Jigfishn10

I use either a 3" or 4" curly tail grub. I rig with the curl tail pointed down and I'm trying to imitate a wounded fish. Match the forage in your lake/pond. Up here it's bluegill, perch or pumpkinseed. I like to pop the rod tip like I'm fishing a Zara Spook on a semi-slack line, it will pull line up and at the end of the pop the lure will move about a foot. Practice with it a bit and you'll get it. Your initial reaction would be to pull the lure on a tight line. Just leave out a little more line until you get the action you want. After popping, reel up some slack and let the lure fall 6" -12" before you pop again. The bite more than likely will be aggressive like a spinnerbait bite. Good luck

I'm not sure if this is the case, but you sound as if you're being really dedicated to jig fishing and you left everything at home to learn these lures which is the way to go if that's what your doing. I'm also not sure what type of presentation you used, was it a standard lift drop retrieve hopping along the bottom, or a drag along the bottom maintaining complete contact with bottom or did you swim? When the first 2 presentation don't work for me I swim. Sometimes just a steady and constant crank like a slow rolled spinnerbait, or I like to cast out let it sink just below the surface and with your rod tip I pump the slack line twice pulling the jig about a foot or so, reel up most of the slack and pump the tip again. I vary the presentation, sometimes longer or shorter, multiple or singular pumps, etc. All I'm trying to achieve is an erratic action like a wounded fish and I'm looking for that reflex strike. Good luck on your next outing. Hope this helps.

I think some bites are similar for both jigs and soft plastics, but I think the jig bite has a few more additional bites associated with it which makes the jig a little more unique. MHO

If you're on a budget, then I don't think you can go wrong with an Ugly Stik. I know a lot of people using them and really like them. I personally like the 3 St. Croix rods I built and wouldn't trade them for anything. Back in 2000 I was on a retail development which had Home Depot and WalMart as anchor stores. A contractor asked me to go fishing and I went to WalMart and bought a Shakespeare SBC2804 round baitcaster for $40. I still have and use that baitcaster to this day. In 2005 I had the levelwind pawl lock up on the worm shaft and damaged both parts as well as the levelwind gear. I called Shakespeare Customer Service to order parts and they couldn't have been easier to deal with. I think the replacement parts cost around $5.00 and I got 2 of each part. They were on my door step 2 days after ordering. IMHO I think that their higher end reels (Pfluegar) are not bad reels. I can't really comment on any other Pfluegar products as I have not used those products.

Nice tip Redtail. How well do they hold up after soldering surgery?

2008 Ford F150 on a missed hook set. Caught the drivers side mirror on a lipless crankbait. It spooled me. Does that count?

Zara Spooks Why: Topwater fishing says it all.

Nice job! Good luck with them!

You mention that you see your line moving and as stated above, 9 times out of 10 that fish has that lure in its mouth pretty well. Reeling down while lowering your rod adds enough pressure to that bait that make the bass clamped down harder. SET THE HOOK.

Sounds like it was a great outing. Nice job, man

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1273849151 Catt started an excellent thread on this Topic. Check it out.

I still use snap/swivels. I like to change up blade styles. finishes and sizes. Not sure why tackle companies are doing that, maybe to save a couple of cents?

Guess? ;D Spinnerbaits are a close second

That was my first impression...Anyone need a Senator from MA?

I fished this jig a lot and so far so good. The rabbit fur is tied up to the collar and the chenille body is wrapped over it. I'm sure after prolonged use it will start to fall apart. I don't want to hijack this thread, but if you're interested in obtaining some, PM me and we can discuss. BTW, thank you for the compliment.

You did a nice job. Keep it up!

Here's the one I've been having success on.

I'm a HUGE C's Fan, "LET'S GO CELTICS"! But, I am a fan of Kobe! That guy can play! I don't like what he did or does in his personal life, but when it comes to basketball, he's poetry in motion.

.RM.: You're right, I didn't even notice that until I looked at the schematic. My apologies. The only other thing I can think of is the level wind pawl locks up on the worm shaft. I've had both the bearing and pawl problems at different times which locked up the reel. Finding parts can be tough, but I've found that Mike's Reel Repair in Canada has parts for older reels. I was able to find parts on a Quantum US600 last winter. Give them a try. Here's the link: http://www.mikesreelrepair.com/index.php?cPath=21 Again, my apologies.

I've been using a jig with a silicone skirt, chenille body and twin tailed rabbit strips. I've been having success on it so far. I'll post a pic for you tomorrow. Also, used this one earlier in the season, it's torn up now, but I did take a pic of this before I fished it. The one with the rabbit fur stands up much better.

If you can get the spool shaft bearings out, try holding one with one hand and stick a pencil in the center of the bearing and rotate the pencil. If the pencil rotates with ease then the bearing is good. if the pencil feels some resistance at any point then the bearing is good but needs cleaning. If the pencil doesn't rotate then the bearing really needs to be cleaned. I had a situation where I couldn't get that pencil to rotate and I flushed the bearing out with WD40, got the bearing to rotate and then put the bearing in a Simple Green degreaser solution of 4 parts water to 1 part Simple Green. Then rinsed the bearing in water. Once rinsed I air dried it with compressed air (like the one you would use for your keyboard) and added 1 drop of reel oil. Try testing your spool shaft bearings first and post the results. There are a couple of more things I want you to try.

Hit a few nice fish today at Houghtons Pond. All in all 2 hours, 4 fish. 1 really nice one got off about 20' away after a jump. It looked like it was pushing 4 lbs. All were caught on a jig with a 3" single tail grub. Skies were overcast and all the fish were pretty much active. The bite was aggressive, 2 taps and set the hook. The 3-4 lber pretty much tapped twice and hooked itself. Water was warm and plenty of fry around the shallows. Switch to a spinnerbait and caught 2 pickerel before I left. Very aggressive bite and almost gut hooked 1. Good luck guys.

I used to glue into Denny Brauer's "Bass Class". Now WGFS and Hank Parker. I honestly think the fishing shows of say 10 years ago were much better. MHO.

Checked "other", I make and use my own. I do, however, like Strike King

Looks Great! I like that reel seat a lot, I may try that one out on my next build this winter. I like PacBay products, but havn't seen that particular reel seat, where did you get that? Good luck with it.