deep

I've caught a bunch on topwater senkos as well. Work it like a topwater lure. Reel fast, reel slow, twitch, let it drop; the only trouble is I need the water to be quite calm to try that.

I have a Powell Max 7'3" M/XF spinning for soft plastics and jigs. I am VERY happy with it. It's no Steez or NRX of course (not that I fished with any of those ever); but for it's price, it's an excellent rod. You won't be sorry if you invest in a Powell Max.

I started fishing soft plastics (specifically senkos and senko type baits) this summer, so I thought I would share my experiences. First of all, watch your line. When the line starts moving out, or it jerks, you've got a fish. I detect maybe 60 to 70 percent of the strikes this way. Sometimes, of course, the bass takes the bait, and just sits, and you got to feel the bite. If you see the line running out; feel the fish, and then set the hook; not before. Don't swing if you don't feel the fish. When I do feel the fish, I set the hook with a strong firm pull, after reeling in the slack. Swinging for the fence usually results in a snapped line (at least for me). Keep the pressure, and reel him in. Don't wait to set the hook once you feel the fish. Else you usually end up with a gut-hooked fish (and I don't mean gill-hooked) with a Yammy senko, and maybe a spit out lure with some other similar baits. Oh, btw; I use 4/0 EWG or WG worm hooks with 5" senkos usually. Eagle Claw or Gamakatsu or Mustad. I didn't find the brand to matter a lot; except that a few Eagle Claws were blunt right out of the package (others were sharp enough); I trash those. There was a thread about EWG and regular worm hooks for worms. I don't find hookups any troublesome with EWG hooks; so I mostly use those anyway with senkos. I think the senko looks more natural with a EWG, due to the hook point and the hook eye being on the same level.

Thanks for the replies folks. On the dead grass comments, I think there's some dead grass, but there's green grass too, because I dragged them up (been to that lake twice after the original post). Also, this is just the beginning of fall. I thought the bass were supposed to come up shallow, not move to deeper structures? The cove right next to the point holds a good bass population now, though; but nothing like the point used to hold. This lake is pretty small (< 50 acres), and as far as I see, this is the more prominent of the two real points.

**4. Finesse Setup: Japanese Daiwa Fuego 2000 + Quantum Superlight 7'4 MHF + 6# YoZuri Hybrid** Just a quick comment here. Have you already got the Quantum Superlite? I had the 7'4" MH/XF for my worm/jig setup, before I lost it overboard. Now I have a 7'3" Powell Max, medium, extra-fast with a Shimano Sonora 2500. I guess I love my present set-up way more than the old one. The superlite felt tip heavy. The powell is very balanced and a bit lighter, too. Also, I have 6# dia braid on it.

You know, you better stick to Fireline. Else I might just have a horde of angry Fireline fans on my tail You might want to hang around a while for others to chime in on the topic of the lb test for the leader. There are so many guys out here way more knowledgeable than I am. Edit: Went through the thread and found that you picked up some Trilene 100% FC. I think that's good stuff. Quite sensitive and holds up well to abrasions. Check your knots though. I have read stuff about its poor knot strength; never experienced it myself.

Re: Fireline Get ready for some music from your rod guides then.. But it's your money and your choice I guess. Just kidding, fireline is pretty good; used it for a while, before switching to Samurai. 14 lb test or thereabouts for the FC leader should be okay IMO. Depends on the sort of cover you are fishing. Remember, the leader is the weak point in the line system. If the line breaks, it will break at the leader-to-mainline knot, or the knot at the hook. Iaconelli uses the heaviest line he can get away with (he was talking about the bass seeing the line). I use the lightest line I can get away with (re: getting snagged etc). There are leader materials available on the market (stiffer, more sensitive, and quite pricey). You can go for those. Or use regular FC mainline as leader material.

Yes, technique is all that matters. That said, there are some things that could make life easier for you. I too had problems with walking a heddon spook at the end of a cast. Now I use rapala walks, and have no problems. Of course that doesn't mean it's easier to walk the rapala stickbait; just that I find it easier. Spinning or baitcasting, I don't find that a factor at all. Rod action matters a lot. I had huge problems with my regular treble hook lures rod, a medium-fast action. Now I use my spinnerbait/rattle-trap rod, which has a fast action. Instant change from the lure wallowing to a crisp zig-zag action. Line choice: I have had the best results with braid. The no stretch helps a lot. But as a practical solution (I couldn't afford to use a rod just for one type of lure), I use 12 lb Suffix siege mono. There's little stretch in this line (compared to a lot of monos that is). So does that mean you can't walk the dog with a slow action rod spooled with Trilene XL? Of course you can. But you got to perfect your technique before you can succeed in doing that. As of now, I'm happy with my set-up (fast action, 12 lb Siege) and my not-yet-perfect technique. P.S. You don't *have* to snap the rod downwards. You can snap it sideways too (that's how I do it in my kayak), so long you snap it with the adequate amount of slack.

There's this gently sloping point in a local lake. It's covered with grass. It slopes very gradually right from the bank to about 70 feet away to the main river channel, with a drop-off near the channel. All summer long I've caught significant numbers of bass (8-10 per outing) on it and around it, it's a pretty small but sharp point; mostly with soft plastics and rattle-traps. The number of bites have been dwindling thorughout the last week. Today I didn't get one single bite there. However I got four good bites and three bass in the adjoining creek. Do all bass migrate to creeks in fall? The forage here is bluegills and crappies I think. AFAIK there's no shad, although there's probably carp. P.S. A side question, only plastics and rattle-traps seemed to work, and work magnificently at that, at the point. I had maybe one or two strikes on a spinnerbait here, and zero strikes on anything else. Any ideas why?

I use an alberto knot; it's smaller and passes through the guides better. An uni-to-uni should work just fine though. My setup consists of 6lb fluoro leader connected to 6lb dia Samurai (my worming combo is spinning). Folks generally use a heavier FC leader, say 10 or 12 lb. But the 6 lb suits me just fine for light cover/grass/weeds, so I stuck to it. I have absolutely manhandled 3-4 pounders on it, but then I'm very confident in this set-up and know its limits and capabilities. Initially, you may want to use a heavier leader. I try to keep the leader out of the reel, which means a leader length of about 6 to 7 feet. Try Samurai if you never tried any braid before. You will be spoiled, and it's not that costly in the long run. I use only half a spool, the other half is mono backing. I bought only one Samurai spool this year, and have not respooled yet. When T-rigging plastics, you have a lot of slack line. Be very careful when setting the hook. If you don't have *all* the slack out of the line before setting the hook, you'll snap the knot at the leader or at the hook, or maybe you'll break your rod with straight braid. Leader or not, that's mostly a question of confidence. I do not fish gin-clear water, but I use a leader anyway. My catch rates go down by half without a leader. That's probably not because the fish see the line, but due to the fact that I am not as confident, and the presentation suffers. Using a leader has other advantages. If you do get snagged, you don't have to lose any braid. You lose only the hook, or at worst the whole leader. Also, if you do have some slack while setting the hook, chances are you'll only lose the leader or the hook.

Then the answer is, your favorite braid (or superline) with a fluoro leader.

Hey folks, thanks for the replies. Wrinkle, can't wait to try out your ideas. That sounds like good advice.

EDIT: I would go for Samurai braid with a fluoro leader, especially with the soft plastics. With soft plastics, I look for a line with low stretch/ high sensitivity. EDIT2: I think we could mention specific desired properties of the line, instead of mentioning different brands, which might confuse the OP. I like the high sensitivity of braid for soft plastics. Power Pro, Fireline, Samurai, Suffix performance, it doesn't matter. Of course, I'd only use Samurai. That's because I have had good experience with it. If we list the desirable properties we like in a soft plastics/ jig line, at least the thread won't go into a Samurai vs Fireline, or a Invizx vs Berkley 100% FC debate; and that might help the OP.

I notice that I have a lot of trouble landing bass with treble hook lures (cranks, topwaters etc) from my kayak. In fact, my landing ratio is something like 50%, which is pretty disappointing to say the least. Fishing from the shore, the ratio is north of 90% I think. A lot of bass come loose at or near the kayak. Should I set the hook harder? And not play them as hard like I do when fishing from the shore? I don't think the problem is that I don't keep pressure on the fish. I know I do.

Ohio Bassmaster, check your PM.

Do they make roof racks for two door cars? I'm sure you'll find roof-racks for 2 door cars. There was a pretty exhaustive list of cars I chose my Altima from. Hell, I've even seen VW Beetles with roof racks (out on the road).

I got the roof rack for my car (97 Altima lol) from a car rack website. I don't want to give out a link, but look around and you'll find out. The length of the cross bars are specific to your car model. There are a few sites specializing in car racks. I got my kayak rack from Dick's, also bought online. But there are several places you can get one from I guess.

+1 on the SOT. I have a 10 footer Pelican Apex Angler. Definitely not the best fishing kayak, but it was the best I could afford. Anyway, I had to go for a (forced) swim once. I am scared to think what would have happened if it was a sit-in 'yak. Keep in mind that I consider myself a pretty good swimmer. Trapped inside, upside down; the mere thought gives me chills. Stability is ok, but I have nothing to compare it to. I guess it depends on the particular model. But, as I said, it turned turtle but once, and I have tried some crazy maneuvers on it. Also, I never paddled a 'yak before. I do get wet a bit, mostly from water dripping in from the paddle. I always leave my trousers in the car, and fish in shorts, so that I can change and drive home dry.

Finally took out my baitcaster out on my 'yak. It was pretty windy. Had no to little problems casting with, into and across the wind. 2 brakes on, 4 off. I also got the mother of all backlashes today. The rattle-trap got caught up with the other rod that was in a rod holder on a backcast. But other than that, all went quite smoothly.

There's this theory about how a baitcast reel works like a winch and you use your dominant hand to reel/winch in a fish. What this theory doesn't take into consideration is that you need to work the lure too, which probably isn't/wasn't a consideration with live bait (that's what BC reels were originally for, right?). I find working the lure easier with my dominant right hand, so I have LH reels. Though I guess it's a matter of getting used to; almost all the pros use RH reels; and they get by pretty well I assume So I'd say don't think about the reel; think about the rod, i.e. if you're comfortable with casting and working the lure with your left-hand, get a RH reel.

Everyone's got their favorite mono, fluoro, copoly and braid here. I'd use Suffix Siege. Casts as well as Trilene XL, and is more sensitive. For light cover and smaller lures, I agree with the comment about using lower pound test. I really see the difference between Trilene XL and Siege with jerkbaits and Spooks. With Siege, I can make the spook walk in a crisp zig-zag manner. With Trilene XL, it's more of a slushy movement. I'd bet similar things happen with a jerkbait, which of course I can't see because it's under the surface. EDIT: also, the lower stretch of siege gives me great hooksets. My landing to hook-up ratio has gone up pretty significantly (I do feel you need to set the hook even with treble hooks) after I switched to Siege from Trilene XL.

fwiw, these are my experiences. I fished the Cotton Cordell, Rattling Rap, red eye shad, Bill lewis Rat-l-trap, and the excalibur lipless crank. Caught fish on all of them except the Cotton Cordell one; never gonna buy one of those again. It's cheaper, but it doesn't catch fish (for me). A couple of the original rat-l-traps had a blunt hook on the rear treble. The rapala one, like all rapalas, is built like a tank. I thrown it into rocks, and it came back without a scratch. But then I'm partial to Rapalas, and my view will probably be biased. The excalibur lipless crank is quite fragile; mine already lost an eye. About the vibrations; I think the excalibur one is the best, followed by res, original, rapala.

I love this one. 5'6" rod, light power. Spooled up with 6lb mono, this was an absolute blast during the spring and early summer. I got my PB (6.5lbs) and a 5+ bass on this. Finally the bale of the reel came apart after almost daily usage over 3 months, and I retired the old warrior. It was worth a helluva lot more than the 20$ I paid for it, and way more than it's retail price of 40$. Now-a-days they are on sale at my local Dick's for 15$ or so I think.

Once tried invisibraid for frogging. The line is very flat (not round), digs in a bit, and makes too much noise through the guides for my liking.

I haven't used a spincast in ages, but it felt like what I feel when I retrieve a 16+ crank with my Citori spinning. Anyway, I don't think it's a problem with the reel; a 0.5 oz big spinnerbait has plenty of water resistance. The reel was very smooth when I threw the spinnerbait over grass and retrieved it. I'll try a rattletrap or something that produces less resistance and see. I'm not really worried about it. It's nothing very noticeable. Just wondering if it's a characteristic of the lower-mid ranged Shimanos. The TT review of the Curado 5:1 said it was the not as smooth as some other crankin reels..