Sam

Super article. Thanks for sharing Road Runner. I love buzzbaits and fish both the clacker and double blade styles. All with a trailer hook. I even have been known to throw a buzzbait during the day. Great bait and lots of fun to see the fish either hit it hard or just gulp it down.

Davis, Do the Amish have to have a valid state fishing license? If so, report them to your game and inland fisheries department and they will come out and ask for the licenses and run them off. This works better when there are illegals fishing. This is how we drove them out of the James River as they were harvesting the beautiful flathead catfish. Just a suggestion to consider.

Our Club has a rule that the non-boater has the option of fishing from the front of the boat and also going to some of the places he wants to fish during Club tournaments. Now the problem. You want to hit the wood with plastics and the boater wants to move fast and cover a lot of water with crankbaits. Major problem if you don't get along or the boater thinks that crankbaits are the only bait to throw. So, I call the boater if I am a non-boater and see what we are going to throw to be sure I have the same types of baits on hand. Last tournament the boater threw a Pop-R and I threw a buzzbait. He then threw a bushhog and I threw a wacky rigged Senko. Then the threw a plastic worm and I switched to a shad colored crankbait. You just have to coordinate as best you can with the baits and where you want to fish. And by the way, last tournament on the James River I suggested a place to fish on the Appotomax River and was turned down. The big fish winner of the tournament fished the Appomattox right where I wanted to go. Until you become a boater you will just have to have patience and be professional about a bad situation.

I know how that fishing can be and I really don't like it. I did catch a small bass on Kerr Lake (Buggs Island) using a spinning bait along with a tree branch. Yes, the spinnerbait along with the bass got stuck on a submerged tree limb. I thought I had a good one, then a snag, and was surprised when I reeled in the tree branch to find the fish. Isn't bass fishing fun?

Purchase your line from stores that hae a high turnover of the products. Otherwise the line can be old as it just sits on the shelves. Spool counterclockwise for spinning rigs. Use a swivel if your line twist persists. This will help minimize the line twist, not eliminate it. I will also PM you with the secret to stop line twist.

This is why I love bass. We both love to eat crawfish. My favorite food is crawfish, too. I can eat about 5 to 8 pounds at a time with no problem. Boiled with some good seasoning along with corn and potatos and onions makes a fantastic meal. My license plate reads "CRAWFSH" which gets some funny looks from other drivers. I vote for crawfish. And so do the jig and Chatterbait manufacturers along with the spinnerbait companies. And all those tungston and brass manufacturers and rattle companies that want to make a crawfish clicking sound with their products. And the jig trailer companies and plastics manufacturers, too. My avator shows what a crawfish would look like to a bass as he moves in for a snack.

I purchased the 9 inch slim-line needle nose pliers and they work great removing hooks. I got them at Wal-Mart for so muchl ess than Home Depot, Lowes or a local hardware store. One is on the boat and one is in my tackle box in the car. I now cut the hook's barb and line and pull the hook through if they threaten the fish's eye to save the eye. I hate gut hooked fish so I am not bothered by missing them by setting the hook too fast. It all depends on how they are taking the bait; walking away with it slowly or hitting it hard and taking off.

Have you contacted the manufacturer?

Try to find info on how to set up a trailer hook on this site or ust Google trailer hooks to find out how to set them up. It is easy to set up a trailer hook and I suggst using them. Put the trailer hook on the bait's hook, with the point facing the same direction as the bait's hook. Then, taking the rubber stopper, force the bait's hook through the middle of the rubber stopper, having the stopper's holes to the left and right. Place the rubber stopper so that the trailer hook is straight out from the bait and so it can move freely. Do not put the stopper too close to the bait's barb as it can mess up that hook for a hookset. Just make sure the trailer hook points straight out and is in the same positione as the bait's hook. Use a trailer hook one size smaller than the bait's hook, if possible. I use sharpening stones or metal sharpening files to sharpen hooks. Especially the Chatterbait hooks that I think are not sharp when they come out of the box. Easy to sharpen your hooks and it can make a world of difference. A 7 foot medium heavy baitcaster rod with a fast tip works great for spinnerbaits. Of course, use your 6-6 until you can get the 7 foot rod. And a baitcaster may work better for your spinnerbaits. Start out by using the trailer hooks and see if your hook-up ratios improve. Then, sharpen your hooks. Go out and have some fun trying to catch those fish!

Are you using a trailer hook on the spinnerbait? Are your spinnerbait hooks sharp? Did you sharpen them yourself to make sure? What type of line are you using? Are you leaving too much slack in the line? Is your rod tip around 10 o'clock or 11 o'clockt o remove the slack when reeling in the bait? What is the length of your rod? 7 feet? Fast tip? Medium heavy? Are you setting the hook really hard? Like making their eyeballs cross? Like knocking you backwards? And are you keeping the rod tip high when starting your retrieve? Just a few questions to clarify what you are doing. The guys will have more and more suggestions, too.

Have thrown the Swimming Senko one time. Caught one bass on it. Don't know who was more surprised. Me or the bass. Have not thrown it since but may do so as the fall approaches. George, thanks for the article on fishing the bait. As usualy, you are "da man"!

Glad you joined us. Great bunch of guys and gals on this site. Just ask your questions and share your opinions and fishing experiences with us. Lived in Kansas City for two years by the Plaza Shopping Center. Do they still outline all of the buildings in the Plaza Shopping Center for Christmas? My wife and I want to visit Kansas City to see how things have changed over all these many years.

We are either math or English. This means that some of us do well in math while others excel at English. If you are a math guy then you do not do well in English. If you are an English guy you do not do well in math. However, being you I think you will do well in both. There are tests to find out which one is your strength and some employers use these tests when hiring people. So where do English people go? Law school, politics, management. Where do math people go? Computers, accounting and the trades industry. So don't worry about it. You will do just fine. Now is the time to start working on your parents to give you a new Ranger boat and Ford truck for your graduation present. ;D

Nope, but one of the LSU wide receivers is ranked 2nd to the fastest sprinter in the world. I sure hope the Fighting Tigers can get the ball to him and watch him turn on the after burners.

I must support the Palamor knot. Although you have to be careful to have the loop clear the entire spinnerbait, it is a great knot to use. Just make sure the loop is large enough to pass the spinnerbait through it.

Jaystraw, Practice tying the Palamor knot. I use it all the time and so far no slips. Also, be sure your drag is set so she can run and tire herself out before your line breaks. Have learned about the above by losing some nice bass. And are the fish that dumb? Nope. Just agressive and doing what Mother Nature has taught them to do. This is why bass fishing is so much fun. Keep on pitching those Senkos, both Texas rigged and Wacky rigged.

I know of a story that happened in my bass club where bass fisherman #1 hooked a bass on the top of his head with a topwater popper and the fish threw the bait. Fisherman #2 in another boat adjacent to fisherman #1 got a hit on his topwater and landed him. Seems he had a bleeding wound on the top of his head. Go figure?

I have been very concerned that the one, two and three pound bass at my favorite local pond have been harvested by some of the fishermen who do not practice catch and release. So this morning, August 25, I went to the pond at 6:30 AM and threw a Pop-R and caught three small bass and lost one of the larger bass (probably a pound to a pound and a half), which made me feel good knowing that some of the larger bass were still there. I then started to catch the small 8 to 10 inch bass, as I have done for the past three weeks, with no big fish being caught. I was throwing a wacky rigged Mocassin Blue finesse worm with a 2/0 weedless hook. To find out if the bluegill and bream population was still in good condition, I threw my one inch, grape flavored white grub on a 1/64 jig head using 4 pound line on my ultra light rig. To my amazement, I caught one of the two or three large females that llive in the pond. She was hooked right behind the top lip bone and I played her for about 2 minutes, letting her take line and just go back and forth right under the water's surface. I thought I had a catfish until I got to see her near the end of the fight. She was worn out and all I had to do was pick her up out of the water by the lower lip, remove the hook, measure her on the dock, and then release her back into the pond. Can you believe that with all the Senkos, finesse worms, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, buzzbaits, Chatterbaits and Rooster Tails I caught her on a one-inch white grub with a 1/64 ounce jig head that I got in the fly fishing section of BPS? Amazing. Just amazing. So today started out great. I am going to the Redskins preseason game tonight and I hope the good luck holds true for the I-95 traffic to and from the game.

Hokie in da Pokie!

Keep posting those pics. We enjoy them and are glad you are on the forum. Just let us in on how you catch your bass so we all can learn.

May I suggest a Pop-R or a RICO in one of the shad colors?

Fly line floatant is even better. Cheers, GK +2

Topwater at sunrise and sunset produces results. Topwater at sunrise and sunset produces no results. Had it happen both ways. Go figure. The above post says it all. Just keep throwing those buzzbaits and poppers and see what happens.

Congrats to all who are starting college this year. It will be the best 5 or 6 years of your life!!! ;D I hope John J. can start a college bass fishing team to compete in the National College Bass Fishing Tournament. You guys let us know where you are going to continue your education. And remember two things: First, no one can take your education away from you; and second, a college degree is worth at leat $1,000,000 in additional income over your lifetime. Just think how many boats, motors, trailers, trucks, rods, reels and lures you can buy with that added $1,000,000! Opps! I forgot about your future wife so drop that list down to a john boat and cane pole with a gold number 4 hook and corn kernals for bait.

There is nothing more exciting than to see your Senko line start moving when a bass picks it up and you get ready to set the hook. Then you set the hook very hard and hold on for a good fight. Even when smaller bass, crappie and bream pick up the Senko and start to move with it is exciting. Try fishing the Senko "wacky" rigged and you will continue to have a lot of fun with this bait.