Bluebasser86

I'm going to be giving spybaiting a try this spring for the first time as well. I believe the main reason it's considered a clear water technique is because it is such a subtle bait, but that doesn't mean that it won't work in dirtier water.

X2, works great in areas with overhanging trees or grass where bass are waiting for bugs to fall into the water. I've had better hookup success with them if I bend the hooks up slightly though. That little frog casts surprisingly well also, even on casting gear.

Sounds like an old Riverside Air Lizard

For me, it has to be a proven bait, on the water, in my hands. I don't care how many fish my buddy or some guy at the local BPS caught with it. I may suggest a bait that I've recently bought that I like the action of or I've heard good things about, but it won't be on my personal "favorites" list unless it's proven itself to me.

I'd probably cut the ending out, seemed to take away from what you're trying to do in the first place. The picture moving during the map zoom in messed with me pretty bad too. Other than that it was good.

A lot of our local lakes are no wake or have speed limits on them, can't think of any with HP restrictions that aren't private lakes anyways. I don't have a problem with it as long as they allow boats with bigger motors to fish just without using their outboard. Making someone remove their prop is ridiculous, what happens if they have trolling motor problems or a storm comes up suddenly? They're just at the mercy of the waves and weather then.

I've got 50 home shopping channels and only 1 channel that only ever plays any fishing shows and none of them are match fishing.

Seems like that would take some of the excitement away from final weigh in? Maybe have someone text pictures until noon to leave everyone wondering at the final weigh in? I can't post pictures to FB from my phone either.

Yeah that looks fun but wouldn't really work with several boats. Basically we just want to send pictures to everyone when a weighed fish is caught then?

I'm unfamiliar with how match fishing works?

Shallow ponds are my favorites for wintertime fishing because they warm up faster than deep water ponds. The biggest issue I see you having is the limited visibility. Cold, muddy water is about as tough as it gets. If you get a couple feet of visibility I'd be fishing a suspending jerkbait, probably in clown or bone colors. A 1/4 spinnerbait with a single, large colorado blade fished as slow as you can and keep the blade turning can work also, if you add a pork trailer it will help you be able to fish it even slower. If there isn't too much muck on the bottom (all our ponds around here have too much algae and leaves on the bottom), I'd be dragging a jig as slow as I could stand near any drop offs into the deepest water in the pond.

Don't you know the guy with the most stuff wins? It's not a condition, it's a competition!

right about here is one, the other is just down the hill by the lake. 32120 Grand Dr Grove, OK 74344 ‎ 421 ft N Not all of us have 150hp motors either Takes a long time for me or the other guys with the smaller motors to get very far on a big lake like that.

They did alright after they quit looking for grass mats to flip and traded in their shorts and flip flops for snowmobile suits I mean look at Chris Lane, blanked the first day, almost made the cut with one of the heaviest stringers of the tournament on day 2.

While I don't agree with the argument that an AR is a good option for home defense (unless all hell had really broken out), I do agree 100% that the only reason people are against them is they're "scary looking". You can't change the violent tendencies in some people. Before it was guns it was the bow and arrow or sword, before that it was a spear, club, or big rock. I mean the worst terrorist attack on our soil was by means of airplane, another by fertilizer, no bans on those. More people are killed each year by drunk drivers than by gun violence, yet most first time DUI offenders get a year or less of jail time and cars certainly aren't going anywhere. There's lots of reason I believe gun owners and their rights are on the hot seat, none of which I can discuss without getting political so I'll just leave it at that.

<<<jealous

If that guy can catch them then anyone should be able to!

Their Palmetto Bug works well on one also, so I've heard...

This is something that folks stress about that I've never understood. Think about it, what are the odds your shakyheads lands perfectly, on a perfectly flat bottom, and the weight of the worm doesn't tip it over? Even if it is a floating worm, the odds of your bait landing on a piece of the bottom that is perfectly flat can't be good. How do you fish a shakyhead? I usually drag mine or use very small hops, not nearly big enough hops to give my shakyhead a chance to get pointed straight back at the bottom. Also, if a worm does happen to make it into the water, does it stand up and point towards the surface? I'm guessing probably not. If a minnow or craw detects a bass or other predator it isn't going to try to stand off the bottom and make itself more visible, it's going to try to hide near the bottom or in some cover. I fish a plain round shakyhead that I pour myself (I lose WAY to many each year to zebra mussels to buy the fancy "stand up" heads), yet I catch hundreds of fish a year on them. A shakyhead that stands up or a worm that floats is just one of those things I really think a lot of people over think or try to put too much emphasis on. An example of what I'm talking about, stand up head with a Zoom finesse worm. Yeah the worm floats off the bottom, but the "stand up" head still falls over nearly every time.

Don't be so sure of that. I've caught some really nice smallmouth that were swimming right in front of me. The key to it is to sneak as quietly as you can (they're going to know you're there regardless but if you're too loud they may shut down or take off). I've found walking upriver works best since they face into the current and the silt you stir up will be washed downriver away from them instead of towards them. Once you get to where you're a drop or short flip away, stand still and take in the scenery for a few minutes and let the fish calm down. Then you can accurately and quietly drop your rig right in front of them. IMO, if you're looking for something to present a plastic at a distance in a stream or small river you're better off with a split shot rig or shakyhead. Casting a drop shot a long ways in shallow water basically defeats the purpose of fishing one.

Plus, if we do a 2 day combined weight tournament it wouldn't be very fair for whoever is leading if they happen to be catching fish at the upper end of the lake. I have no issue if people want to trailer and just meet back at the ramp or cabins. I'm sure you have plenty of sick time man, it's just one day!

Zero for me. Ours will go towards building a fence in the backyard and paying stuff off with whatever is left, exciting I know

Something I've noticed and think we should take into consideration, our launch area choice. I like Wolf Creek because it's nice and there's several lanes to launch quickly. Problem is, it's not very centrally located on the lake so it's going to be a long, long run to get down lake for those that are wanting to go that direction. Another option that is actually closer to the cabins would be Honey Creek State Park. The good thing about it is it's a little closer and a lot more centrally located and it's a free ramp. Bad thing about it is it's a 1 lane. Right now we only have 5 boats, so that wouldn't be bad and it looks like it's an easy ramp to get lined up and dump the boats in the water quickly. Just something I thought we should consider so everyone has plenty of options on where they want to fish without running for an hour.

Either will work just fine for plastics. I use both without issue.

Some people like a slower tip, some like faster. Personally I prefer faster, I feel like I can really make a bait move like I want it to much easier with a faster tip.