phisher_d

hmmm... I couldn't find anything about colors in the "Got a question about senkos" sticky thread, so here goes... I like most of the dark colors but my favourite would probably be watermelon w/ black flakes.

lol... same here ;D

Spinnerbait Colours- natural colours for clear water, more visible colours for murky water Size- start small in spring (1/4 or 3/16 ounce), get gradually bigger, bulkier, and longer towards fall. Blades- willow for clear water and heavy weed cover, colorado for murky and/or shallow water. Indiana for wood. Rod- 6'6" MH fast action extreme XPS Reel- whatever you can afford Line- 50 lb powerpro or 17lb fluorocarbon (clearer water), but I'm going to give #12 yo-zuri hybrid a shot *Always use a trailer hook* I started doing this a while ago and my hookups increased dramatically.

I think the replica mounts last longer than the skin mounts anyways.

A hammer-handle is just a small, annoying pike. (That's what it means around here anyways) I've also never known pike to feed heavily on the surface, especially not in summer. Were the big splashing fish in shallow water? A big pike won't be in shallow water in the heat of summer, unless you live somewhere where the water is pretty cold year-round, or there is a coldwater spring or stream feeding into the shallows there. I would guess that the splashing fish were probably carp. Back on topic. Using a steel leader will reduce your bites a little bit, especially with smallmouth. If you use a thin steel leader though, there won't be much difference, and the action of your lures won't be affected very much.

Ahh, at long last... I can't wait ;D Thanks JT

I agree with everyone else, try to find any water that is clearer and/or warmer. I would slow-roll a big chartreuse, white, or black spinnerbait with a big single colorado blade. ps. Awesome avatar(s) RoLo! ;D Keep 'em coming!

I think they're talking about a weedless bass jig. BPS sells tons of these so you'll have a pretty good selection. Here are the ones I like: http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=51620&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults Note the weedguard. It's made of a bunch of fibers (is that what they're called?) that are stiff enough to stop weeds from hanging on it but soft enough to bend back and expose the hook on the hookset. I hope that answers your question. For heavy cover or low visibility water, I like to have rattles on the jig. The one in the link comes with rattles on it, but they are removable for more open water situations or clear water where you might not want them on the jig. Put a soft plastic or pork trailer on these jigs to give it some extra action, give it a slower fall, and to make the bass hold on to it for longer. I like YUM chunks for trailers and this past year I've had good success with strike king 3x trailers. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=58615&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=51902&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults Welcome to the forum

Awesome article JT, I look forward to reading some more!

good luck! let us know how you do

Those are some good reads Matt. Thanks.

I don't know how big the pond you're talking about is, but in small farm ponds I always have better luck with downsized baits. I don't know why, but the big lures just don't seem to get bit in these little ponds. The fish aren't any smaller (some of my biggest bass have come out of farm ponds) they just seem to prefer smaller lures. My go-to baits in farm ponds are Booyah pond magic spinnerbaits, strike king red-eye mini king spinnerbaits, and strike king bitsy flip jigs.

You're a real class act RW

For flies and jigs (I assume you mean hair jigs) I recommend getting a starter kit. BPS sells some for about 50 bucks and you get a vice, tools, materials, unpainted jig heads (or fly hooks, depending on which kit you buy), and an instructional video. I would be a little weary about using the hooks that come in the kit(I don't know who makes them), but other than that, it's a great deal to get you started. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=42545&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults Hope this helps

Hmmm. Never thought of that. Sounds good! : ;D lol

Like vyron_utd said, for a bass to get that big, it has to be smart. I also believe that bass easily get conditioned to lures that are constantly being thrown in front of them. An older (and bigger generally) bass will have seen more lures than a younger bass so they are likely going to be more conditioned, and thus harder to catch.

Ceph, I think it's a good idea for establishing the vegetation, but if you plan on fishing around it I think the chicken wire or fencing would be pretty easy to get snagged on :-/

Sign me up for those notes too pm sent thanks

Glad to hear you had an awesome time. That sounds like a great bunch of guys to hear from. ... I'm so jealous

IMO a smallouth fights way harder than a largemouth pound for pound.

I think a smallmouth will eat any crawfish it can fit in its mouth. I just use the spit-up parts to see what colour the crawfish are if I'm fishing a new lake. One thing I've read about crawfish size is that in lakes with rock bass (which is a lot of lakes up here), big craws live up in the shallow water while the small ones stay deep. This is because if the small ones were in the shallow water, they would get eaten by the rock bass. The big ones don't really have to worry about it that, so they can stay in the shallow water. I take that into consideration when I'm choosing a bait for largemouths or smallies. If I'm shallow I'll reach for a bulkier jig or tube, but for deep water I might downsize it. Sometimes if the lake has two different kinds of crawfish, and one is big and one is small, the crawfish might actually look different at the different depths, so a colour change might be in order.

I agree with the spinnerbait. I'd get one with a big colorado blade for lots of thump and lots of lift so that you don't have to reel it too fast. I also agree with the dark colour. A perfect one would be the Booyah moon talker or the Terminator T-1 night fishing spinnerbait. If the dark colour's not working you could take the opposite route and go with chartreuse. It's usually a big producer for me in muddy water. I'd also try a jerkbait. Something with a bright, holographic finish that will be visible.

I've never caught a florida strain bass before but something I've noticed around here is that the bass that I catch in small farm ponds hardly fight at all compared to the ones I catch in bigger lakes. I don't know why. anyone else noticed this?

I fish a lake that has tons of old stumps all along one side. Whenever I see wood I usually reach for a jig and pitch it as close to the stump as I can, but I've caught tons of fish off those stumps with a buzzbait when the topwater bite is on. Some of my favourite stumps are surrounded by lily pads or slop. These things are absolute fish magnets. For them I like to throw a scum frog and twitch it slowly (make sure you have a follow up bait ie. tube or jig or worm etc for missed strikes) or a spinnerbait if the weeds aren't too thick. Jigs work well for me on those stumps too. Hope this helps

I was in a situation like that a while ago and I had my best luck with tubes and drop-shots. We caught a few fish on wacky rigged senkos too. We were fishing mid-lake humps with really steep sides. tube colours- chartreuse and watermelon, with an inserted tube head drop shot- I forget what brand of baits I used for this, but they were small, shad-bodied things and they were grey