Bazoo

Been finding a few. Does anyone know what that tiny crank air is?

I cast my own bullets, and even have my own cast bullet website (bulletmatch.com) though I haven't gotten into making lures yet. Incomplete fill out will most likely be due to a too cold mould temperature. If you have a mould with a lot of detail, and or your want super crisp corners, adding 2%Sn to the melt will lower the surface tension and help fill out as well. Using beeswax for flux instead of paraffin will also lower the surface tension and aid in fill out, for the first few casts after you flux. Having the hooks heated a small amount, even if you can get them to 100º vs 60º, it'll help keep them from sucking heat from the melt, which in turn will help fill out.

I wonder if could find those locally... I know the Academy has some Owner hooks on the hook wall. I do like the look of that. It'd let the body have a bit more action.

Thanks for sharing Tennessee Boy. I'll have to dig around and see what I have that will work. I think I have some 2/0 Gamakatsu EWG, though I prefer regular offset worm hooks over EWG anywhere I can get away with them. Our local Academy was out of the Gamakatsu 1/0 worm hooks whenever I've been over the last month.

It is a standard worm hook. It was Eagle Claw hook as thats all the 1/0 I have currently. I didn't have any issues hooking up. I had him hooked deeply in the roof/sidish of the mouth about 1.5 back. Wasn't in the corner or something just barely.

All of my larger sized hooks are too long for the grub. I was using Eagle Claw 1/0, as it's the only 1/0 I have currently.

I seen somewhere, on this forum I think, where someone mentioned Texas rigging a grub instead of using a jighead. I thought it sounded neat, and I liked that it would be much more weedless than a jighead. The other day I was fishing a bank that was pretty tight for casting clearance and into some heavy cover just off shore. I used an 1/8oz bullet sinker, a 1/0 worm hook, a 3" Zoom Fat Albert grub in green pumpkin, and was able to coax old iron jaws into nibbling at first... then full commit. The result was a nice little fighter, probably 1.5 pounds. Was my first catch on a Texas Rigged grub, but it won't be the last I'm sure. The lake I was fishing is pretty heavily pressured, so using this is as much of trying to find something out of the ordinary as anything else. My buddy whom took the pic caught a similar sized bass on a ned rig, so we both left happy that day.

Interesting replies, thanks all for sharing.

You can see my holster and gun in this pic. A Ruger Blackhawk 44 Special in a Simply Rugged Sourdough pancake holster.

Looks like a spotted bass to me... but I ain't no expert.

I got this guy yesterday. 2.7 pounds. weightless Texas rigged Zoom Lizard

This is a neat thread. I'm learning a lot. I will have to try some anise oil for my soft plastics. It seems that is uncommon now and might just give me the edge where I fish. Thank you all for sharing.

After checking them out on their website... I'll bet the secret ingredient is anise scent, not the worm specifically. Has anyone else tried anise scented worms?

Awesome, hmmm. I just need to see a pic of how they are rigged, and what shape they are when laying "natural" and I'll figure out a way to duplicate it with a Zoom Trick Worm. I'll have to research it some. Never seen anything like it. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for them.

Dang that's a cool setup. I never would have considered it. There are a couple places that I fish, something like that would benefit me, though I don't know that I could ride one.

I don't have anything to add, since I'm learning! I will say... my gut tells me there is something special about those orange bladed spinnerbaits. I'd have confidence in it throwing it. Confidence doesn't always equate to fish on the thumb but it does help to get the lure in the water.

I fish both with trailer hooks and without. I make my own by using some trotline hooks I have with some clear tubing. If I'm going to be throwing into some heavy stuff, I generally remove the trailer hook, but I will throw a spinnerbait or buzzbait that has a trailer hook into heavy stuff if I'm not in the notion to take the time to remove it. Like yesterday when I threw my buzzbait and spinnerbait, both with trailer hooks into a couple fall downs on the river I was fishing. No bites, I tangled up a couple times but worked free. On Freeman Lake, which is heavily bank pressured. I've gotten a bass on a spinnerbait, on the trailer hook. I got a nice 5 pounder on a buzzbait, which had a trailer hook, but didn't utilize it. Prior to that strike. I had witnessed a smaller bass nip at my skirt and miss the hook, so I added the trailer hook. I witnessed the same thing on 2 separate occasions a few weeks prior, when a bass nipped at my spinnerbait skirt but didn't get the hook. For these bass...I think a trailer hook is better. But I'll throw either, and I have spinnerbaits and buzzbaits rigged both ways. Personally, I would use a normal short hook, and a trailer hook, rather than lose the versatility.

For baitcasting, I cast with the right, switch hands, and reel with my right. For spinning, I cast with the right, keeping the rod in hand, and reel with my left. That is was feels natural to me, though I've tried the visa versa methods. I read (on this forum I think) that using spinning in the right hand and casting in the left is good because it separates them in your brain, since you use different techniques for the two types.

My boat is a Buster Boat by Splash Marine. It has a metal transom plate over plastic and I think, but don't know for sure, that it has wood on the inside.

A good start would be a couple squarebills in a shad or golden pattern. Brand of your choice. Same in chartreuse backed for muddy water. Lipless, crankbaits are prone to being lost, take extra and don't sweat losing them. Cotton Cordell Super Spot is cheaper than a Rat-L-Trap. Try both. Again, natural pattern/blue and silver and a brighter color too. Using one of the traps that have a spinner on the tail instead of a second hook will reduce the snags. For a diving crank, I prefer the Fat Free Shad. Now made by Bomber I think, It was designed by Bill Dance, I forget which company made it back then.

I don't remember what worm, but I believe it was a purple/blue ribbontail. Best I recall I'd rigged it Carolina style. I think I was about 12. I didn't catch another bass on a worm for years. I bass fished until I was bout 25 but ended up taking a break until this last spring. When I got back into it, the first fish I caught was on a Texas Rigged Zoom Lizard. I've made it my goal in fishing to learn and use all the different lures and techniques that I find "hard" or otherwise never learned or mastered previously.

UH...WOW! Thank you for sharing that. Especially the rigging part. It sounds like to me the hottest thing in jig fishing. Piecing together a jig like that would come close to eliminating the fish rejecting the jig due to feeling the weight I'd bet. A Texas Rigged Jig, I'm going to try it.

I'm on page 101 now. I'm thinking ahead to an outboard. I have a few questions. I'll preface it by saying I'm completely new to outboard motors and to using them on these types of boats. My boat is rated for 5 HP. If I happened upon a 6HP, would it be okay? Is it against some law to use one that is larger than the boat is rated? I am not looking for max power, just curious. Conversly, if I happened upon a 3.5 or 4 HP, would that be plenty enough or would I wish to have a 5HP? I think they made like 2.5hp... what about one of them? I'm not actively looking for an outboard, but I am keeping my eyes peeled for whatever comes my way because I am looking to the future. My usage would be both on rivers and lakes.

This was an interesting thread, thanks all for sharing. About 20 years ago, I caught 2 catfish back to back on a Rapala Jointed Minnow. I was fishing a pond, that didn't see much if any pressure. I first thought I was snagged, but turns out I had a 6lb catfish. I released him, and within 10 minutes caught another that was identical in size and from the same spot. I had a deliar with me, and I weighed them both. It read 6lb on one and just over 6lb on the other. But deliars ain't the best scale, so I always thought that one of the measurements was wonky and it was the same fish. The second time around, the fish destroyed my Jointed Minnow. It hit much harder and fought twice as hard. It ripped the rear wire out of the body halfway up the tail section and ripped the line tie out of the nose by 1/4". It was quite impressive and I kept that mangled lure as a trophy until I lost it in a fire.

I went fishing yesterday in the rain at Freeman Lake. During one of the brief breaks, I caught a real nice 2 pound Largemouth Bass. Unfortunately, I didn't have the phone with me, and the wife was hiding in the car due to the rain. The water was nearly perfectly calm, with orange, red, and yellow leaves scattered on its surface. I worked the Spit'm Image fast a few times, then slowed down, moving it between the leaves. It was more than the pot bellied little bass could take, and he slammed my lure about 10 yards from shore. Here is a picture of my favorite topwater lure from today, well... my favorite is the original Excaliber, but this Heddon will suffice for now.