Jigfishn10

The old adage of 100% of the fish will be in 10% of the lake. Fish in small ponds generally have the same tendencies as fish in large lakes. It's up to you to figure out those tendencies. If you have no electronics then you need to go on a fact finding mission. Take a jig or deep diving crankbait and figure out the lake bottom. It takes longer, obviously, but you will figure it out and you will need to spend time to scour the bigger lakes. I personally find that to be the challenge to fishing the bigger waterways and when you do get that lunker, you have a greater sense of accomplishment. If you're an instant results guy, then start parting with money. JMHO

You really need to take of your health forth and foremost. I'm 45 yrs old and have degenerative discs since I was 18 yrs old from working. I regret it now for not taking care of my health and not taking my doc's opinion. Put the money away forget about the settlement. Live your life normal and pick up tackle when money comes available. The settlement looks great now, but hold out, there's much better coming your way in years to come. MHO of course.

Good luck GMAN...hopefully we can see some pics. Be safe.

Love em BIG M. I don't see many peeps fishing those glitter baits up here anymore. WAY COOL!

Try and help him out...after about a month of summer dog days you can post his new rig in the Fishing Flea Market Forum...

It must be pretty darn good to last all these years and still being produced. I've read that it was introduced in 1941, I'm not sure if it was or wasn't, but to still be produced some 70 years later, that's a pretty darn effective lure.

I've had some great days throwing a spook jr at high noon on a blue bird day. I also got skunked...LOL. Let the fish tell you what they want and don't pay attention to the "book" on topwaters. As far as I'm concerned, there are no topwater police to tell you when and where to use them...

I'm with your parents on this one. Right now gas is pretty darn expensive along with food and nobody can predict where those prices are going. It's never a good idea to spend more on entertainment (fishing) than on living expenses. Those 3 high end set-ups you want will be replaced with better high end set-ups next year and the year after that. It sounds like you have a pretty good deal with just paying gas, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, b/c when you find yourself in college with no $$$, it will be hard to go to the well (your parents) for more $$$ without a "I told you so" arguement which never seem to go over to well...

It's really hot here as well. Heck on the way home from work I saw the air temp in my truck coming in at 111*. We had a prolong heat wave last summer causing the water levels in the area dropping about 8' plus in some water bodies. I usually start off slow with jigs, tubes and such. They worked but I had much better results in burning a spinnerbait believe it or not. I dropped down 1 size on the blade and reeled as fast as I could with occasional pauses. Saved many of fishless days for me. Give it a whirl.

As you can see from JF's pic, he doesn't carry a razor or shaving cream...

Go to Kinami's website, you may be surprised who his dad is.

My first striper came on a Strike King deep diving crank. Second one on a black and blue jig and pig. They like Zara Spooks and Rapala Skitter Pops & Skitter Walks. I also found out, but haven't tried it yet, a 3/4 oz spinner bait with chartreuse blades. Don't be afraid to try a big ol worm and swim it like a sand eel. Sand eels are a striper's fav.

That'll drive you nuts!

Just did it to an old topwater bait I found. Crest toothpaste. If that doesn't get it ALL out, then Bar Keepers Friend did the rest. Looks great!

The other day I was fishing a tube and had a bass take the tube and swam off with it. I kept reeling down to see if he had it and he would let go and pick it back up before it hit lake bottom. He kept doing this as I watched my line move about ten feet. It swam towards some thick weeds and I knew it was now or never. So I reeled back and set the hook. The fish came out of the water with the tube in it's mouth, let go and swam off. My tube was perfectly intact exactly the way I rigged it. So yeah, it could have been a bass just pulling on the end of your Senko and not have the hook.

Hey Mike, welcome aboard from a couple of towns north!

Skoal, Copenhagen and Kodiak is over $7 here.

You caught me off guard with the price you're paying. I asked the guy at the gas station what he sells Grizzly for and it's $4.99 before tax and $5.30 after tax. I went to a couple of other stores and they were all the same price. How can another state be $2.00 cheaper? I looked it up: MA charges a 90% excise tax on wholesale price and then gets a 6.25% sales tax on top of that. Talk about double taxation!? I will never give this state more than I have to. That's ridonculus!

Yes it will. My very first set-up was a Zebco 33 combo back in the early 90's. After about a month into the season, I bought a Quantum EX250 and paired on the rod I used with the Zebco. Worked great for a while and then I upgraded.

You got one on a jig & pig, I would have stayed on the crawfish imitation. Jigs, tubes, t-rig plastic craws...

Very nicely done BIG M! especially, love those props.

Oh Man! Those days seem to be few and far between for me, when you get them, it's hard to leave the bite...Great job Wanderlust! Glad you had one of those nights, must have been a great stress reliever for you.

In my opinion, if you like and know only 3 baits, why would you go into a tourney and start experimenting with different lures and techniques? Why not fish what you have confidence in?

With mono I'm like Bass Hammer, if I see my casting distance go way down, then I know it's time. I take off about half the spool and blood knot new on. I also go by feel, if the line doesn't feel slick or leaves a chaulky residue on my fingers then I re-tie half or about half the spool. When I get new line at the beginning of the season, the finger/chaulky residue test is usually more frequent as the spool of line has been sitting on the shelf all winter and has had a head start in drying out. Drives me crazy to have to change so frequently at this time, but I'd rather have to spend money on line then replace lures that go flying off after 2 or 3 fishing sessions...LOL...yeah, I learned the hard way.

mcliff, how many rods are you planning on building after your father's rod? You're going to need atleast drying motor and a rod wrapper. You can build the rod wrapper or buy it and it's not big dollars, but if you plan on building a one and done, then you'll be wasting money. I live 1 town away, maybe we can work something out. I have both of those items/tools.