rocknfish9001

A new pb. And i am going to get it from a real lake, not the same old farm pond.

How did you feel you did as an angler in 06? Did you improve, have a good year, explore new water, meet new buddies, or just suck to high heavens? Personally, it was one of my worse years. What happened is i tried to expand my techniques by trying new stuff i have never used before on all sorts of lakes. Fished each lake 1-2 times, and used about 5 different lures each time just trying new stuff. Everybody outfished me using the same technique that they use every outing at every location at every lake. I didnt want to do that. A big problem was that i didnt get out as much as i wanted. Next year, a lake every day, and im definatley going by myself so nobody outfishes me, just so i can keep my confidence up. If i get skunked, i can blame it on something that they dont know about. ;D Anyways, high hopes for next year.

Hold a sec, i just looked it up. Here were my predictions, and actuall catches PREDICTIONS ACTUAL largemouth 7 6ish walleye 12 10 salmonoid 13 14 catfish 25 10 pike 15 10 smallmouth 5 4 could have done worse.

I believe i predicted 6, which i fell just short of, but not much. This year, i want a 6 lb. bass, but not out of a farm pond. All of my 5+lb bass have come out of this farm pond, i dont feel like a really talented fisherman when i catch them in a 5 acre body of water. I also want a 6lb smallmouth.

Cant wait!!! They are opening a new bass pro about 45 min. from my house that day. Its in portage, IN and i plan on robbing the place blind!! Well, not really. But it will be sweet to go to bass pro on my trips downtown now.

Okay, everybody will tell you to use livebait. Minnows, leeches, crawlers, and so on. Im not saying that this isnt effective, im just saying its not always the best way. For starters, look up walleye articles on in-fisherman. They have some great articles on using artificials, which is what i encourage. Now if your fishing a river, i suggest starting with artificials. Use 4-5 inch grubs, with a jighead matching the current. 1/4 oz should be fine, because the walleyes usually hang out in reduced current. Also, try huskey jerks, and smithwick rouges. Key areas include any area of reduced current, wether caused by bridges (where i caught my pb @ 10 lbs.) dams, wings, humps, etc. But a good place to catch lots of fish is around corners, where the water is calmer. Use everything with a steady retrieve. Do fancy jigging, jerking, snapping, etc, and you wont be catching walleyes. Use the current to work your lures as well. Cast upstream and let them drift, then steadily retrieve them back to the boat/shore. Slower isnt always better, but its a good place to start. Now lets talk about lakes. They key to finding walleye is structure, and baitfish. Both are equally important. Early and through the summer, walleyes will be around mid depth humps, drops, and points, usually 10-15 feet deep, and with a gradual incline. Always start fishing the windy side first. By the end of summer, through fall and winter, target deeper around 20-25 feet and steeper drops and ledges. Start your approach by locating fish. This is where live bait comes into play. Get a bottom bouncer that matches your depth, and use a leader between 6-7 feet. Use a spinner and harness with about 1/2 a crawler. Troll as slow as you can go. 2 mph is more than fast enough. You can even use the wind to push you instead of your motor. Now you WILL catch fish this way, and once you locate some, anchor down or use your trolling motor to cover the area with grubs, swimbaits, and ringworms. And remember to keep rod action to a minimum. Now walleyes live in rocks and sand, so keep away from the weedy flats, thats bass territory. You will find these fish in lots of snags too, usually rock piles. Just a sidenote, my 4 biggest walleyes have come on artificials. 3 on hardbaits, 1 on a swimbait. (6.5, 7, 7.5, and 10 lbs) Walleyes dont usually hit livebait too hard, and feels like a snag that you can move on the fight. They tire quick and fight deep. But dont be surprised if you hook into a fighter. Hope this is what you were looking for.

There are flies made out of cork, like bass bugs, and some bluegill lures. You can make spiders and stuff like that. But dont you imagine the cork would be a little too light to fish effectivley with conventional gear?

My buddy bought a couple, the minnow and rattle trap styled ones. They are just like any other hard bait with nothing to set them apart. The minnow is almost exaclty the same as a huskey jerk in my opinion, and the rattling one sinks like a rock but is extra loud. It sinks much faster than any other trap ive seen.

measurements??? Looks like your river fishing, right? Are they still all in the current, or are they moving to more slack water yet?

I love the line. I dont think the red color scares fish off, but it certainly doesnt disapear. Lo-vis green is the absoloute least visible color, excluding florocarbon, but i still use and love red cast. But stay away from red lightning its not nearly as good.

My fishing is on a hold for a second. I got about 3 bites in 4 hours, missed them all. Not very encouraging. But good job on your success. Has it been raining there on the east side?

Well i am a firm believer in using scents, and i honestly have noticed an increase of hook ups when im using scent. My top 2 are BANG shad, and Dr. Juice. Yum is great, but the shad scent turns lures purple, garlic green, and crawfish red. I am now trying berkley powerbait, and i like the consistancy, which is almost gel like as compared to the oils.

Alright, ive made 2 lures before, a popper and a walleye diver type lure, both hand carved with a piece of wood and a knife. I just finished a shad rap looking bait, and now im stumped. How do i get the line tie on the bill? Also was wondering if i can weight a wooden bait. And also, how do you get the concave right on the mouth of a popper, i cant get it too deep into the bait. Thanks.

now that i think about it, i believe i was using my ONLY jig that isnt trimmed and perfect. But honestly, its pretty challenging fishing in these conditions. Im serious when i said one inch of visibility. When i had a spinner bait tied on, i played with it on the surface next to the boat, i couldnt see the trailer because it was too deep in the water. So the visibility was about 1/2 a spinner bait.

Got skunked today, both of us. I had a bite on a x-rap, but missed it since it nailed it on the pause while i was un zipping my coat. Lost that lure a couple casts later. I had a lot of short strikes, bites with no fish. Probably because the water was this color, and they had trouble biting the whole lure i guess. I checked visibility with a black jig, 1" or less. Pretty tough conditions.

Great reel, especially for the price. It actually WON field and stream's tackle test about 3-4 years ago put up against reels in the $100-$150 range

Tested it out today, i love it. Check out my tournament/outing section

Do a search on bass pro or cabelas. Btw, i would suggest you get a frog instead, like the spro bronzeye or sumo frog. These things kick serious fish butt.

Well this has been getting nice fish for me (bigger than i have ever caught in 40degree water) A terminator 1/8th oz. jig, and a yum crawtube for a trailer. The tube really slows the fall, and adds bulk. The hollow body floats and the claws rise on the bottom. Wow, im surprised that somebody got to these besides me, but an absoloute killer (and i mean killer) cold water bait would be silver buddies.

Btw, this was my first trip with my new Woo Daves Bps extreme rod and pfluger president. I love the super responsive tip that helps me feel the bites even with freezing hands, and the solid backbone gave me killer hooksets. 16", picture caught me by surprise. lol

Alright, in honor of the new year, im going to post some bass up that i shouldnt be catching in january in michigan. Anyways, i got two today on the same 1/8th oz. jig/crawtube combo, just a different color. My buddy caught 4 on tubes, biggest being around 13", smallest just around 10". I only caught two, the last two of the day after I tried everything and decided to go back to what worked last time out. Paid off. First is 15", second is 16". All 6 of our fish were caught in a boat this time, dont worry lifevests were only taken off for pictures. 15", im straight thuggin' here.

Rick clunn, hands down, no argument, dont even try.

Im in michigan, and were having another 50 degree january day tomorrow, and im going fishing. I caught a couple on jigs last time, but was about to get to the x-rap just before i had to leave. Ill definatly give it a shot tommorrow. Thanks for the report.

I actually believe this is less visible in water than "clear" line. True florocarbon aside, clear mono is almost white in water. I even have trouble seeing green line in the water. But not so with braid, since braid is opaqe (sp?) or solid, while mono is translucent. Sorta like how red line is less visible, but red hooks are visible. What are your opinions on this? What colors do you think are truly less visible?

They are not really good surface baits, they run just under the surface on a steady retrieve. They dont work well on duckweed, work pretty good on heavy scum, and i do not use them in lilys. They are tacklebox worthy, but not as good as a snagproof frog.