.ghoti.

Arrived Friday evening about 7:30. Got the food put away, rods and reels rigged, and had a couple of adult beverages with a cigar on the porch, swapping a few fish tales. Two of the guys had come over early and had fished the afternoon and evening. They had a very good day for numbers, putting about 70 fish in the boat, but no trophies. On Saturday, three of us started out in the largest pit on the place, called Long Lake. It's shaped like the pi symbol, with a straight top bar, a very short right leg, and a very long left leg. We started in the short leg. The water was very dirty. It looked like the lake was in turn-over, with all the bottom gunk floating on the surface. The water temp was no where near cool enough for that, so I'm not sure what was going on. The first cast was about 7:30, and no fish made it to my boat by 9:00. My brother, and buddy John called on the radio to report the same. I was thinking, man I'm glad Kent couldn't make it this time. It would be a poor introduction to this place. Then I "figured" it out. A nasty backlash caused my senko to sit on the bottom in about 15 feet of water for close to five minutes. When I finally got it cleared, I had a fish on. The next hour and a half produced twenty fish from a small area, dead sticking a senko and jig with Bacon Rind in 12 - 15 feet, but nothing over 1.5 pounds. Decided to move after brother Mike called to tell me about some clearer water. I moved up the short leg, down the tee, and into the long leg, finding some much clearer, slightly cooler water. Grabbed the spinnerbait rod and caught a dozen on about twenty casts, again, nothing over about 1.5 pounds. Decided to go a little deeper, and got the Ika rod. I had on a blue Ika, based on the guys report from the day before. They said any color worked, as long as it was purple or dark blue. Nothing. Got out the jigworm rod, Ike's spike jighead and 3X floating worm. Here's where I "figured" it out again. Dug into my worm bag for a pack of 3X worms, grabbed the "wrong" color pack, and put my worm bag away. I'd pick a green worm with a charteuse tail. Cussed at myself, and rigged it up anyway. Proceeded to catch 11 fish in 12 casts, all spots in the 2-3 pound range. YeeHaa, spots are almost as much fun as smallies. Almost. I rigged up a green tube with chartreuse tail on another rod, and a green Ika with charteuse tail on a third rod, and went to work. Every place I found green weeds, I caught fish. Where the weeds came up brown, there were no fish. Did I mention my depth finder shot craps? I use a Bottom Line Fishin Buddy on these trips. It's not exactly a full featured sonar unit, but will give a decent view of the bottom contours, brush piles and weedbeds. When we launched the boat, I dropped it on the water and turned it on. It gave me a surface temp of 92 degrees, and a depth reading of 110 feet, with no view of the bottom on the screen. I was in about 6 feet of water that was warmer than the air, which was in the mid-sixties, but was no where near 92. So, I was running blind. I tied on a big jig, with no trailer on another rod, and used it to find the green weeds. Plumbing the depths, old school. That was the pattern for the remainder of the day. Cruise along, throwing the big jig to locate green weeds, then stop and fish them with the three green/charteuse baits. The Ika and the thube were the best producers. Finished the day with close to 100 fish, mostly spots in the 1.5 - 2.5 pound range, with two 3 pounders and one 4 pound largemouth. Along the way, I learned something. I took some JJ's Magic along this trip to give it good try. Decided to do a head to head comparison, JJ's vs Megastrike. I dipped the chartreuse tube tails in JJ's, turning that a bright, bright yellow. Greased up the Ika with Megastrike. Both worked better than untreated baits. The bite was very light, hard to detect, and I got a much higher hookup percentage with the treated baits. Then I switched, dipping the Ika tails in JJ's, and greasing the tube with Megastrike. I really tried to keep score, but lost count. The final result was close enough to call it a draw. But, both helped put more fish in the boat. When I had on an untreated bait, I'd either feel the lightest of taps or see a very slight line movement, drop the rod, reel up the slack, swing and miss. With either JJ's or Megastrike applied it was swing and a hit. Here's something interesting. I've had really good results with the Ike's Spike jighead / 3X floating worm combo. But the Ika and tube were much better on this day. So I decided to try JJ's on the worm. Got out the bottle of red, thinking that maybe a red tip on the charteuse tail would do something for me. I dropped the tail of the worm in the bottle, let it soak for about 5 seconds, and pulled the worm out, minus the tail. Something in that little jar had bitten off the end of my worm. I thought, this ain't good, and by the time I got my pliers to remove the worm tail from the bottle, it had all melted down, turning the JJ's into orange cottage cheese. JJ's and 3X plastics are not what I'd call compatible. Mike and John were on the same lake I was. They had a so-so day. I'd seen them a few times, cruising along, throwing spinnerbaits and cranks, not catching that many fish. I told them the green weeds, green/chart baits, 12 - 15 feet deep pattern, but it didn't change what they were doing. They ended up the day with about thirty fish, and one three pounder. Steve and Paul were on a different lake, fishing dark colored plastics slow and deep, and had a very good day. About 80 fish in the boat between them, but nothing over three pounds. A nice day at Trophy Country. Finished up the day with my infamous Fish Camp Pasta, some good bread, and either wine, beer or ouzo. The cowards I was with would not drink any ouzo with dinner, so I had it all to myself. I didn't drink it all. Got to go home, so I'll give a report on Sunday tomorrow. Sunday was better than Saturday. Cheers, GK

Hey Muddy. I used to use those Mojo Weights, and can no longer find them. And I was always loosing the rubbers, and the threader used to install them. I use the following rig and get a two-fer out of them. Put on a 1/16oz Ultra Steel weight, then a bead, then a bobber stop, then a hook. The bobber stop is one of those yellow string things tied on a plastic tube. Costs about 6 bucks for 100. It keeps the weight any distance you want from the hook. The bead is required because the weight will sometimes slide past the bobber stop if the bead is not there. Any weight heavier than 1/16oz will overcome the grip the stop has on the line, and the weight will end up at the hook after the cast. Now for the two-fer. Reverse it. Bobber stop on first, bead next, weight next, then the hook. Now you a pegged T-rig. This will work with weights heavier than 1/16oz because the weight is already at the hook. I get two completely different rigs with the same components. Cheers, GK

Over the last two years, a Fat Ika. Over the last eight years, a Senko. Over the last twenty+ years, a #7 Shallow Shad Rap.

AMEN

Hey flechero, nice job explaining this for all of us. I now know why my experiment with a particular rod for cranking failed. I got a 6'8" medium, extra-fast Avid last year, and thought, that with it's soft tip, it would make a good crankbait rod. So much for thoughtin'. I lost over half the fish I hooked on it. It was good for casting. Not so good for fighting the fish. I've been using other graphite rods for cranks for years. I just didn't like the weight of glass after graphite hit the market. I now have a crankbait specific graphite rod, and as Raul said, it makes a big difference. My crank rod is a 7'6" Setyr, medium power, moderate taper. All graphite, and very light in weight. It will bend under load a long way down the blank. I haven't had it long enough to say that it improved my catch ratio, but I haven't lost a fish yet that got hooked on it. I have had it long enough to say that my casting distance is better. The further a rod bends (loads) on the backcast, the more energy is stored in the rod to be released on the forward stroke. I don't have a similar glass rod for comparison, but I'd guess that the graphite rod releases that stored energy faster than a comparable glass rod. Thanks Rooster for bringing this up. It got an excellent reply from flechero. You may take a look at Setyr's line of crankbait rods. http://www.setyrrods.com

Nice picture Dean. Looks like a perfect time and place for the original floating Rapala. Toss it out, feathering the spool so it lands as lightly as possible. Then let it sit until you can't stand it, and let it sit some more. Give it slightest twitch and let it sit again. Repeat. Then move it about 3 or 4 feet with an erratic cadence, and let it sit again. Repeat.

Dang it Dom, a guy needs a few secrets. ;D ;D Now, for the secret behind the secret. It only works with real beer. If you try it with one of those wussy "lite" beers, you'll fall over the side of the boat.

It would also depend on the application. If you're throwing moving baits; cranks, spinnerbaits, etc, then a balanced rig makes no sense. As soon as you start cranking the rig is tip heavy, and you can't posibbly add enough weight to balance it out. On the other hand, if you're throwing a jig, a balanced rig is something many people prefer. As far as casting distance is concerned, that is determined by many factors; rod length, power and action, line size, lure weight, reel, casting technique, etc, with overall balance having little effect.

I was just out last night packing for this weekend's trip. I can't take everything so I try to get it down to a minimum. ;D ;D One rod will have a 5/0 EWG hook tied on for Senkos and Ikas. One for Flukes, switch to tubes if the shallow bite isn't there. One with spinnerbait, switch to crankbait if needed. One with a Shake2 head, for hula grubs, brush hogs and bacon rinds. One for toads, switch to jig/trailer if the toad bite ain't happening. One T-rig, first choice of bait a GYCB Big Kahuna Cuttail worm. One with an Ike's Spike jighead and 3X worm. Spinning gear didn't make the cut for this trip.

Never lie to an x-ray technician. They can see right through you. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After an hour, the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why?" they asked, as they moved off. "Because," he said, "I can't stand chess nuts boasting in an open foyer."

Now matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

A young man who was also an avid golfer found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in 9 holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old gent to join him. To his surprise the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time. Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball - and directly between his ball and the green. After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age I'd hit the ball right over that tree." With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally lay. The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age that pine tree was only 3 feet tall." Note: Sorry fourbizz. I just could not resist

Joe Montana

Trilene XL Clear Blue Fluorescent for everything except cranks and spinnerbaits. I use green Sufix Elite for those.

I just knew I wasn't the only fool out fishing in the rain yesterday morning. I woke up about 5:30AM to the sound of rain and wind, and knew Ike had made it to central Illinois. It was one of the wife's rare "sleep-in" days, so I decided to not wake her up by fiddling around the house and went fishing. Put on my Cabela's rain gear and said to myself, "self, you've never fishied in a hurricane before; now's your chance". Spent the morning, until about 9:00AM, walking the bank, throwing topwaters. RageTail Toads, RageTail Shads, Paca Toads and Cavitron buzzbaits. The wind was a challenge, and I'd left my spinning gear at home. Had a few over-runs when the wind changed directions on me, but nothing I couldn't pick out. Caught at least a dozen, the largest weighed 4. Missed quite a few. Actually, on several bites, I think the fish missed the bait completely. The rain was pounding the water surface heavily, and I think the fish just misjudged where the bait was. Anybody ever experience this? I don't think I've ever fished in a downpour this heavy. I'm just speculating.

No I think he has not gone fishing because his boat is moored/mored -tumnus WORD

Amen, brother.

Just for all who may not have seen this. Looking at this, ones come to realize that it is indeed amazing that any of learn to read, let alone spell. Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Suzy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it's written.) Now I surely will not plague you With such words as plaque and ague. But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind. Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation's OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Ivy, privy, famous; clamour And enamour rhyme with hammer. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age. Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth. Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath. Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual. Refer does not rhyme with deafer. Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal. Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor. Tour, but our and succour, four. Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean. Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key. Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver. Heron, granary, canary. Crevice and device and aerie. Face, but preface, not efface. Phlegm, phlegmatic, ***, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging. Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation (think of Psyche!) Is a paling stout and spikey? Won't it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits? It's a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough? Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to give up!!! -- B. Shaw

he said Booby!

A drunk was proudly showing off his new apartment to a couple of his friends very late one night. He led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong and a mallet. 'What's with the big brass gong?' one of the friends asked. 'It's not a gong. It's a talking clock,' the drunk slurred in response. 'A talking clock? Seriously?' asked his astonished friend. 'How's it work?' 'Watch,' the drunk replied. He stumbled across the room, picked up the mallet, gave the gong an ear-shattering pound, and stepped back. The three stood in silence, looking at one another for a moment. Suddenly, someone on the other side of the wall screamed, 'You idiot..it's three-fifteen in the morning!!'

Good one

Try the Swim Senko on an Evolution Shake2 jighead. Thread the bait on the jig just like you would a grub, using the barbs on the hook shank, not the post. This leaves the hook point totally exposed. The Shake2 head gives an extra dimension to the action. I fish this both with a steady retrieve, and as a bottom bouncer. This rig has a very lively action on the drop. It is effective both ways. When I'm going to swim this rig, I use one of my crankbait rods. I missed a lot of fish initially with this bait. When I went to the crank rod, my hookup percentage went way up. I don't set when I feel the bite. I wait for the rod to load up, then do a sweep set. I use one of my stiffer plastics/jig rods for bottom bouncing. A normal. plastics style hook set applies here. Drop the tip, reel up the slack, and stick it to "em.