The Bassinator

As senko 77 said I dont think minor misshaping of the baits affects lure performance. Now if you have a bait like a swim bait or a craw with flapping claws and the appendages are misshapen then it affects the action and I would agree that I wouldnt use it. I have never had a problem with zoom baits and they are my #1 bait of choice. You just cant get a better bait for the price IMO.

x2 I couldnt get them to bite my crankbait and the even though the water is only 5 feet deep I needed a presentation I could cover this large weed bed with. Finally tried the carolina rig got a #4 and a #2.

I think most would agree that pointers are used in cold water temps say 40 to 50 degrees while an x-rap would be used in warmer water around 55-65 degrees. These are general guide lines and the action and profile of the baits need to be taken into consideration as well but those are the conditions I would use them. I caught some fish using a pointer 78 this summer in probably 80 degree water so you never know just experiment and Im sure youll learn pretty quick what these baits are all about.

Dont give up sooner or later youll find something that works amidst the seemingly endless array of lures out there. Youll catch em!

Morris County here mainly fishing lake and ponds around me every once in while Ill get up to split rock but I dont have a roof rack so I cant bring the john boat

Of course you do or else your not a bass fisherman By the way welcome to the forum! Nice to see a guy who fishes splitrock around here

I havent used frogs all that much but now Im tempted to give it a try. Thanks for the great info!

New stuff isnt in the budget right now but I still want new stuff! If you have excess try to sell it Im sure someone would be happy to take it off your hands

A shakey head with a finesse worm is hard to beat and Ive killed dinks on a finesse worm rigged weightless and twitched. They just cant stand it!

Save your rods get a net

Maybe you could round up all the algae with the rake that midnighthrasher mentioned it might come back but at least you wont have to deal with it for awhile

thanks for the info guys I just wanted to make sure if the lead inspectors showed up I wouldnt have any contraband items on me lol

Ive gone to UNH for two years now and I remember that Dicks didnt have lead sinkers and stuff but I didnt think that there was a regulation that banned lures themselves. Ill still continue to use my bass jigs since theyre coated with paint but I gonna make the switch to tungsten weights soon since the size and sensitivity is better. thanks for the info though deak!

I recently read the regulation on using lead in New Hampshire and it states that no sinker 1oz or less or any jig 1 in. or less along its longest axis may be used in freshwater. I was just wondering if this limits the use of bass jigs since almost all have lead heads.

go with the fluke and try to stay away form the algae with a jig or worm. You could hook into the algae and drag it where you want and make a lane to fish in. Other than that you options are kind of limited thats just how it is.

I wouldnt say you were wasting your time you were experimenting. If you didnt catch anything then hopefully you learned when not to fish a topwater at least and can eliminate it from the lineup when the same conditions arise.

A 1/4 oz green orange finesse jig with a green pumpkin ultravibe speed craw on the back. Performs as a regular jig and a swim jig and catches the big uns.

I always hand feed line out until you see your line stop moving. Once it stops moving then youre on the bottom if it doesnt stop moving you could have a fish or its just a really deep hole. I also sometimes finish my cast by pulling my rod back to the 12 o'clock position or greater with my the spool released and my thumb lightly feathering it so that it gives out some extra line. Hope this helps

Open a CD with decent interest and let it grow

The hunchback of Notre Pond

That is a big fat sexy lady. If youre into that sort of thing

I need to catch me some more smallies since you obviosly had a good time catching em!

If you do catch her make sure you give her something to drink, its been really hot up here!

WOW! I didn't even know sunfish got that big. GOOD CATCH!

Green, Black or Blue, White and the other variations that they come in i.e. Purple, Watermelon Chartreuse, Green Pumpkin Candy, Baitfish or Pearl along with many others