mrbassky

I used to not be into pitching but I got into it alot more when I started using small jigs. Whenever I tried standard jigs I had little success. The lakes I fish are mostly small, pressured, clearer, and have little cover. I tried some bitsy bugs one day and wore them out. I dont use bitsy bugs anymore the hooks rust easy and skirts band melt easy and fall off and you cant replace that small skirt. Now I use the little terminator jigs instead. I like a 4in lizard with the head cut off or a small plastic trailor. I still catch alot of big fish I think catching big fish has to do more with the quite presentation and fishing tight to cover than using a big bait. The problem is these baits are light so you lose some accuracy and they dont work in thick brush or grass but I dont fish any thick stuff back home. I pitch usually with a G.Loomis IMX 7'6h rod or a castaway 7'6mh bud pruitt sig series rod with a calcutta reel and 15 florocarbon. I do like puching grass with a 1oz weight and sweet beaver occasionally and if I am fishing guntersville I go with a bigger bait but usually this is what I throw. If your not fishing heavy cover I suggest this setup. I think your better off adjusting your lure weight to thickness of cover your fishing than just throwing big stuff all the time. Depth also matters and you must adjust weight for that as well.

I have several in my arsenal. In no particular order. DB3s and a few other Bagleys-Wide action, very boyant, special big fish baits but dont dive very deep compared to others. If you arent fishing very deep they are my favorite for big fish. Strike King series 6-Tighter action, more baitfish like. Great burned. Hot Lips Express-Never been crazy about the action. But can get deeper than any other and great for the deepest fishing. Poes 300, 400-Classic wooden bait, tigher action than Bagley, great in early spring for some reason. Fat Free Shad-Good workhorse, Wider action, (new version has tighter action that T.Horton made himself) Good depth and nice warm weather bait Rapala DT series-Good workhores, You know what depth you getting, nice baits Risto Rap-discontinued I think, uniqe tight action for a round bait, Another good cold weather bait DD22-Classic still puts fish in boat, Another good summer bait No9 shad rap-Doesnt dive real deep but overlooked as deep crankbait Thats about it I havent used the LC craft deep divers yet but I plan to get a couple some day.

This what I meant by special action in my original post. The new LC BDS series are supposed to do this. I havent watched them in a swimming pool to find out but I read this from several pros. Alot of the best shallow crankers swear by these (Clunn, Ike, Ben Matsubi, ect.).

Besides I think baits are overatted usually. The spring event on BASS event on Falcon was won on 10in worm (and crankbait) as well. Another good 10in worm probably would worked. All that shows is if you need a 10in worm an anacoda is a good option. Its not an innovative must have lure.

I agree. He may have caught some fish on crankbaits as well. Usually they throw multiple lures in 3-4day tournaments. You hear a couple events were won on magic swimmers for example but Kenyon Hill caught alot of his fish on crig and Evers used a osprey swimbait as well. Dont count on seeing the footage because FLW east/west fishoff may not be on tv.

Good post. Otherwise, my experience is rather the opposite. If I retrieve mine even close to briskly, they run about a foot under the surface, no matter where I let them sink. It's an effective bait, but my expereince is that they do rise up on retrieve. When I think waking I think of slow retrieves. I still think they can stay down better than some lures but I am happy with how the sink. Line size and the different lure sizes play a factor as well. But I can keep them down a couple feet on a slow retrieve on florocarbon. You can add weight to the front hook anyway. My guess is it will be a while till the Fast sink is available but I would rather see a floating model.

Muskie is what I chase when im not Bassin. How's that peacock population doing down there. Muskie as well.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I purchased some last spring and was able to throw them this summer. I bought 2 of the 125s (Rainbow Trout, Purple Halo) all they had left, and 1 95 (white perch). I have since bought 2 more 125s. Halo greenie and ghost violet-I would recommend these 2 colors the greenie when its bright out and the new ghost violet when its dark it looks like a table rock shad color without the chart belly which I will add. I also bought a 165 which I have barely thrown. First some basics. These baits are listed as slow sink but actually they sink faster than you would expect (at least 95-125). This is not good if you plan on waking the bait. You can wake them but you have to work a little making long cast and reeling at fast pace from the get go. The good news is that these baits seem to stay at the depth you want and dont rise to the top like most swimbaits. You can let the bait sink a little and on a normal retrieve you fish that depth fairly easy. I havent fished them deeper than 5 ft but still thats more versatile than alot of swimbaits. And the good thing about the weight these suckers cast a MILE. I threw a 125 for muskie on a MUSKIE rod with a leader and all and it still casted great even on an oversized outfit (the action wasnt good-I was playing). I would throw the 95 on a regular cranking rod and the 125s on what you throw your heavier spinnerbaits. These baits are not line sensitive as far as action but lighter lines do help so dont use no heavier than you need to. Fishing the 95-I used this lure primarily in creeks this summer. I caught several good smallies for creek fish up to 16in. I kinda used in place of a swimming jig I usually use and caught more and better fish but the only problem was with trebles it hung more because alot of what we were fishing was in inches of water. So I recommend at least 1ft of depth for an magic swimmer but that shouldnt be a problem other than creeks and really shallow flats. The action was great. Usually smaller swimbaits dont have the same action but this one did. Its a very tight action but thats very realistic of baitfish that size. For durability it held up great I never noticed any wear and tear despite throwing banging it on rocks several times and catching several nice fish. I would recommend the 95 anytime you are after smaller fish or are trying to imitate smaller forage. If you havent seen one they are smaller than most of your regular jerkbaits and are a dead ringer for an emerald shiner or small blueback. Fishing the 125-If you have to get one get the 125. I would get 2 colors one with flash for sunny days and one with a flat color for cloudy days or lowlight conditions. One good thing is even the flashy colors are not overpowering like a chrome. But if you like me you might have to take what you can get and thats fine also. Like the 95 the 125 casts a mile and it also is a little hard to wake but it can be done. The bait can be twitched as well but I have seen alot of other baits that look better twitched. I stop swimming and give it a jerk occasionally but I think the swimming action is the strength. It has a wider action than the 95 but not too wide. I caught several fish burning a 125 over submerged milfoil these baits DO NOT roll ever ever. I started out trying to throw it in the thinner grass but was suprised to find it worked in all but the heaviest areas. Its not weedless by no means but with the size of the hooks and action it goes thru grass fairly well. If KVD likes the king shad because it can be worked fast then my calculations say that strike king will be working on a magic swimmer rip off soon. The Magic Swimmer is king of swimbaits that can be burned in my opinion. The action isnt very herky jerky but I think its so realistic it doesnt matter. All the baits rattle but its not overbearing. Trying the 165-I have only thrown it a few times but its another size category all together. You need a light swimbait rod for this puppy but you could get by with a heavy flippin stick if you must. Again cast a mile and the action is alot wider than the smaller sizes. It looks like a tighter version of a triple trout. Not near the color selection as other sizes but I expect it to grow over time. I like the rainbow trout color but it really isnt a very good trout imitation a white belly would have been nice. Price-good for the 95-125 considering the quality. Great for the 165. You WILL NOT find a hard swimbait of this quality at this price ($20). The only reason this swimbait isnt even more popular is its odd shape which I think people will learn isnt that big of deal when a fish comes up at it from the depths. The different sizes put these baits in different categories I think. The 95 and 125 are there own lure category really. They are swimbaits you can fish like jerkbaits with regular casting gear. The 165 and 225 are more like traditional swimbaits. And should be fished around ambush spots. I dont see sebile sponsoring alot of pros anytime soon because they dont need to. So this bait wont be talked about alot but I promise alot of people will be using them. I think if you are going to buy 1 hard swimbait buy this one. I wouldnt have bought more if I didnt like them. At 6.5in and $20 there is not another quality swimbait for that price. Pros-Price (for a swimbait), Durability, Quality, various sizes, unique action, refuses to roll over, can be fished deeper than some slow sinkers, Casts great, and Good variety of colors in some sizes Cons-Hard to find in good colors some times, only available in slow sinking as far as I know (weight can be added), Colors are good but really it looks like the color selection of a jerkbait not a swimbait, weird profile but I dont know that it matters

Its hard to find a topic with more different opinions. If you listen to D.Fritts, T.Faircloth and alot of other southern crankbait gurus they tell you wood is the only way to go and dont keep a plastic crankbait in the boat. But at the same time many pros use plastic crankbaits mostly KVD, Tim Horton and Rick Clunn to name a few. But the plastic guys arent as picky. The arguement for wood is its more boyant and has a magical action and no two are the same ect. ect. Plastic baits are more consistent (mostly), rattle better, cast better and are more durable. With new technology I hear alot of people say that many plastic crankbaits have action as good as wooden cranks. Lucky Craft is the most common example. Personally I like both and I think a good crankbait is a good crankbait. I think there are some good wooden crankbaits that have that special action but you dont have near the options with wood baits. And if its windy and you need accurate casts a good casting bait like a little john can put fish in the boat on accuracy alone. I personally cant see myself not having a couple shad raps, DB3s, or D-Baits in my boat some days to name a few. But I also need my wiggle warts, Lucky craft BDS, speed traps ect. Each crankbait has its time to shine and there are some plastic baits no wood bait compare and vice versa. Just my 2 cents

Matted-Spro Frog Partially Matted-KVD Swimming Jig Emergent-1oz tungsten weight and sweet beaver Submerged 0-3ft-Willow leaf Spinnerbait Submerged 3+-Cordell Spot-Royal Shad It also depends on the type of grass but these are usually my first choices.

Get some tackle. How about shakey heads, a couple Rapala DTs one for each depth, a buzzbait, a spinnerbait, a couple jigs, some senkos, and a couple local favorites and put them in a tacklebox. Get his tackle selection started so he can add on over time.

Be optimistic. That lawn fertilizer runoff will make the fishing better trust me. The only thing you need to worry about is access and overharvest and more pressure.

After diving depth I think action is most important key to crankbait success. So what action when? The most common theory is cold water use tight actions (shad raps, risto raps, speed traps, ect) and in warm water use a widder wobble (DB3, Fatfreeshad, Poes 300, wiggle wart). But one of the most popular spring crankbaits in cold clear water is a wiggle wart. I caught my first big bass on DB3 in march in 55 degree water. I have also had alot of success on shad raps in early spring. My guess on why the wiggle wart is so good in early spring is it looks a crayfish. Same with my DB3 I was throwing. So here is my list of what is a bigger factor in what action will work better. Here they are in order of importance. 1. Forage imitating-I think this is most important. I think it also plays a role in how you fish your lure. If you bouncing a lure off rocks and digging into a bottom I think a wide wobble just looks alot better than a tight wobble. If you not making bottom contact and ticking to tops of grass and fishing more open water imitating baitfish a tight wobble is more natural. 2. Cover-this is fishability. For ripping thru grass a tight wobble works better. You can fish a wide wobbler thru grass by stopping when it hits grass and letting it float out of the grass I found this worked better once during a cold front. For fishing around rocks a wide wobble fishes better. For power fishing brush its the opposite of grass a widewobbler is a better power bait and the tight wobble has to be finessed. Alot of times I end up picking you crankbait based on where I am fishing. 3. Water clarity-Tight wobbles look more natural in clear water and wide wobblers put out more vibration in dirty water but both work vice versa. I think the more cover you contact the less water clarity is a factor. I think the deeper you go the less water clarity matters. 4. Lure speed-you can fish a tight wobbler faster most of the time and easier. I think these are the factors that matter in my opinion. I left off season because I think thats really a connection with forage (spring-craws, winter-baitfish). I also left out water temperature. I am sure alot of people will disagree with this but heres my reasoning. In the coldest water baitfish are the main forage in alot of places so people tend to do better on tight actions. Also people tend to fish clear water when its cold which also favors tighter actions. In the summer people usually look for dirtier water, also fishing shallow around brush is big in warmer water. For deep cranking usually contacting the bottom is key which is good for wide wobblers. I think water temperature has little if any factor in crankbait success itself. The best crankbait I have ever used in extremely cold water where I live (Dec, Jan) has a wide wobble. Its flat and looks like a baitfish but this lure can only be fished slow which is key. It works because the lakes here are murky in the winter and the extra vibration helps alot. I think retrieve speed is just as important or more important than wobble. http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/iaconelli_crankbaits.html This is an article by Iaconelli on crankbaits and he mentions grass vs wood in his selections also but he think water temp is the other key. I just think its a misconception because water temp changes the way we fish which plays a big role in which actions work better. So what are your thoughts on crankbait actions????

Me and some buddies were fishing a small lake and one of my friends lost a good bass on a crankbait when it wraped him up around a tree. Later that week I caught the same bass. It still had his crankbait in its mouth (a shad rap to be exact). I got the crankbait out and gave it back to my friend. The bass weighed 3'8. I also caught several turtles, carp (on lures), frogs, salamanders, I also caught a cardboard cup holder you get a drivethru. When I pulled it went sideways and if I lost it I would have sworn it was a big bass.

WOW!! The purpose of my post was to explain why I thought unpegged weights hook more fish. I peg my weight when fishing around cover and the thicker the cover the closer I put my weight to the lure. I never said hook selection didnt matter I think its alot more important to the hookup % thank peg/unpeg selection. Obviously you can catch alot of fish on pegged rigs. With the right hookset there isnt much difference in hooksets. I think alot of people took it as I was saying they should be pegging their sinkers and thats not the case. Great Discussion

not everyone... If you could scientifically separate a reasonable sample of bites with each scenario, you might be able to draw a conclusion... The biggest problem with your train of thought is that your position requires that the hook gap be less than the diameter of the weight and that the hookset be in a straight line at jaw level which can't happen. I would still counter that your argument, even if it were true, does not account for the fact that in cover you will get more bites with the pegged sinker. (since you spend less time hung and do not disturb fish in the area) not to mention that you have a straight line connection with a pegged weight... with unpegged, the fish can take the bait off in any direction and the weight's position could create slack on the hookset. Oh, and any argument on hooking should consider hook design and the relative position of hook point to eye. It does matter. You guys are missing the point. I am not say dont peg your weight in very heavy cover. You cant detect bites if its not pegged in the real thick stuff and you will have alot of slack in your line. I read for example one time Harlod Allen talking about worm fishing and the guy with the unpegged weight might catch %20 more over a day fishing fairly open water. I have caught small bass on a shakey head where the weight of the jig head was sticking out of the fishes mouth, as the hook was penetrating the weight of the jighead opened the mouth slightly. The fish bite down so hard its not forcing the mouth wide open but if its a small fish and the weight hits the lips before hook is finished penetrating or started penetrating then its not rock science the sinker has to go somewhere. Like I said pg 50 Nov-Dec FLW 08 I am not the only one who believes this SOMETIMES affects hooksets. Only with smaller fish and only a fraction but sometimes you gotta peg and you can avoid it by not snap setting. Just my 2 cents

Big difference. Whats the distance from the eye of a jig to the bend of a hook on a texas rig? Its shorter. And what do you think has a better hooking % a jig or unweighted worm. Like I said it matters more on larger weights like 1oz punching rigs and with small bass than larger fish. With big fish their mouth is so big it wont matter. But I recently read in FLW where a pro said he doesnt use a snap set with 1oz punch rigs because it forces the mouth to open some and you miss alot of smaller keeper size fish, JT Kenney to be exact but what does he know. So I am not the only one who thinks this. Just my in depth theory on some old sayings.

Everyone knows you hook more fish with an unpegged sinker but do you guys know why? The reason is that when a fish eats you pegged bait he gets the weight in his mouth as well. So how does that matter you ask? Well when you set the hook the sinker hits the fishes mouth. Grasp a texas rig in you hands with the line between your fingers and pull the line (not hard) the first thing you fell is the sinker hitting your fingers. This forces the bass mouth open most times which causes the hook to skin hook the bass and not penetrate as deep. This is especially true on smaller bass and with bigger weights. When you use a unpegged sinker or crig or unweighted worm the sinker will not be inside the mouth to force it open on hookset and the worm will flex and the hook will penetrate properly. New flipping rigs have the weights below the hook for this reason. The weight is atached to the bend in the hook so the rig looks upside down. This way even with the weight in the mouth it wont contact the inside of the fishes mouth when you set the hook. A smaller diameter sinker would also force the fishes mouth open less which is why tungsten weights can increase your hookup percentage. You always hear people say you catch more fish with a lighter sinker this part of the reason. And keep in mind a hard hook set will the force the mouth open even more. When I fish around cover that isnt too heavy but I want to peg the weight I put a small bobber stop 10inches infront of the sinker. This allows me to get the best of both worlds the sinker cant slide to far down the line and sinker will not be eaten by the bass as often. This is why the force of your hook set, the size of fish, and the makeup of your rig can play a role in how well you hook fish. Just a little information I tend to think about when I decide to rig up and when I set the hook.

I have never heard of Decay causing enough oxygen depletion to affect bass. And if it did the effect would only be on the bottom where woody debris had collected. And the time period for when the heaviest amout of decay would occur for your lake has already passed. The first couple years are the most intense when branches and small material falls to the bottom. Fish the timber and good luck.

Lucky Craft Moonsault. Cast better but pricey. Also the discontinued Excalibur Shad-R plastic and heavier but hard to find anymore. I have a little stock pile for windy days when I cant throw a shad rap.

Wind is worst than lockjaw. It can blow hard all week and ruin a vacation.

I think misread what I was saying. I dont mind fishing from the back of the boat. Our rules state the co-angler has NO say in where the boater fishes. Thats the luck part I was talking about. And I dont care who you are you cant catch fish where there arent any. And at the state championship even if you qualify its the same rules there no say in where you fish. KVD couldnt make the top 6 from a 100 man field fishing terrible water. Just cant see spending several hundered bucks to fish and draw with some guy who doesnt put you in a spot where you have a chance. www.kybassfed.com

No way to tell. I fish some good smallmouth creeks and rivers and had several 40+ fish days just on what I caught, averaging 5 smallies over 15in. I caught 20 or so 15in bass at Guntersville on a long weekend trip. Best 5 one day went 19lbs. Had plenty of 20 fish days fishing big strip ponds several 4lb fish in those. 1 33inch muskie. Finished 2nd in 3 club tournaments (I fished 4). I had a good year but didnt fish as much as I wanted this year will be different I moved and have a job where I only work 4 10hr days tues-fri May-September. And I am buying a small boat this winter ;D And my favorite little tournament trail returns from its one year break.

Smallmouth love madtoms and they are tiny catfish. Bass may prefer baby catfish.

There is a company called Lion's Den that has been opening porn businesses along interstates. I saw a lot of them on a road trip through the midwest last year, particularly through Kansas and Missouri. I do know of one across the river from Louisville in Indiana that was the cause of a lot of protest. Big difference between a adult bookstore and a strip club. There are Adult stores scattered around but I dont think anybody in Kentucky cares. Strip clubs are another story and you did mention a stripper dating someone. I still think a bootlegger or pot grower could have more character or be more interesting.