BrianMDTX

LMAO!

Ok, maybe I’m channeling Will Smith, but I’m starting to get jiggy with it. My two previous trips yielded three bass each day on a jig. Which is about double the amount of bass I’ve caught on a jig in my lifetime. So today was an eye-opener as I caught six bass on a jig. All on a 1/4 oz. black/blue Dirty Jig Finesse swim jig. One with a Rage Craw trailer (the first one, which ripped both claws off) and the other five with a Rage Bug trailer. Five hit the jig right after the cast or as I started to move it, but the last bass hit it right off the boat as I was reeling it in. I normally use my Falcon Lowrider MHF but had to use my Kistler Helium TCJ MHF as I need to reinstall the tip top on the Falcon. I really like the Helium for Texas rigs but may have to keep using it for jigs. It’s a great rod for jigs. Caught three more on a watermelon red Zoom Trick weightless TR and one on a black Zoom Trick Magnum TR for a total of ten. Missed three more on the jig as well so they were really diggin’ the jiggin’. The highlight may have been the fact that while reeling in the jig on the left side of the boat, I heard something and looked to my right to see a bass turn and head for the bottom. It’s the biggest bass I’ve ever seen there. It looked to be 7-8 lbs. May have to try some big swim baits next time.

@Delaware Valley Tackle thanks for the reply. Just to clarify, are you saying no need to replace the wrap after I remove it and reinstall the tip top? Or just reglue the tip top as-is? I assume the former, but I’d rather ask and be sure.

This statement is 100% Bait Monkey Approved.

I completely cleaned out the tube of the tip. I just have to remove the old thread and epoxy in order to glue the tip back on.

I answered my own question. It wasn’t hot melt. I was able to remove whatever adhesive was used with a small drill bit, but will have to remove the thread wrap.

If that’s true, then do I still have glue in the tip guide? That’s as far as I can stick a toothpick in; as deep as the exposed blank.

So, I went and grabbed the rod and the tip pulled right off. I’ve never had a tip guide come off before. I thought that small amount of bare rod was, well, small. But I stuck a toothpick in the guide and it’s no deeper than the exposed blank. Is that all that there is holding the tip guide onto the rod? I thought it would be deeper than that.

@casts_by_fly I agree with that 100%. I was casting a Rage Craw on a TR with a 1/4 oz. weight in shallow (1’-3’) water and didn’t get a bite. I switched to a 3/8 oz. weight and caught several bass in a row. That day, they wanted it fast.

I’ll do that. At first I thought the guide was bent (noticed it while working a jig). But it looked fine and I was able to realign it. Interesting to hear they aren’t using hot melt glue. If you had to replace a damaged guide, getting the tip off of epoxied would be a mofo.

I discovered yesterday that the tip guide on my Falcon Lowrider is loose. Not spinning around freely-loose, but it does move. Assuming it’s held in place with hot melt glue. Has anyone tried heating it as-is to see if the existing glue will melt and reattach the guide solidly, or is it a simple “remove and reglue” task? I'm assuming the latter but figured I’d ask.

I simply cannot stand in place. After 5 minutes my back screams in protest. Sitting all day? Not a problem. Walking? Not a problem. But standing kills me. I mostly fish from my inflatable which is 100% sitting. If I fish from the bank, I bring a chair.

Had an ok day. I fished another new pond. Long, and narrow at one end and wide at the other with a small island in the wide end. Some weeds but apparently no algae. I only pinched a bit of algae off once. Zilch on topwater and a chatterbait, as well as a wacky rig. I caught two bass on a black Zoom Trick Magnum TR, two on a purple Zoom Mag II TR, and surprise! surprise! Three on a blue/black jig with a green pumpkin Rage Menace trailer. And I hooked three more that tossed the hook. That’s two trips in a row that I have been having success with jigs. Caught nine and missed a few so quantity was ok. Quality was lacking. I caught one nice 3 lb’er on the Zoom Trick Magnum. The rest were 1 lb. and under. I’ll try that pond again one day but it was a little disappointing as good as it looked. One thing that caught my eye was as I was working that TR, I saw a fish partially surface, very slowly, like a dolphin breaking the surface. It was very long, about 2’. I believe it was a gar but not 100% sure. But it was big. The second thing that caught my eye was the tip guide on my Falcon Lowrider. That’s the rod I was using for the jig. About 15 minutes after I started fishing the jig, I noticed my tip guide was no longer aligned with the other guides. I thought it was bent, but it wasn’t. It was loose. How or why I do not know. I was able to turn it into alignment, but I’m going to have to remove it and re-glue it back on. @ol'crickety The space in between the trees on the shoreline is where I caught the biggest bass.

Try a Neko Macho. They are a heavy soft plastic with great action. I rig it as a weightless TR with a 4/0 EWG hook. It casts far, sinks great and has great action on the fall and while working it. It skips great, too.

0600-0800: I’m fishing for trophies 0800-1000: I’m concentrating on decent-sized bass 1000-????: Just bite the bait, ya $@&! bass! Seriously, I don’t have what it takes to dedicate myself to fishing solely for a giant bass. Nor do I enjoy catching a ton of dinks just for numbers. I’m definitely in the 4-5 range.

The vast majority (like 95%) of the bass I catch are right on the shoreline, under overhanging brush and tree branches. Sometimes I’ll deliberately cast a weightless TR on the bank and jerk it into the water where it gets slammed. But OMG, I am NOT boating 52 bass in a day like @ol'crickety That’s one productive body of water right there!

I fish a lot of ponds with muck bottoms and a lot of algae. I either fish weightless presentations or the least weight possible. Still picks up some stuff every 3-4 casts but not like a TR with a 1/4 oz bullet weight or a 1/2 oz jig.

@WRB if you had to give a reason, why do you think it wasn’t a successful bait for you? The bait itself? Water clarity? Structure were used? I am interested in your assessment.

Methinks some may be a tad bit jealous. I, for one, am not. It’s WAY more than a tad! 😂

If one thing has remained relatively consistent, it’s that spinnerbaits, jigs and I go together like oil and water. Neither has ever done anything other than one bass here and there, if that. But jigs are starting to change for me. I started off with a squarebill and that bite was dead. I switched to a Texas rig with a green pumpkin Speed Senko and so was that. I later switched to a weightless TR with a Neko Macho and caught three bass and missed one. Two were on a #956 and one on a blue with black flake. As heavy as Neko Machos are, maybe it’s a semi-weightless. That bite petered off. I had a blue/black jig with a green pumpkin Rage Bug trailer and figured I’d give it a shot. 45 minutes later I boated 5 bass and missed two (one was pretty good but it was not hooked well and it threw the hook). This was a Nichols Mango jig, which uses a toothpick through a hole to hold the trailer on. I did not have any toothpicks with me and went through that Bug, a Rage Craw and a Rage Menace as trailers quickly lol. I got bites hopping it, swimming it, dragging it over wood and pulling it off the bank. For 45 minutes, that jig was gold! I caught one more on a weightless Speed Senko TR and called it a day. One bass, the tail was gone and I was left with, well, a Senko. @JayMac89 Nice bass! The more you fish, the better angler you become. Keep at it! And yeah, while I can skip much easier with a spinning rig, overall I’d say it’s easier to be more accurate with a baitcaster. It takes practice!

How does it work as a WR if it floats?

lol. Looks like the answer is no 😂 Well, when they get here, I’ll see how they do.

I really like Sunline Shooter Defier. It’s great mono.

I placed an order from TW (you’re welcome, Bait Monkey). And amongst the weights and worms and line I ordered, I bought a pack of Slink-o’s. Anyone use them this year? Any successes or disappointments? Rigging suggestions? I'm thinking either a shaken head or a Carolina rig.

Yamamoto loves this one simple trick!