Jacob Robinson

Everywhere ive been, the fish are post spawn for the most part. There are still a few trying to spawn but ive been catching them on secondary points and stuff the past week or so.

Anyone ever fished down there?

Spinnerbait

Ive usde it before at Lake Wylie. I was fishing in a cove and saw a bunch of bait fish and the bass were all over them. I threw a bunch of stuff on them but couldnt get bit. I tried a wacky rig fluke on a 5/0 wide gap hook. Caught 5 on 6 casts.

Those all look really good! I really like the striper one!

The popper took me about an hour from start to finish. The chipmunk takes about a day because i carve them and sand them by hand. I also hand paint them too. Gives it more of a rugged look which has been working better than an airbrushed version i did.

I dont use them because it can alter the action of the bait. I have always heard that the snap can weaken pretty quick and you not only loose the fish but your bait as well.

Also made a popper with the same design.

Depends on the conditions. I normally start with a jig and spinnerbait.

Your rod needs to be atleast 7'. My reel of choice is a Pflueger president.

Took this bait out to a friends pond this morning to kill some time. Threw it up under some trees and caught 3 on 5 casts. None of them were under 4 pounds. This bait is insane!

Yea. Ill have to start doing that lol.

Yea thats possible. I may be snapping the rod pretty hard too. Im just used to slinging spinnerbaits and stuff so i guess its just habit.

Yea. one of my main problems is, no matter what line or pound test i use, my swimbaits keep snapping off on the cast. I know its not a failed knot. Thats why i was wondering about braid with a fluro leader or something.

Thanks for all of the advice! I think my problem has been reeling too fast. Has anyone ever tried fishing swimbaits with braided line?

I just stick with a 1.5 oz. Tungsten weight and a craw soft plastic or brush hog.

Im trying to get better at swimbait fishing. Ive been dabbling at it for about 3 years now. Ive caught a few fish but not as many as i think i should be catching. Im talking about soft swimbaits by the way. Ive been messing around with strike kings shadalicious swimbaits. Anyone have any pointers?

Yea that was before i put on the top coat. I just threw it together to see how it looked. Ive already put the top coat on and fished with it. Had a few grab it but they were more set on spawning than eating.

I would start with throwing a spinnerbait on a windy bank. If they are still on the beds, any kind of soft plastic that you can sight fish with. Hope this helps!

Bomber Fat Free Shad. My go to summer bait.

No, theres no such thing as a stupid question. There should be crawdads in it for sure. Really the only way to find out is to try and catch one. I know people used to put meat on a string and throw it around rocks and stuff like that and leave it for a few minutes and slowly pull it in and see if there were any on the meat. Im sure they are in there though. If not then i would still try a crawdad pattern. Ive caught bass on shad baits in places that didnt have shad in them. I dont think bass are really too picky. If it moves the right way they will inhale it.

Yea i know what your talking about. I saw something like that i think at BPS.

I talked to him for a little bit at the 2008 classic. Hes a pretty cool guy.

What i always did when i fished as a co-angler is finesse. Most guys i rode with would be power fishing. Thats my strong point but i knew it wouldnt work more than likely. Another thing, dont tell your boater where you got bit or anything. I fished a BFL one time and i lost a few fish and as soon as i reeled up to make another cast, the boater threw his bait in the exact same place. He did this a few times. Its good though, ive learned how to treat co-anglers.

I started fishing BFL Events as a Co-Angler when i was 17. I skipped the whole club level. I would recommend starting in a club though. You will learn alot either way.