day. I'm color blind and the closest thing I had as far as I could tell was their PBJ. I only boated two with them. I've used them in the past when the fish were pretty active, but when the bite is tough, it's RageTail time.

Were mine there with 'em? I was on the water at 5.00 AM and the dinks were cooperative, the big girls never came out to play.

Had a guy give me a bunch of cranks, most of which I didn't bother putting new hooks on. Three of them were LiveTargets in bluegill patterns. I keep one tied on every time for targeting that 6ft.+ depth. No need for cover to be present, it darts and dives with the slightest twitch and will flat out catch them if they're holding at those depths. Haven't tried the lipless, but I don't often throw them. Heck, I still have a couple of DiamonShads I've had for a loooong time.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, but don't forget good ole white.

Three things I'd recommend without reading all the previous posts. Top, Middle, Bottom. Hit all three levels of the water column before moving on. Change speed/direction on every cast. That's one thing that will get you more bites over a steady, mono-speed retrieve. Last, persistence. Stay out there until you have to be somewhere else. I couldn't count the number of times, this season alone, where I hit 'em hard the first hour out only to go the next three, or four fishless. The fish would get active again (usually when the wind changed direction, or picked up) and I'd be back to catching.