Shad_Master

I don't subscribe to either theory: 1) I have caught pike in areas where there are tons of bass. 2) Although I don't subscribe to this theory it may be more plausible -- at least in this area, blue gill are the main bait fish for bass and I do know that when bass are feeding the BG's will get real reserved, but that is usually a signal that the bass are about to start biting.

johnnylee82, I'm not saying it's a marketing "trick", I just think they should take advantage of it. I know I am more tempted to try 'em although I was interested to begin with.

I use those days to try to figure out what went wrong and use them as a way to improve what I am doing. It is especially helpful if somebody else is catchin 'em and I'm not as I will try to learn what they did. I have had a chance to get out three times this week (first time all winter) and have yet to have a serious bite. These are days when I can work on my casting, try out some new technique, etc. I know I can catch 'em when they get more active, but right now is an opportunity to learn so I will be ready when they are.

I actually had a mechanic tell me that the bulb in the check engine light would eventually burn out and wouldn't bother me any more.

One of the older guys in my club that fishes almost exclusively with jigs told me to trim the weed guad at an angle so that the longer pieces are touching the hook point and the shorter ones are touching the cover. Less hang ups and more hook ups.

Well, here we go again on the topic of GULP! -- I swear by it and have caught more Bass in club tournaments than with any other lure. There is the problem, if you consider it a problem when just fishing, of catching everything from Cats to Crappie on 'em. But they are great in my book. I have never tried the FoodSource lures, but as I understand it they are made from "natural ingredients" whatever that is and that fish can actually live on these things in a confined area like a tank. Will be interested to see what the marketing for these is like in the future.

Last year I spent more time fishing from the bank than I have since I was a kid. I found that I was able to establish a pattern that held up all season long - I was fishing from a bank that is pretty heavily pressured. It is about 50 - 75 yards from the main channel and comes up to a long flat with lots of brush and laydowns. I would hit the bank at about 7:30 each evening and start out throwing a T-rigged worm or weightless Senko type bait. The Blue Gill would peck away at the baits until it was almost unbearable and then suddenly, about the time the sun was setting, the BG bite would stop - within about 15 minutes I would start getting Bass bites. At that point I would switch to a buzz bait or chatter bait and catch 2-4#'ers until the skeeters ran me off the lake. Oddly enough, I tried fishing this same area from a boat and also watched lots of other boaters fish this same area at the same time, but nothing was happening. I still like heading out in the boat, but never pass up a chance to fish from the bank.

One of the funniest things I've read in a long time ;D ;D ;D

Just read on another site that FoodSource lures have been banned by FLW. Apparently they are not banned by BASS because of a difference in the wording. But there is some speculation that GULP! may be up for scrutiny although the product is considerably different. I have never used any of these, but have thought about trying 'em - this could be the best advertisement that FoodSource could hope for.

Several years ago, my daughter was in a YWCA basketball league for 5th graders. Since I had to take her practice and then pick her up when it was over, I hung around and was asked to be the assistant coach. When we were in the third game of the season, there were several girls who had not had a chance to play, including my daughter. As the game progressed, one of the girls asked the coach if she could play, the coach said to her "do you want to play or do you want your team to win?". I was blown away. The next week, the coach had to work during the Saturday game and so I had to take over. I had substitutes rotating in on every occasion and all the girls got to play. The score keepers were getting frustrated keeping track of the substitutions and even asked me slow down. But we won that game - first win of the season. The coach missed the next two games and I did the same thing - both wins. The coach returned for the next game and went back to his regular way of picking players and we lost, but had enough wins to make it to the tournament (real short season in 5th grade) and he rotated like I had been doing. We lost, by two points at the buzzer, but the Team celebrated because they were beat by a team they had played earlier in the year and that had blown them out. There's a lot of talk about too much emphasis on being "politically correct" and not doing things to lower someone's self-esteem. But my philosophy is, you can't compete if you can't get in the game. My daughter lost all interes in basketball after that year, but I still remember and hope the coach does too.

I have a buddy that never pegs his weights, but if he gets into a situation where he needs to keep the weight tight to the hook, he will use his pliers to crimp the weight. There are probable lots of reasons not to do this, but his theory is that he can change up quickly and he does often load the boat.

My thought is that I want something that is slow falling, like a Senko, "GULP!" Sinking Minnow or weightless T-rigged Brush Hog. My theory is if that fish "bumped" my lure, he may be looking around for it and I want something will fall through the water column slowly so he can find it.

Not knowing any better, I was fishing in a club tournament a few years back -- water temp in the mid to upper 40's and I was throwing a Rat-L Trap and Spinner Bait. My boater kept telling me that fish wouldn't bite a "moving" bait in water that cold - all the while I kept bringing in the keepers -- finished 15 points ahead of him on the day and took 3rd place in my second tournament with the club -- sure glad I didn't know any better

The one problem I have had with Boogie's is that the blade is soft and will bend easily. This can make your lure run shallower or deeper than you may want it to. Some may consider this a plus as it does give you that ability to tune them, but for me it was an aggravation. I do like their colors though.

First of all, welcome to the board - I am sure that you will get lots of advice that will help you pick your way through the confusion. For me, I use either 4/0 or 3/0 offset hooks with all of my plastics. Occasionally, if I am using a very small lure, I will go down to a 2/0. You will probably want an offset hook to help you with T-rigging and keeping the lure in place while swimming through grass, etc. I would advise against using "weighted" hooks as you will want to be able to adapt as you go along. So use bullet weights instead, this way you can adjust the fall of the lure depending on where and how you are fishing. I'm sure some will have different thoughts, but that's okay. Just try out different techniques until you see what works best for you.

I was fishing with a guy last year in a tournament - he was getting bit, but couldn't get 'em in the boat. I suggested to him that maybe his hook was not sharp, but he dismissed this because they were new BPS hooks (not sure exactly which ones). After about 5 or 6 more missed fish, he finally tied on a Gammy hook and never missed another fish. Just food for thought.

Watched one of the Bass Pros shows last night and Stacey King was using some kind of "clip" on his hook while T-rigging a lizard. He tied it on ahead of the hook and then threaded the point of the hook through the lower end of the "clip" and then set it on the eye before T-rigging the lizard. It keeps the plastic from sliding down the shank of the hook. Does anyone know what this little miracle is and where I can get some?

I fished in a local tournament last year with similar wind, there was even one boat that capsized on the lake during the tournament (not one of ours). We worked a ditch that ran across the lake from an old road bed with crank baits - my partner won it with a 6#er and I finished with two small keepers. My experience is that moving baits work best in really strong wind, 'cause you really can't control bottom baits very well.

I've never tried this with a worm or for bedding fish at all for that matter, but it does work well with tubes.

I haven't taken the time to read all the posts, so if some of this is redundant I apologize. IMO, the sponsors should not be concerned. This is likely to get more air time over the year and even into next year than Tim Horton's double catch. I do think Ranger overreacted to last year, but Ike has gotten more "exposure" over that than Luke did for winning. Also, it seems to me that because the rules have to be "interpreted" for things like this there needs to be more than one person calling the shots. I know the Tournament Director has the final say, but I think there needs to be a committe to give input before the final determination is made. That committe should include competitors and maybe media people (perhaps even observers/fans). Otherwise the rules are left open -- for example the Guy Eaker deal and some others that have been kind of shaky. I'm sure that not everybody will agree, but this is MHO.

I don't know if this has been suggested yet or not, but if your school has a swimming pool you may want to spend some time letting your students see what the baits look like in the water (what the fish see).

Many years ago I visited the state capitol in Little Rock and there was a letter posted on the wall that a lady had sent to her state senator asking him not to vote for dayling savings time because her poor flowers couldn't stand another hour of sunlight each day. I hope you are not offended by these comments, just think about it.

I've been recording them on DVR but lately I have only been getting reruns -- apparently they only made about 5 or 6 shows, but they are excellent.

I have done this around here on days when the wind gets up to 25 or more mph -- however, I use it with a Senko. I think of it as kind of like a mini-C-rig and have had good luck (some times I even use more then one split-shot, depending on the wind).

Another technique that works, although I am still working at it, is what some people call the bow & arrow technique. When you are hung, engage the reel and grab the line between the reel and the first guide, pull on the line and then let it go with a snap while pushing the rod toward the snag. This works a lot of the time, but you don't want to try to straighten the hook first before trying this.