Bluebasser86

I've used it, for muskies. They dive deeper than I thought it would but they fish pretty easy for a big bait. I've had bass hit it trolling for muskie but nothing very big.

It's amazing anything was able to survive the pond being drained. That gives me some hope for a pond that I found this summer. It was just added to the walk in fishing atlas this year but when we stopped by this summer this 50 acre pond/lake was down to maybe 3 acres of very shallow water. There was bass and crappie heads laying everywhere, lots of bass that looked to be from 3-8 pounds. There was still some shad and carp alive in the pond but we didn't see any bass. Hopefully it will fill back up and come back like it looks like your pond is!

I had one that looked a lot like that last spring, 17 1/4" and really fat, she went 3lbs 14oz and I'd say that fish could easily be around that weight. A very nice fish sir!

I think in every tournament you can expect to lose a few fish, it's just going to happen. Grand has hundreds of tournaments on it every year, including all through the summer months when it's toughest to keep fish alive, and it still continues to be one of the best bass lakes in Oklahoma. I'm sure they lose way more bass in all those tournaments than they will in the Classic over the 3 days. The thing I'm really curious about is are they going to have someone checking the livewells at take out for dead fish? I'd be really upset if I got off the water and all my fish were alive and then get penalized for a dead fish after an hour and half drive. I would imagine that could start some serious controversy if the tournament is close like I expect it to be. Google maps shows the driving distance from Wolf Creek Ramp to the BOK Center in Tulsa to be 90.9 miles, that's a long haul with a livewell full of fish.

You probably could but I like the gentle wobble they have out of the package. The natural swimming action of a baitfish is a very subtle movement like the sick fish has. Would probably be better if it had more thump in dirtier water or over heavy vegetation.

I haven't heard much about A-rigs at Table Rock this winter like last year, just a few reports here and there. Most of what I've been hearing has been jerkbaits and warts. If you haven't been on OA they have a great group of guys, most that live on Table Rock including some long time guides, that give very detailed reports about the lake.

Just with 2 hooks then? I've thought about doing that with one of my 3 arm rigs but it seems the 3 arm versions aren't nearly as effective as the 5 arm and since you can only have 2 baits on one in Kansas just doesn't seem like it would work very well.

At times it can be but usually when I'm on a good buzzbait bite I'm catching fish pretty consistently. However it does seem like those days I'm going a little longer between bites and working a little harder that I'm catching the bigger fish on them for some reason.

I like to fish a buzzbait about as slowly as I can reel it with little pops and jerks during the retrieve to look like a shad flipping on the surface. I like a buzzbait for the same reason I like a jig, it seems to get me bigger bites than other topwaters.

The main reason I put the treble on was white bass/crappie hitting at the bait. I never did catch any white bass on the treble, just the main hook. I did catch a couple 12-14 inch crappie that were hooked on the belly hook. All the largemouth I had were on the main hook. I think that is probably one of the main things with this bait is to fish it slow. I feel like one of the biggest mistakes people fish with a swimbait is fishing too fast. Sometimes a fast retrieve is best, but it seems more often than not a slow retrieve gets more bites for me. This bait doesn't have a lot of action but neither does a Hudd and I've heard that they catch fish alright

I have several packs of the 4" Sick Fish and they have been a great bait so far. I've been fishing them on a keel weighted swimbait hook with a screw lock keeper with a belly treble and just crawling them along extremely slowly. I have one in the Green Penny color I've caught 15-20 fish on that's still going strong minus both eyes and a few scratches. I've caught largemouth, white bass, crappie, and even a channel cat that had the bait choked and it barely did anything to the bait. This is a picture of the exact bait and rigging. I haven't fished the 3 or 5 inch versions yet but I'm sure they'll work. They have a Tennessee shad color that looks a lot like a bluegill along with a clear bream color that looks like almost any kind of bluegill/sunfish. The bait does not have a big wag or wobble, it's a very subtle swimming action. It must look a lot like a baitfish cruising along the bottom not paying attention because they really thump it.

I've never done well at Miami this early in the year. I tried late March last year and caught a decent number of fish but the average size was way smaller than normal for out there, we probably caught one bigger than 15" all day and lots barely bigger than the jerkbait.

I'm usually asleep when the football games are on with working midnights and weekends. Even if I was awake if I was given the choice of the two I'd be out the door as soon as my wife got the "You can go fishing" out her mouth, can't hang around long or she'll change her mind!

Sounds like a SK Rocket Shad to me. Does it have a double prong hook? http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=909643

Those are certainly shad raps on the upper left. They're great cold weather/high pressure baits. I like to put a few suspend dots on them so they float really slowly so I can crawl them along and pause them once in awhile. I wouldn't really consider them a deep diver unless you get up to a #8 or #9, those ones in your picture look like #7 or maybe even #5's. The fish easiest on spinning gear for sure.

They really don't look as huge as I thought they would. I still can't think of a use for them in our lakes but I'm sure they'll catch fish well at certain places.

What do you feel the odds really are that a bait and shakyhead fall perfectly straight down and land just right on the bottom to stand up and down like they do in a perfect environment they're usually tested in? I can't imagine even a head designed to stand up on the bottom ever comes to rest perfectly like they do in aquariums where they're often demonstrated. I pour my own shakyheads that have a round head so I'm sure they never stand up but it's never been something I've worried about with them. Shakyheads with a trick worm or T mac worm are one my favorite baits to use and are one of my top producers each year even though they don't stand up. I'd say if you get a bait to stand at a 30-45 degree angle then you're doing pretty good. I'd feel like a football shakyhead would be the most consistent at keeping a bait sitting up at an angle without falling over.

Like with any crime, the tools used to break the law are evidence if he decides to go to court to fight it. I don't know if he can get his stuff back or not but I enjoyed watching it go down. It's kind of like when someone blows by you on the highway then you see them pulled over a little ways down the road, real world justice at it's finest.

I can't watch it, I get annoyed for all the people having to deal with their antics. Maybe I'm just a stick in the mud but I just can't get into that show.

I actually watch a guy get busted for netting crappie today. They're trapped in what's left of the outlet at the bottom of a dam at a local lake and some of them are starting to die from lack of oxygen I suppose. He was walking around netting the ones struggling by the bank and putting them in a bucket while several people, including myself, watched him doing it. He carried the bucket back to his car and then came back down the bank to fish. Apparently someone called on him and there's a warden outpost 1/2 mile down the road and 2 trucks pulled up shortly after he started fishing. He'd left his net and bucket leaning against his car so once they found out who the car belonged to he was done. He lost his net, fish, bucket, tackle box, and rod along with getting a ticket. He was arguing that the fish were dying anyways so what does it matter? FYI, arguing with a LEO will never EVER help your case He stomped off after he figured out his argument wasn't changing the warden's mind and nobody was going to stick up for him. I caught a bunch of crappie but that was probably still my favorite part of the day

The BPS version is a very thick bait, I fish them on a 5/0 EWG superline hook. Not sure how thick the big Senkos are, I can't afford to fish them just for fun.

Jerkbaits catch the vast majority of my spring time bass as long as the water stays fairly clear.

Pegboard is great for baits and rods also. I use bike hangers for my rods and hang them from the ceiling of the garage so they're out of the way from getting stepped on or knocked over and further away from any dust that gets stirred up so they stay cleaner. BPS sells some really handy racks that mount on the wall for plano boxes too.

After walking Hillsdale a little yesterday and seeing some folks catching crappie under the Gardner Bridge my plan had been to get some minnows today and see if I could catch a few. Stopped at the baitshop/gas station in Hillsdale and the guy behind the counter said a couple guys had caught over 200 crappie at the outlet yesterday. Said they were thick in there and hungry. He must have been right because I was even able to catch a few They started liking the minnows but by the end they were preferring a jig. I don't know how deep the outlet is but I started fishing the bottom couple feet with very little luck. Once I noticed the guy on the other side catching fish fast only had his bobber set only about 2 feet down I moved my bobber up and started catching them right away. Fished for about 2 hours and caught probably between 40-50 crappie, 8-12 channel cats, and a BASS! Most crappie were 8-10 inches with a few up to 12" I guess they have been doing work on the outlet on the lake side and it's killed a bunch of fish in the outlet, mainly drum. They stunk pretty bad but but there was still plenty of fish to be caught. You can see all the dead fish laying along the bank. One of my biggest crappie was a pretty fish.

I've got the Symetre in the little 750 size and I like it really well. I've got it paired with a 6' UL Avid and it is a sweet little combo. It's fun to take it and go toss little 2" grubs for whatever wants to bite sometimes to take a break from tossing heavier bass gear.