BrianMDTX

I’m semi-upset. I lost my A-Jay Special. I caught my first two bass on it, cut off and retied the hook on, and put the green pumpkin Rage Craw back on. Two casts later it got hit hard, I set the hook and my freshly-tied knot broke. I can make more but didn’t have the materials on the boat. So I tried a jig-and-craw with a Rage Menace (one bite-no bass) and a squarebill (no bites). So I put a 1/4 oz. bullet weight and a 3/0 EWG on in place of the lost rig and threaded on a green pumpkin Rage Menace. In short order I caught two decent bass, and then it got hammered. I knew it was a big ol’ gal right from the hookset. She pulled some drag and dove deep (well, as deep as an 8’ pond gets). My scale stopped working but she was 20”. My last bass was rather unconventional. I had cast the Texas rig near a blowdown but a big gust of wind came up and drove me towards shore. Leaving the bait as-is, I reversed the TM to get back to open water, and inadvertently “trolled” the TR and it hooked a bass. So, 3.5 hours (late start), boated 7, lost two and had a great morning. No dinks, but two were 1 to 1.5 lbs (no pics).

Great songwriter, singer and actor.

Here’s the rig. Couple of things. First, I had a 1/4 oz. and switched to 1/8 oz. Not a 3/8 oz. to a 1/4 oz. Second, I have the weight pegged. A-Jay ties a bobber stop with a bead. I think that’s a better idea. The weight doesn’t really peg tight to the skirt collar like it does to the hook eye on a EWG hook. It works, but I’d rather have the weight dead nuts on the collar. Live and learn. Still catches bass!

Well,I’d say the pond I fished (and 99% of the waters I fish) meet that criteria. Definitely soft bottom and light to medium cover. Over time I’ve basically purged my lead weights for tungsten. Do you use lead for the increase in size at similar weight?

I don’t know the “official” name of this bait. A Texas-rig jig? A jig Texas rig? Something else? All I know is that I learned about it here from @A-Jay so I’m calling it an A-Jay Special. I tried one last week but no dice. Started off with a jerkbait but no bites. Switched to the A-Jay Special and also no bites. But I swapped out the 3/8 oz. bullet weight with a 1/4 oz. and that made a difference. All 3 were decent and caught right near the bank. Also caught one (smallest of the 4) on a squarebill. I like this bait. You can swim it like a swim jig, drag it through wood like a jig and it has a lot of action. I was using a green pumpkin skirt with a green pumpkin Rage Craw on a Gamakutsu 5/0 hook with the weight pegged. Beautiful day! It was in the low 60°s when I got on the water and about 83° now.

Maine is beautiful. Never got to fish there but it’s gorgeous. And unlike the stereotypes you see on TV and movies, pretty much every Mainer we met was as friendly as can be. Not a huge lobster fan, but the fried clams were the best I’ve ever had. Washed down with an Allagash White. It was heaven.

I gotta give props to the Tigers. 0.4% chance of making the postseason in August and here they are. First time since 2014. They may be last year’s Rangers. A hot ballclub on a roll.

Nice bass! A 4 lb’er is always good in my book!

Is it “weird” to buy crankbaits when I truly do not enjoy fishing crankbaits? Or simply foolish?

A fair point. I was out yesterday and as always, for the most part I am running the motor at 1 or 2 most of the time. Coming back I did run it at 4 and I was surprised at how fast (relatively speaking lol) that I was moving. It was leaving a wake. Not big, but a wake is a wake! What surprised me is that when I connected the charger, the battery was still between 60%-80% charged. The first two times I used the motor it was at 40%-60% charged. So I am very satisfied with the performance of the battery and a 38-40 year-old motor lol.

It’s almost autumn, but you’d never know it in this part of Texas. I was on the water at 7:00 and out at 12:30. It was 94° and sunny when I hit shore. I caught six 1 lb’ers, so not a great day. But holy heck did it sap my energy. I turned 64 four days ago. I feel it today!

Camera adds 10 lbs. lol!

Looked like a 1/0 to me.

Interesting that he uses a MLXF rod. @roadwarrior would have something to say about that! 🤣

Not counting weightless TR, I’d say I always have two rigs set up for jigs and/or Texas rigs. Primary is a Kistler Helium TCJ (Texas/Carolina/Jigs) MH/F and secondary is a Falcon Lowrider All-‘Round Fast MH/F. Both can be used with jigs or TR (I rarely use 3/8 oz. weights on TR and rarely use 1/2 oz. jigs), but the Kistler really shines dragging jigs or worms through wood. This weekend I will be trying the AJ Special (swimjig Texas rig) on the Kistler.

Ok, the ever-persuasive BM sang his siren’s song and I ordered skirts, beads, hubs, weights, etc. and a selection of trailers and will be making some of those A-Jay Specials lol. I like swim jigs so these are right in my wheelhouse.

@A-Jay would pegging the bullet weight work in lieu of the bobber stop?

I’m not exactly sure why, but I find it easier to work a jerkbait on a spinning vs baitcasting rig.

I think quite a few anglers tend to pull the bait out of a bass’ mouth vs setting the hook. Especially if the line has slack in it.

Regarding a boat vs canoe vs kayak option, I’m going to say that after a couple months ownership, I’m very pleased with my Sea Eagle 285fpb. Like you, I was constantly getting wet from paddling my former inflatable boat, which was not suitable for a motor. All I am using at this point is a 38-40 year old 17 lb. thrust Minn-Kota trolling motor and a 12V 50 AH LiFePO4 battery (that weighs 12 lbs!). I’m surprised how quickly it gets me from spot-to-spot that really increases my time fishing vs. paddling. Yes, it’s lightweight so it’s a slave to the wind, but it’s a lot easier to keep in position with a motor vs. paddling. And since it can be inflated and deflated, it can be hauled by any vehicle short of a motorcycle lol. I can carry 5 rods and quite a bit of tackle. It’s comfortable to sit in for long stretches as well.

Man, I thought today was gonna be THE day! Low 60’s when I got up and mid-60s when I got on the water. Bit of a breeze but it felt great! You could tell as the pond had more anglers fishing this morning then I’ve seen in my past six outings combined lol. I started with a Whopper Plopper, even though the water had a bit of a chop. The topwater bite didn’t last long but I caught two bass. One halfway to the boat in open water and the other as soon as it hit the water. Nothing on jigs, a Zoom Magnum Trick or a jerkbait, but those Rage Craws did the trick again. I caught two and lost three. They were all hooked in the lip, so they were not sucking the bait in lol. So, caught 4 and lost three (one of those was nice, too). And I saw others catching bass, which is a rarity.

KC’s OL was lined up as bad (or worse) than the Ravens, and didn’t get one flag. And their RT was FS almost every other snap. The officiating was extremely poor. Spags calling (and getting) a TO and not drawing a penalty is mind-numbing. Still, the Ravens were a toe away from overtime, or a win. With a 60% new OL, they played pretty darned well considering the opponent and a hostile environment.

I just used one of my Black Max’s last weekend for the first time in a while. I think it’s older as it has black vs. red reel handle grips. It’s actually a fun reel to use. It casts very far. Yeah, the drag is not a click drag. It’s not an aluminum frame. But it’s pretty darned good for the price. Nice work resurrecting a sunken reel!

@roadwarrior, I will think of you every time I cast a PopMax or a Neko Macho!

@Bankc I caught two bass and a claw got ripped off. I put on a new craw, caught three but on the third I lost the bait. I re-rigged the one with the missing craw and caught two more (and lost one). Didn’t seem to make a difference. They were hitting it hard with one or two claws lol.