Sweetwater

I bet that was fun...bowfin are mean fish...I love catchin them.

1st Seargeant William Bodette makes up for all the "celebrities" on the show.

Sorry for your loss.

I use the dessicant cannister out of non prescription drug bottles in my crankbait box. Helps keep rust away.

X2

My, my, my, what a tangled web we weave.

Everyone is different, but I reel down till my rod tip is pointing at the line, then snap the rodtip sharply straight up. Sharp hooks are crucial.

I use gammy ewg red hooks for weightless trickworming and have for years. I don't have hook up issues, but I bet I'm more patient with my hookset and I don't do the "Ric Flair off the top rope" hookset. Reel down, and a nice sharp snap up of the rod tip. Works every time. And, I believe the EWG is more of a benefit keeping the fish buttoned after hookset.

Where abouts in south ga are you? The south ga area is loaded with bass.

I still can't get over the size of them bluegill you caught the other day. Jeezum crow man. We now return you to your regularly scheduled topic.

I love me some lightning rod. The one I got is long in the tooth, but still does it's job as a trick worm rod.

I've used 2/6 and now 3/8 fireline on my 2000 size spinning reel for years. If you look on the long braid thread now on the page, there is some good info there. I don't have issues with wind knots except at night when I can't see.

What the bass are feeding on, or what the forage base is, dictates what lures they will hit. On the smaller bodies of water I fish, where bluegill are the main forage, watermelon seed trickworms are "THE" thing. On a couple of bigger lakes I fish, gizzard shad are the preferred forage, therefore shad imitating lures like cranks and spinnerbaits work best. Imitate what the bass are feeding on and you have solved the puzzle.

Got it fixed. Thanks again.

I fish on a tight budget, but braid is the one luxury I afford myself because of the increase in my catch rate. In my 30 odd years of bass fishing, no other single tackle change has increased my catch rate like braid has. I spool my spinning rigs with 2/6 and 3/8 fireline and have for 5 years (Just started trying out power pro). I am very happy with it. IMO...There is no better Senko/Trick worm rig than my 7' M power spinner rigged with fireline, and this is mainly what I use braid for, not the strength so much as the increased sensitivity, feel, zero stretch, and casting distance. So yes, braid can used on spinning gear. That being said, one has to make adjustments to fishing technique I.E. : Drag must be set lighter and one must be careful not to put too much pressure when playing larger fish as the no stretch line will wallow out the hook. I have much more to add on the subject, but time is an issue. I'll come back later with more info.

Kudos to you. May the fishing gods shower you with good ju-ju.

Catching bass on an UL is a blast, but as others have said, you need to upgrade size for bass fishing. I use spinning gear 85% of the time. For a rig, I highly recommend: Reel: Either a Mitchell 308x(2000) or a Diawa procaster in the 2000 size. Both are $30.00 and are excellent reels for the money. Rod: A berkerly lightning rod in medium power, 6'6" to 7' in length. IMO...best rod out there for $30.00. Line: I use fireline in the 2/6 and 3/8 sizes. Some here prefer Power Pro, but I have used fireline for 5 years now without any issues whatsoever. With this rig and line, very light lures can be fished without a problem, but there's still enough backbone to handle large fish. For lures, I highly recommend trying a weightless watermelon seed zoom trick worm threaded on a gamagatzu 2/0 EWG hook.

I live out here in Douglasville, 30 min. west of Atlanta. Mostly fish ponds. Tanner state park has two excellent ponds. Fish the river a good bit, along with sweetwater creek. Fish west point on occassion. My boss fishes allatoona every Thursday and kills the stripers. I go with him on occassion.

My goto bait is a weightless watermelon seed trick worm. Easy to fish, cheap, and it gets eaten everywhere I fish.

You gonna eat that? ;D

Around here, the following works very well.... zoom old monster 10 1/2" twirl tail in junebug/red flake rigged on 3/0 gammie EWG. 1/16" ounce splitshot about a foot up the line. Swim slowly like slow rolling a spinnerbait. Every now and then, allow to die to the bottom. Be sure to maintain very firm grip on your rod.

Good job rouge. The one thing that helped me become a better deep water bass angler was a buddy of mine that got me into hybrid fishing, which requires fishing deep structure. After I learned to work a bait in 30 feet of water, 15 feet was a piece of cake.

shoot RW.... I need all the help I can get. Actually, that's why I came here. The day I stop trying to improve as an angler is the day I quit fishing, which will be the same day I quit breathing. I cannot claim any credit for the knowledge I've passed on here. I was fortunate enough to have learned from two very good worm fisherman, one was a ww2 vet from your neck of the woods. I owe it to them and the sport to pass on what has been passed on to me. I appreciate the fact that you took the time to make some suggestions. Regarding tubes..... I love tubes. I love the way they look in the water. I've thrown them quite a bit without one fish to show for my efforts. I know tubes are a fish catching bait. I just believe the waters I fish aren't the best for tube fishing. Lake west point is not a clear lake. I fish the larger, louder plastics there because I'd rather catch LM than spots. I bet a tube would be effective there during the spawn. Regarding the fat ika... I'm in the process of deciding what size/color i want to try first. They may work at the state park lake, but I've thrown almost every size/color plastic at these fish, and they want the watermelon trick worm. I'm a fairly stubborn fellow, but after 7 years, these fish have convinced me. Again, I appreciate the advice. Gonna give some of that yozuri hybrid a try soon.

Many anglers don't like summer fishing, but I love it. The bass stack up in reliable locations, and generally stay on the same feeding/location pattern until the water temps start dropping. I catch bigger bass during the summer. At lake west point, the bass will be stacked up on main lake structure in water from 8-25 ft deep. Humps, roadbeds, pondams, creek channels, all will hold fish this year. The hottest structures will be the ones close to the river channel, shallow flats, and will have some form of current breaking cover. These bass can be caught all day long. A c-rig is one of the better ways to catch these bass. I go with either a zoom magnum lizard or 10 1/2" old monster in junebug or red shad. A jigging spoon is also a productive bait for this pattern. At my favorite smaller body of water, a 10 acre jewel in a state park that sees few bass anglers, there are several productive locations using one bait;a watermelon seed trick worm. Along the entire length of one long shoreline, there is a canopy of overhanging branches sometimes spanning 15 ft. over the water. The water is deep right up to the bank, running 6-8 ft. Skipping the trickworm under those branches is very productive. Also, where this shoreline meets the dam, there are several manmade brushpiles on the bottom in 8-10 feet of water that the bass stack up on. It takes patience, but the trick worm kills em. Again, this is a pattern that is best when the sun is high. On a 300 acre reservoir I used to live on, docks and jig/pigs were the ticket for high sun fishing. This was also a very good nightime bass lake. All of these examples contain very different patterns, but the basics behind them are the same. Slower,bigger,baits. Deeper water. Structure or cover.

Shiloh.... In theory, a dropshot rig should be more sensitive than a carolina rig, but I've not fished a drop shot rig enough to say. I will say this about sensitivity in a c-rig.... My c-rig outfit,which also doubles as my jig/pig rig, jigging spoon rig, and sometime striper-catfish live bait rig, is an 8 year old mega cast low profile on the cheapest bps graphite rod in 7' mh. It is the first baitcaster I ever owned,and cost $30 new. It is spooled with pline. The sensitivity in my rig is more than good enough for crigging. Most times fish take the bait, I feel it. Reading the bottom is not a problem. The keys to sensitivity in a crig are: Rigging and proper technique. Rigging: I use a crig when targeting open water structure 6 feet and deeper where cover is scattered or absent, or in deep weeds. A big weight is no issue for my crigging, so I throw a 1 ounce sinker 98% of the time. The heavier the weight,the better the feel and ability to work the line. Use brass or tungsten. The rig must consist of unpegged weight-plastic bead-clacker-swivel-leader to maximize feel. I fished a lead weight for years before finally trying brass, which amplifies vibration from the line like guitar pickups do. I use a plastic bead instead of glass because I feel it transmits more vibration than glass. Technique: Proper line tension when working the bait is crucial to sensitivity and strike detection. A small bow must be kept in the line at all times, but particularly on the fall, when most strikes occur. This allows a fish to take the bait without feeling any weight or rod. The weight of the bow keeps the main line in contact with the inside of the brass, maximizing vibration transmitted up the line. Also, I always keep a thumb on the spool and a finger on the blank. If I get a tap that I'm unsure about; I'll lower the rod tip some and take some line in my off hand fingers,still keeping the bow in the line. Many times I can feel a fish that took the bait and hasn't moved.