Shad_Master

One other thing that I learned this last year from a guy who has been fishing for longer than I've been driving is that when looking at a lake full of standing timber, the "biggest" tree will always be on the edge of the channel. By looking close you can follow the channel edge and locate swings even without a depth finder.

Based on the responses here, it would seem that most of the lures we throw are no good, 'caues somebody can't catch fish with 'em. Chatterbaits are good, but they are not the secret weapon for bass. Senko's are good, but there have been days when they don't work either. A lot of it has to do with how the bait is worked and where and when. The other ingredient is confidence. If you like 'em you'll use 'em - if not you won't. Doesn't mean that the lures don't work. I have only caught one fish on a hard jerk bait in my life and I snagged him. Does that mean I should talk negatively about them? Didn't think so. I keep some in my box and get them out when I think the time is right and try 'em again - If I ever get on the band wagon, I may become an avid jerker - who knows? I have been fishing for more than 50 years and caught my first fish on a jig two years ago. Now they are a regular part of my arsenal and I won Big Bass at a tournament last year because I was throwing one. It seems like chatterbaits are like Ike - love 'em or hate 'em but they will still be around.

The short answer to your question is yes, they are legal. The longer answer is that "jig -n-pig" is a reference to any jig with a trailer. It can be pork or plastic or anyother substance the is not "live bait".

Do you guys fish these in the same areas where you would use a regular C-rig set up?

I have to disagree with you earthworm77 - these baits do produce -- don't know about the "wire senko" comment but they are a great lure and I had luck with them all the way from early spring through late fall. There are ton's of knockoffs on the market now and some are better than others, but overall should be a part of your arsenal. As for where the SweetBeavers are - in my tackle bag or on my line during the spawn and in the hot part of the summer when I am working brush piles in shallow coves. These are another great bait but does have a more specific application.

My philosophy is, if I had to catch fish to be happy, I'd be a miserable $*% a lot of the time -- I'm just happy to be on the water.

I have been fishing for over half a century ( ) and can remember the first Bass Master Magazine I ever saw. But when I got a chance to start fishing with a consistent group of guys (my local club) is really when things began to pop for me. Now I spend about 1/3 of my time with somebody from this group and the other 2/3 is spent practicing what I learned from them. Along the way, I have learned how to learn and this has allowed me to pass on some of that knowlege as well.

I haven't used one of these in almost 40 years, but used to pick bass out of the lilly pads with 'em when I was knee high to a grass hopper (did I really say that?). We used 'em with an Uncle Josh trailer in white and would cast 'em up on the pads and let 'em fall down in the holes. Thanks for the memories. I may have pull one of these out again this year.

These were really hot a couple of years ago, and there are lots of knock-offs on the market now. There are several ways to use them and I am sure I won't include them all. I fish them T-rigged, C-rigged and as a jig trailer. All the colors work at one time or another, but I had a unique experience a couple of years ago in a tournament. I had been fishing all day from the back of the boat and not getting much action. My boater caught a pretty nice bass and I asked to take a look at it - opened his mouth and saw blue crawdad pinchers down in his gullet. Pulled out a Sweet Beaver (I think the color was "sprayed grass" or something like that) that had that same color of blue and started hitting 'em right away. This last year I fished on that lake for the first time since that tournament, went to that area, tied on a SB (same color) and caught one on my first cast. Try 'em - you'll like 'em.

I first heard about this while watching a show on television -- I believe it was Rick Clunn that was catching a number of fish from one brush pile, but after catching each fish, he would walk to the back of the boat to release them. He said it was because of "something" that they release in the water that would cause the other bass to shut down. Another guy I fish with on C&R tournaments will always put his fish in the live well and then release them at least 100 yds away from where he is catching them. I have seen him go back to the same brush pile as many as three times in a day and catch fish, while others were getting one or two from a single spot before it played out for the day.

Word is, from a Pflueger Rep, that a lot of the reels that sell under the BPS name are made by Pflueger -- take a look at the Rick Clunn reels -- looks very similar.

I have heard similar discussions about how bass react when they are grouped up in a particular area such as a brush pile or ledge. The discussion has suggested that by releasing fish that were caught right back in the same area, it tends to turn the other bass off and can drive them out of the area. Is this your understanding as well?

I noticed you didn't list Junebug -- but that may not be a primary color and may be included under purple -- if so, put me down for that.

I was thinking about this post last night -- one of the things that occurs to me is the the trailer looks awfully heavy for the ChB and might cause it to lose some of the action. On the other hand, the trailer does look like a good option for jigs -- are these currently on the market?

I guess I have to break the string -- my best performance on color last year was on black/blue and black/red -- I also caught some on a brown with a gold blade and black trailer.

It is cool that so many Zoom products are showing up on this list -- for me it is the Vibra-tail Worm -- I caught three 6#ers last year all on this worm in the Junebug Red color.

Not intending to hijack the post, but just taking it in a little different direction -- Does anyone have a formula for calculating the amount of moisture in snow? We had about 3" - 4" here over the week-end. I have heard 6" of snow = 1" of rain -- does that sound right?

My ChB story has been told before, but if you are now to them, it bears repeating. I was fishing from bank on a small pond -- muddy water with lots of weeds- throwing a ChB -- I was watching the wake come of the lure when I noticed another wake comming out of the weeds and intercepted my ChB -- he wasn't a big fish and awful skinny -- then I noticed he was blind in both eyes but was still able to track down the ChB -- that is my story and I'm sticking to it

The biggest problem I have had with the DT's is that the lip is pretty flimsy and will break easily. Other than that they work great.

You might also try a chatter bait

You're right about that Glenn -- Sam, how many of those are personal experiences of yours?

Just read on "the other bass website" that there is a moving being considered called the Bass Master that will be done in the same vein as Talladegah (sp?) Nights. Apparently some pretty high class writers involved in the script. Got me to thinking about all the things that might be included in such a movie to make it funny -- besides the obvious falling out of the boat, snakes falling out of trees (most of the other stuff you see on Bill Dance) I could see boats being locked on the dock as they start to blast off, hooking a water skiier or jet ski with a crank bait, handling the "call of nature" in a strong wind, etc. Any other ideas?

I have also heard of guys buying those pre-rigged worms that you find in the bargain bin or at Wally World -- throw away the worm and hook a fluke or similar bait on each of the hooks. Been thinking about trying this in the Spring.

I also know of guys who use Preparation-H on their soft plastics -- apparently this stuff has shark oil in it as well and supposedly keeps plastics from drying out and leaves a slime trail in the water -- I wonder if it makes the fish's mouth pucker making hook sets easier?

A guy once gave me a lesson in jerk bait fishing, it went something like this -- you cast it out, give it a jerk - pour a cup of coffee - give it a jerk - drink the coffee - give it a jerk - light up a cigarette - give it a jerk - smoke the cigarette -- get the picture? I must admit I don't have that kind of patience, but he caught stringers of big bass in the early spring this way.