Bluebasser86

Going down to the pits for a few days the first week of May for a guys fishing weekend to take place of a bachelor party. Anyone fished them recently? I know one of my favorites ones dried up for some reason so I'm kind of starting from scratch. I have time to drive to any of them and I'll be staying in Pittsburg so I'll be fishing several of them I'm sure. I've only fished them early in the year, no later than the first week of April, so any advice would be appreciated!

A friend of mine who used to fish the PWT caught an 8 1/2 pounder down there a week or two ago on a rattletrap. He swears there's nothing to it, just go to the dam and throw cranks until you get a bite. My luck I'd be there all day tossing cranks and never get bit. We stayed pretty much to the south side of the lake by the dam but I decided to try the dam around 2pm since nobody was on it. Usually it seems like the waves bounce off the dam and you get an area of almost slack water because of the waves and rebounding waves hitting each other. That was not the case Sunday. I had a couple waves that came over the front of the boat a little bit and that was all I wanted to deal with. Wasn't catching much off the dam anyways. Did you do any good down there? It was slow but steady all day for us.

I heard through the grapevine there was good bite in Aunt's Creek last weekend on squarebills and jerkbaits and even a pretty good topwater bite. I love Aunt's Creek and have done really well there early in the year. I've had my best luck with a shakeyhead and a jig but I would not pass up the chance to toss a topwater down there!

I'd suggest going to Cabela's/Bass Pro or whatever local tackle shop you have and checking out what combos they have put together. I think that spinning reels are the best option to get both quality and fairly trouble free fishing. Along with the suggestions on why you are possibly getting tangles and poor casting distance with your current reel I would say it sounds like you are using too heavy of line or too light a lure or combination of both. Most bass sized spinning reels will function best with 6-10 and maybe 12 if it's a very supple line. Anything heavier tends to be too stiff and does not work well with intermediate sized spinning reels. Also make sure you are closing the bail (the metal piece that goes around the spool) by hand. If you re-engage the reel by turning the handle it will cause tiny amounts of line twist everytime you cast. Eventually you'll make a cast and half your line will be in a giant ball somewhere around your first line guide. The reel having too much line can also cause tangles. If you're looking for one that can be used for bass and pike I would suggest something around a 2500 or 3000 size. A spinning reel that size is capable of handling any bass or pike you hook as long as the cover allows and you have the drag set right.

I think you'd have more success with a hollybelly type swimbait fished over the top of the weeds than you will with a Storm swimbait under a bobber. I have nothing against the Storm swimbaits but like you said they are not super realistic and sitting still under a bobber were a fish can really eyeball them probably isn't the best idea. Plus the tails don't move very well unless they are falling or you're reeling them along at a pretty good clip.

I fish a 3/8oz shakeyhead fairly often. I'd rather fish an 1/8oz or 3/16 but because of the wind we're usually dealing with around here it's impossible to feel anything that light. I usually drag them a little way and then shake them in place for a few seconds, let them sit still for a few second then repeat. Sometimes more of a hopping retrieve will be better though.

I finally pulled the trigger on a Megabass Vision 110 and a Mattlures bluegill swimbait. It hurts getting 2 baits and almost spending $50 dollars but if they're as good as I keep hearing it will be worth it!

Pretty sure Ike uses/used to use Cocoons? They seem to keep the light out pretty well without being huge, bulky things like you might expect.

Those conditions sound perfect for a jerkbait to me. If that doesn't work I'd probably go slow with a jig,tube,shakeyhead, dropshot.

I think it would be nice if they put them in reusable packages and then gave some kind of incentive to return them. Like if you buy 10 baits and return the package to the store you bought them from then you get a free t-shirt or a 5 dollar rebate. I already recycle the cardboard and plastic from most bait packages so something like that would be awesome!

Whichever side they are running towards, bend the eye the opposite direction. Sometimes it just takes a tiny tweaking to get them running straight. Lots of different baits occasionally need tuning out of the package. It's annoying to have to deal with but once they're fixed they usually stay running true pretty well.

I pretty much try to imitate a crawdad with my jig. So it helps to know how the forage you're imitating acts. In cold water craws move very slowly across the bottom, so a slow dragging retrieve is usually best. In warmer water they become more active. If you've ever seen a bass eat a crawdad they will a lot of times rush in to get the craw to jump off the bottom and try to swim away because they are much easier to catch like that. Otherwise they're sitting on the bottom in a defensive position and to eat them a bass has to deal with the claws and legs. So in warmer water I usually fish a jig by hopping it a few times and letting it settle back down. Sometimes bigger hops are better, sometimes just short, small hops work. The jig bite is similar to a worm bite but it seems to me that a lot more jig bites are just "mushy" feeling. I think this might have to do with the fact that a lot of jig fishing is done around cover and the fish doesn't need to move with it's meal anywhere, so they just inhale it and sit there. It takes a little practice but it is worth the effort!

Thanks man! I was just getting ready to place an order today! Glad I got on here and saw that!

Nice fish! She looks like she's about ready to pop if we could just stop getting these cold snaps.

Anyone catching any walleye while you were out there? We caught a couple at Melvern Sunday but man that wind was terrible and the fishing was pretty slow too. I've been wanted to go down there but the bad thing is if the walleye aren't biting then there isn't much to fall back on. Those are some pretty healthy looking whites it looks like!

I make lots of jigheads, shakeyheads, football heads, and weedless jigheads along with sinkers. I get my lead from scrap at construction sites. Any house with copper on the roof will be attached by smelting lead it seems like. If you catch them while they're picking up all the trash around the house and ask if you can look to see if there is any lead laying around and tell them why you want it they'll usually let you look, they're just going to throw it away anyways. Makes sure you clean it off really well before you use it. It's probably not the purest lead but it works. If you're not making a bunch it's not going to be very cost effective either. I wouldn't bother with it if you don't have a way of getting free lead because it isn't cheap to buy the ingots to melt down.

If you get the diagram of the reel or find it online they're not too hard to take apart. There's an old thread on here on how to take apart a Curado to clean all the grease out of them and relube the bearings. I did it with several of mine this winter and it makes a huge difference in casting distance and overal performance of the reel. I just spread a cheap white sheet out on a table to take them apart so if I drop something it usually catches in the sheet and is easy to spot. If you don't feel comfortable doing it there are plenty of people who do it for reasonable prices as has been mentioned.

Have you ever taken it apart and cleaned all the grease out of the bearing and relubed them? I did that with some old Bantam Curados this winter and they cast like they were brand new again. A couple of them were making noise like you were saying and casting distance was terrible, not anymore.

I agree with KenG on the rod and reel suggestions. Don't scrimp, get the best you can get in your price range, you'll never be made at yourself for buying something nicer than you wanted. I'd say in your range a St. Croix Triumph or one of the new Abu Garcia rods would be good choices or Shimano makes some nice rods that would be in that range. The reel is a little tougher but if I was looking to stay in that price range I'd keep my eyes peeled on the Flea Market forum on here or check Ebay, either way you'll find some really good deals on reels that would normally be out of your price range but will still be in great working order.

The old Creme rigged Scoundrel is one of my favorite baits to give to newbies. Little kids to seniors, bluegill to catfish, they'll catch any of them for all of them.

I loved the old YUM wooley bug in motoroil neon, it changes colors after it hits the water and the fish around here crush it. Now they don't make that color anymore, I'm hoping the cajun neon will be similar. Just waiting for some warm weather and for the fish to move shallow so I can give it a test run.

The flat head helps keep the swim jig from rolling and it helps keep it up without having to reel too fast. You can swim a regular casting jig and I've caught plenty of fish after trying to reel a flipping jig in to cast again. I'd say if you're reeling and then letting it drop a casting jig would probably be a good option.

Do the Trokars keep a point very well? I've heard they're very sharp but lose that point very quickly even just after catching a half dozen fish or so. Any experienced this problem with them? I like sharp hooks but not expensive sharp hooks that are only good for a few fish.

I'd suggest different rods for poppers and spooks than I would buzzbaits. I like a longer stiffer rod for buzzbaits to fish them through cover and pull big fish out of the woods. I use a 7ft M/H for buzzbaits and a 6' 2" medium for poppers and spooks, makes it easier to snap the rod without wearing myself out with that short light rod.

EWWWWWWWWWW!!!! That sir, is disturbing.