Simp

No problem, I've got a thousand different colors to for conditions. Black and blue is a good go to when not knowing his water clarity, depth fishing ect. I fish black and blue on my muddy shallow lake and a heavy finesse war early in pond scum on my clear lakes again I'm always changing based on conditions. Just trying to give a begining jig man a tried and tested combo that should work well in all conditions. There are certainly many great jigs out there and the two or three I've listed have worked great for me and at a great price. Lunker lure is out of my home town, heck even my club. Btw make sure your not using mono. I usually use heavy fluro for my jig fishing.

Jig because I can fish it in any cover and any depth.

Well a jig has become my bread and butter lure. It's a lure some people stay away from but there isn't a reason why they should. Let me say this you NEED only one color combo and thats black and blue. Sure there are times lighter colors are better in clear water but for 95% of the time black and blue will out catch all other colors. Just go buy a couple jigs. DONT OVER PAY! Simply buy some Lunker Lure Ultimate Rattling jig for like 2.50-3$ or Revenge jigs in black in blue to start off. Next buy a pack of Rage Craw's in Okeechobee (it's a light back and blue). Next comes fishing it. First Pitchin and Flipping. Personally I'm a Pitching man. I can pitch a bait almost as far as I can cast a bait with a long rod. You don't have to learn to do this to fish a jig but 90% of my jig fishing is done by doing this. It allows you to hit a spot with pin point accuracy. This enables you to focus on the high priory spots and bypass un productive water. One of my lakes is a very shallow lake with wood cover and certain years heavy grass. When fishing this lake I can quickly hit priority targets like holes in a grass beds. A point that sticks out ect and still cover water. Whats great is with that rage craw you can also make a cast right down a grass line and swim it. The craw legs just flap like crazy and man there are days this is just the way to fish. Casting jigs. IMHO this is a different beast and harder to learn. I'm just glad a couple of friends on Bass Resource built my confidence at KY lake on a roadtrip doing this. Casting a jig and bringing it back slowly IMHO requires that you have nailed down the bass are in a certain depth zone or holding to a specific piece of cover. Meaning don't just go down a deep bank slowly crawling a jig on the bottom in early September. This method of fishing generally is not the best search tactic. Examples of when it's good are 1) Post spawn- after a few weeks and bass are looking to move deep. Find a point that is near a spawning pocket or drops to deap water and go up and down it. Look for cover like rocks, trees, or brush. Personally I throw a deep crank first and try to catch a couple. Usually the first two are small and then I throw the jig and work the area again. Many times this is when you catch the big girl. You can also reverse this tactic in early spring when bass are moving up from deeper water. 2) Cold condition- When the water temps start to hit 50 or less a jig in 12-20ft of water can catch you some of the biggest fish of your life. Look for banks with steep sides that drops quickly, then look for rocks and ones with heavy wood. These will be prime areas for a big females. FYI if you ever find a great deep bank like this in 50 degree water. PLEASE look at your graph! You might come across a giant school of shad that look like a giant cloud on your sonar. When if this happens buy a spoon or if you have one put one on. Then just drop that spoon in that bait ball and jig it up and down or whats great is you can also do this with a jig. Well I've went on way to long, but it's a topic I love and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Please give it time to learn and it will pay off. You can learn it alone but it would help to fish with somebody who has confidence and knows where and when to use it. I know it made a difference to me and I hope we on Bass Resource can help you to.

Ya but the next few days of fishing were amazing!

It;s REALLY hard to guess a fish by a photo. That fish has a great healthy form and it could be a 10lber to many if they didn't have a reference to judge the length of that fish. I'd guess right below 5lbs but it could be as low as 4lbs and as high as 5.5lbs IMHO.

Well I've got second I don't know how many times but yesterday I got the win. We fished a very small lake that is close to being trolling motor only in size. The lake had a severe fish kill a few years ago and they have worked hard bringing it back. Including transplanting some bass from my old favorite pond that was drained. The pic in my sig features a bass from that pond. The lake itself is extremely shallow and features cypress trees and pads. What makes me proud of the win is that I had never seen the lake before yesterday and neither had my partner. The lake is about a hour or two hour drive away.and there isn't any real money to be won. We don't put in a ton of cash for our club tourneys. and I was just going to fish it for fun and the club points. I'd heard the bite was very tough and it was ultra clear water. I was also told about some very small baitfish and possible fry. So i set up a quad bladed spinnerbait with small blades AND a trailer hook. The wind quickly picked up and I suggested we hit a area that was being pounded by wind (I was the non boater). The area has a few different pad fields and offered some deaper water then most the lake. I also got to hand it to KVD! I used all the tactics he talks about doing in those conditions. So I burned the crap out of that spinnerbait and jerked it like crazy. For the second tourney in a row I caught our limit as a non boater. My partner switched baits all day until finally getting out a spennerbait after i got my 4th keeper. Even then he swapped that out several times. Then I finally broke the whole story down as why i had already caught our limit of 6 fish and he hadn't caught anything but a bluegill. He then went to my retrieve and got a nice keeper to cull out small one. I got to had it to him though he has a amazing net man! It was a day where you had to be. Then wind was blowing like crazy and several times we had to get fish that were in pads and wouldn't come out. He did a great job at positioning the boat all day and he was smart enough to ask to swap off some so neither one of us would get to tired, When three came we were ready for weigh in though. To wrap things up our day hadn't started off fast and I could tell it was tough. Allot of anglers choosing to hide from the wind and not use it like us. Most boats told us they had maybe one or two keepers and that was all. So I was hopefull going to weigh in, but it had always seemed somebody had something better. Nobody had a smile on their faces but my partner and I. Several had no fish, many had one, and nobody had a limit but us. We ended up winning by 6-7lbs!

Both are great but I like the toad more. The only reason why is it hangs on my local style of grass less. It also seems easier to rig.

Well I've sent a boat load of PM since monday and I'm officially going now. So ANYBODY with open seats PM I'd love to fish with anybody and everybody. My best memories of these trips are always fishing with new and old friends. I can remember my first trip at the first KY lake trip. Ghotti and his wife sat me down and had breakfast with me. I really didn't know anybody on the board all that well yet. I just knew I loved reading and learning about fishing on here. So i just had to meet these guys. They made the effort to welcome me and told me about the amazing behind the scene job he did here at the time. I was amazed I hadn't even thought about the million little things that make this site amazing. So as new members join and old members look to reconnect this road trip is a opportunity for us all to relax and enjoy what we all love doing FISH!

You guys will be glad to know I just got back from the police dept. A report has been filled.

Well we wil see what happens. First time I've ever been in accident like this. Cops weren't called mainly because we were close to just leaving neither of us saw any damage at first. It wasn't until the second pass that he saw anything and I didn't notice damage until I was at the mechanic a block away from the accident.. You don't SEE any damage to my motor until the mechanic spun the prop and it wobbled. Again we have now also noticed the red paint on the bottom of my motor and I will take a photo. I figure despite no cops its hard to dispute he's at fault for either situation. You can't ride a guy like that at a stop sign or at a railroad. HE states I rolled back and hit him. So what if that did happen (it didn') he has to give room. The road was flat and there is no way even if I'm wrong it couldn't have gone back more then 1ft.. My insurance company agreed, but im sure his might feel different. We were both on the phone with insurance companies minutes after.

Well I was heading to the mechanic after making arrangements to have my carbs and water pump worked on today. While on the way on a small slow speed road a shinny new mustang hit my motor! He claims my truck rolled at the stop sign and hit him. The road was flat and no hills BTW. Even if that was the case you have to give a guy room in case they have a stick and i do. He also came up to my window saw i had stick shift and then made the claim. What really happened was I slowed to go over rail road tracks and he wasn't paying attention and swerved and hit my motor. How else can he explain the fact his right side headlight is where the scratch is on his car. My motor is in the center of my boat held in place by transom saver and power trim. So i went on to the mechanic thinking nothing was wrong when he spun my prop and it wobbled! He bent my prop shaft!!! Looks like it's going to be a expensive fix. I've called my insurance and his right away! Explained what happened. No cops were called because at the time it looked like there was no damage. He didn't see any on his until a second look and I didn't see any at the time to mine. I now see red paint on my motor from his red mustang. Man I'm ticked his insurance better not try to screw me around! .

No doubt one of the best hosts out there. He really made you feel like you were out there with them.

You the man Rhino! Maybe a big LM this year to go with the big smallie you caught from last year with the old man huh?

Guys here is my situation. I really dont think i can make it unless I'm a non boater and I do need a roomy. I dont have a room so ya anybody with a open bed I'd love to take you up on it. Rhino I'd love to do some fishing with you man, so any of those days or heck even all of them would be great LOL!.

Ya a cranking rod isn't what you want to be throwing a jig on. Generally a 7ft or longer, Meduim Heavy, with a fast tips is what is used for a jig rod. Heavy line is also usually used with these set ups, but water clarity plays a big factor here. When the water becomes ultra clear often anglers will down size there line and jigs. This often prompts a switch to Spinning tackle. With that said there is no reason why spinning gear cant be used for heavier jig fishing. I personally want to stress how much jig fishing is a whole new ball game. You need to learn the feel of everything! Think about that for a moment. How long is going to take for yourself to fish and feel all the different types of grass out there, chuck rocks vs pebbles, logs vs the end of a branch where the limbs slim and flexible. How about learning how long it takes for your jig to fall? I can't tell you how many fish i've caught because I realize i should have felt bottom but instead feel nothing. Set the HOOK it's a fish! Learn all these things and a thousand more and your still going to set the hook 10 times a day with nothing there. Could of been nothing, could have been a bluegill, could have been a bass. Once things for sure if a leg of your trailers gone it was something so throw it back in there! So keep at it and have fun!

Left a trolling behind once:(. How you ask? Well I was 16 and bought a 12ft boat that I would haul in the back of my Ranger. I then had to load everything into it TR motor. battery, rods ect. One day i just forgot the TR motor at the lake!

We sometimes forget that some people didn't catch there first over 5lbs until recently. BTW folks as of right now I'm still looking for a roommate. Also any update on the boats situation? I haven't sent in my form yet because it looks like we need boaters now and it might be tough for me to be a boater this year. Trying my best to work it all out and get it budgeted. Edit- I also just wanted to apologize to Long mike for not getting the form in sooner. I had it all planed out with the old man but like I said he pulled out at the last minute on me and left me scrambling.

Agreed it looks like it be best if I can bring my boat. I'll have to see how my finances shape up before I decide I guess. I'll try to keep everybody appraised.

Well I just had a 8oz difference. Caught a good one that weighed 7"2 on a Berkeley scale and 7"10 on a certified high dollar scale that is used for all our tourneys.

Ok guys my old man has pulled out of the trip on me. So I'm now looking at needing a roommate now. Scrutch I may take you upon your offer. I'm in southern il and might be able to meet you somewhere. Mike you know my 17ft tracker with. 60 hp. It's not the best in big water but as long as it doesn't blow it's fine. How bad are we on boats?

Thanks guys I did the math and that 7.65= just over 7 pounds and 10 ounces. It was nice to have it weighed on certified scales to. The first weight we had on his hook style scale from the boat said 7"2 but he said it weighed lite and it did by 8 ounces. Sure makes me wonder what the one in my sig would have weighed on good scales instead of some cheap sring loaded scale. The coolest thing was the big waller he did when he tried to jump. My partner who is a fantastic fisherman just said "Oh my GOD!". I'm lucky to because we had standing timber everywhere and I only had 12lb test on. I was some how able to turn him to the boat and get him comming towards me in a hurry. My partner also did a great net job.

We just finished a club tourney today and it didn't go to bad. I fished as the non boater today but somehow I ended up catching all the fish we weighed in. That included my new PB at 7.65 pounds. We ended up second and I won big bass. I thought it might be a big fish day to so I even brought a camera not just a cell camera. My mom brought my niece and nephew over to watch the weigh in. We posed and took some photos and trusted they new how to work a camera. Only when I got home there was no photos saved. Man I've been ticked ever since. I don't have to tell you guys how long and hard we work to catch a PB and then not to get any good photos. I'm mad at myself as well I guess, because if you want a good photo that bad you should always check the photos and make sure everything is a ok before you release it. I guess my sportsmanship at the moment took over and wanted to get the fish back in the water ASAP. So this crappy cell phone pick is the only one I'll ever have of it.

Well I have ton a ton of Pond fishing and I've enjoyed it as much if not more then from a boat. IMHO some things to avoid are firstly throwing a crankbait, because of the depth changes from deep to shallow causes it to be less effective for one. An example would be throwing a crank that is made to run 10FT deep. Well you cast it out and it takes 5yds to get to is proper depth. Then 5 yds later the pond gets shallow and suddenly your using a crankbait that is digging into the bottom. Many times this is great but you dont want a situation where you lure is constantly runing at a depth it wasnt made for. The lure may break, get snaged, and plain just not catch fish as well as intended. So if you want to use one stick to a squarebill that is designed to run shallow but be prepared to loose some. The second thing to avoid is light line. Not all but most ponds where I'm from has a fair amount of grass in the summer. When you get a bass hooked up and he gets in the grass suddenly that bass adds about 2-5pds to itself. So imagine trying to land a 8pnder with 8lb line. I'd recommended you by a spool of braid and try it out. The line many seem expensive for how much you get but braid lasts for a very long time. You also will be able to avoid breaking off lures that often. Just simply pull the rod straight back at you when your hung rather then making a motion like you do when u hook a fish. Braid is often to strong you would break your rod first. So simply pull it straight back at you and if need be put you thumb on the spool when you pull so the drag doesnt engage. Most times that stick or grass will either break or be pulled in.

Glad u found us. Check out the Roadtrip thread if you want to have a fishing trip of a life time!

So I just talked to my fishing partner for a up coming local club tournament. He just got back from working the Anglers Choice Classic at Guntersville. It took a one day, 5 fish weight of over 36lbs to win it!!!!!!