airborne_angler

Ran out of Trick sticks so I reverted to Zeros.I was surprised not to get thet good whiff of Garlic(have they changed thier manufacturing process?) I normally wacky rig the baits I fish. Yes the zeros caught a few fish BUT after a few fish the salt was all gone and the action on the wacky rig was nill.It just wouldnt sink and looked like a wet noodle on my hook,basically it had no backbone. So the bait was basically useless for the method I was using it for. I used to be pleased fishing these baits on a T-Rig,but I cant say im so impressed anymore.Price and durability while wacky rigging are a major downer. *** is by far the ONLY way to go(for me at least). The last *** I had in my arsenal was previously used and pretty torn up. I cringed at every cast I made ,thinking it was going to get flung off the hook and me having to pick out a huge backlash. The bait lasted cast after cast and finally fell off as I was landing a fish.

I went out yesterday and used up my last amount of Senkos. I tried the Strike King Zeros I had but I just didnt get the right feeling from them,although I did catch 2 fish wacky rigged on them. So until I make another order,I cant(wont allow myself) to go to the lake cause ill be fishing "Naked" and just wont have the edge I need. Was wierd,I ran out of the baits and felt like I was going to go through withdrawal. Things just got hopeless and my confidence level went way down. Anyone else had similar experiences with thier favorite bait?

When the water I fish gets a good beating from the sun over the summer,the milfoil really starts to get thick. I know theres fish down in there but guess im just not sure how to approach it. This stuff get crazy thick and I can get the concept of how fish could be in all that stuff. Im sure im missing good fish due to not fishing in the midst of it. Can anyone give me pointers on how I should approach this stuff? What baits,presentations ect?

The fish must have been actively feeding. In this pic you can see crawfish Antennae sticking out.

Tried Brush hogs yesterday and was semi successful. Caught one. I got a few more bites but I believe the Bluegill were playing with the appendages.The fish werent agressively striking the Brush Hogs so I caught the rest of my fish on Trick Sticks. Needless to say Brush Hogs work and I am a believer.

I went out yesterday and spent about 9 hours on the water. I fished the newly flooded trees in shallow water and managed to catch 12 Bass- 12 inches each,using an *** ***,a Baby Brush hog and a Strike King Zero. All the fish were plump,like they had been gorging themselves.I found A huge crawdad claw hanging out of the gullet of one,and antennae of a crawfish hanging out of another. I know 12 inchers arent trophies,but based on the time spent on the water,and the number of fish boated,would anyone care to say this is a healthy/non healthy fishery? I did miss a good amount of fish,due to inattention or late reaction,so they were certainly biting.

Heres a more clear shot of a single strand.

This plant grows in the lake I fish and it gets REAL thick in some areas. I get it wrapped up in my anchor when I retrieve it. Sometimes when the water is low,I even get the shaft of my trolling motor in it. Of course then I end up getting stuck in it because its so thick.

Shortbasser, Thanks a bunch for the info. Now that I have a part number I feel my options are open. I was thinking the things I needed were obsolete. I googled the Motorguide numbers you gave and I came up with an even cheaper option. Check it out: http://www.duskyonline.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MGA050B6&Category_Code=trolling-motor-accessories Thanks again!!

Can someone(anyone or any combination of the 2) please tell me all there is about fishing a baby brush hog? I just picked up my first bag ever and want to try them tomorrow. Its been raining so I know the bite may be off as things have flooded.The water level on the lake I fish is way up and the shoreline is pretty much brand new with trees in the water and now theres all kinds of new structure and concealment for the fish to be in and around,Grass in the shallows and such.All this of course means more surface area too. I t-rigged one and tried to drop it weightless in my 55 gal aquarium and well I just dont get the big deal about them. The appendages didnt flutter and it just dropped slowly to the bottom . No attractive movements or anything on the fall. I then tried a small bullet sinker and it came a live a little,but still looked boring,no action. Im sure an aquarium isnt going to get me the realistic action I want,therefore I need to know how to present this bait in order to maximize its potential. There were so many colors so I just got a Watermelon/purple fleck color. Dont know how productive that will be ,well just have to see.What do you all think of the color I chose? Now about the gear to use with this bait. Do I use a baitcaster or a spinning outfit? Mono or braided line? Anything you all can tell me that will make fishing this bait a success will really help me out alot. Oh BTW the boat im using is a 10ft jon boat,in which I have no choice but to sit down. Pitchin and flippin is sorta out of the picture. Thanks in advance

I have a Motorguide HVT 3000 (30 lb thrust) on my 10ft Jon Boat. I was trying to do some maintenance and removed the prop to see if there were any weeds or fishing line wrapped up in the shaft. I found some weeds and removed them and then put the prop back on. I put a little too much into tightening the plastic nut/retainer and stripped the threads on the plastic. The threads on the metal shaft are fine. Where can I get another plastic propeller retainer nut/washer assembly? Do they come with the new Props when you purchase them? For the mean time I have a large concave metal washer and metal nut but it seems that has caused the alignment pin on the shaft to bend a little when the nut is tightened. Is this cause for concern? If so where can I get a new alignment pin as well? What are the correct names for the items I have mentioned?

Im tempted to purchase a bag of Zoom Trick Worms but I feel I have one problem....Color. WalMart is the only place locally that sells them and the only color I can get is a Lemon color or a Bubble gum(pink) color. I know watermelon would be a much more productive,natural color,so out of the 2 choices I have,which should I purchase? Neither of the colors match any kind of forage in the lakes I fish.

I agree with the Bluegill Theory. When this started happening to me,I decided to put the bait in a spot with a large concentration of Bluegills thast I could see. Felt the same way as when the bait was in deeper water. I have noticed also the Green Sunfish aggressively attack a Soft stickbait,and even wound up catching a few of the Buggers. The good sized ones pull hard once you have em hooked.

I watched The video LBH made about fishing jigs and so I tried the retrieve methods on A stickbait today."Popping" my wacky rigged Trick stick gave me some success. The only 2 fish I caught today were caught using this method. Was wierd. I would let the bait go to the bottom,then periodically POP the bait. Both fish I caught were hooked when I would let the bait fall and then POP it,They were there. Talk about a surprise,to feel nothing and then suddenly feel something solid.

Went to the lake today after being off the water for a month. Rain has caused the water to rise a bunch and the water is flowing over the spillway. Theres debris(sticks,brown scum) all over the place and the water is a stained brown color. Now theres all kinds of trees and brush in the water too. Now my question. How do I approach this recent change? The shoreline has changed and well its just like fishing a whole new lake. Im sorta intimidated by this. The spots I used to target arent there anymore. Sould I wait till the water and the debris has settled and the water stops spilling over to fish there again? I went out today and things were tough. Got a few bites and I believe they were Bluegill. I did manage to hook into 2 small Bass though,Lost one at the boat and the other Came off as I was getting ready to lip it. Will a change in the water conditions like I have described cause fish to become inactive/more active? What does this do( in general) to the "bite"? How do you all handle/deal with changes in water condition?

I cant decide what to throw. I normally throw Stickbaits(***) exclusively but Ive gotten into a different mindset as of late. I bought some tubes(wanna learn them) and I also remember dropshotting was real productive this time last year,so I wanna do that too. Been seeing people bragging about Jigs and thier success and well I want to try them too.Thought of a shakeyhead presentation as well. So many baits..so many choices... whats a guy to do? I went a whole month without being on the water and now I want to get back into it. Its been raining heavy here and Im sure that has changed things alot since the last outing I made in June. Where should I start to get back into the swing of things. What bait and what presentation would be best? Water is probably a little stirred up(murky) due to the rains and the water level has most likely risen.Would it be a good idea to target runoffs whhere the rain runs into the lake.

I have some Plano Plastic cases with Crankbaits in them. It rained and some moisture got inside,thus effecting my hooks a little and leaving a rust colored residue on some of the baits. It wipes right off. I was thinking of the best way to clean them. Give me opinions on each idea. 1. Wipe them down by hand(risk putting rusty hooks into my fingers and thus needing a tetanus shot) 2. Take the trebles off and then wipe them down(Again messing with the rusty hooks, also very tedious and time consuming) 3.Put all the baits in the utensil bin in the household dishwasher(dont let the significant other know) and run it on the most gentle warm water cycle possible. Im thinking #3 would be the most effective but im worried about the effect the chemicals in the dishwashing soap would have on the baits(loss of color ect.. The hooks arent real bad,not rusted through ,just a little surface rust which can be taken off with some hook sharpening.

I know it can take Senkos a long time to get to the bottom in deep water. How deep do you all consider to be too deep to fish a Senko style bait. I fish Senkos on a baitcaster and I cant tell when im on the bottom when fishing them weightless. The baitcaster limits the depth you can fish a Senko because you have to manually feed the line once the bait hits the water...correct? Does using a spinning reel fix that by having the line peel off the spool automatically as the bait falls?

I purchased a 100 ct Bag of Christmas cider colored baits off Ebay last year and havent had any idea of what would be the most productive way to fish these. They have a flat bottom,blunt head and a tapered body(see pic attached). Is the bait itself a good choice? What about the color? Does anyone have a sure fire method of producing fish with this particular bait? How would you all rig it in order to catch fish? Would this bait be productive on a dropshot?

Would it be a safe bet to take a regular POP-R and put some distance between the back dressed treble and the body of the lure? Saw someone do this sortof thing with a HULA Popper once. They tied a small wet fly to the back with about 6 inches of leader and did pretty good.

I know last year Chatterbaits were all the rage and I almost went out and bought some. Sure glad I didnt. Some will say the flying lure is overated. That maybe a fact BUT,I did catch 2 decent Bass back to back when I was fishing as a kid.

Here are pics of the Tubes I have. Which color would be an all around good color to use?

The worms/colors in question are pictured below. One variety is even a tad bit longer than the worms in the other bag.

I used to have a 6'6" Light action rod for Dropshotting but I broke the tip off a couple of weeks ago. I now found a 6'6" Medium light action Shimano rod I may want to purchase. Would the Shimano be more ideal for Bass fishing? People told me the Light action rod I used to have didnt possess enough backbone. Will the Shimano be better being that its a medium light?

Ive gone to Tackletour.com and read what they have to say concerning the line,but what I would really like is to have is a first hand account from members who have used this line. I picked up a one shot spool(220yds) of 12lb test for $4.99(regularly $8.99). Is this line worth the money I spent? What are some pros and cons of everyones experience with this line?