Bluebasser86

The Slender Pointer is a shallower running bait with a pretty aggressive cut, but it can be given very light twitches and almost kept in place, which is why it's my favorite if I can only have one. Dying shad usually mean colder water, which usually means I want a bait with less aggressive action and often something larger. In that situation, I'll usually opt for a 100 pointer or 115 Flash Pointer.

I prefer to catch a few bigger fish than a bunch of dinks. Unfortunately, our lakes produce very few of those larger fish, so dinks are often what I'm stuck with.

I like braid on my spinning gear, and on casting gear when I'm going to be around grass. I don't like it for moving baits, or around rocks.

That'll work! I had one really similar a few years ago, really regret selling it.

Signed.

The owl put up a good fight and eventually crash landed into a blackberry bush and the hooks pulled out in the process. The heron was brought close to the boat to see if I could push the bait loose with my lure retriever, but could not. No desire to find out how sharp that bill really is, so it's now sporting a trendy new bladed jig piercing.

Yes it is. These are the exact ones I have. http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/-h2o-xpress-forza-75-aluminum-pliers#repChildCatid=599014

I caught an owl on a jitterbug night fishing. A few weeks ago, I had a blue heron fly through my line mid-cast while night fishing and got my bladed jig stuck in it's side right in front of it's wing. Not something I recommend trying.

Jig

Lots of people collect old fishing gear, just a matter of finding one of those people and determining what they're worth. I wouldn't go trying to fix anything on them though. People aren't going to buy them to use and when you throw a new part on an old rod or reel that is solely for collecting, you're more likely to hurt the value than help it.

Yes, they're very different even though the differences may look subtle in the water. Some run deeper than others, others have a hard cutting action, some have more of a roll, and others just turn side to side and don't do much. Different actions catch fish better at different times unfortunately. If I could only have one, it would be a Slender Pointer 97MR.

Sometimes it's a painfully slow walk with long pauses, other times you can't fish it too fast. There's no way of knowing without trying both unfortunately.

Making sure the drag is tightened is the only thing I can think of other than there's a possible issue with the reel. I have a Supreme XT baitcaster as well and it's a very nice reel, you shouldn't be having an issue like that with it. If it's not the drag you can contact Pfluegar, they have excellent customer service.

Fish a frog with braid and your rod tip up. There really is no way to avoid getting moss on any bait, especially if it's the bright green "gorilla snot".

Welcome!

Welcome!

Great looking pike!

I'll bet that smallie ate something that got stuck in it's throat. Maybe it had a big craw that was being particularly feisty or a sunfish that got it's spines up and stuck in it's throat. They'll jump just the same when that happens as they do when they're being caught. The hook is a possibility, if it was down in it's throat where it was causing issues. A hook elsewhere in the mouth is unlikely to get a second thought from a fish. Once pressure is released from the hook (line breaks or they get slack), the fish's distress stops and they quit fighting. Smallies are notorious for ramming a bait to try to stun it. They'll crash into a potential prey item in an attempt to stun it, especially something moving quickly and/or erratically (say like a spook for instance ). It can be very frustrating when they do it repeatedly some days, but the risk is worth the reward.

My favorite is the one the fish are eating that day. I carry a ton of different types for different situations, which one I use depends on the conditions and the fish's mood. Some of my favorites are; Rage Craw, Christie Craw, twin tail grub, Menace, Big Critter Craw, Uncle Josh pork frog, Senko, Zman BatwingZ or Turbo CrawZ, there really are no limits. Only thing I ever put on a jig that didn't really work that I thought would work was a tube.

x2. I got a pair of echomap 93SV the same way.

Aluminum pliers with titanium cutters from Academy for $20, problem solved.

Caught a baby flathead today on a Pit Boss flipping grass, first time I've ever done that. I've caught all three species of cats on lures, but I don't fish many lakes with blues, I've only caught them on jigs and plastics. I caught an albino blue on a small, paddletail swimbait this summer. I caught my PB flathead on a finesse jig this spring as well.

Another vote for the Evergreen Showerblows 105. It cuts so hard that it almost sits in place and spits a good amount of water with very little effort. Cast very well, is super easy to work, and flat out catches them. The Duo Popper 64 is a nice little bait, as is the R2S Bubble walker 80. It's a lot like the Megabass Popmax, but for less than half price.

I grew up very poor, fishing was a way to feed our family with little investment. We'd go camping almost every weekend with a big group of my family, the main targets were catfish and white bass because of the large creel limits and them being easy to catch. My most memorable experience was when I was 6. I'd just received a shiny new bright yellow Eagle Claw Featherlite rod with a 1000 Shimano TX spinning reel spooled with 6lb Trilene XL. My dad had taught me how to tie a uni knot and I was very proud of myself for learning how to do it properly so I could change lures when I wanted. We were visiting my grandparents at a private RV campground that had a small lake attached to a medium sized river. I'd tied on a little jighead and was using a little piece of nightcrawler to catch big bluegills when I set the hook on a fish that nearly emptied my spool (it would have, except it just ran out of water in the little pond. For the next hour and a half I would work the fish to the shore where it would lay on the bottom and refuse to move before it would go steamrolling back across the pond. Almost everyone in the campground had gathered around to watch me, people were even videoing (a big deal back when you had to lug a big camera around instead of getting your phone out of your pocket and pushing a button). My dad was coaching me as were a group of old-timers that had been fishing at the same time I was. I remember every time I'd get the fish close my line would be swinging hard side to side, a sure sign of a big catfish. After an hour and a half, my line sudden parted, a collective "Ahhhh!" came from the crowd, and I dropped my rod and ran to the bathroom as my 6 year old bladder was about to explode. My dad still laughs about how I shot out of there and ran straight to the bathroom. We never did get to see the fish.