Lake Walk-In-Water (our old home lake)

[RoLo]

The Florida spawning season stirs the highest expectations and draws the biggest crowds for sure,

but the 'post-spawn' period should not be overlooked, because it usually provides better overall action.

Lois & I used to live on Lake Walk-In-Water, Florida, and it's been a while since we fished there.

We know from years gone by that the month of 'May' is normally prime time for cow-bass.

Unlike the fat girls we boated in April ('early' post-spawn), the cows are in much better shape now,

and they were striking with enough force to jolt the rod out of a relaxed hand

Lake Walk-In-Water is not what it used to be, but we managed to put together a 5-bass stringer

weighing 22-lb 14-oz, something we haven't done in a long time.

This girl fell for a Berkley 6.0 Hollow-Belly swimbait, she taped 23-1/2" and weighed 7-lb 4-oz.

Not to be outdone, Lois boated a 23-3/4 cow weighing 7-lb 8-oz

Roger

[K_Mac]

Way to go Roger. Nice pictures. Lois out-fished you again. ;D I would give you some grief if Ann (my better half) didn't do the same to me quite often. 8-)

[Dwight Hottle]

That's a great outing Roger! Everyone went home happy. I'm especially glad to see you can take as good a picture as Lois. 

[Paul Roberts]

Spectacular day! Congrats.

I like the post-spawn too.

Hey, what's the jig head? Bullet?

[Uncle Leo]

Wow imagine what them girls would have weighted during spawn. Looking at their bellies they had to have been full of eggs. Great catch!

[Fishing Rhino]

Nice, but I'll seek any further info from your wife.  I showed you post to mine for inspiration. 

Retirement would be much easier if she'd get into the sport.  Then she'd understand.

The hook looks like an Owner sledhead to me.  They are among my favorites.  Very versatile, and whether by accident or design, very easy to rig.

The lighter hooks have two turns on the twistlock, the larger three.

I pierce the center of the nose/head of the bait to the bend.  With the bait's bottom facing the shank, I align the body parallel to the offset shank.  Pull the point through the body, then slide the bait to the twistlock with the top of the bait aligned with the top of the top of the head.  Two or three full twists, depending on which size Sledhead buttons the nose of the bait right up to the lead.

Don't know what I'll do next year, unless Owner offers them in a metal other than lead.  Any and all lead will be banned in MA in 2011.

[Big-O]

Wow....Those are awesome fish Rolo and tell your wife Congratulations for us 

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[RoLo]

Hey, what's the jig head? Bullet?

The jighead is a 1/2-oz Owner Sled Head.

Though 1/2oz is on the heavy side, it tends to stabilize the body and helps to penetrate surface slop.

I rig the swimbait sidewards which gives it a different action then they're used to,

and also provides a less crowded hook-throat for the hook-set.

Roger

[Paul Roberts]

Thanks Roger, and Tom.

I've been chatting with Jewel and they are modifying a head for swimbait use at my suggestion. I think they will be IT -for hollow bodies.

[brushhoggin]

Hey, what's the jig head? Bullet?

The jighead is a 1/2-oz Owner Sled Head.

Though 1/2oz is on the heavy side, it tends to stabilize the body and helps to penetrate surface slop.

I rig the swimbait sidewards which gives it a different action then they're used to,

and also provides a less crowded hook-throat for the hook-set.

Roger

Care to provide pics of this sidewards rig?

[Daniel My Brother]

Great fish as always.

[RoLo]

Care to provide pics of this sidewards rig?

Be my pleasure.

I should preface by saying that we mainly fish in natural lakes where the swimbait

spends most of its time in heavy surface vegetation.

Fishermen who focus on manmade impoundments have more rigging options than us,

because their swimbait spends more time in open water.

In the nasty waters we fish, a swimbait with an exposed hook wouldn't move two-feet

without getting impaled on a plant stalk.

I use nothing but 30-lb Berkley Fireline braid (virtually non-stretch) then Texskin the hook-point in plastic.

Threading the hook in the usual way, through the height of the lure (belly-line to back-line)

pre-occupies most of the hook-gap and chokes the bite.

Instead, I rotate the swimbait 90-degs then thread the hook through the thickness of the lure (lesser dimension).

The lure will now travel edgewise through the water with a slightly different action (a good thing).

The lure will also swim off-keel, which suggests a sick or injured baitfish (a good thing).

Best of all, since there's more exposed hook-gap and bite, there'll be an improved hook-up ratio.

SIDE-VIEW

TOP-VIEW

BOTTOM-VIEW

Roger

[Bassin_Fin@tic]

Great rig Roger! I haven't weighted mine like that yet. We have been fishing them on the surface rigged sideways weightless for a long time now as an alternative to the buzz frog and yes the fish respond to it VERY well.It veers from one direction to the other sometimes and highly resembles a wounded shad scurrying across the top. Fished weightless it requires a very large hook to help keep it from spinning (a 6/0 wide gap works) and must be rigged perfectly straight.

Give it a try sometime,if you havent already. I was thinking about mentioning it for a while now but decided to keep it secret.Guess the cats out of the bag eh?

[RoLo]

Fished weightless it requires a very large hook to help keep it from spinning (a 6/0 wide gap works) and must be rigged perfectly straight.

Give it a try sometime,if you havent already.

Yes I sure have, and totally agree that an unweighted swimbait makes an excellent lure.

Unfortunately though, most of my favorite holding sites are infested with heavy cover,

where weight is needed to penetrate the surface vegetation.

I normally use an Owner 1/2-oz Sled Head, and even at that, the lure is tracking

only inches below the surface.

I was thinking about mentioning it for a while now but decided to keep it secret.Guess the cats out of the bag eh?

You're right captain, "Loose lips sink ships".

However, I found out a long time ago that nobody pays any attention to what I say anyway ;D

Roger

[brushhoggin]

makes total sense. thanks for sharing.

[DINK WHISPERER]

Nice work Roger.....................BTW, i had the pleasure of meeting Roger this Sunday on my home lake, great guy to chat with.

[RoLo]

Thanks Dink, but the pleasure was mine

Incidentally, we didn't have much to show for our efforts that day (couple small bass).

Then about 5 minutes after I pulled the boat, the rain came down in TORRENTS!

Roger