Big-O

X2 and my advice is to keep it extremely slow and as light on the weight as the wind will allow Big O www.ragetail.com

Thanks Y'all and A-Jay, my line is 25 lb Lake Fork Parallelium, fishing some relatively clear water conditions and braid seems too visible as well as makes a sawing sound when coming thru heavy grass and brush or trees. In these heavily fished waters, I take all precautions to be avoid a possible deturrent to getting the bite. It's very manageable, has low stretch and strong. Paul told me about it sometime back and I've been using it ever since. OH and all of my Magic Trees....Each of them disappear when I'm gone and magically re-appear upon my return I just wave my magic rod across the water and presto...there they are And yes my friend, I am fortunate....She's still all smiles with every fish I tangle with, even after all these years Big O www.ragetail.com

Fine looking water, great photos, nice concept to kix video and still shots to log your fishing experinces on any given body of water...Now all you need is more opportunities to keep adding to it Big O www.ragetail.com

We all have those tough days regardless of our experience level so keep your chin up and go back after it Most new fishermen will have a tendency to fish a little fast and often just slowing each of your presentations down a notch or two is the ticket to finding the combination. Regardless of the time of year, most fish will relate to some type of bottom structure or cover. Once you find any given type the fish are holding in...it gets much easier to determine which bait presentation will be the most effective. Alot of variables to consider and you might ask around your area to see what others are doing to be successful. Big O www.ragetail.com

That's excellent and sounds like you have your priorities right...not to mention a terrific wife Big O www.ragetail.com

Yes Moby, it works great Or I wouldn't have let them put it in my products ;D But like any other scents they can wash out over time or changed whether purposely or by accident for a variety of reasons. And to Zero's original question, I don't add anything to the RT baits if they are fresh from the bag although Megastrike won't hurt them a bit especially in grass for ease of sliding or movement. It's a great product There is another thread topic "Attractants" on the forum here where we discussed similar info and I am very careful to avoid any transferring of possible offensive odors to my baits. This was my reply... ______________________________________________ I feel there are times when topical scents are right. I call it "Hit and Hold" or "Hit and Spit". Paying particular attn to any baits that have been below the deck rigged on a rod or set on the deck for an extended time or maybe still rigged from a past fishing trip...these are the ones I apply Megastrike or touch with JJ's as needed. I'm OCD about some things and scent is one of them. Many of us have noticed that a fresh bait seems to draw more strikes and most of the manufactured baits today have scents added which work well straight out of the bag. But the scents mentioned, also work if you need to freshen up a bait for the hit and hold time. It's also extremely useful for kids and less experienced fishermen who have a hard time detecting strikes. The additional lube that Megastrike provides is nice for sliding soft plastics thru thick grass and reeds too. I just squeeze some in a used re-sealable bait bag and massage rigged baits in it Big O www.ragetail.com

BIG ENUFF Big O www.ragetail.com

Hey G, don't weigh'em if I'm sure it isn't a PB or a lake record but I love'em just the same, it's the pull that counts Big Tom, I fish during the week 8-) Red, the fish is my heroin ;D islandbass, hope your swimbait ties into a giant for you too Catt, name the day and we'll share a beverage and to the rest of my friends...thanks for the kind words, it's been a fine year thus far and we are blessed Big O www.ragetail.com

SS, at that time you're neighbor may have been working for some "WANNA BE FISHERMEN" and hopefully he has moved on to partner with more experienced and professional colleagues ;D Not saying it has never happened, but I've never seen it nor heard of it and I'm in the same industry. Prior to a show, we always choose a time and place to fish that gives the best opportunity to be successful To the original question of this thread topic, finding off shore fish is not simple at first but definitely not that difficult once you get your sea legs under you By applying many of the above noted responses, you will start to understand that what we see on or just below the surface is a low priority to understand the bigger picture. I rarely fish within 100 yrds of shore and often 10 times further away. When we begin to understand why fish are where, we quickly realize that on lakes or man made resivoirs, shorelines hold a few fish and the rest of a resivoir hold many times more. Once we start to figure things out we can often find fish that have rarely seen a hook, if ever. And these fish will eat artificials with determined regularity On smaller rivers the fish seem to be more dependable close to shoreline structure than on larger resivoirs. Big O www.ragetail.com

You'll have to keep the Elaztech material or 3X separate from all other soft plastics and a variety of rubberized materials. They have adverse chemical reactions to each other when placed together. I'm sure that the O ring would work fine if applied when on the water but applying days in advance would be a problem... Hope that helps Big O www.ragetail.com

That's awesome TNB and sounds like you have the bigguns figured out pretty well ....That is a HAWG Fo Sho and CONGRATULATIONS on that new PB Big O www.ragetail.com

Micro, the obvious top water frogs Toads etc. or punching thru with jigs and pegged flippers is a good choice but you might try slow swimming the Eeliminator over the top of it and pausing it over the holes. I'm also fan of soft plastics on 1/16 to 1/4 oz weighted hooks to slowly fish over the top of it. With this prerentation, you fish the top of the grass identical to fishing a shallow flat with a Trig....slow lift, ease it forward slightly and let fall, feel and repeat. Where there are holes in the grass, the bait will automatically settle down into it. This is a slow yet very effective technique for catching alot of fish and some monsters too but the key is 1st finding the fish.... I concentrate on any bottom or depth changes like drop offs, points, submerged brush or timber, rocks, thck to thin grass lines, or matted grass edges closest to deeper water. One or more of these factors will be the key to finding the fish but once you do, this technique will amaze you with it's results. Here's a link...and a couple of photo's using the Annie on weighted hooks and fished like this and all Soft plastics can be effective to some degree. The Space Monkey is terrific. If you read the last few paragraphs you'll notice where I gave him an Anaconda to try out the night before. I also gave him the weighted hook as well. He did OK http://blog.newsok.com/outdoors/2009/04/28/choke-canyon-texas-new-best-bass-lake/ Big O www.ragetail.com

That's a good one for sure and a phone photo is much better than no photo....Huh Big O www.ragetail.com

Beautiful Fish Man And her color is terrific too.... Big O www.ragetail.com

Hehehe....confusing me with Bobby is fine, he's much younger and has a head full of hair ;D Plus he's a good friend Like Nate mentioned, The Craw pinched down slightly and on the back of jigs is hard to beat too. Hope you enjoy the Annie's Big O www.ragetail.com

Glad you like'em slickone I think the waving claws on the fall makes'em look like they're doing their best to get to the bottom to hide out Big O www.ragetail.com

I agree with 4/0 Big O www.ragetail.com

Positioning on the hook perfectly straight would be the most obvious reason. Also if the trailing tails or side flappers are crooked due to deformation they might spin. Another thing to consider is bowing the belly of the beaver downward similar to the rigging on a Toad to keep it running upright. If your weight is pegged, it could cause the center point to be off and a weight stopper would correct that...One of these will probably help you out Big O www.ragetail.com

WTG Bassin for Walleye Won't be long and you will be a Jig'a'Maniac Big O www.ragetail.com

I agree and feel there are times when topical scents are right. I call it "Hit and Hold" or "Hit and Spit". Paying particular attn to any baits that have been below the deck rigged on a rod or set on the deck for an extended time or maybe still rigged from a past fishing trip...these are the ones I apply Megastrike or touch with JJ's as needed. I'm OCD about some things and scent is one of them. Many of us have noticed that a fresh bait seems to draw more strikes and most of the manufactured baits today have scents added which work well straight out of the bag. But the scents mentioned, also work if you need to freshen up a bait for the hit and hold time. It's also extremely useful for kids and less experienced fishermen who have a hard time detecting strikes. The additional lube that Megastrike provides is nice for sliding soft plastics thru thick grass and reeds too. I just squeeze some in a used re-sealable bait bag and massage rigged baits in it Big O www.ragetail.com

Excellent and glad you and your wife got to spend some quality fishing time together Big O www.ragetail.com

Had a nice day and a half on the water....My wife Connie went with me After arriving the lake Wednesday evening, we watched a much needed Thunderstorm pummel the country side with wind and a much needed rain. When it slowed to a drizzle, with a smile on my face I threw on my raingear and Connie laughed and said "You're on your own Buddy" She said she would be my Valet Launching Service....just call when you're done ;D I eased across the lake to a line of summerged grass and hardwoods in 20 ft water and set the boat inline to fish straight down the edge where I thought the fish would be located. Each cast would be fished back to the boat along a constant 18 to 22 ft line of grass edge and small timber that falls immediately into the river channel. My bait choices for this type of structure is T rigged soft plastics or jigs and on that night I chose to start with a June Bug colored Smokin Rooster rigged on a 5/0 Moaner hook, 3/8 Tungsten w/stopper above and a steel spacer below the weight for noise. This bait profile is great for night fishing as well because of the added action of the side wings for additional vibration and bulk. As often happens, Big fish eat first and she did On about the third cast, I felt the Rooster touch one of the small trees on the ledge and as I ticked it over a limb and let it fall, "The Big Girl SMOKED IT" A quick hook set later and I was in a storm of a fight trying to get her head pointed up instead of down into the timber. I felt her slide by a few limbs and then she was on her way up toward the boat. I quickly got on the trolling motor and backed out into the channel clear of any obstructions, then she heaved with several big underwater surges that told me she was a HEFTY MAMA A short time later, I was admiring her in my grip but knew she came from deep water so I ckd her for a full air bladder. Just as I thought, she needed relief so I placed her in a full pumping livewell with a partition to hold her upright for an extended time (30 minutes or so) I like this method more than fizzing when possible. I then eased back over to the ramp and called Connie at the motel room and she came back down to be my "On The Spot Photographer" After 40 yrs of this, she knows the routine : By then the rain had stopped and she wanted to ride with me back across the lake to release the big girl back at her home. We then cruised around a little while and gazed at the stars before heading back to turn in The next morning, the wind was back in full force making it tuff but we caught a few more fish by 11 am, then went to lunch. My good buddy Wendell showed up shortly after and we grabbed our rain gear and hauled back out to put on the search for new water. We headed toward the river and noticed the water was much clearer than in past weeks. We broke out the Thumpers and fished more grass edges. We were drifting toward a hardwood and we both smiled and turned to flip it at the same time...Wendell went straight to the middle and I paused to see the results. Just as he pulled up out of the center of it, I flipped a Thumper right back in and let it fall straight down. After touch down I lifted it up and started fishing it upward with light twitches, then it touched a limb coming up and I released it over the limb to fall again...BAM...there she was I leaned back into her and THE WAR STARTED, she blew up and out of the tree only to blow right back down into the top of it. I held as much pressure as possible to keep her high in the tree and she immediately wrapped just below the surface. Wendell jumped down at the side of the boat like a cat and reached as deep as he could to find her....with a smirk he said "I feel her tail", then with a Big O smile he said "I got her by the JAWS" We Tag Teamed her....Thanks WENDY, I love you...We took a few photos and put her back in her tree then drank a beer, or two, or maybe three

Nice Healthy Fish Man Big O www.ragetail.com

That's terrific Josh...She's a Powerhouse looking GAL and Congratulations on that new PB Big O www.ragetail.com

Didn't know if you knew my last name so here U go..... Big O Hawg 1000 Huge Bass Road Gigantic Bass Lake, Texas You're a good friend Bobby...but I only say that cause I like your stuff Big O www.ragetail.com