FL_Sharpshooter

Rubber bands will decay and tear over time due to sun exposure and heat. Wire ties keep the skirt consistent to the jig. Most people will either prefer thread, copper wire, or some crafting wire. A lot of the crafting wire is made of steel, which can rust over time. IMHO, your best option is to go with copper (statue of liberty? ), it can't rust, but will change color over time. I've tried zip ties and haven't had a problem as well, but I'd say you're better off with copper wire. Besides, by the time to copper starts to corrode, you're probably due for another jig anyways on account of the hook probably being dull.

Sounds like you've got it all figured out . I just prefer circle hooks because catfish usually don't take them in too deep and usually end up getting hooked around the corner of the mouth. All personal preference I suppose .

I'd really recommend a dipbait used with team catfish's "furry thang" keepers. I hear they work quite well and keep the dip bait hung up in the furs for a long time. I'd say order a pack of those and match it up with a hi quality circle hook, such as a gammy .

There's no way you're going to be able to fish all those lures you make...you had better send a few over just so you don't get too crowded with em .

Don't you watch whale wars? lol

Ouch!! Looks like something out of a horror movie. Just a reminder to keep you safe though, I guess is how you have to look at it. I wish speedy healing to you, hope everyone learns from that pic.

Culprit in Red Shad

I'll try out the internal weights, the EWG hooks make the tube like all bunch up on the hook, because of the hollow part. Thanks for your suggestion .

It's kind of funny you mentioned a tube, because I have tried those zoom tubes before paired up with bitsy flip jig, which ended up landing me a 3lb bass. That actually makes sense to try a tube, just curious as to what specific hook you use for those? Oh that's not where I fish, lol. I was just using that picture as an outside reference of what the canal I fish in does look like. Some people can't picture what I'm talking about, but you, being a Georgia fisherman, know exactly what I'm saying. Yeah, I've noticed that too with football heads, I do really well in extra rocky areas with them. I'll still try and give the bullet shape a fair try. However, the tube idea is pretty cool, I'll give that a try later tonight. I fish from the bank into a canal that is about 2 blocks down from my house, when I get the chance, I'll snap a picture. It's the spot that you see in my avatar(not that you can see the water). Haha, don't get me started on kvd squarebills! I was absolutely slaying them on the bluegill color 1.5 last spring. You can fish those, but sometimes they just want a very different type of bait, the fish in the canal are very weird. You have to really be down there every day or every other day to really understand them.

Yes, I have done both, they catch moss very easily on both of those techniques. The canal basically looks like this, but there are some high points in the water where you have more room to work a bait. It isn't exactly like this, this picture is just for reference so you can understand how thick the stuff is.

This could work. I read about punching skirts a while back, what is the real purpose/advantage of having a long skirt like that? Does it hang up less? Maybe I can pair those two together.

That looks pretty neat, I wonder if that point on the head will cut through that stuff.. Oops, I actually forgot that I do have a swim jig, its a northstar one, they just don't seem to want any part of it though..

Alright, I fish a canal every day that is filled with milfoil (coontail moss). When I say filled, I mean it is FILLED, there isn't a clear spot in that canal, but it is not all on top of the water, just rests on the bottom, which catches on the baits when I let them sink. The only kind of baits I can use are top water and high suspending baits, such as shallow jerk baits, crankbaits, etc. I can use texas rigged worms with bullet weights, and I can usually shake what little milfoil accumulates on the bait or bullet sinker. Anyways, I've been trying to really get in the habit of working a jig in order to gain more experience in that area, but there's one problem. Both styles of jigs I have are not doing the trick. The only two types of jigs that I have are arky style and football style, as they are also the only two jigs I have ever thrown. I'm getting hung up in that really thick milfoil with both of them. As far as the depth of the water goes, I'd be surprised if the water was even 8ft, so the highest weight that I throw is a 3/8oz. I am also limited from throwing that much higher of a weight, since my only good rod is rated at 5/8oz, and to be honest, it doesn't excel at even throwing that, so I try to stay quite a bit under (I figure a rage craw adds a little weight, so I stay at 3/8). I absolutely love jigs, but I'm just not sure what I should be using, anyone got some insight here? Thanks.

That was an awesome video. How on earth do the bass get so big in the everglades with so many gators around? I wouldn't dare toss any of my lucky crafts out there, LOL.

Sounds like my brother -- a bottomless pit. Eating all that stuff would make me really tired from all the calories. Enjoy it while you can though, lol.

Depends on what the weather/water conditions are. If you're fishing clear water, go with a more natural color, like your green, red, and white colors. For muddy water conditions, try a brown color. For dirty low visibility water, try a darker color like Black & Blue. As Mr. Brauer would say, 3 colors to get you by - a Black & Blue, Texas Craw(green), and Chameleon Crawfish color(brown).

I'm almost sure BPS contracts Pflueger out, but not 100% positive.

Doesn't matter what you throw, big fish just come to you..!

Jigs work pretty dang good for big fish a lot of the days. I've caught quite a few in the 1-2lb range fishing a bitsy flip jig with a rage craw though.

I'll give the rim canal a better shot this next time. I looked on google earth, and the rim canal next to Roland Martin's is about the closest I can get, not too far up from there is the main lake.

Thanks for the answer and suggestion. I'll just bring the boat next time. I was just a little wary because of the low water levels.

Me and my brother live in Lehigh Acres, FL, right at the line of Alva and Lehigh. We are only about an hour away from Clewiston. We ended up going to Roland Martin's Marina located in Clewiston, thinking it had docks and such to fish off of that lead into the main lake. It ended up being a big canal and the lake was somewhere on the other side? So, we went a town over (I can't remember the name) to see if we could spot an entrance to the Lake. We never did, so we settled on a canal that was next to the Lake. My question is, where is the best/quickest way to get into Lake O without a boat? Thanks. P.S., I ended up only catching a 1lb bass out of the canal -- there was an 8+ ft gator in there that would've been more than happy to take it off my hands

Gambler's giggy heads + any type of roboworm plastic = deadly!

Cool, thats pretty interesting.

Interlocking snaps for sure, I've used them a ton and never had one come undone on me. Just a simple Palomar knot will work as others have mentioned. If you decide to attach a leader to your braid, I would highly recommend using an Albright knot, just because of how flat the knot is.