Paul Roberts

I use SJ's a lot. I too like a trailer with some action. My favorite, by far, is a pre-softened pork frog. Nothing flutters, and ripples, is more life-like, than softened pork. It also responds to the cadence of my manipulations, which can be a key trigger. I do use a worm tail on some finesse jigs, esp in winter, which gives a subtle wag that works well. I could see using a Slug-Go, but... I'd first boil the heck out of it to soften it. In my mind, it has to move. Many soft plastic jerks are made on the stiff side, so that they glide well. I guess... "soft" is mighty important if that trailer doesn't have a pre-designed action.

Yes. Fishing tackle began to be specifically targeted about the time EB became a thing. It's one of the reasons why I don't participate in the "Show us your stuff" threads. I used to do a fair amount of buy n sell, prior to EB. My mom was an antiques dealer, back in the day when antiques were both popular and profitable. I handled fishing stuff, and have some fun stories about it. EB came along and made it easy. And with easy, and incognito, comes the darker side. I won't NOT use EB. But I do protect the stuff I do have.

#11 pork frog, hands-down.

Bingo!

Agreed. And... that pretty much describes every critter on the planet. Granted, some much more than others. The breadth of the scale is mighty wide. But many fish -bass included, maybe especially so- are turning out to be much more complex, in terms of perception, memory, learning, decision-making, sociality -cognition in general- than has ever been imagined. No, they aren't terribly good at being human. But then, there's only one critter on the planet that is.

Temperature is important, in fact, biologists have dubbed it, "The Master Factor" bc it's so fundamental to metabolic functioning in fish. It's important enough that it's a good starting point for understanding fish activity patterns -esp on a seasonal basis. After all, the seasons are directly defined by the sunlight any given chunk of the Earth receives. But, fish live their lives at all levels of "timing" and things get more complicated as timing gets tighter. There's just a whole lot more going on, ecologically, out there. Fish are not robots. Robots tend to get selected out. There are a number of reasons why bass use deep vs shallow water. While temperature can be a major consideration, and effector in any given area, there are other ecological factors that can preempt temperature: Water clarity is usually a tip-off to bass depth use in most water bodies. Bass in low clarity waters tend to remain shallow, due to visibility for hunting and social reasons. And, low clarity is often associated with oxygen depletion issues, esp in deeper water. The reasons here are several: -Light penetration is insufficient to support oxygen producing plant growth. -Low clarity is often a sign high nutrient loads (turbidity -influxes of soil) and/or heavy planktonic algae growth. Sink this stuff into the depths and the only thing down there to process (eat) these nutrients are bacteria, which will use up available O2. This is not uncommon at all in many waters, although environmental regulations have made big dents in this. Water level changes move fish. Rising water tends to move fish shallower, and dropping water tends to move them away from shallows, often in surprisingly cold water. Food can trump temperature, esp if there is a lot of it where temperatures are not ideal, even lethal (if they stay in it for long). In waters with less prey, temperature may get the nod bc the pay-off is not there. Cover can trump temperature. It's been seen that if bass have a choice between perfect temperature and cover, they may -often will- choose the latter. Competition with other species may move them into "lesser" locations. Bass don't always know where the "best" food sources are. If they find something "adequate" they may stay put. And this may not be the "best" spot in the lake.

I hadn't considered that. Of course, a bass could have eaten something that would add weight. Good point. Also, I just love that photo of your son. It's really common to see infections in the fins -often a fungus- esp on the tail. These can result in big chunks literally rotting off. Could be a bite, a split fin from sharp cover during a chase, or from abrasion due to resting on the bottom or in cover. Deep scarring can last for sometime. I've spent some time trying to video sleeping bass, and finally got some great shots. They commonly rest propped on their tails, so their lower edge of the tail fin gets abraded. (You can see this very thing on @Frog Turds gorgeous fish above). And it could then get infected. An upper tail fin like your fish could be a bite, that infected, but may be more likely from abrasion against something in a resting spot she frequents. I recapture individuals fairly frequently, since I fish such small waters. I've also shot so much UW video in some of those waters that I can ID individuals on video too. In one 3ac pond, the largest bass in it (unless there's someone out there I don't know about -which I feel is doubtful) I've video'd several times over the last 3 seasons. I've never caught here though. It's funny, I feel I can even recognize some by their faces alone! I've yet to go through and verify this though. Eventually I'll do a video on IDing recaptures, and over time, may be able to talk about individual fish's lives some.

I'll pick up a 110. I do have a couple Sprinker Frogs. I liked the design, but was disappointed to see that the paddle-tails were soft plastic! I got them most bc they looked durable. In general, I'm not terribly concerned about the details of what specifically will draw bass up from under mats/slop. Much of the time they are merely detecting prey-sized movement above. I long ago have settled on two types: A standard tapered-nose "frog", and a popper-nose. The added disturbance can help sometimes. I also have made my own, that are simple and, simply, draw explosions. I'm encouraged that the Sprinker has good hooking ability. If the tails end up too fragile, I'll find a similar tail that... I can pass on to my grandkids. :)) Thanks, Phil. And thanks, all. Great thread. I am now a WP owner.

Thanks, Phil. That's what all the rage has been about. It can be tough to separate hype, from popularity from reality. But the WP talk has been going strong for some time now. Some lures do tend to produce larger bass than others: Bulky jigs, buzzbaits, Jitterbugs, BIG lures in general. I think that it has to do primarily with water displacement, and possibly sheer noise. I actually, cautiously, bought one -a 90- to toy with. I probably should have got a 110, too. Think I'll put it on the short list. Thanks, again, Phil. Since you are fishing essentially the same waters I am, you've got my attention.

I've seen that, esp in my small bass waters. Water levels, winterkill, vegetation density, and poor hatch years, all contribute. I call it "boom-n-bust" fishing, bc most of my little waters rebound fairly quickly. I keep track of waters... like an osprey... so I can plan ahead.

The more video footage I review, the more I agree with that statement.

Yes, I've done it! Or things close to "a block of wood". The sad thing is, that block of wood just doesn't always work! In the fly-fishing world, presentation vs imitation has been/is a long-standing debate. Often you'll hear, that presentation is 90% of the game. Over lots of years of both tracking down particular insect activity that trout will key on, and designing my own flies to cover them, I came to this: After you have presentation down, the fly you choose looms large. I was able to say this bc I had a few patterns that were nothing short of magic -in context, of course. The magic was that they screamed "Food!" to those trout the loudest. Ya... I'll admit it too. When buying lures, part of my decision matrix is the colors and finishes that make me go "Oooooo!" I haven't. I think Tom Seward had his schtick together. Patrick Sebile is a standout too, I think. And, flirting around the "imitation" side of things, I think Matt Servant has done a pretty good job.

Theoretically, yes. But... the real world is much messier. Selection works on many (sometimes competing) fronts, in an ever-changing environment. But there's lots more to the equation... -Lures just aren't prey; They are hunks of wood, plastic, metals, feathers, etc.., and tethered to boot. -And... prey isn't "food" until it's been identified as such, caught, wrestled down, and swallowed. Thus, lures are even more rarely seen as "food" than prey. And, most prey out there just doesn't easily fall into the food category for a host of reasons related to what I've come to call, "economic negotiations", that have little to do with how good a paint job a lure has. -Fish can learn and this affects catch-ability. -Fish have personalities, and this affects individual, and now it's been documented, to population catch-ability. Some individuals have even been dubbed "immune to angling". -As a long time fly designer/tier (where the culture is obsessively hypercritical), I can comfortably say that "imitation" to our eye (or more accurately, to our central processing center (brain)) isn't the same as it is to the fish's. Anything cognitively related is context related. That's what brains do. And, following, as fisherman, that's our playing field too. I can comfortably say this too: That some flies and lures get closer to "imitation" than others. And that there are more good ideas still to be discovered.

I prefer both.

A buddy of mine had a cheap $1.99 buzzbait from our local hardware store. I chuckled when I saw them on the rack. It had an epoxy plastic head. And, that buzzer wouldn't really buzz. However, it did something better, it crawled making an awesome wake. And of course the bass loved that thing.

I guess I'm a bit confused by the question... I've been known to do both. And... at the same time. Maybe I am missing something in the question? (My wife tells me that far too often ). My go at it: The issue starts with the water... a viscous gelatinous medium. Fundamentally, weight is the first line of offense, coupled with line diameter, in terms of basic depth and speed control. And... I think that pretty much covers both alternatives?: In terms of sensitivity, I'm not much worried about weight, beyond that any weight must be matched to an appropriate line diameter; The two are inseparable. "Approriate" means... to fishing conditions as well as weight, and hook. I think... this pretty much takes care of sensitivity, depth, and speed? Bang, bang, bang? From here, cover and visibility conditions (to the fish), weighs in. I start my tackle choices for a given outing with the size outfit that will fit the particular conditions and circumstances. @J Francho was the first I heard articulate this, and I realized that this is my starting point too. Many of my waters are shallow and weedy. So, I either need jigs that will swim over the tops of the weeds, or root down into the base of them. Weight is determined by the job, then I choose the proper outfit, and proper line (I have xtra spools, or designated reels). Some exceptions: -Wind might have me going up in weight, and/or down in line diameter, or to FC for its density -an advantage above the water, at the surface film, as well as below. -Water density changes due to temperature: As a serious subsurface (nymph) fly-fisherman in moving water, I came to appreciate this effect enormously. It's less noticeable with conventional tackle bc of the sheer amount of weight we're talking -even a 1/16oz jig would be getting unwieldy on trout-sized fly tackle. But it is one of the reasons I go to L and UL tackle in winter here. -I may go extra heavy to feel bottom substrate. Is this anywhere close to your question? Ah! A river man! Nothing like current to show you that there is a real world out there.

Ditto. Seems they are less, or un-, willing to chase. So reducing horizontal motion is critical. Letting the bait lie "dead" after some motion, can be a deadly trigger during winter. Sometimes, esp during really cold periods, it's the only trigger.

Depends. For standard powerbaiting and in-line spinners in a stocked pond, I'd say no. Too fragile -for reasons described above. And you'll be needing very small, light wire, and sharp hooks. I've caught trout up to 9lbs on 2kg nylon monos. There was a bit of a learning curve there, but worth it for what I learned about fish in water. Would I do it again? No. It's a stunt, and it's not good for the fish. I also feel that fish fight best on properly scaled tackle. I like enough power to move the fish, but not totally hinder their abilities. I'd decided years ago that for the majority of the lake-run trout I caught, 6lb was about right. (These were 2 to 10lb fish). Any lighter and the fish had too much sway, took too long to subdue them, and with this, much of the fun of fighting a capable fish on scaled tackle. The other stuff that weighs in though is what's needed to deal with the water conditions in front of you. 2lb lines are highly specialized, along with the rest of gear they are attached to -at both ends: hooks, knots, rods, reels (esp if you are using drag). So such line's utility is pretty darn restricted. Even in fly-fishing 2lb tippets are specialized and so used for specific circumstances, usually when fish are myopic about really tiny insects.

I do. For me, the basics are (and with all lures): -Motion to attract attention. -Pauses to let them know it's worth chasing. -Motions, again, that can act as triggers. As you can imagine there are a lot of variations that can be applied to this basic theme. These variations are greatly influenced by environmental conditions and circumstances.

When I buy a new spinning reel, I get 1 to 3 extra spools too. An additional option is to have at least one spooled with braid, which you can change types and lengths of leaders. I've not gone with multiple spools for casting reels, as yet, instead having some dedicated to a particular main purpose (i.e. treble hooks, winter, heavy-duty), and the others with braid/leader.

Heartening story. And one that gets repeated over and over all across the country, and the world. I love hearing these types of stories. But what is really heartening is that there are people out there who are in position to actually notice such things. I'm talking about anglers in particular, but also about conservationists of all walks, environmental professionals, and law-makers, too, who have enough experience and integrity to care about such things. The sad -no tragic- thing is that so few people actually have any idea, both how widespread such destruction is, and how resilient nature can be -if given the proper opportunities to rebound. The Clean Water Act, among many others, was instrumental. These stories are actually far less frequent than they were in past decades. I could share a bunch of horror stories, and many that eventually turned around; Sometimes amazingly so. I'll share one, a stream my dad grew up on. There was a textile mill on it and he said it ran blue, red, purple, or orange every week, depending on the dyes they were using that week. One day he saw a fish in it -a sucker he thought- and ran home and got his mom and dad to come see. But when they returned, it was gone. When my dad told his friends, he said they didn't believe him! Decades later, my dad took me to see his old stomping grounds and when we drove over that very same creek, we saw a nice relief-carved wooden sign announcing a fisherman's access point. It was a flippin' trout stream! And a pretty one too (but, aren't they all!). My dad was actually rendered speechless at first. Years later -in a poignant demonstration of such transformation- I, at about the same age as my dad was back when he saw that fish, saw a huge trout in a small stream near my house. I ran home to get my mom and dad. But when we returned, it was gone! Life is, or can be, resilient, providing that the damage is not too widespread or elemental -the cogs in the machinery of the complex energy processing we know as Life, gone. Most people seem to simply take Life for granted. But I've learned, and seen, enough to know the difference; Most recently, spending years in SE Asia where -even for one looking for- high trophic level life is nearly impossible to find. You can believe me when I say, I am SO HAPPY to be back where there are actually deer and turkeys in my back meadow, and lots of large fish in my waters. (I'll bet few people nowadays even know what it took to bring back just deer and turkey's, around the turn of the last century. The initial attempts were failures. Now, we take them for granted. But I don't; Not a one of them. Let's just say, this is a topic near and dear to very soul. Thanks for the story, jbmaine.

Bingo! Sometimes, when one is catching but another isnt, it can be tough to know what's actually going on. Here's an example I can describe pretty well, bc I know the game and playing field pretty well: I used to do a lot of steelheading. One morning we hit a river full of active moving fish. I got on them, hooking up one after another. My buddy, standing right next to me, and fishing an identical terminal rig, wasn't getting bit at all. He finally got frustrated and then down on himself. I saw this, stopped casting, and told him what I was doing. He was not knew to the game exactly, but he was failing to recognize something important, and so didn't know that NOW! was the time to switch gears... (How many gears you have available to you is a matter of acquired knowledge). Often —ok virtually all the time— when fishing, we —and the fish— are at the whim of conditions and circumstances. Rarely in fishing is this as obvious as it is in lake-run salmonid fishing —or lotic waters, in general. It's a bit tougher in still-waters, esp deeper ones, bc we have less visual input to work with. (Current is mesmerizing -for very real reasons.) But the same is true on still-waters too. Just ask any river-run res fisher what runs the show there, a great example bc it melds the two (lotic and lentic waters). Most simply, esp for these giant lake-dwelling trout that have come into relatively small water (low volume —don't care how wide it is), water levels are critical to those fish. Volume allows them the impetus/freedom to move, water color alleviates their spookiness, and... "season" -the "Prime Directive”- got them there in the first place. Rarely do we get "perfect" conditions. But I know em when I see em: First, my heart starts going. In some situations my heart actually gets going before "I'm" aware of what set it off; I've got lotsa cool stories about that kind of thing. Next...I get to work, no time to waste. In steelheading, most often, conditions are obviously not perfect for a easy big catch (Ah! @everythingthatswims —the "Big, Dumb Bag”! ). When conditions aren’t great we have to fish more thoroughly, and slowly. On the toughest days (low volume, clear water, when those big trout are holed up and spooky —ofttimes even asleep), catching "stale" steelhead involves precision: in approach, rigging, presentation, and placement, not to mention location and timing. On the good days, the fish will meet you part of the way; Can't ask for much more than that! In the poorest of conditions, we may be left to what I call “fish-filching” (from author William Schaldach), where you have to bring everything to bear, not only be on-task, but downright crafty, even ingenious, as well (Schaldach has some fun anecdotes on this). On this particular day, the river volume was up, the water color perfect, and I caught a fish immediately. So, I worked quickly up, picking off aggressive steelies in every cut and pocket: Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ... . My buddy was hitting the same pockets, but a mere step behind. In poorer (and “regular”) conditions, if I’d been fishing fast, he would have been picking up fish too; One’s I’d “missed” due to the precision required. But that’s not where we were right then. Those fish were up off bottom, on the move, moving into “new” water, and highly vulnerable to fishing. I simply took full advantage. When it was like 9:1, I finally saw my buddy's real frustration, stepped back, explained, and let him take the lead. And our “luck” switched —Poof! Like “magic”.

I find a lure almost every time I'm out. Its gotten so when I come home, my son says, "Streak still going?" They happen to be what's popular too. In order lately: Senko's (of course), frogs, and square-bills. Found a Live Target Sunfish; something I'd have never bought. No WPs, yet. But I suspect most people wouldn't risk throwing a WP too close to a tree, and would probably climb one to get it back. Me, I have my extendable video poles. So, here's hoping.

You know... I don't have any prop-baits! Except for some tiny torpedo's I used back when I had stream smallies available to me. (Gosh I miss them.) I did have a Hellraiser a long while back, and I liked it! But, I've just not added any. I guess when I thought of them, I wondered the same question: "I've already got buzzbaits..." And when would I choose the prop over the buzzer, or a chugger for that matter? Guess I'm going to find out. I ordered a Berkley Choppo. They had a color that made me go "Oooooo..." as well. Sold!

Thanks, all. I'm like so many of us here... more lures than I have time to put to work. This is one thing I've heard too many times before. One of my pet peeves is such hyperbole (to put it nicely) rather than some straight up facts/data in the ads or on the box, that might help us choose the right, or a new, tool. Now, I could be wrong on this one, but... the "drive fish crazy" line came out with the first commercial bone hooks. Not meaning to single you out, at all. It's just that I long ago became gun shy -or "lie shy"- when it comes to advertising speak.