Bubba 460

I'm so relieved cause that's insane!

I have whatever I need tied on to one of the ten rods I usually carry onboard. I hate to cut something off and re-tie something on and dig through a dozen boxes. That usually only happens after a pickerel bite-off. Plus you need different rods and reels for different species of fish ~ I might want to catch some crappie to eat one of these years. I have a bunch of med light and light rigs I just never use, been giving some to kids on the bank or the dock that have junky set-ups.

I have two Pflueger Presidents that are nearly 40 years old and still work. I have retired them as they are beat to death. I have two Pflueger Supremes and two Patriarchs (each 12 years and still great ). All are spinning reels and have two bait casters as well. I have not owned a Pflueger XT but almost bought one a month ago and still might. I have no complaints with the Pflueger spinning reels I have bought and for the money they did what was expected for a reel of that class. I have used them for over 50 years. For the $50-$60 price range of the President it hard to beat ~ IMHO.

Summer, water temperatures above 80, open shallow flats, points, it'll be top water, buzzbait or whopper plopper to see what's happening. If not much going on there then it's a skinny dipper, weightless along shallow shore structure. No takers?... Go to jerkbait, crankbait, or spinnerbait along slight drop offs or shallow creek channels. still nothing?... A lightly weighted wacky in three to eight feet of water feet of water. If all else fails move to just outside of grass-line and drag a Texas rigged worm or creature bait then small jig or large Ned. So in summery; I went from fast moving top-water, to shallow water, to mid water, to deep water. Each bait went a little deeper and each bait got a little slower. If it's hot and I don't catch a bass in three hours, I have plenty of grass to cut. Photo below ~ Daughter Lee, with about a 4 # bass caught on a skinny dipper up shallow.

Yep, a jig is a must try with this one too ~Thanks.

Yes, that's why I want to try it on a large buzz bait, might the ticket. I'll guarantee you it will catch a bass ~ Thanks Yeah, I'd eat it too if I missed breakfast ~ Thanks

I had another brain storm (I don't get many). Last year I bought a pack of "Chasebaits Ultimate Squids", I just thought they were cool looking and something a bass would eat if presented right. These baits came three in a pack and are about six inches long with tentacles and there are few color options. I had an old in-line buzzbait from yesteryear so I took the blade off and added the hook from a beat-up frog and inserted that into the body of the squid and attached it to the blade. Now I have an in-line squid buzz bait. Having a pay grade just one step up from a wheelbarrow operator I thought I better test it. Fishing has been horrible lately with every other day thunderstorms making the lake muddy and high. I just wanted to see how it looked coming across the water, plus I had a new rod and reel I wanted to use as well. Well wonders never cease, it worked great and makes a nice "fluttering" sound. I even got a hit on it but it was a small bass. The only problem was on about 20% of the cast the two long tentacles would get tangled in the hooks and mess up the action. Might have to cut those shorter. Next I'm going to attach one to a large buzz bait and see how that works. One thing's for sure, no bass around here has ever seen anything like it... well there is one.

In-line Mepps spinners, both plain and buck-tail ~ although I have not used one in over 50 years I have caught a ton of fish on them in my younger days in ponds creeks and rivers.

There are some great suggestions that have been given, particularly on the weedless hooks for a wacky. But it you don't want to spend $8 to $10 for 4 hooks and you don't really need weedless... 95% of the time I don't, then check this out. Here is a hook that I have been using on 5" wacky rigs for over ten years with ZERO complaints. It's the "Eagle Claw size 4, # LO42". It is a slightly off-set hook, comes in steel or brass and you can get a pack of ONE HUNDRED for under $10 bucks. If I can save money and still get a great product, I'm down with that. 90% of the time the bass will be hooked in the top or side of the mouth if just one O ring is used. I've never had one break or bend, Hook-up ratio is EXCELLENT.

It's been tough in this hot, dog days weather. I'm basically a power fishing guy but there comes a time when you just have to slow down if you want to catch more fish. I usually go to Texas bottom rigs and slower top water baits. When I say bottom rigs I'm talking anything from a small Ned rig to a 12" worm. Top water consist of poppers, crawlers and walk the dog sticks and frogs The other day I went out early and caught 17 bass before it got to hot. Nothing big but did get three at 16", seven at 15" and the rest were 14" on down. Mostly caught on a 10" worm but did get five on a popper, couple on a deep wacky. The majority were in deeper water (10 to 12 feet, off points or on drop-offs). The top water bites were in 5 foot or less around grass. Going to be nearly a hundred degrees today... If I get some cloud cover I might go this evening. Just to hot with blazing sun otherwise.

They are great baits and belong in the "Lure Hall of Fame" (if there is one). The balsa models are tooooo light and hard to cast any distance, even on light spinning tackle. Cast out over a submerged grass bed or wood and jerked back in one to two foot spans then allowed to resurface for a couple of seconds, it is still one of the best baits out there for that presentation. Great in a shallow rivers for smallmouth too using the same retrieve. With that said, there are more modern choices that can do the same thing and cast much further. So in my thinking the Rapala floating minnow has had its 15 minutes of fame but its time has past. I still have several from 3" to 8" but seldom use them anymore.

Whoa

Besides a shower in the morning I have to have coffee, lots of coffee. The first cup has to make my eyes get big as golf-balls, my face will start twitching on the left side and my voice changes into something that sounds like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Whenever coffee does that it's good coffee. I can tie a lure on 2.6 seconds right out of the chute.

Well, that's using your head.

I've had to cut two out in the last two years... I'm still working on them.

What's a backlash?

Oh deer, no!

A distress call sounding like a fawn will bring deer in a hurry. I have a lot of deer around my place, they are not afraid of us and we can walk right up to some of them. There are some that are very stand off. Several of them will play with one of my dogs. They will chase each other around for a half an hour. The deer will jump in the air or slip and fall in the grass, they do some crazy stuff. I have not been able to touch one yet but almost. Dog will play with a 6 point buck that we have here, they have been playing since he was a little button buck. Don't know what happens when the ruts on.

I've never tried the "spendy" stuff, I buy Spiderwire. Yes, it's fades, yes, it frays but at 1/3 the cost of other lines I simply "switch ends"( pull all the line off and reel then wind worn line on first which gives you new line when re-spooled. I watch the line well for wear. Sometime you need to remove 15 feet of worn line. You can run more braid on a spinning reel than you can mono with no problems so it gives you a little more to work with. Usually buy new braid every two years as I have already reversed all my lines by then. I keep ten rods on my boat, half are spooled with braid. plus I fish over 200 days a year and fish all year. I was slow to use braid as I had fished with mono for over 50 year without a reason to switch. Braid certainly has its place over clear lines in today's modern fishing~ heavy cover being just one. Oh, and I can cast ALL the braid line off my 4000 spinning reel spool with a 130 Whopper Plopper

That Smackdown braid had terrible write-ups ~ did you read some of those?

I agree going with the heavier weight line and feel 50# test is plenty of power unless you're pulling gators out of think hyacinth. Ever try and break 50# braid?... the stuff will stop your boat, rip the reel off the rod and cut your fingers clean off! Just yesterday I was fishing a Texas rigged worm with 30 pound braid. Got hooked up on something and could not pull it off at whatever angle I tried. Wrapped the braid around a cleat and tried to break it and noticed whatever I was hooked to, I was dragging it along the bottom! I figured I must have pulled it out of the muck. I got right over it and started pulling straight up with the rod and it started coming up, it was really heavy and I thought my rod might break but it was coming up slowly. Pulled with all my might then take a couple of turns and repeat. Finally I see what it is... now y'all ain't gonna believe this, It was a Seawolf-class nuclear-powered, fast attack submarine. I reached down and unhooked my worm from the conning tower and let it sink back to the bottom. Yeah and that was just 30 pound braid!

That'll have your sideburns flappin' in the breeze.

Yep, it's usually a fish magnet