EastTexasBassin

My best producing size of Senkos is the 6 inch. If *** starts carrying a 6 inch I will certainly order them. The 6 inch Senkos come out to a little over a dollar each at the local shops, and are often destroyed after one fish. I tried the BPS brand once and I didn't like them. So for now I'm going to keep buying Senkos for the 6 inchers because they do so well for me. :

Carolina rig with a 3/4 ounce or 1 ounce weight.

When you're married, clearing a fishing trip with your wife is a good way to stay married. One of my fishing buddies has lost 2 wives over his obsession with fishing. I have more fun on the water knowing that I'm (hopefully) not going to have to hear a bunch of crap about it when I get home.

I like the old H&H originals. The old classic still produces some nice fish.

I got the Diawa Megaforce 100TSH with the 'twitchin bar' and I gotta say this thing is a great value for only $60. It isn't the smoothest reel I've used but the twitching bar is really nice. It seems to have the best of both worlds as far as speed is concerned. You can use the twitchin bar to work a worm or jig nice 'n slow, but when you get a bite the 7.1:1 gear ratio helps to get the fish up and out of heavy cover quickly. All of my other reels are AbuGarcia, but I had to try this twitching bar thing. The convenience of working a jig or worm with one hand is pretty nice.

I was wondering if some of you jig fisherman have noticed an increased number of hits with the evolution jig vs a 'regular' jig. It looks really cool, but at $10 each I'm hesitant. The submerged timber and laydowns in the waters I fish are ruthless. Last trip I lost 4 jigs. Are they worth it?

Here's my bait monkey, his name is 'Rasta' He can tie polomar knots and clinch knots, he can sharpen hooks, and he's pretty darn good at retrieving jigs and crankbaits that I've lost. I didn't think monkeys could swim, so he's obviously a very dedicated bait monkey.

I live about four hundred yards from a BPS, I have to pass 'Bass Pro Drive' to come home every day. I'm having a hard time staying out of the place. Its just one exit before mine on the Freeway. When I come up on the 'Bass Pro Dr' exit, this little voice in the back of my head says "Lets just stop in for a minute"

On todays trip I was determined to try 'new' things. (things I hadn't really tried before) Roadwarriors Fat Ika thread got me to buy a few packs and this morning on the first cast a 2 pounder nailed it. I worked it for a bit longer but my buddy caught a couple on a black and blue jig so I switched to that. I've been bass fishing for more than 10 years, and for some reason I've never caught a bass on a jig. (before today, that is) I never threw it for more than a few casts either, I just didn't have confidence in it. I would always go back to a t-rig or a c-rig. I fished it for nearly an hour before I got my first hit. I kept going slower and slower, until I was just barely moving it along...then WHAM!!! A fat bass nailed it. I kept crawling it super slow over brush piles in about 12 feet of water and caught several more fish. They were wanting a really slow presentation today, so its a good thing I gave the jig another shot. Now I'm going to have to buy a bunch of jigs

Well, unfortunately the trip was a complete failure. We tried for an hour to get the motor to start but she just wouldn't do it. My buddy's boat is kinda old, and he hadn't taken it out in several months. We launched anyways and fished the grass line next to the boat dock for a bit but we couldn't get to where we wanted to go. We caught a couple fish and called it a day. We dropped off his boat at a shop for repair and we'll try again in a couple weeks. Getting a boat back on the trailer with the trolling motor alone isn't very fun. I was so excited about fishing some warm water.... :-( > :'(

Well, I'm off to Monticello tomorrow morning. Locals are saying the water temps are between 70 and 80 right now. I'm so excited! I'm hoping to slay them with the Fat Ika tomorrow, this will be my first time to try it.

I'll second that. All of my reels are AbuGarcia. If I can't break it or mess it up, its the perfect reel for me.

I found some of the Kinami Baits Palm Tree baits ( also made by GYCB ) which I understand to be the same thing. They had these at BPS. I'm gonna try them on Thursday.

This is one of the few GYCB baits I haven't tried yet. You've sold me. I'm gonna give it a try. I'll let you guys know how I do. Thanks for describing how to use it Roadwarrior. I wouldn't have thought to rig it 'backwards' Lately I've been killin 'em with the Flappin Hog on a c-rig and a t-rig.

Anyone here been to Lake Monticello recently or during previous winters? Next week will be my first trip there. I'm looking forward to fishing some warm waters and hoping for some nice action. Any tips or suggestions for fishing this warm water lake?

These days I'm almost always using soft plastic lures. Senko style straight worms have produced more fish than anything else for me. I'm also very fond of creature style baits and crawdad immitators. The GYCB Flappin Hog got me two 5 pounders yesterday. Zoom's brush hog is a favorite of mine as well. so hard to choose...

My lucky color is the smoke/pearl laminate with purple flake. I really wish they would make it in the 6 inch size. (or anyone really) The 6 inch black w/ blue flake has caught a LOT of fish for me too.

When fishing is tough or slow, I use a 6 inch GYCB Senko black w/ blue flake.

Hmmm...Maybe the makers of Megastrike should make an angler's insect repellant.

Its getting into the 30s and 40s at night down here in Texas, but its still getting into the 70s in the afternoon. I'm going to try to get out tomorrow and catch a few.

My favorite screw up was one I pulled a few weeks ago. (but not for the first time ) I cast out my weightless worm and a bass takes it almost immediately after it hits the water. I set the hook before engaging my reel, so it spins the spool a thousand times and makes a huge birds nest. Last time, I still landed the fish. I held the rod in one hand and pulled line through with the other hand. (kinda like using a fly rod)

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! So much to read here...the winter articles have given me a few ideas. I haven't done much jig fishing. I've thrown a jig a few times, but I haven't had the confidence in it to get good at it. After a few casts I usually go back to a t-rig or a weightless senko style worm. I'm going to try to get in a few hours of fishing before dusk after work tomorrow. The weather has turned around and is completely beautiful here in north Texas.

Hey everyone, I'm new. Just registered today. I've become quite addicted as well. This morning I spent a few hours fishing in the rain. Temp was 41 and it was windy too. I caught 3 largemouth bass and 2 crappie, so it was fun. Last weekend I went pond hopping in East Texas and caught 10 bass, half of them over 2lbs and a couple 5lb fish. Its hard to concentrate at work when you'd rather be fishing