papajoe222

I only have two things left on my fishing bucket list. A fishing trip to Canada and being around to see my great grand child (children) catch their first fish.

Just a reminder to those that haven't tried, or have little faith in using it. Even those of you that, like me have gotten away from throwing a C-rig recently. When it comes to checking out a large piece of structure, a C-Ring will do it faster than a drop shot and can out produce a football, or swing head jig. It can be used as a finesse presentation by using a trick worm, tube, or grub behind a lighter weight, a power presentation, 10in. worm behind a 1/2oz. or 3/4oz. weight , or any thing in between. Honestly, I don't know why I stopped using it. Today was one of those blue bird sky, no breeze days that make catching tough when you're targeting off shore structure and neither of the three other presentations produced anything for most of the morning. I'd finished 2nd in two mid-summer tournaments on this lake, both times relying on a C-rig, so I decided to target a weedline bordering a 300yrd drop on the edge of a flat. I headed there and tied a floating finesse worm to the business end and was rewarded with three nice fish before I had to head in.

Except for the one I married, all of my best fishing partners have passed on. She and I have named a few of our favorite spots after them. Dave's Point and Pete's place are two of my favorites. She has a knack of upstaging me almost every time we hit the water. Today I boated three nice bass over 3.5lb. She was fishless as we headed for the dock. You guessed it. She hooked and landed a 19.5 in. LM that weighed in a 4lb.7oz. I don't know if it's persistance, or just being hard headed, but I love the fact that, like me, she doesn't quit just because the fish aren't cooperating.

I went to a different T-Rig school than most. I use a bead with brass, or tungsten in clear water. My reasoning is because it gets the fish's attention. Getting a fish to look at your presentation is half the battle. How many times do you figure your plastic bait passes behind, or to the side and back of a fish. If she doesn't see it back there, it gets ignored. I think of drivers that rarely look in their mirrors, focusing only on what's in front of them. Coming up from behind them, a bump on the horn will get them to look. Whether that driver, or Ms. Largemouth or Smallmouth chooses to ignore what's behind is up to them, but they will be aware of its/your presence.

We've had threads on this topic before, but I thought it might spark some debate, or have you questioning yourself. Which way do you crank your baitcaster and spinning reels? Both left handed, both right handed, or (like me) different hands for each. I was reminded of this quirk, if you will, I have of reeling a spinning reel with my left hand, but looking like an uncoordinated ballerina when I try a left handed baitcaster. I need surgery on my left hand and can no longer hold my casting gear for any length of time. I switched to spinning gear (aarrrrggg!) and will likely finish out the season with it and get the surgery done in November. For s#!+s and giggles, I switched the handle over to right handed retrieve and the result resembled an uncoordinated ballerina with Parkinson Disease. I can pat my head and rub circles on my stomach (you know you're gonna try this), but for the life of me I can't use a LH baitcaster or a RH spinning reel. I think the man up stairs has a weird sense of humor and needs a good laugh now and then so he wires some of us this way.

I can't believe an article with such misleading information was even published. If you want , you can stick to one weight, but by no means should you limit yourself to one or the other. If you do, I'd suggest the 1/2oz. as it is easier to get one to ride high in the water column than it is to keep the lighter one down deep.

One piece of advice I'll give to those that don't live or fish in an area that attracts fishermen; Ask the ER doctor if they've ever removed a hook before. About ten years ago, I got a hook in me while unhooking a smallie. I cut the split ring and the other two hooks of the treble off leaving just the shank/eye and the one hook. I bandaged it and continued to fish. I decided to drive the six hours home and go to my local ER as I knew my insurance would cover it. The lady doctor proceeded to freeze my finger and then grabbed a set of forceps and began twisting, turning and pulling on the hook. I stopped her when I realized she didn't have a clue on how to remove it. Lesson learned. Pulled another one out myself last night. For some reason as I get older, it seems to be happening more frequently.

It's the nature of the beast. Because the hook eye is attached to the jig head and not directly to your line, when you set the hook, it is forced to follow whatever direction the jig head pulls it. Very rarely do I get hooks in the roof of their mouth this way, where as, I almost always hook there or the upper lip with a skirted jig. About the only thing you can do is change the way you set the hook and that'll take you down a road that's hard to come back from. If your concern is harming the fish, I suggest smashing down the barb on the hook. I'd venture to say that I land 80% or more of the fish I hook with barbless hooks. Just keep steady pressure on 'em and try to keep 'em from jumping. Heck, you're gonna release 'em anyway, so it's really not that big of a deal if a couple get unbuttoned prior to you putting eyes on 'em.

#1 Fluorocarbon has very little stretch and sinks. Therefore, you get more depth using fluoro vs. mono. Your crank may run a little deeper using the same pound test, but it's because of the smaller line diameter, not because it sinks. #2 Mono is outdated as there are much better lines produced today. Yea, that's why almost every line manufacturer still offers at least one mono. Maybe they do that just for us old guys that love using mono???? #3 Early morning and dusk are prime times for top water. Maybe for the guys that put them down the rest of the time.

Big Bite Baits Craw Tube and Berkley Pit Boss. The craw tube gives you a slower fall presentation than most beaver style baits. It's also more slender than most of them, too. Great for the really thick stuff that's hard to penetrate. Another reason why RM likes a Senko for punching.

I know there are a bunch of anglers on this site that are limited as to how much they can spend on their fishing addiction. I'll be the first to admit that the quality of many angling products can make the sport more enjoyable and productive. That being said, until the kids were out of college and the house was paid for, I did just fine fishing local tournaments from a jon boat with an old 10 horse Johnson, transom mounted TM and a Humminbird Super 60 (flasher) depth finder. Three combos that I paid less than $75 for *back in the 80"s. Other than plastic worms, all my lures fit into 2 Plano 3700 tackle boxes. My success in those local tournaments and in my everyday outings depended on finding fish that I could catch with what I had available. The reason I mention all this is because you will read about a lot of higher end products in some of the posts here. Great products, some offered by sponsors here. The main reason for this site's being is to inform, educate and share fishing knowledge. Quality products only add to your enjoyment of this great sport. If all you can afford is one combo, mono line and Wal-Mart bargain bin lures, don't feel that you are missing out. The fish are still there for the catching. Use what you have available, whether from shore or out on the water, but use the information about the fish, seasonal patterns and the different presentations you read here, or see on video to become better at finding fish that you can catch. When and if you ever have the funds to enjoy a custom built rod, or a $25 swimbait, you'll not only enjoy its benefits, you'll know exactly where to use them.

Familiarity with the lure you have tied on is one of the best means of strike detection you can acquire. Line watching is another. Knowing what your jig, or worm feels like as it falls, settles, comes through weeds, bumps rocks or wood, moves from soft to hard bottom, will help with strike detection. It will also reduce the number of times you set the hook into a laydown, stump, etc. This is also applicable to other lures like cranks and spinnerbaits and is one reason why many pros are faithful to a particular lure.

Over half the bass over 6lb. that I caught last season were caught on 6in-8in. paddle tail swimbaits. I don't know if they tend to catch bigger fish, but they are what I use when I have a spot zeroed in. As for hard swimbaits, I can not say as the only ones I own/use are for muskie.

Sorry JF, I assumed you were speaking of the Forest Preserve lakes. You know the saying about what the word assume begins with? That’s me on more than one occasion.

Check out Glen's video on how to cast a baitcaster. The advice on setting up the reel is spot on for the reel you mention. One piece of advice; Educate your thumb to using a baitcaster, your casting accuracy will improve and backlashes will diminish.

Okay, I'll ask. Why are you using a leader. The FP lakes around you aren't very clear and snapping a tube, or stroking a jig is more of a reaction presentation where the fish focus on the bait. I use straight 10lb braid in the clear strip pits west of you and I doubt I'm missing fish because of line visibility. If it's a confidence thing for you, retie often, go to heavier fluoro, or switch to mono. Any one of the three will reduce knot failure for this presentation.

There is no best in any lure category. Some produce better than others in certain circumstances. Take Rage Craws, when a lot of action is called for, they reign, but other times you're better off crawling a craw with claws that float to draw attention to it.

Pulling a boat around any big city is a challenge, especially with construction going on. It's even more challenging that driving a semi (trust me). As Sam mentioned, drivers, especially city drivers, aren't used to people towing trailers and many don't check their mirrors, or don't have them adjusted to see the lane next to them. I'm a retired truck driver that worked with an insurance company to help reduce the accident rates of bigger fleets. Keep this in mind guys. When passing another vehicle, try to make eye contact with the driver. They will turn their head to look at you and hopefully see the trailer. When approaching an on ramp, when possible,change lanes when you see a vehicle on the ramp. Be alert and safe. No one wants their loved ones getting a call other than to hear how many you caught.

Luckily, the lakes up here are only a foot or so higher than normal for this time of year. I think, maybe, I just need to stay on the water longer. Haven’t had many days with over five hours out there.

Late here, too. Water temp is only 68 and that’s surface temp. Bluegill are just starting here.

Am I the only one here having difficulty catching quality bass this year? Here it is July and I’ve yet to boat a bass over 20in. Pre-spawn didn’t even produce one. Grant you, I do catch most of my biggest fish of the year in July and August, but by the end of June I normally log a half dozen or so. You could blame the unstable weather, but I don’t. For me, tough conditions swing the odds in my favor for catching some big girls.

And the winner is (drum roll) the Zara Spook! It is for me anyways. BTW Cak920, you asked for our favorite and then listed more than one of your own. Very confusing for us mentally challenged seniors.

I use a pair of side cutters. They also double as hook cutters, toenail clippers and, of all things, wire cutters.

Think of me when you're thinning out. The lightest I throw on a baitcaster is a 1/8oz. hair jig. On spinning gear...................what was I thinking, I don't use spinning gear.

Welcome to BR The more information you can provide as to the type of lake, water clarity, fishing from the bank, etc. the better your chances of getting useful information. You can also try the fishing location forum, I believe Illinois is under the northeast. You can access it by clicking on the forums tab. A new page will load. Just scroll down until you see it. Generally, the same techniques that you used in SC will work, but always keep in mind that you need to locate the fish first. It's possible you are fishing dead water. A good place to start is on the web. Do a search on the lake that you're targeting. Most have a site or two with fishing reports that can point you in the right direction.