Skinnyh2ofishin

When you consider that many baitfish (shad,shiners, etc.) are silvery to reflect their surroundings and become less visible from below, the clear spook starts to make more sense. Clear lures still create a silhouette which the fish can see, but the silhouette is not as pronounced as a solid lure color. The effect is more natural looking on sunny days than many colored lures would be.

I'll definitely call them and see what they say about it. Their service has been good in other situations so I'm not too worried about being hassled about it. The only reason I consider fixing it myself is because of buying it when it was on sale. Considering I paid $30 for the rod and $16 to ship it in the first place, if it costs me another $16 to ship to them with return shipping to me then I'll actually have paid more in shipping than the rod cost me in the first place! If the rod had broken I wouldn't even consider fixing myself, but I figure a little epoxy is much cheaper and faster to get back on the water than having them deal with it. But we'll see what they say and after I find out what the shipping will cost I'll reconsider. Thanks for the input guys, as always it is much appreciated.

That's awesome. It looks like he's sure hooked!

I recently bought a couple of the Cabela's XML casting rods during their sale for $30. Today after about a month and a half of regular use the entire reel seat came loose on one of them! It's one of the split grip models and the entire foregrip and reel seat came loose from the blank and is now completely free spinning. It just looks like an insufficient amount of adhesive or improper mixture was applied and it just came apart. Luckily nothing broke and it looks like there's enough space before the hook hanger to slide the whole thing forward and clean and re-epoxy it back in place. The downside to getting such a great deal on these rods is that for something small like this it would actually cost me more to mail it back and forth for warrenty repair than the rod cost! Anyone had something like this happen? This isn't a complaint about these rods as I've liked everything else about them and they seem like an outstanding value for the sale price, just wondered if anyone else had similar experiences.

Well, mine is usually me repeating to myself "go to sleep, you're fishing in the morning. Go to sleep, you're fishing in the morning. You need the sleep or you'll sleep through your alarm and be late to the ramp. Stop thinking about fishing and go to sleep!"

The guys are right, you need to ask lots of questions when buying a used boat. If you go in wanting a boat badly you may overlook things that you'll wish you hadn't later. That's why it's hard to estimate the value of something in a description. The same boat you describe could be a good deal or a real headache. Always ask to test drive the boat. Even a little tiller steer boat, you want to know that the motor runs as it should and the boat doesn't leak and you can't find that out while it's sitting in the driveway. Then if it runs well and fits your needs offer the guy what you are willing to pay for it and no more.

Well, ya might not have made the money, but congrats on being close anyway. Sounds like a good outing overall and it'll just make you want it that much more the next time.

Yep, bowfin, mudfish, amia calva, what ever works for ya. They can be pretty fun to catch when the bass fishing's slow. That looks like a decent one there.

I'd agree with those that said, just go fish the lake. Obviously everyone wants a record, but if the lake is a good fishery in the first place then its worth fishing. One thing you have to remember about electro-fishing is that the bass ALWAYS bite the silver worm! By which I mean, they don't have a choice but to be caught by Fish and Wildlife, but they always have the choice of biting your lure if or when you find them. If you enjoy fishing the lake, then fish it and if you get the big one, great, but if you only fish the lake because the record is in there, you could find yourself more frustrated than not.

Congrats on your new purchase. I too fish from a kayak and aside from not being able to travel as far or as fast, I hardly miss my bass boat. Trolling can work in a kayak, and I do it occasionally when I'm paddling from one area of the lake to another, but often it can be a pain (in the neck, literally) to keep looking back at your rod in the holder to make sure it hasn't snagged in the weeds or something. But if you just want to explore large areas of the lake it can be a great way to get to know the water you couldn't reach before. As for where to fish and what to use, basically you can use all the same lures you used from shore and even fish the same areas. If you think about it, there are usually spots along the shore that you caught more fish than others. Well, you caught more fish in those spots for one reason or another, be it a point, weedbed, etc. even if you didn't know it was there. You can fish those same spots from the kayak, in deeper water, and now you'll have the advantage of moving out into the lake from that spot and learning what was there that the fish are relating to. Good luck with your new craft, and remember to be safe, learn and practice some re-entry techniques.

I too still have a few jars of them that might as well just be specimen jars on display since I can't open them! I've always liked them though when I wanted a slower fall to my jig as I felt it slowed the jig down a little better than plastic. Now though, with plastic craw baits seemingly growing bigger and more enticing claws with each new variation, I haven't thrown pork in years and haven't missed them. Like Raul said, they seem to be more a hassle to carry around than craws, or any other plastic I use for trailers, that I can use for other things, t-rigs/c-rigs, as well. One Pork bait I do miss is the old pork eel, I think Strike King made. I loved the action of the eel by itself on a weedless hook.

Matt, I just PM'd you....And you're right, it would have been a much worse day had he taken my lure AND a finger or two. Those guys are nasty as all get-out and have necks so long there isn't much safe range for handling them. It was especially harrowing since, as I said, I fish from a kayak, so when he caught glimpse of my leg or anything he could snap at on the 'yak he went for that as well! I have to say, if this post was about breaking any other lure, I'm sure that the manufacturer wouldn't be jumping on here to say, "send it to me and I'll fix it." If Matt's lures weren't worth every penny for their outstanding workmanship and performance, they'd be worth it alone for the over-the-top customer service!!

Mine would definitely be a Zara Spook. I've also used the X-walk 13 and like it as well but it's on the heavy side.

Well, I had my most expensive and overall heart crushing fishing outing the other day. It's even taken a couple days for me to be able to let it out... Monday, I lost my Matts Hard Gill after only my third outing with it! I still have it but it is now a true three-piece bait, and not in a good way, thanks to a no good, low down, just plain mean softshell turtle. I had just made a long cast near some topped out hydrilla patches when the water boiled on my bait and I felt the pull of a potential personal best. The excitement only lasted about ten seconds though as the fight suddenly seemed very odd. "Maybe he's dug into the hydrilla" I thought as my kayak coasted closer. Then as I got on top of him I saw the tail segment of my 'Gill floating on the surface. "GULP." Then suddenly I could see the huge softshell spinning in circles about seven feet down. "***#$$#$#@@##$$##@#@#@@#@#$%." Well, the story ends with a long battle to unhook a PO'd turtle from my prized bait without adding a finger to two to his tally of destruction. My gill is now missing the entire front hook and pelvic fins, part of the dorsal, and the tail segment. I may attempt to epoxy the front hook and weight back in and fix the pin in the tail section to see if I can get it to work again, but it's pretty futile since the action will never be the same. There's no way I can afford another so I guess I'll have to do my best. :'(

I'm sorry to hear that. Another soul hooked on this time, energy, and bank account consuming sport by way of a freak accident while innocently catfishing. Just one and you're already out targetting them on purpose! But really, congrats on your first, or second, however you want to look at it! That first time for anything is special, but at least with bass fishing, the bigger they get the better the experience. ;D

Nice haul! You gotta love the fast action of panfish when you find the right spot, especially on microlite tackle. I can't help bass fishing even when I'm targetting panfish, it's just too tempting to toss one back as bait while I'm fishing. I always take at least one bass rod just for that when I'm panfishing and it's always worth it.

Just remember if you're using a standard sonar temperature reading, it is taking the temperature of the surface of the water. This doesn't correspond to the temperature that the bass are holding at since the temp drops throughout the water column and not always evenly. The surface temp also rises faster throughout the day, whereas deeper water isn't affected as much by the sun. Bass in very shallow water are going to be affected more by temperature variation throughout the day than bass in deeper water. Overall, temperature is merely one of the factors to my overall fishing plan, but I don't search for areas where the temp is the same as where I was just catching fish. If it's winter and the water is cold, I may fish areas of the lake that I know get more sun exposure and will warm up faster. Basically, to answer your question I use average water temperature as a planning factor before my trip, but I'm not fixated on small changes in temperature throughout the day on the lake.

It's awesome to see more people taking greater strides to maintain the health of our bass. I've worked quite a few tournaments with the FWC and have learned tons about what those bass go through. The mortality rate is surprising after a long tournament, but I can happily say that it seems to be slowly improving with the push of information on keeping the bass healthy both in the livewell throughout the day and during the weigh-in itself. If you're fishing from shore you don't have the benefit of a livewell and release aids to help revive the fish. What you can do though is take greater care to make sure the fish is out of the water as little as possible, and DON'T lay the fish on the ground or grass for a pic or beach them when landing. If the fish seems to be having trouble getting going during release, just hold the bass very gently by the jaw, down in the water and allow it to essentially revive itself. Snook in saltwater will actually hold on to your thumb to do this, and occasionally a bass will too, but a very loose hold does the same thing. You basically just want to hold the bass upright in the water and when it's ready to go it will go.

I'm assuming it's a small lake and you're fishing from shore since you mention it being 20 feet from shore. From shore it's usually a little more difficult since you can't get right on top of the fish to get them out if one gets you down in the thick stuff, but it's still worth fishing. From boat or shore I'd go about it with frogs/toads/topwaters during low light and throwing jigs or t-rigged worms/senkos/flukes/whatever during the heat of the day.

Marine biology is the study of organisms in salt or brackish waters so it technically differs from freshwater fisheries biology. If you're interested in careers in the freshwater biological sciences, contact your local Fish and Wildlife Department and they will usually allow you to shadow a biologist and learn what the job involves. Pay scales and overall job responsibilities can vary greatly, so just get in contact with fisheries biologists that work in your area and they can probably answer all the questions you might have.

It's illegal in most places to transfer fish, but especially if he's keeping anything he catches regardless of species, size, or bag limits. Either way, I'd say since you know he frequents the area, the next time you see him, shoot him...um...er... I mean report him, yeah that's what I'd do. But really, give your Fish and Wildlife Department a call.

Definitely a spinnerbait, but that also happens to be my anytime go-to bait. Plus I always have a rod rigged with a Spook and I love to throw that in the rain too.

X2 It's astounding how many exotic species are established here now (and I'm just talking about the fish!).

While I don't fish buzzbaits as often since I started fishing toads a few years ago, I still enjoy using them from time to time. I usually use a buzzbait in many of the same places I'd fish a toad, but usually not quite as deep in the thick stuff as I might use a toad. I've had plenty of success throwing them over pad fields and emergent grass and they're great for throwing parallel to reeds or other emergent vegetation and working along the edge. As for action, try changing up your retrieves periodically to see if the fish just want something a little different. Sometimes they'll hit best when I barely crank it along the surface at just fast enough to keep it at the surface. Other times they want it ridiculously fast, but my most popular presentation is a chugging-type retrieve much like KVD always talk about using his spinnerbaits. Pull it up to the surface and then use the rod to sweep the bait forward and let it drop back over and over again. Usually, as with any bait, the more you use it, the more you'll find out for yourself how you can fish it to be successful where you are.

I love those Eeliminators! I actually saw the prototypes being tested on an episode of Flats Class a couple weeks ago and they look awesome. Now seeing the video of the action under water I can't wait to get my hands on some.