Bluebasser86

You just have to cast further upstream with the lighter rig and let it parachute down. If a craw falls off of a log in moving water, that's basically how it falls to the bottom unless it flips it's way down. It may take awhile to figure out the exact distance but it's deadly once you do. IMO, if you're going to fish a bait that is going to sink quickly to the bottom you might as well fish a shakyhead and save yourself the snags you get with an open hook.

My favorite kind is one I don't have to use because I can't catch a fish on a drop shot to save my life!

Welcome!

Berkley Havoc The Jerk is my favorite soft plastic jerkbait.

It's a rare day on the water that our Golden isn't in the boat with me. Last night was one of those nights, she'll still be pouting about that until we go next. I got home and not sure I've ever seen eyes look that sad. She's been going with me since she was just a puppy. Now she's a seasoned vet with 2 years on the water to her credit. She's super laid back on the boat, big fish are the only thing she gets excited about. Little fish rarely get more than a passing sniff.

One of the biggest bass I've ever seen was swimming away from my boat with a bass about that size, that was still attached to my jerkbait, in her mouth crossways. Unfortunately she spit the fish out instead of trying to swallow it the rest of the way. I'd never fish it, but I'd like to see the results of someone who does successfully. I'm sure there's someone out there that will try it.

I'm not all all trying to imply that a boat is automatically entry level just because it's aluminum. That being said, being a bit smaller, having less storage, less hp, and less bells and whistles seems to me like it would make a boat more "entry level", regardless if it's a glass boat or something like a Z6 or 176VLO. There's plenty of guys out there that would consider my 189VLO "entry level" because it doesn't go 70mph, doesn't have a dash like a luxury car, only has 2 "tiny" 9" SI/DI/GPS units, and isn't 20+ feet long. My response was simply that, IMO, you're going to get a lot more boat, aluminum or glass, if you look used in the 12-15K range than what you're going to get new at the same price range. Not at all true. The tin boat I was seriously considering getting before I found my Stratos was closer to 30K than it was 20k and was a smaller boat with a smaller motor. Like slonezp said, you get into the Lunds and other big water rigs and they'll run up in price right with the fanciest glitter sled out there.

I probably should have posted this a lot sooner but this is where we're staying; 3081 Harbor Drive Fort Lauderdale (Florida), FL 33316 I think my biggest thing I'd like to try to catch would be a peacock. Would there be anything around there that would give me a shot at doing that?

They grow with the bottom contour, but rarely in deeper water because our lakes are mostly too turbid for them to grow in deeper water. Most of them have to grow to very near the surface or they won't get the required light penetration to survive. So in most cases, the weedlines that we can see here are often the only weedline in the lake. So all you have to do is get off the bank until you can't see the weeds anymore, and you've found the outside weedline I wish we had more lakes with deep weeds, it's too easy when everyone can find the weedlines just by looking for them.

I've got my emergency bag and 2 combos that cover about every kind of fishing that 2 combos can cover.

No idea if it's a different paint or not but I've seen the same issues with the original version, not with the Elites though.

Great looking smallies! I wish I was able to tie hair jigs that looked that pretty. Unfortunately, the zebra mussels eat line way too fast to fish them correctly though.

If you want to know the weight of your fish, bringing a scale should be just as important as bringing the rod you plan to catch the fish you're going to weigh with. A 20" fish is typically going to be around 4-4.5 pounds. That one is very fat though, so I'd guess more in the 5-5.5 pound range.

Ah yes, the "It only catches small fish", theory. I'll just leave these here.

I use the 1/16oz and 3/32oz almost 100% of the time. Occasionally I'll fish water in the 15-25' range when I'll go to the 1/8oz but even then I'll try the lighter head first if the wind isn't bad. The Ned Rig accounts for a lot of fish for me each year, especially smallmouth.

If I bend them too straight they will run true at high speeds (although I never fish mine fast). I bend mine so they hunt during the retrieve. If you make sure to keep the bend straight they'll run at high speeds though.

Man that brings back memories. My dad used to catch so many fish on a black Jelly worm, only worm I remember him ever fishing when I was little. I started fishing them when I got more into bass fishing and caught a ton of fish on them myself, no idea why I stopped fishing them other than probably for the more popular baits out there. I fished them on a 3/0 EWG with either a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce bullet weight and just hopped them across the bottom slowly.

It actually has a wider side to side glide than a lot of baits. I think it may just be the slender profile, and the fact that they run nearer the surface where trout often feed. I've also done very well with the Lucky Craft Spazz for trout in rivers.

In Kansas they often are. The weeds we have here don't grow in water deeper than about 7-8 feet for the most part and will grow to the surface or very near it in most cases. Obviously there's exceptions to every rule, but our dirty water just doesn't allow the light penetration for weeds to grow in very deep water (or at all in a lot of cases).

Shallow-H2O, Bandit, Strike King 1.5. Deep-Strike King 3XD, 5, 5XD, 6, 6XD, 8XD, Bandit 250 Ledge, Luck E Strike Smoothie and Freak.

Agreed on everything. I've owned a few different jonboats, including the 1436. I did put a deck on it, but for the stability that I lost and weight that I gained, it wasn't worth it. I had a 15hp Johnson (max hp rating for the boat) and with that deck it would plow water and get to about 8mph. When I took the deck out, I could get on plane and run 15-19 depending on how loaded down it was, plus it sat much higher off the water.

If you're going to fish a heavy head and open hook in moving water, I'd be prepared to be snagged a lot. If you fish them on a light head, count down how long it takes to hit bottom. After you know, start moving the bait right before it should hit bottom so it slowly scoots along right above the bottom. It greatly decreases the number of snags and catches lots of fish still.

I used the Curado B's for pitching for several years, still own some of them and they still perform excellent. You don't need a high speed ratio since there's normally very little actual reeling involved.

If you're fishing heavy vegetation I'd suggest going with no leader and tying direct instead. I use 8-10lb fluoro leaders on my spinning rods, I tie direct with my casting rods with braid.

Welcome!