Wild Bill [NY]

Girvan -is that you?? Paul, I have no clue what you mean by that. My name is Wild Bill, or actually it's William on my birth certificate.

You got a steal. Congrats !

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE...until your thumb is "educated " in this technique. That practice is CRUCIAL. We all have had to do it. Secondly, you have adjustements to a baitcaster that you must set to your lure weight, and your ability. Get to know how to adjust your reel. There are two different adjustments to make to a baitcaster to set it for the weight of the bait chosen, the wind conditions, and your actual individual baitcasting ability. Initially, you want both of the reel adjustments[not the drag] pretty snug until you get the hang of it. As you get better, and then even better yet, you loosen the adjustments incrementally SLIGHTLY which will give you greater casting distance. As you get better in eductaiing your thumb to feather the reel as it is paying out line on the pitch, you even loosen them even more. The looser they are, the farther it will pitch[or cast], but if you go too far in doing that, it will be 'birdnest city". Begin pitching with about a half-ounce weight to practice with. Practice aiming to targets at a short distance from you initially, working on accuracy initially, then a soft accurate landing as you get better. As you get even better, work for a little further distances, working again for accuracy and soft landings, and even further then as you still get better then. Before you know it, you'll be pitching like a pro, making nice soft landings right where you want your bait to land.

SPEEDWORM 101 ---------------- The technique to use the Zoom "Speedworm" is actually called "speed-worming". This Zoom 'speedworm' worm was developed for that technique, as guys like me were "speed-worming" way before this bait was even made. Back then, a lot of us used paddletail worms to do this technique , and the Gambler "Paddle Tail Worm" was a favorite of mine for that technique, but they required a little bit of modifications to really get them to sputter well. Speedworming is a topwater technique for the most part, but some guys have refined the technique often to suit thier conditions and cover that they encounter on the waters. Take the worm out of the bag and hold it parallel to the ground lengthwise. Then roll it in your fingers so the open side of the tails hook shape is open on the bottom, and the tail's 'curl' tip is at the lowest point. Rig it to fish it like that, tip down. It will generate the most action that way, in my opinion. Some guys fish it right the way it comes out of the bag, and many others will peg or Florida-rig a 1/16 or 1/8 bullet weight to it's nose to give it a bit more casting distance. Most guys I have seen speedworming use size 3/0 to 5/0 size EWG-styles of hooks, usually skin-hooking it into the top of the bait to get a degree of weedlessness that way. Some will favor a heavy-wire EWG-style hook for this technique, and I am one of them. That way, you can sling it into all kinds of veggies and grasses, and reel it back, keeping the bait up on the water's surface, bouncing it off those grasses[etc] as your reel it back to you. The fluttering tail action will create a wake and slight frothing of the water surface, somewhat akin to a buzzbait [but with less noise and distrubance]. Many today, use Horny Toads [and their many counterparts] basically the same way. The one real way I see these used that I have not seen done with the Toads is where guys will crank the worm right up to a piece of cover {like a dock piling as an example, or a stump,etc} and then just 'kill' it, letting the worm drop right into the face of any fish sitting behind that dock piling[or whatever], triggering that fish to attack the worm as it drops right into it's face. That also is where that little bit of pegged-weight will make it drop a bit faster then. It can be a very exciting technique to use, and it can be used in many kinds of cover, such as Lily Pads, edges of weedlines, over the top of semi-emergent weeds, emergent grasses, etc. I have had days where bass have been so aggressive that I have seen the bass wakes coming at my moving worm 15-20 feet from where it ultimately gets bit by the Bass. Yeah, try to steel your nerves as you see that happening , and just keep on cranking your worm along steadily until that "Green Torpedo" hits your lure !!! Now, during the attack by the Bass, don't swing for the fences rigth away until you feel the pull of the fish, or see your line moving away from you. THEN [and only then], cross thier eyes with a GOOD hookset, and horse them back as fast as you can so they do not ball you up in the heavy weeds, etc. This is a great technique if you have kids or novices fishing with you, as they do not have to feel {or know} that gentle pickup or 'tic' that you need to feel in so many soft-plastic techniques to recgnize a bite. The Bass hits are pretty obvious and all you need to do is show the novice how to set the hook well. It keeps them visually stimulated as they fish it, because they see the lure buzzing along, and they see the hits, so it will keep them interested that way. Another plus of this with novices is that you rarely get gut hooked fish. I hope this helps you..

A funny one this time... I love to share fishing with kids, taking them out on my Ranger often. Every summer in July, I go up to upstate NY where we have vacationed for many , many years in a small lakeside "adirondack camp". It has nine cabins in it, and nine families share the "camp" for a weeklong stay, and often , it's the same clans or families for the same weeks , year after year. Well, being a small camp, everyone in camp knows I am a real fishing enthusiast, and that I will share my boat and gear with those willing to give it a whirl. A teenage girl asked me if I could take her fishing one of the days, and after getting approval from her Mom and grandparents, we went out fishing on my boat. Young Meaghan was about 13 or 14 at the time, and she was into it bigtime. Well, we get into a good Rapala Minnow bite, with smallies coming up to crush them as we just twitch them slightly as they sit on top of the water. Well, after landing a few fish, Meagan again gets attacked, but this time sets too soon, pulling the lure away and rocketing it back into the boat, with it sticking my earlobe with it's rearmost hook totally piercing my lower earlobe. I cut the line by the lure , but not having any good wire cutters nor mirror aboard, I just left it dangling there, and tied another onto her line, and we continued to fish until it was dark out. We motored back to the camp, and her Mom and grandparents come running down to the dock as we tied up, asking 'how'd you do" to us as they approached. I responded back, "Meaghan got the big one; it weighs about 250 pounds", and then turned that ear towards them, shaking my head so the #11 gold Rapala flailed about so they could see it. Her Mom gasped, and said she take me to the local hospitals to get it removed, to which I said no, I would tend to it. I walked up to my truck, and got a good pair of diagonal cutting pliers. Then with a mirror, I cut the hook point with the barb off, so I could back the rest of the hook out easily. I am glad Meaghan did not want a skin mount of her 250 pounder. ;D

Marc, Come fish on the 14th.... I will have a boat and job for you. Ride on my boat that day, and your job will be to net all of my fish ... Har, har, har !!!

Hey Marc {Snipe}, How have you been ? Hope life is treating you well. This year my event is July 14th, a Wednesday. Same place.

It really depends how deep your pockets are: Peacock Fishing in South America can be amazing, but EXTREMELY pricey. It's thier summer there now. Mexico offers tremedous freshwater Bass fishing also, but again, it can be very, very pricey for just a few days. Southern Florida is another option; George Welcome of "Imagination Bassing" can put you onto some HAWGS on Stick Marsh/Farm 13, and has been doing so for a long time.

Welcome aboard from NY.

I am known on some Bass fishing sites as 'the back-seat hoohah", as I have gotten invites that I have taken guys up on to come fish with them all over the USA on thier boats. Whenever I take a flying trip, I bring rods, and make posts that 'hey, I am flying down to hopefully do some fishing there", and offer to pay the ramp and gas money to help pay the day's expenses, getting many, many fishing invites that way. On one particular trip to California , there on a family vacation, a guy invites me to come fish San Luis Reservoir near Gilroy for freshwater Striped Bass, which I gladly took him up on. I meet the guy at the ramp early in the morning, and in about ten minutes, I have about an 8 pound Striper on a big topwater walking bait, and I land it. As I go to unbutton it, it totally goes ballistic and flips itself over in my hand, sticking me with THREE hookpoints into my stronger, right hand which I was holding it with, with two of the points going in WAY past the barbs; the other hookpoint easily pulled out. I put my fish down onto the carpeted deck , and put my left foot on it to stop it from flailing around on my now well stuck hand. My boating host looks over, sees how bad it is hooked into me, and says "we're gonna have to go to the hospital". I say, let me get this fish off first, and then I'll see how bad it really is [despite my pain and embarassment then]. No way do I want to blow this guy's day of fishing, nor do I want to stop fishing either. I get my pliers out, unbutton the fish, and then go about popping the points out of me with the pliers. By now, I am bleeding pretty good, and am making a bloody mess on the back deck. I quickly rinse as much blood from the deck by splashing water up with my left hand, while holding my bleeding hand in the water to numb it, and to stop bleeding onto the boat. He had a first aid kit onboard, so after a while, I fixed up some bandages to stop the bleeding, and continued to fish all day, catching many more that day with him. He said I was hard core to the bone...and I have an open invite to fish with him anytime I am in California again. In nearly fifty years of bassing with lures, that was my personal worst, but I have been stuck with single hooks many times, but those were 2X wire owner treble hooks, and BIG ones that time. I still have scars from it.

.............. Rich, Admitting to the problem is the first step {LMAO}. Getting a good frog rod, and a good frog is the next step. Finding a good, weedy location in hot weather is the next step. Learning NOT to pull the froggy away on the blow-up from the Bass, before it has closed it's mouth on your lure, is the final one. All too often, I see guys pulling the frog back before the fish has closed it's mouth on the bait, resulting in the frog coming flying right back at you; in what I call, "Premature ejerkulation". Har, har, har !! Been fishing them since 1969.....and there's just no help in curing me from "froggy fever", and I don't want there to be. I will add BBs or some glass worm rattles into the torso of the frogs [through the rear hook hole] to get them to make even more noise as the are worked. Slather the torso up in Megastrike then, squirting some into the rear hook hole, as well. None on the legs strands, though. That will help the frog slid over Lily Pads, and help to have the fish hold the boat longer, giving you a slight bit more time so you give a strong, powerful hookset. Cross thier eyes with that hookset, and get them up and out of that slop as fast as possible before they ball you up in the weeds/slop. Fish them on braid. Hope this helps you all..

Well, John Francho [post above] just let "the frog out of the bag" so to say.

I fish them on two different rods, depending upon how heavy the weeds are. I have a 6'6" Avid medium spinning rod rigged with either 8 or 10 pound copolymer for more open water situations. For heavier weedy areas, I have a MH Kistler LTX baitcaster rigged with 12 copolymer. I rig the Super Flukes one of three ways: 1]. I nose hook the Super Flukes with a #2/0 octopus hook , coming from the bottom through to the top, about a 1/2 inch back from the nose. This way gives the bait the most action, and very erratic darting motion, and provides a EXCELLENT hookup ratio. 2]. I texpose or skin-hook a 4/0 EWG-style of hook, and work it with glides, getting the bait to dart side to side, similar to a 'walk the dog' action. A heavy-wire EW can be substituted instead, so it will work slightly deeper in the water column. Skin-hooking the hook point will give you a weedless bait. 3]. To get it working even deeper in the waters, I will rig it on a belly-weighted EWG hook. ............. Those are the three most common ways I work them. Other ways are: 4]. On a Carolina rig, especially after a sudden cold snap, to mimic dying shad on the bottom. 5]. On a double-Super Fluke rig. This way, you are using two Super Flukes on one line. Take a barrel swivel, and pass you main line throughone eye, and slide it up the line, then tie a second barrel swivel nto the main line, so that the first one is now sliding on your main line between the tied swivel, and your rod tip. Tie about a 12-18 inch leader on the sliding swivel, and a tie a 24 -30 inch leader to the fixed swivel. Puta heavy-wire EWG onto the fixed line leader, and a regular wire EWGG hook on the sliding leader, putting Super Flukes then on both. It is crucial to have to one sliding, because if you hook two fish at the same time, this way they do not break your line if they pull in opposite directions. The shorter, lighter wire hook will ride higher in the water column that the heavy-wire/longer leader rig will, giving the appearance of two schooling fish. Sometimes I will rig a smaller Super Fluke in the front, lighter hook, and a full sized on on the longer leader, giving the apearance it is a bigger fish following behind, lower in the water than the smaller one. Hope this all helps you to put some fish on your line guys.

................ Done that already. They're sold nationally by a major firm in many retailers .[not gonna name brand] The American Cancer Society gets a check every year from a portion of the sales to fund breast cancer research, and I get a great feeling I have done something that may help to lead to the cure. I make NO money at all on them, nor do I work for that company. They were designed while my wife was battling Cancer 7 years ago, and I was home on a work sabbatical to nurse her back to health. She had been on the surgical table for over twelve hours in one day , with three surgical sites. Thank God, she has survived , and now she does volunteer counselling to women facing surgery for it . If the proceeds ultimately save even one woman from going through the physical and emotional hell my wife went through, I'll be a happy man. If those donations help to lead to the cure; I'll be thrilled and ecstatic. Pray for the cure in our lifetimes, please. i think you should tell us the brand, people would buy them knowing that the money is going to fund cancer research. ..................... I hear you, but I THINK that would be against forum rules to do so here, as they are not a sponsor here. I will PM you the name of it.

Welcome aboard from a NY-based Basser.

Cook, Welcome from a guy that originally lived in NJ until "86, when I moved out to Long Island NY. I still fish many NJ waters every year.

Tin, I could meet you at some point up on Candlewood [or other waters near that] and show you some of my 'toys' out on the water, at some point, when the water warms up. Right now, they would just slide across the ice, and you would not get any bites on them either. {LOL}

Nope, that's not me. Another brand...

................... Bobby {and others}, Actually I have met Bobby briefly two years ago at the Rockland NY Outdoors Expo in January{?} or so, where he was there demonstrating his stand up jigs [sorry , I forgot the name right now of them--brain fart]. I remember that, but I am sure he does not, as like I said, our talk then was very brief, and he was talking to A LOT OF GUYS that day. No, Bobby is NOT my cousin; he was joking. He never met me before that day, nor since. [but that follow-up post he made to mine was funny as all get out] !!! I just am one to really let folks know when I like [or dislike] products, and I LIKE MEGASTRIKE. I am a frogging fanatic, and I slather the stuff all over froggy before it gets cast out. It helps Mr Froggy slide over stuff, and when Mrs. Bighead blows up and eats my frog, I feel the fish holds it longer due to the Megastrike, giving me time to set the hook with authority. I also squirt some in the rear hook hole wher it enters the frog's torso to help seal it temporarily somewhat as it floats so it does not take on as much water when working it. Thanks for making a great product, Bobby, and thanks for sponsoring this and other Bass fishing sites I that frequent.

Tin, While it really is a topwater , the wooden Black Dog Baits 6" 'Lunker Punker' has sleyed them for me. Moves a lot of water, creating quite a stir on top, bringing up some 'better ' fish for me. Walk it likea Sppok, and have your nitro pills ready[if you have any heart issues]. I just ordered some of the [new this year] plastic injected versions of the same that are much lighter in weight than the wood ones. The BBZ Shad also has done well for me, and casts on any MH to H rated rod with no sweat. MS Slammers in 7 inch were my first swimbait, and they have been very good to me, giving up some real good fish. I also have the Mini Slammer, and have not encountered the failed hookups that some here have mentioned. I also just ordered a BDB 'Shellcracker' in the 5 inch wooden version, but again, this is really a wake bait for on top.

Nice Bronze fish !!

Welcome aboard from NY.

Hands down, Megastrike is clearly the best !! I have tried many, many of them They also are a paying sponsor of this site. If you like this site, PLEASE support the sponsors !!!

Guys, I will have been fishing Bass for fifty years this coming July, and I have met and seen a lot of things that many of you have not. I am no touring pro, but have an open mind and listen to when others demonstrate things with an open mind. I have fished many reknown waters all over the USA, and have fished several tournies in my days in many states, as well as having fished with some real well known pros too. Almost all Gary Yamamoto baits have both scent and salt infused into them; I think the saltwater series of thier soft-plastics do not though. Despite that, I stll add some Megastrike to all of them. One guy in this thread says he hooks a bass every time a bass hits his cranks. Hmm, he better watch a video by reknown underwater photographer Glenn Lau , where he shows bass eating a crankbait on film underwater that the angler NEVER even knew had hit his bait, and it happens REPEATEDLY on film to prove it. Yeah, I agree totally that Megastrike will tend to make a fish hold onto a lure A LOT LONGER than if it did not have it on it. I have personally tested this by using baits in gin clear water without hooks on them, both with, and without Megastrike. and hands down, I have seen the Megastriked lure get held FAR, FAR longer, over and over again, and that was seen on hookless cranks and jerkbaits, as well as many, many soft-plastics, too. When fishing heavy weeds, Lily Pads, and wood, slather you soft-plastics or frogs up, and the bait slides right OVER these with ease, as compared to an unslathered bait, which will get stuck to them. I am an engineer , and I test stuff scientifically over and over to get to my own opinion on things, and I am SOLD on using Megastrike on my lures, after countlesstime testing the effectiveness of it. You say 'show me", heck, I cut my bass fishing teeth in the "show me state", Missouri. You guys ask for a discount: heck, Bobby [the owner of Megastrike] gives a money back guarantee.... What is a couple of bucks for a tube of it if your lure works so much better for you, really now ?? To top it off, he's a sponsor here, and helps pay for the operating costs of this site where we all learn and/or share so much, and without those sponsors, who knows if this site would continue operating. That ALONE should help you to decide, and if that's not enough right there, the money back guaratee should SEAL THE DEAL. The testimony of serious hard-core, long time bassers like me should somewhat convince you though... Now, I am not on Megastrikes staff, nor am I even friends with Bobby Uhrig [yet], so there goes that arguement also...

I would wager they are made in Chinese factories.