Goose52

X2 My favorite bait; as of tonight, I've caught 510 fish so far this season on 5" grubs... 8-) While this may not be the perfect bait in every situation, rigged and worked properly it can be used effectively just about any time, any place, or condition. If I had to choose one bait it would probably be a grub. Yep. I usually fish it weightless and get most hits on the fall, but the bait "swims" well (lots of action from the tail) and can be fished like a shallow crankbait. Top-water or slop - sure, rig it weedless and bring it across anything. Need to go deeper or bounce the bottom - put it on a jighead or use a slip-sinker. Like K_Mac said, there are better baits for each situation, but this single bait is very versatile and just flat out catches fish.

X2 My favorite bait; as of tonight, I've caught 510 fish so far this season on 5" grubs... 8-)

X2. I think this is a key point. Folks fishing a MH or H rod, with 17lb mono/flouro, or 50lb braid, probably have one idea of what is a dink, and others using UL, L, or M rods, with 4 to 8lb test line, have another perception entirely... In my lakes, there aren't many big fish and I normally use an M or ML power BC rod, and M, ML, L, or UL power spinning rod. Makes the small fish more fun.

I use "fish on" when I think I need to announce that I'm now occupied with fighting/landing the fish; for instance, if I have nearby boat traffic and I might be drifting/not steering as I work the fish. Otherwise, I often talk to the fish during the fight - like: "don't come unbuttoned on me," "what were you doing in that shallow water...don't you know the books say you're supposed to be deep right now," "nice fish, come to papa," etc, etc. ;D

I guess this would fit into the weirdest reel category - my Ted Williams 400 that I've had for about 50 years. It currently has 8lb mono on it and it gets fished a couple times a year and then put back away ... ;D What the heck is a Ted Williams 400? Why, a Sears-branded Pescador of course !

My local bass club rules say that a fish 10" or bigger is a keeper so a dink around here is under 10". Leaving aside that technicality, I don't get too worked up over a fish until it's 14" or larger.

I thought it looked like something that.... oh, never mind, this is a family friendly forum... Raul, should I start pulling the tails off my grubs? I don 't know Nate, I 've cut the tail on some grubs and there 's a certain type of grub that moves the way these do ( fat bodied ), Kalin 's Lunker Grub sinks and glides like the tail less grub. Remove the tail and rig it backwards. Thanks Raul ! I've been saving my damaged single-tail grubs - meaning to try fishing them backwards...now I gotta give it a try !

A lethal technique instead of throwing your typical worm. I like the bigger grubs for this one. At least 4", 5" all the better. I've been fishing the 5" ..................... and I have some 6" grubs on order

Killer technique, but if somebody ever asks you didn 't hear it from me ok ? Yep - I was only kidding about catching 475 fish with the bait rigged weightless on the EWG .......... Actually, it's now 477 fish 'cause I got 2 more bass this morning with that rig. 8-) BTW -fished weightless, it doesn't matter about tail up or down - the bait will spin on the retrieve - add a swivel above your bait. In my case, I fish these on braid and the swivel makes a convenient connector between the braid and the short leader...

I just sorted my "catch log" (Excel spreadsheet) and it indicates that I've caught 475 fish so far this season on 5" single-tail grubs. I use the Zoom Fat Alberts in a couple of colors, but also use a Gander Mountain 5" grub that is heavier and tougher than the Fat Albert. I can get as many as 10 fish out of the Gander Mountain grub before it tears up too bad to use. I mostly fish these grubs weightless on a 1/0 EWG with the hook tex-posed. I fish them shallow and get most hits on the fall. They also "swim" very well and I can get bit on the retrieve. I sometimes also fish them as a top-water. When there's no shallow bite, I will sometimes add a 1/8oz slip sinker to get a bit deeper but if I need to go very deep, I usually just switch to a worm instead of the grub. It's been a great bait for me

WOW - great fish! Ya gotta love the lipless cranks - my favorite hard bait !!

Me too! Here's a photo of one of my Shysters that I've had since the early 1960's. These are really good spinners and the offset line tie helps prevent line twist. I'm almost afraid to fish some of the 1960's baits that I still have - they sorta have sentimental value and I'd hate to lose them

Loomis MBR842C GLX BPS Carbonlite BC reel - 6.4 12 lb flouro

The RES is my favorite lipless crank. I have a few 1/2 oz versions but I mostly fish the 1/4 oz version (which actually weighs about 3/8oz). Good action and casts like a bullet. I usually upsize the hooks on the 1/4oz version from #6 to #4. I use mostly soft plastics in the summer but I did well with the RES earlier this year. I just sorted my "catch log" and it shows that, using the RES, I caught 151 fish - 105 LMB, 40 rainbow trout, and 6 misc (perch, brim, crappie, and a 37.1lb grass carp!).

Hmmm - not necessarily year round up on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee as evidenced by the photo taken this past January ;D Anyway, I fish when the water isn't hard. My lakes iced over, then thawed, 3 times this past winter.

Great idea. If my arthritis in my right hand fingers gets worse - I might have to rig up the same thing! I already get real nervous on the rare occasions when I take either of my Loomis GLX rods out in the canoe ... ;D

I noticed a couple of references above to throwing your rig in the lake - I've done that twice now, even casting with two hands. Sometimes my hands just don't get with the program! ;D (Got both rigs back - luckily it happened while fishing from the bank - not the boat ... )

As a result of this thread, I finally ordered the book. I got it from Carole L. Murphy through Amazon. $9.95 plus shipping. She has the description: "Brand new 3rd & final rinting right out of box" on the Amazon listing. Like Swimbait said - I think every other listing on Amazon is a rip-off.

I used to cast one-handed when I was younger. As the aging process continues, and things like grip strength diminish, and arthritis increases, I nearly always cast with two hands now - both spinning and BC gear.

I used Stren as my only line from the '60's until just last year; probably as a result of this ad. Still have some Stren 6lb on one of my rigs. The advertising worked in my case

When I was about 6 years old, my Dad gave me a cane pole, little hooks, and some bread dough and said" "catch some brim." After I caught a brim, he said: "give me that brim and I'll show you how to catch a bass..." I'm 57 right now so that was 51 years ago - however, I had some LONG hiatus' from fishing during all that time. I'm trying to make up for lost time now! ;D

Hmmm, I was reading those ads when they were new! ;D Is that a Jitterbug and Hula Popper in the underwater photo?

Just wondering - is this article copyrighted? If so, do you have appropriate permission to distribute and/or post? :

.....There are a couple of guys on the board that do BPS reel repair. Parts are readily available I'm told, although to this point all I've not needed anything but routine service. While BPS sells many reels that I would not buy, the Pro Qualifier an excellent value IMHO. And BPS has their own repair department. For the latest models of the PQ, Johnny Morris, Rick Clunn, Carbonlite, and the other BPS higher-end reels, I don't think longevity or availability of repair parts will be a problem for a long time. Too bad the latest model PQ has gotten so popular - I got 1 2009/2010 model PQ on eBay for $30, another for $40. Can't get those prices anymore!! Think of it this way - I bought EVERY spare part on the PQ reel for $30 since I have that reel as a spare right now. Call Shimano and get a price on every spare part for a Citica... ;D

I think the Mepps is probably the better bait...but I use mostly Roostertails due to a significant price advantage over the Mepps at Wallyworld. I make two mods to the Roostertail - I bend over the line tie (similar to a Shyster) to reduce line twist, and I bend the tip of the blade outward - this gets better action on the blade. See the photo... How are you making the blade bend? A pair of pliers? Yep. I know it's hard to see in the photo (I edited the photo to put red arrows next to the mods) but you only need to bend just a bit of the tip of the blade to get the improved action. I mod the bait as soon as I take it out of the package - then tweak it lakeside if I need to. If you feel too much drag on the bait - you've got too much bend; if you don't get a good flutter from the blade, or it "stalls" too easy, then you don't have enough bend.