Cory20

What size and style hook are you guys using?

I have the Mag TS 7' frog/jig with a shimano citica and braid. I think it's a great rod. No reel problems seat problems here.

I went to Loch Raven today and caught some fish. Some as in 3, which didn't weigh three pounds. But they were fish! Thanks for the help gang

Fishing has been soooo slow

I'm new to Maryland and I have gotten skunked the past three times out. I've fished two reservoirs, in a boat and on shore. All kinds of ponds too. Throwing everything I can logically think too. Boooooo Onto the next part of the grieving process. Going tomorrow morning and catching.

I fish 10# elite on my spinning set up. It's strong, good casting distance, low memory... I used to have siege 12# on one of my baitcasters and would fish it again if I used mono. I haven't had the chance to really try to beat the stuff up on trees and such, so I don't know about the abrasion. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewsufixelite.html here's a review by those guys. They do have some tensile strength charts in there too.

Catch all the crappie and eat them.

I own the kistler mag. 7' frog/jig rod. I haven't fished everything across the board, but I really like this rod. I fish worms, toads, and frogs through pads and an occasional 1/2-3/4 ounce jig. It has the tip. It has the backbone.

A pearl or shad fluke. I know when stripers are schooling and chasing around baitfish the smaller ones are at the top and the big guys are at the bottom getting the easy stuff. Anyone know if the this is the same for lmb/smb?

I use McCoy 30# and really like it. Soft, no memory yet. Anyone else tried this brand?

Jigman that's a lot of jigs! Thanks for the input all!

Maybe in my tourney/outing forum? Anyways, I did the August challenge and had a blast!! They're a great way to take a little fishing inventory of yourself and see what needs work. Instead of making 10 casts and shoving that lure that works for everyone but you back in the box you have to keep fishing it...or find a neat skunk picture.

What weight, color, brand do you guys like for finesse jigs? Where and when do you fish them? Do you like a bait fish or craw colored skirt? I was thinking about getting some lighter jigs and would appreciate some feedback. Thanks

Never have used the wounded zara spook. Propeller baits are usually used in rougher water than other topwaters and when fish are willing to come a long way for a meal.

The Super Spook is just . . . SUPER!! The Super Spook is 5 and 1/4" with 3 super-gnar trebles and the Spook only has 2 and it 4". BUT we all know that it's all about the girth guys (seriously, bass measure what they eat by its proportion to their mouths. Why do you think you're catching 8" bass on 5" senko's?) and the Super Spook is way girthier. It also weighs close to an ounce and you'd need some sturdy gear to throw it. I have one, they have great action and you never know who might show up to lunch . If this is going to be your first spook go with the regular spook or spook jr. They're the more productive version. Although you might catch a real big'un on the super spook, you will catch more on the smaller sizes. So far I've only caught a few on the super spook and I was surprised to see that most had the moxie to go after such a large lure. Bass are PIGS!

Team Illinois, Last week I fished a spinnerbait with a larger single willow and a swimblade type bait. Spinnerbait 3, Swimblade 0. I'm pretty sure I have a 1/2 oz boogee bait and even when I counted it down I couldn't crank it at any speed at all without the bait running too shallow. Have you found anything similar with all the added lift those blades give the bait? I try to fish a spinnerbait as a contact lure as much as possible, counting down and cranking until I feel the first tick of the weeds and then ripping it out with a sharp pop. Much like a crank deflecting off timber or rocks. I couldn't do that with the swimblade bait without fouling the blade or hooks. I have looked at your bait at karu and think you have a really fresh idea. The side to side action those swimblades give plus the flash of a willow could be a deadly combination. I'm going to order a regular spinnerbait in the xtreme bluegill, that skirt looks great. Edit: Do you guys carry a regular spinnerbait?

The spro's finish is painted on and they were recently discounted on the bass pro shop website, I wonder why... The bodies vary in softness too, try to take them out of the package on the sly and squeeze them to find a soft one for easier hookups. The sinking toads spiral down like a tube and often only sink a short way under the surface due to the line getting hung up on top of the grass or pads. I like the Venom brand. I use twist lock owner 4/O and 5/O hooks. These are the best hooks for this application IMO.

Extra Wide gap hooks cause they are chubby Yooo Hoooo Roadwarrior where are yooooouuuu

Definitely a good idea to put split rings on the spooks and jitterbugs. The fish can get a lot of leverage without them. This is the same reason you see some spinnerbait manufactures moving to hooks that are on the same thickness wire instead of being stiff. Everyone else nailed where to start with this style of fishing. If you think the top water bite is on experiment with different sizes and different actions. One day you won't be able to keep the fish off a spook and the next they won't touch it but will gobble down little poppers. There is a debate on whether color really matters with topwater lures. IMO color is fine tuning and contrast is much more important, light belly or dark belly. Figure out if they want a dark or light lure and then move onto finding that magic color. Black is the go to at night and light colors during the day. Most strikes come right when the lure hits the water or on the pauses in your retrieve. My picks and colors in order of what to get first. 1) Popper, rebel pop - r, silver/black with a feathered tail treble hook. You can pick up a lot of extra hits with a feathered tail treble because it looks like a fly on the pause and a fish tail on the retrieve. You can tell on how the fish hit the lure, they'll just slurp down the fly or smack the bait fish. 2) Jointed black jitterbug - this has been night time surface bass fishing bread and butter since way before a lot of us were born. 3) walk the dog with the zara spook and spook jr., I think the jr. is a really good size to start with and I'd go with baby bass or another shad color. 4) 2 Buzz baits, black skirt and white - I personally like buzzbaits a lot. Great reaction bait and if you're quick on the retrieve right when they hit the water really weedless. I know there have been some scum frog/snag proof frog suggestions and this is another in my opinion only. If you don't have the gear to fish that stuff (6'6 - 7' HVY rod w/braid or heavy mono) then don't. The hook up and landing % are way too low. (The fish in my member photo was caught on a 2" rapala skitter pop w/red silver tail,

I use those, 4/O, with Zoom horny toads and Venom frogs. I like the Venom frogs better. I really like these hooks. They're easy to use because they have that little pin in the middle of the screw to guide it. They're sturdy and have a big enough gap to get through the plastic baits. I use them when I trig 6" senkos and other bigger worms too. They definitely prolong lure life. It is so annoying to have to reposition the bait every time it drags through the heavy stuff. As for hook ups, I have much better hook ups with the these than hollow bodied snag proof types. The fish really hold the bait longer because the feel and taste is so real, this gives you time to get the swing you need to hook big fish in heavy cover. I've also heard of people super glueing the heads of plastics on the hook. I'm pretty sure there is even glue marketed for that very purpose. I was seriously considering trying this before I found the owner hooks. Wow this turned into a long write up all to say I really like these hooks and you should try them.

Jig with a rubber skirt and sturdy weed guard, trig a worm. When you do get snagged if you can walk down the shore a ways and pull at a different angle you can often pull free. Maybe you could fish a wacky rigged senko on a bobber, I've heard of people doing this when it's windy but i've never tried it.

The Red Torpedo, I think it's wonderful that you have taken in your nephews! You obviously care to take the time to be a positive role model and that's something they really need. As much as we all love fishing, it isn't for everyone. Everyone can (or should) be able to find something enjoyable outside to do and maybe that can be the focus of your outings. Do some fishing, play catch, go on a short hike to see something neat, catch critters, learn about different plants and animals, there's so much cool stuff to do outside. Maybe the five year old would enjoy painting or drawing the fish the three year old catches? The important thing is that you are making an effort. When you're having fun it will be that much easier for them to relax and enjoy themselves too. Do your best not to get frustrated and when you do it might be a good time to switch activities. Good Luck you're off to a great start!

I definitely would see a surface feeding frenzy right after a rain close to sure.

That evening I fished a spinnerbait (dark and light green skirt single silver willow), a white booya boogee bait, a rapala DT10 crank silver, and a black/blue jig w/ black/blue. I caught 2 lmb and one smb on the spinnerbait. I had one fish follow the crank to the boat but not hit it. No action on the chatter/boogee bait. I caught one (best fish of the outing) on the jig ripping it with a sharp pop out of deeper grass. I usually had just fished crank baits as my fast moving bait on windy days. I'll definitely be throwing a spinnerbait more often on windy days now and am going to try to find some with a bigger skirts for some bigger fish . (All fish caught had definitely been on the feed with full bellies)

I have seen others and gotten my own biggest topwater strikes when looking the opposite direction. (big bass like slow targets??)