angler1

I use the Zman in black/blue with great sucess. I have also had sucess with many other colors as well. I use a chatterbait almost every time I am fishing.

Wow, I finally found 1 good thing about living in New Jersey. You can fish all year long for bass. I thought trout was the only fish that had a season, never knew other states had seasons for bass fishing, that really sucks.

This past week in Southern NJ the temps were between 60 and 74. The waters have warmed up some and I decided to throw a crank bait for a reaction strike. Friday night I caught a tiny bass, Saturday I caught 5 tiny bass and a 3 pounder on the CB. My question is...... is the reason why I caught 6 tiny bass because their bodies are so small that they warmed up quicker then the larger ones, making them more apt to strike on reaction while the larger bass still have a colder body temps making them more lathargic? Sunday was the warmest day we have had in NJ this year, however a front was moving in and it is raining today. Yesterday I saw a lot of bass movement very shallow, just crusing around. They were pertty much all small with an occasional larger one floating around. They would not hit anything, not even a worm dead sticked in front of their faces. Are the sizable bass still deep do you think. If so, why do the small bass move up shallow first? Any insight would be helpful, thanks.

A suspending jerkbait or suspending crank bait. Let it suspend with a few second pause, make it wiggle (not jerk) and pause again.

Just keep @ it and grind it out. Last year I was going thru a bad period. What got me out of my funk was talking to a guy at the lake I was fishing. He told me not to overthink and just have fun. I went to my truck, put everything back except for 1 rod,1 pack of worms, 3 hooks, and a few weights. Just taking my time going back to basic's. It helped get my mind clear, and I started catching fish again.

Maybe they just did not want ur lipless crank bait. Try a crank bait that suspends. Maybe ur fishing too fast.

The banjo anything is a poor idea, sorry just my opinion.

How far back do u trim ur silicone and or hair skirts?

I need rehab as well, where r you going, I need to go.

the weather was not as forecasted. Cold 45 degree weather with clouds, water temp was around 40. I was fishin with a lipless crank bait and caught 4 american shad that were huge, via foul hooking. Trust me, I am in no way bragging. I have been fishin this lake for 6 years and have never seen shad that big. These shad were a min. of 9 inches long with the longest about 13 1/2" with a height (minus the dorsal fin) from belly to top of 6 1/2". I estimate the largest at 3 1/2 pounds. I had no idea these were in there. Does this mean that there may be monster bass in this lake? I know there are 6 and 7 pounders in there but do you think that there are larger bass in there?

would be the best lure selection for water temp in the upper 40's? Where I am @ its going to be in the 50's outside all weekend and I can't decide wether to throw a hard suspending jerkbait, lipless crank bait, a jig, or something else? Normally I would bring all 3 but my time is limited. What do you think would be most productive. I know I did not describe the lake conditions, its b/c I am not sure where I am going so just take the water temp in the upper 40's into consideration please. Thanks all.

Not sure what they r called but they are worms that "curl" up when @ rest like a "real" worm. The other was the doug hannon snakes. Tried those things many times, nothing. I still have them in my fridge as the directions instruct. Maybe they will catch something in there? Last but not least, yes, I was had by yet another infomercial for a set of lures that blink a red light when exposed to water. Some knock off no named brand that tries to copy lazer lure. For like 40 bucks you get a crankbait, rattle trap, and plug. They are all made of crap materials and have crap hooks. They look like my kid tried to paint patterns on them...... o and they don't catch fish. I would say I have spent at least 100 bucks on crap I have seen on fishing infomercials in the past. Never again though.

I can do almost everything I like to do while bass fishing: drink, smoke, pack a lip, eat, check out the hotties, bs with the guys, and spend time with the kid or kids depending on who's home .

4 + or -

The fight, followed by lippin' the fish.

It was a good artical.

I mostly agree with this post however with soft plastics that come in "greased" bags, for example damiki creatures and flick shake worms, I keep them in the orig package. I agree that "dry" soft plastics like sweet beavers are ok in a plano.

The only suspending lipless crank I have used was from cotton cordell. It did not really suspend, more like slow sinking. They are cheap enough if u wanted to give one a try. U will probably need to order them off line b/c I have never seen them in a tackle shop. Maybe that should have been my first clue?

Lipless crank and suspending jerkbait.

X2 only I prefer 14 and 20 lb braid.

Yes, they deserve a spot front and center. I have had luck with the black and blue, producing a 4lb 14oz bass. That's pretty big for the waters I have access to.

I bought some of the new Berkley trans optic line in 17 and 25 lb test. I put it on my baitcasting reels last week. 17 lb for weightless worms and light jigs and the 25 lb for heavier jigs and pitchin stuff with up to a 3/4 oz weight. I was wondering what kind/how much, if any line memory the line would retain after 1 week on the reels not being used. I took 10 feet off both reels. There is some memory, not a lot, but some. The memory is in the form of half coils if you get what I am saying. Will these partial coils come out if I throw a weightless worm or will I have to put more weight on the line to get the memory out, or is the memory perminent? This line is the first line that I have used in years that was not braid. Should I stick with braid?

I just bought some but have not used them yet, they look good but I will keep u posted.

Yea, he got me too, last night at ***. Thank god they never close.

I would rather catch the 100 fish.