A-Jay

Nice . . . but double occupancy is a New Boat ~ A-Jay

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

Yup ~ I'm all over it. American Fishing wire Surflon Supreme 20 & 26lb test spools at the ready. A-Jay

That fish last fall was Freakishly DEEP - so it had a good 8 or 10 lbs on this one. Still fun though. I'm going back again in the morning. I bet I didn't go 10 minutes all day with a least a strike from one of these toothy bait wreckers. Started out with a spinnerbait bit they were ruining them faster than I could re-tie. A-Jay

Hello Johnny and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ A-Jay

This morning I was unable to get on the "Umbrella Rig" lake as the NE wind was too stiff. As a consolation, I stayed very local. This lake has a decent population of SMB as well as the usual Pike & Walleye By Catch. Well, I did OK. Got on some decent smallies right off the bat on a 1.5 squarebill but it was obvious early on that the 62 degree water & wind had the pike on the move & looking to eat. A SK RES was getting choked. Green cabbage weed in ten feet was the ticket. Here's the best one of MANY. Fun Day. A-Jay

We'll find out won't we . . . A-Jay

Couldn't possibly disagree more. That's like saying that the only reason KVD wins anything is because he has a good boat. A-Jay

Fixed that one for you ~ A-Jay

Back to Back 4 Game Sweeps ! Red Sox are the Hottest Team in Baseball. Good Timing. A-Jay

What a Thursday Night Beat Down. As a New England Patriots fan - it's hard not to believe that this season has "Wicked" Potential. A-Jay

5/8 ounce Brass Silver Buddy. A-Jay

LOL ~ I was only 7 myself - But think of the possibilities ! There isn't a whole lot to say - between spinner baits, rattle baits & small crank baits - Burning them is a great way to get bit. A-Jay

Have a girlfriend that DRAGS YOU fishing ~ A-Jay

Try Sliding a 12 inch clear plastic drinking straw onto your line right are the rig tie on point. Seems to reduce the line to rig tangles a bit whether using Nylon or braid. A-Jay

See - there I go - Giving up the ship again. BPS - that's secret code for Bass Pro Shops. A-Jay

Thank You for the support & the advice. Care to share your personal Grub Preference ? A-Jay

There are a few concepts that I've come to know over the years that had I know them many years ago, when fishing was different, may have had an impact on my fish catches. Bass (and often Very Big Bass) can be caught the day the Ice goes out. I used to Wait for warmed weather - Stuu-Pid. Wish I knew what a drop shot was in 1966. And finally, wish I knew the power of speed back in the day as well. A-Jay

Fair enough ~ I guess it should be noted here & now that my personal collection of SK SB's can only be described as Obscene. The 1.5, 2.5 and more recently the 1.5 shallow (both silent & where available Rattling) have caught me a ton of bass. I'll offer Two Words of advice to you, Burn It. That is all. A-Jay

As a life long member of Red Sox nation, it doesn't hurt my feeling any seeing the NY team(s) not in 1st place, but there's no need to go there, at least blindly. Sanchez has saved what little remained of their "season" for them & their fans. He's on a roll. But MLB WILL ADJUST, they always do. His job will be to adjust with them. The Best Can & Do, the rest struggle in mediocrity. A-Jay

The past few seasons, the mid & especially late fall bass bite for me has been all about The Blade Bait. After reading about how & where to present them I set out fishing it. Wow, the initial result were pleasantly surprising. The more I fished it the more I learned about them the better the results. Since that first time out, I’ve had some very memorable days on the water bouncing one of these little guys along the bottom of the local lakes. But it’s time for a change. This fall I’m going to venture into the Umbrella rig zone. First making a major splash in bass fishing back in 2011 when Laurel Mississippi Pro Paul Elias, better known for kneeling & reeling, used it to crush the competition on Lake Guntersville in Alabama during an FLW event. This rig was the center of controversy and even prompted Top Level Tournament rules changes as well as many state fishing rules changes. Despite all of that, I've really never done much of it to speak of and really haven’t given it a fair chance to show what it’s capable of. Hopefully this is the year that I can make it happen. By all accounts, I have the right water and fish to do it. There is no shortage of different versions of the bait and plenty of different ways as far as tackle goes to present it. The Rigs themselves have change quite a bit from the initial introduction as well. Can’t do or fish them all so at least half this battle has been looking for which type / style of bait to throw and what gear to throw it on. After doing some research (reading / videos) of the material that’s applicable to this part of the country, I came across some information presented by one Mark Zona. I do believe in his methodology regarding the A-Rig (or as he calls it “The Widow Maker”). Z’s ideas on when, where & how to fish this chandelier of a bait appear to fit what I’m hoping to accomplish here. So armed with this info & full of confidence, I set out to put together a couple of A-Rig set ups. In an effort to at least get me heading in the right direction, and not wanting to waste prime fishing time doing the R & D, over the summer I’ve been trying different rods & reels to cast & retrieve the bait. Line choice, either nylon or braid, seems to be a point of contention as is jig head weight. What I did read in advance and have come to believe, even with only limited experience at this point is this: A longer handled, stout butt, soft tip stick is the way to go. Whether using heavy nylon or braided line, a larger capacity reel is helpful. The Z Train highly encourages 20 lb fluorocarbon line, so that’s where I’ll at least start out. So for the rod, I’ve tried what I have, the heaver stuff, 7’11” flippin sticks, 7’6” H action casters, and 7’6” MH Swim bait rods. For reels I tested my swimbait reel a Calcutta 300D and smaller 200D and my standard size casting reels in various gear ratios from 5.3:1 up to 7.3:1. Didn’t like ANY of the rods as they all felt either too big, too stiff or both. The 300D seemed like over kill and the 200D & standard reel’s line capacity went too low on a long bomb cast. The line has been 20 lb Seagar InvisX fluorocarbon. Lastly, I tried a ST Croix Rage rod 7’6”MH & Mod Fast I’d recently purchased (2) and that I’ve been happy with as a longer jig rod. Although only rated to 1 ¼ oz, when using the lighter A-Rig bait jig heads I planned on using (mostly 1/8 – ¼) even with the plastics I didn’t feel like the rod was taxed. So that’s the rods I’m going with. Mounted to them I got a pair of QUANTUM EXO PT EX200SPT 6.6:1 reels that have the 20 lb line capacity that I was looking for. As for the actual Rigs & baits, I’ve got a few different brands & designs. Some I’ll be fishing as they come and a couple I’ve modified a bit – we’ll see how that goes. Strike King Tour Grade Titanium Umbrella Rig (short arm), will be a main player and the other models I’ll be fishing were purchased a while ago, are no long available and I unfortunately don’t remember what they are called or who made them (CRS). SK Rage Swimmers, SK KVD Swim N Shiner, Berkley Hollow Body Baits, Reaction Innovations Skinny & Little Dipper, Z Man Scented Paddlerz & Zoom Swimmin Super Fluke will all get their chance to show me what they can do. They will get pinned to either a VMC Flat Shad Jig Head or a VMC Boxer Jig Head. Both have Premium 1X strong needle point hooks, complete with a forged shank, hi-carbon steel construction and traditional round bend that deliver excellent hooking capabilities and comes with a decent bait keeper. The Plan is, starting next trip out & until further notice, to fish the Rig in the same areas where the Blade bait scored well. Deeper, Steeper Clean bottom zones; hopefully spots that have some bait present. And so there it is – That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. A-Jay

How Long a bait is fishes is rarely an accurate indicator as to it's effectiveness. Where, When & How it's presented will often tell a much better story. And if I'm seeing the results I'm looking for with one brand of bait, I don't really have any interest in switching to something else regardless of what the rest of the planet is throwing. A-Jay

Nice ~ And that post fishing "Winner's Meal" just always seems to taste Just A Little Bit Better. A-Jay

What are the Stakes ? What Spoilers will be awarded the eventual Top Dawg ? A-Jay

There's a lot of hard earned, Gold Medal Bass Fishing comments in this thread. The kind that can change an average day into something much better. For me, Clear water with no wind chop means I'm looking deeper; either deeper in depth or deeper into the available cover or both. Once there's some wind I can usually get bit shallower, "around" cover & on or near the surface. A-Jay