28 and 27 pound Minnesota Bags

[Airman4754]

That's a good season to most people!

[Jeff H]

20 hours ago, shimmy said:

The question of pork or plastic totally beats the crap out of me. I literally second guess myself the WHOLE time i have one or the other tied on. This year i forced myself to mostly fish plastic. I did try some pork this trip, but realized i wasn't building confidence in my plastic so took it off. I psych myself out all of the time and have always preferred pork. But with uncle josh stopping their pork, the tediousness of making your own pork, and all of the missed fish from the pork impeding the hook from hooking the fish, i tried this fall to wean myself off. The 4 and 5 pounders didn't seem to mind; however, i did catch less 6 pounders this fall than i did last fall and i was using pork last fall...See, this is the problem with this. I can tell myself, "sure, 28 pounds shows that it is just fine...nothing to worry about." But then i think of catching less 6 pounders and this gets my head all messed up. I don't know the answer and i am sure one or the other might outfish the other at times, but i am currently committing myself to plastic. I just used a subtle action/soft plastic trailer that seemed to work. Anything that moved too fast and the bite would stop. Many to most of my bites came when the jig was sitting on the ground for a about 4 or 5 seconds. I did however get a lot of bites that never held on and i think pork would have been better for those bites, but i probably caught more fish because of the unimpeded hookset from the plastic...an interesting tradeoff.  The struggle is real. 

Pork does have that 1 drawback and it can be real detrimental.  Well,  2 now actually considering availability is becoming a problem.  When water temps are low 50's or colder, the pork comes out along with a bottle of B.A.N.G Real Craw. If I don't fish pork, still using the B.A.N.G on cold water plastics.

[Paul Roberts]

On 10/25/2016 at 6:27 PM, shimmy said:

Who says dressing like a homeless man scares the fish!

None on the swimjig. A slow worked quarter ounce jig did the trick.

As much as I want to take credit, some of the less pressured lakes I fish are easier to catch 4+ fish than your typical nearby crowded 400 acre lakes.

Good advice, I am terrified of using anything connected to my lure that might deter a big fish. Then again, people swear by leaders...it's interesting, I see the smallest moss/weed on a jig deter bites and I fear that a leader might have that same suspicious look that deters fish from a slow worked bait. But, your advice and experience is a reminder that I should consider it.

Appreciate the details, Shimmy.

I have my "fishing clothes". I get them from Good Will and am very picky about them -material, color, pattern. My wife always gets a pained expression when I leave the house.

I too find my swimjig bite drops away as temps fall into low 50s. The bass are just not willing to come up much then it seems.

Your candor about owing some credit to fishery quality is helpful putting big catches in perspective, and says a lot about you. You certainly earned those fish in terms of knowledge, skills, perseverance, and knowing how and where to spend your precious time. But the fish have to be there in the first place. Lots of waters simply can't grow big bass. And there are a lot of anglers who just can't put big fish -that are probably 10 yrs old- back in the water. Do the math: How many decades do we anglers have to burn anyway?

I like a clean lure too. But... I try not to freak out about stuff -get superstitious. In fact, I try to go the other way, just to... relax. Always interesting to me how the "impossible odds" we anglers/hunters often have to deal with manifest themselves. Here's one that I've come to make use of: Couldn't stand having my knot tags too long. I'd trim them pretty close. But I came to leaving them long now which acts as a gunk deflector. That short tag hooks into vegetation and collects slimy algae. Now I'm happy to leave a longer tag, run cleaner lures, and the fish don't seem to notice. Over that one... almost.

Wire? I don't have pike here. Phew! Dodged that one.

On 11/1/2016 at 9:48 PM, shimmy said:

The question of pork or plastic totally beats the crap out of me. I literally second guess myself the WHOLE time i have one or the other tied on. This year i forced myself to mostly fish plastic. I did try some pork this trip, but realized i wasn't building confidence in my plastic so took it off. I psych myself out all of the time and have always preferred pork. But with uncle josh stopping their pork, the tediousness of making your own pork, and all of the missed fish from the pork impeding the hook from hooking the fish, i tried this fall to wean myself off. The 4 and 5 pounders didn't seem to mind; however, i did catch less 6 pounders this fall than i did last fall and i was using pork last fall...See, this is the problem with this. I can tell myself, "sure, 28 pounds shows that it is just fine...nothing to worry about." But then i think of catching less 6 pounders and this gets my head all messed up. I don't know the answer and i am sure one or the other might outfish the other at times, but i am currently committing myself to plastic. I just used a subtle action/soft plastic trailer that seemed to work. Anything that moved too fast and the bite would stop. Many to most of my bites came when the jig was sitting on the ground for a about 4 or 5 seconds. I did however get a lot of bites that never held on and i think pork would have been better for those bites, but i probably caught more fish because of the unimpeded hookset from the plastic...an interesting tradeoff.  The struggle is real. 

I use pork. I'm not over that one yet. That said, an online buddy, who catches a heck of a lot of bass, uses plastic. He is particularly picky about his trailers though. And... I do have this memory to call on: When rubber-skirted jigs first hit the planet in the 80s, I used them without any trailer at all, and caught plenty of bass on them. I recently bought up a bunch of pork though, so I guess I'll worry about it sometime in the more distant future.

[shimmy]

On 11/6/2016 at 8:20 AM, Paul Roberts said:

Appreciate the details, Shimmy.

I have my "fishing clothes". I get them from Good Will and am very picky about them -material, color, pattern. My wife always gets a pained expression when I leave the house.

I too find my swimjig bite drops away as temps fall into low 50s. The bass are just not willing to come up much then it seems.

Your candor about owing some credit to fishery quality is helpful putting big catches in perspective, and says a lot about you. You certainly earned those fish in terms of knowledge, skills, perseverance, and knowing how and where to spend your precious time. But the fish have to be there in the first place. Lots of waters simply can't grow big bass. And there are a lot of anglers who just can't put big fish -that are probably 10 yrs old- back in the water. Do the math: How many decades do we anglers have to burn anyway?

I like a clean lure too. But... I try not to freak out about stuff -get superstitious. In fact, I try to go the other way, just to... relax. Always interesting to me how the "impossible odds" we anglers/hunters often have to deal with manifest themselves. Here's one that I've come to make use of: Couldn't stand having my knot tags too long. I'd trim them pretty close. But I came to leaving them long now which acts as a gunk deflector. That short tag hooks into vegetation and collects slimy algae. Now I'm happy to leave a longer tag, run cleaner lures, and the fish don't seem to notice. Over that one... almost.

Wire? I don't have pike here. Phew! Dodged that one.

I use pork. I'm not over that one yet. That said, an online buddy, who catches a heck of a lot of bass, uses plastic. He is particularly picky about his trailers though. And... I do have this memory to call on: When rubber-skirted jigs first hit the planet in the 80s, I used them without any trailer at all, and caught plenty of bass on them. I recently bought up a bunch of pork though, so I guess I'll worry about it sometime in the more distant future.

Great insight. I particularly like the tag line idea for the jig. I love pork. I wish the uncle josh company recooperated and got back into making them. But I must say, I have greatly enjoyed finding a plastic trailer that fits my liking. While I don't drink, I feel like choosing a plastic is like a way of showing what your particular drink would be. There are so many great options to pick from with plastic and every time I find myself catching a good fish on one, I secretly tell myself, "ahhhh must have been my strategic approach with this particular plastic trailer." Whether or not it made a difference, it is fun to find trailers that fit your own personal preference and style of fishing, and ultimately, build confidence.

[Paul Roberts]

10 hours ago, shimmy said:

Great insight. I particularly like the tag line idea for the jig. I love pork. I wish the uncle josh company recooperated and got back into making them. But I must say, I have greatly enjoyed finding a plastic trailer that fits my liking. While I don't drink, I feel like choosing a plastic is like a way of showing what your particular drink would be. There are so many great options to pick from with plastic and every time I find myself catching a good fish on one, I secretly tell myself, "ahhhh must have been my strategic approach with this particular plastic trailer." Whether or not it made a difference, it is fun to find trailers that fit your own personal preference and style of fishing, and ultimately, build confidence.

Confidence can a weird, slippery, thing. I'd like to think I have some control (understanding) over that.  And I wrestle with it when on the water. I often find myself being sucked into my history with a place, and must resist and take stock of what's actually in front of me -the immediate conditions.

I do fish some plastic too -twister, flapping, and beaver types. But, NOTHING moves in the water like prepared pork. Can't say the bass actually hold pork much longer than other jig trailers either. IME, bass seem to drop jigs pretty fast period.

Again, congrats on some awesome fishing. And thanks for sharing it with us. Nice to know there's some truly cool stuff is going on out there. 

[HardCider]

nice fish.

 

[quanjig]

Wow Troy, those are some very nice fish! Wish we had more places to catch fish like that! Keep it up!! I feel like the Northern Virginia area keeps trying to limit usage of viable fisheries!!

[shimmy]

30 minutes ago, quanjig said:

Wow Troy, those are some very nice fish! Wish we had more places to catch fish like that! Keep it up!! I feel like the Northern Virginia area keeps trying to limit usage of viable fisheries!!

Yeh, but you always find a way to CONSISTENTLY catch big bass in that area. Fishing with you was my first wake up call to jerkbait fishing. It was humbling to say the least!

[Hurricane]

Awesome...

[gim]

Well done Shimmy.  Those pike are a real problem around here and it doesn't appear to get any better in the forseeable future.

[steverowbotham]

When I saw MN, I figured smallies. But nope!  Good job dude!