lovecranking

What do you guys think...I've been watching this weather front coming through southern Wisc. that started Monday night with heavy storms. Now it's been constantly in the high 80's with heavy humidity and the rain has been on & off for the past 3 days. They are calling for periods of rain with temps in the 80's through tomorrow. Now on Friday the high is suppose to be in the mid 70's. Now is this really considered a cold front? Or since the rain has come & gone here start- ing Monday night, does this not bother the bass at all? So now I'm thinking of fishing Thurs afternoon/night figuring to get the fishing in before the temp changes on Friday. I really think since the front has been here most of the week, the bass aren't really bothered by either the rain or a predicted temp change on Friday. What's your opinion?

Need a little advice. I'm watching the weather and here is what it's showing. Rain with heavy thunderstorms on & off the next 3 days with temperatures staying about the same. And then it forecasts a cold front hitting Friday morning. Then starting Saturday, temps start moving back up to where they are right now (Weds.). Now let's say you can fish anytime now through Saturday. What would you target as you're 2 best days to fish and what do you look for when you're watching the weather? Temps(sudden changes)...rain...wind direction...barrometric press...or none of these...you just take your chances when you get up and actually see what kind of day it looks like?

Well...I was out yesterday & gave it a try. I had 1 hit that I missed and that was it. I'm heading out again in a couple of days & will try it again. I did what everyone suggested. Thanks.

Thanks for all of the info. As I'm heading to the lake tomorrow...I've got a few more questions. I take it this is rigged with no weight, correct? So if there is no weight...and the senko is kind of light...do you only throw this with spinning gear and on a day when there is little or no wind? I'm fishing a clear deep lake, is the wacky rig a good idea? Under what conditions do you use the wacky rig?

I've never done it. It looks kind of simple. What type of hook would you use? I've seen guys use a ewg 3/0. Is that the correct hook? Any other suggestions?

Let's talk red. I really love using red hooks...trebles on cranks...ewg for plastics. I think it improves your chance of the bass hitting the bait you are throwing. On new cranks I'll always change the front treble to red & the rear to a feathered dressed treble. On ewg I'll use a red ewg about 75% of the time I'm throwing plastics. So I'm obviously hooked on using red hooks on my baits. The other day I tried a little experiment and rigged up 2 poles. One pole had a LC ghost minnow sammy with a red front treble & a chart. dressed rear treble. The 2nd pole had a LC ghost minnow sammy with the standard front treble and the same chart. dressed treble for the rear. I stayed in the same area & alternated using each pole fished the same way. The results were: 6 bass using the red treble and 1 bass using the plain front treble. I'd like to hear from others whether you think using red actually improves your chances...or is it all a confidence thing? If you do use red, under what conditions do you decide to switch back and change your treble and/or ewg to a standard black finish?

bingo dobber???

I like to use Spike It, JJ's(after reading a Bass Resource post recommending JJ's), Bang spray and Mega Strike scent on my plastics. Mega Strike, for me, is the easiest to use and all I need is a towel after applying it. When I use the spray scent, no matter how careful I try to be, it sometimes ends up on the outside side of the boat. After spilling Spike It on the ledge of my boat last summer, I've been trying different ideas so I don't repeat that mistake. The idea I eventually went with was a Plano container. Now when I put Spike It or JJ's on my plastics, I'll do it with the bait inside the Plano container. The only problem is that I have to clean the box out when I'm done fishing for the day. I've thought about putting Spike It and/or JJ's in a small spray bottle. What's your favorite solution to applying scent without getting some in the boat?

NCthompson, I have always liked to cast cranks & I'd like to think I'm pretty good with them. But starting last year & continuing into this year, I have committed 80% of my time on the water forcing myself to learn how to fish plastics. I love cranks but plastics is so much more fun and also alot more frustrating. I'm now at the point of being comfortable with everything except properly setting the hook. I fish almost 80% of the time during the night so I'm just trying to feel for when I should set the hook. I'm to the point where I can feel when the fish has the bait...I "attempt" to set the hook and it works. I would say I'm successful in setting the hook maybe 30% of the time. I've been throwing fat ikas lately and it really is frustrating when I set the hook, miss & get the ika back to the boat just to see it hanging at the bottom of the hook. I understand what Catt, Avid, Brokejew & the others are saying and I think it's great advice. So take what they are telling you & just keep at it. I figure one of these times on the water it will all just fall together. Keep at it!

So how do you rig a sizmic toad? If I'm using it as a topwater, my guess is that it's weightless w/4/0 ewg rigged t-style, correct? Then also does it matter if you are using a spinning or casting reel? After casting out, am I bringing the toad back like a buzzbait?

BPS doesn't sell fat ikas at their stores (at least not in Illinois) but they do sell the palm trees. Also if you have a local bait shop, they will usually order anything through their supplier & you wouldn't have to pay for shipping.

Let's talk about night time fishing. I love to fish at night - light boat traffic w/no getting buzzed by jet skiers or power boats. I'm usually on the water by 8pm & off by 6am. My pattern is usually: I start with a lc sammy (aurora black) & a fat ika (pumpkin w/blk & grn flk). Next I'll throw a palm tree(blk & red or blk & blue). If it's slow it's time to switch to a lc fat cb ssr (cream soda) which almost always works. And then it's back to a sammy before I'm off the water. So now it's time to hear from other nighttimers. What are your lure selections?

Thanks Dodgeguy & others. As far as closing the bail by hand...it's like automatic, I've always done it w/my spinning reels. I did PM Avid & Roadwarrior and I think I'm going to try what they & others have suggested. I went to Gander Mt today & bought Yo-Zuri hybrid soft (8lb) and then I swung by BPS and bought Bass Pro XPS fluro line (6lb). I'm heading out this week to test both on my Stradics. Thanks for all of the info & suggestions.

So I gvuess I need to ask what is everyones favorite flurocarbon 6lb & 8lb line for spinning reels?

Lucky Craft Sammy's & LVR's.

I would also suggest that you have the right rod & reel. When I first started casting the Norman DD22's and Lucky Craft D12's & D20's, I was using a Shimano Curado 7.0:1 on a St. Croix medium rod. It felt like the reel was really straining as I cranked. I talked to my local bait shop and he suggested I use a Curado 5.0:1 with a St. Croix TBC Big Cranker rod. What a difference! It was so much easier to cast the big cranks. When you do cast, I get a lot of my fish on the stop & go retrieve. Good luck, hope this helps.

I've been using Vanish Transition flurocarbon 12 lb line on my baitcasters and Vanish Transition 6lb & 8lb line on my spinning reels. I like it on my bait reels and it works great especially when I'm casting big cranks like LC D12's, D20's & Norman DD 22's. But when I cast plastics, small cranks or grubs on my spinning reels, I get nothing but line twists and loops in my spools. I'd like to know if anyone else has had the same problems. Am I better off using Van. Trans. on my bait reels only & Trilene XL on my spinning reels? I like using flurocarbon on my spinning reels because you can feel everthing especially when I'm tossing fat ikas & senkos. But I'm getting sick of the line twists & wasted line. Any suggestions?

What ever LC lure you buy, I'd get Aurora Black. I think it's a killer color & you won't be disappointed.

I need a little info please. I fish a clear deep lake in Wisconsin. I've been reading the local posts where the guys are talking about drop shotting. They sometimes use a jig(?) but mostly use a drop shot hook. The technique is to cast it out, shake it w/ pauses all the back to the boat. I understand when drop shotting straight down that the weight depends on how windy it is. My question is when you cast out and work it back to the boat, does the size weight matter? I've never tried casting a drop shot rig. Any other suggestions?

I fish mainly at night (no jetskis and/or pleasure boaters to put up with) from around 10pm until usually about 7am. Now before I finish up, I'll always throw some topwater lures as the rest of you probably would. My question is, during the night have any of you thrown topwater lures? Or is it a waste of time because topwater lures mainly are for dusk/dawn & cloudy days. Just something I've been thinking about while I'm out at night. I'll be interested in what you all think.

I would suggest you look at St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass rods. They make a rod just for top water: (TBC68MXF). I've got 3 St. Croix TBC rods and love them.

Avid....just wondering if the smaller size pointers are better when the water temp is in the lower 50's? Or do you stick with the 100's & 128's if you are targeting larger bass?

I went out to my favorite lake today in southern Wisconsin just to get the boat out & use the Aqua-Vu. Lake Geneva is a clear 146 foot deep lake. The water temp today was 43.6 degrees. Bass fishing opens up next weekend. I'd like to get some advice on what your top three choices would be for lures, spinnerbaits and/or plastics when fishing for bass. If you could, I'd like to hear what your choices would be for each of these water temps: 45-50 degrees, 50-55 degrees and then 55-60 degrees.

I bought a new boat & trailer last year. The trailer has sealed bearings. Since there are no buddy bearings, how often do you think I need to take it to a trailer place to have the bearings greased? Since I just bought the boat at the end of July, do you think it needs to be done this year? Also, how often do you suggest the bearings be repacked? I was thinking once every 4-5 years.

What Avid said is what I was trying to say earlier. Again if it's not your standard Rapala, Norman, etc., BPS just doesn't stock much. I can understand that their stores have only so much floor space. But their catalog is so behind the times. Tackle Warehouse, Northern Bass, another site, they all have a larger (if not complete) inventory of lures & colors. I just don't get it.