CallMeTheSeeker

latly i'v been fishing shallow, though i think we're missing out on the bigger fish in the lake. it's been hot here in MI and fishing shallow we've been mostly catching small bass in the shallows. We've played around fishing out towards the middle of the lake with crigs(tho it seems like we're not as well equipped as we should be since we only have spinning reels. We have caught one or two bass in the deeper waters..and they have been bigger then most of the fish we've been getting in the shallows. i have 2 main questions: 1: what is the best way to find the fish in deeper water without a fish/depth finder(since we dont have one)...tho my buddy that lives on the lake knows roughly where the drop offs and such are...but not much at all as far as bottom structure goes. 2: Can we effectivly fish crigs with our spinning gear? ATM we've been using 3/8 oz weights(figured lighter was better with the spinnign reels)..Also my spinning reel is heavy weight on a medium weight rod...i broke my cheapy mh rod. thanks much -Seeker

thanks guys, seems im watching where i need to be as close as i can. And yea, i'm about to invest in a nice pair of polarized glasses. i have a regular pair of rose colored sunglasses that help quite a bit, but everyone keep telling me the polarized ones are a hundred times better. Also i usually like to use a flourescent line like the one fireline makes. im thinking im going to start using a flourocarbon leader with it too. sometimes also if i cant see the far end of the line ill reel in a bit more line and take some more of the slack out of the line, and a bit of the line off of the surface without tightening the line too much. another question, if there is line laying on the surfae of the water, do you still have to worry about tightening the line enough that you can negativly impact the action of the bait(especially with the soft stickbaits). It seems to me that the bait would pull more line from the surface of the water before moving the lure closer to the boat and affecting the action alot. I still am unsure at times of how my reeling/jerking the rod is affecting the actual bait when it is farther from the boat. thanks again guys. -Seeker

i have a couple questions about line watching, fishing with senkos as well as other soft plastics. first off, im an amateur bass fisherman. Secondly i have caught a buncha bass with soft plastics, usually weightless. Often though, i find myself thinking to myself...i wonder if i a missing a hit at this very moment. So lets look at a scenario: Cast my soft plastic out say 35 feet. it hits the water and starts sinking....i can see my line on the top of the water sinking below the water as it drops(sometimes, depending on conditions.) also i can see the line from my rod to where it lays in the water(i try to keep a nice slack between rod tip and where the line touches the water.) now, if i can see the line dropping below the surface as it falls, i am fairly confident in my ability to detect a hit(IE: line pulls a diffrent direction or pulls down more quickly then the natural fall.) When i am unsure is when i am retreiving with rod jerks and letting the bait settle on the bottom again which part of the line should i be watching; the part where the line is going under the water towards the bait, or the part of the line going from my rod tip to the water surface right in front of me. sometimes i cannot clearly see the line that falls from the surface at the end of the line(not the line from the rod tip directly to the water surface.) Basicly my question is, even with a lot of line out should i be able to see/feel a hit by watching the line from the rod tip to the surface. or should i always be trying to watch the line at the end of my line on the surface, where it is dropping beneath the surface? Sometimes the line dropping at the far end of my line is hard to see...so i think i may be missing hits when i am watching the line from my rod tip to the surface(especailly when my line is a long ways out from the boat.) Any specific tips/hints about watching my line when i have alot of line out would be much appreciated. Should i always be able to see a hit by watching the line from the rod tip to the surface? I find myself also having trouble figuring out when my lure is done dropping when i cannot clearly see the line as it drop from the surface to beneath the surface. It seems to me i have noticed many more hits when my line is closer to the boat(or when there is no slack line laying on the surface of the water) then when i have alot of line out. So i am just worried i am missing hits. Please give me any insights you have about this. thanks much. -Seeker