SENKOSAM

A few species of floating weeds are inpenetrable. We have one variety choking a stream where I used to canoe fish and it's impossible to even get the canoe upstream. The bass can only be caught in spring before the mat gets established. It has leaves that radiate from the center and thick stems that catch everything. Good luck!

Agree with shad master! One of the best lures for duckweek over shallow flats is a Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon with a pork or plastic chunk trailer. I prefer black for both. The best time when the sun is bright is morning or late afternoon and mid-day is good when cloudy. The blow-ups may miss a few, but the nice thing is that the bass hit more than once. I use a stinger hook. A Mr. Twister Exude Creature bait is also better in the short size because the plastic get super slippery when wet and slides over the veg. I have less luck with plastic worms or sticks over duckweed. Work the baits with long pauses and short twitches.

KVD covers water fast with his trolling motor on high, but don't mistake boat speed for a non-finesse presentation. He can work a shakey worm from a distance, allow it to jiggle down to the proper depth and make his next cast before he even gets to the target! It takes a lot of practice and sensitivity to detect a strike from a moving boat, but KVD and other pros are prime examples that it can be done, resulting in more casts to more productive spots in less time. I personally think rerigging Yamamoto's heavy/soft products is a waste of time and money and I have used better alternatives than the IKA. The topic is about people asking everyone their favorite lures/ colors question, not about me asking for them in this post. It's nice to compare notes and mention favorite lures you like, but the opinion is too nonspecific for many anglers that are specific in the areas they target and in the presentations they target them with. If I state that I have had success with a Hula Grub, I may mention brand or color, but mostly I want to confer the info about where and how the lure succeeded to catch fish, not for example, " Arkie pumpkin Hula grubs are my favorite color/lure". So what! If you think of the times that you fished with someone and they outfished you with a particular lure, what questions would go through your mind? what mental notes would you keep for future reference? I would find out what depth the fish were caught in; I would observe how fast the lure was worked and how many rod twitches were used if any; I would note water color, weeds in the target areas, bottom composition from the sonar and a slew of other pertinent info before I went out and tried to master that lure. Specifics increase specialization and versatility; blind loyalty to a brand or lure style may be justified, but not in my experience.

Mo, you hit the nail on the head with, I can constantly praise Yamamoto products like they are the best thing since the barbed hook, but it still comes down to confidence and knowing where and when to use a lure. None of the baits Warrior mentioned will always draw a strike on my local waters, especially not the IKA. To make a statement that includes your favorite lures means nothing to me since they may not work the best during the warm water season in NY. The members in my clubs have used Yamamoto products but don't use them 99% of the time in tournaments and some don't use them at all; they opt to catch fish on lures they have confidence in and can work structure in the shortest time period, in other words, search lures. Once they find fish, they may use the same lure or maybe a few others as long as the strike wasn't a reaction fluke. Part of a pattern is what I refer to as the bite. It could be the jig bite, the tube bite, the hard jerk bite, the spinnerbait bite or the all-lures bite and when that bite is on, the best lure is usually that lure and few others. That successful lure or small group of lures, is worked in specific areas and is the favorite for the day because it defines part of the pattern. When I fish tournaments or rec, I want a lure that I can cover water as fast as conditions will allow. My favorite lure or color is one that gets the most strikes that day and not necesarily the consensus color or lure of any forum unless I know specifics. That's the problem I have watching BASS tournaments on tv - more glory footage, less substance. Too bad Jerry Mcginnis is leaving because his insights on what was used, where and how, kept my attention.

From the replies, I see personal preferences that differ and in fact my go-to lures are different than all of yours. I didn't say better, just different and proven successful in my neck if the woods. I rarely use a spinnerbait or crankbait - soft plastics (grubs, sticks and worms), topwaters, tubes and jigs are primary lures for me. Secondary lures (those I have less success with for the amount of water covered) are cranks, spinnerbaits and spoons, which I still carry and use from time to time. Colors preference? Pretty much the same choices all of you mentioned or simply, dark, bright or somewhere in between. If I say chartreuse lures have worked as well as black in muddy water, you may also have caught bass with chartreuse lures in muddy water, or not. The suggestion may prompt you to try that color and test it in murky water, which may make you a believer. Seeing someone catch fish on that color is a slam dunk. Reading about it is not so convincing. So when I read about anyone's favorite colors or lures and the specifics of the water and light aren't included, I don't bother reading the post further. Opinions about such things are like .....well, you know... everyone has one. If you give a scenario where that color or lure worked, it may be easier to relate to. Here's an example that allowed me a 2nd place win last Sunday: Rocky shored reservoir with points, shallow rock flats adjacent to steep drops; water temp low 70's; spawn to postspawn; water-color tanin with clarity down to 4'; cloudy day; calm water; sonar showing baitfish schools. Lures that worked on the dozen smallies: 3" pumpkin/seed grub with bulky body on a 1/16 oz. jighead; 3.5" hula grub on 1/8 oz jighead; pearl soft stick c-rigged; pumpkin and seed 3.5" tube t-rigged and 1/8 oz bullet wt. (My partners spinnerbait and lipless crank got no hits.) Fish caught from 2-5' down close to shore. Will the scenario repeat itself next year? I'll get back to you. (but almost guarentee it will and also for others who encounter the same scenario!)

The questions of lure (usually brand) and color are asked frequently on fishing sites and IMO, have no answers. If a poll were taken with lures of a specific design and brand or colors for those lures, we could get a consensus of what anglers throughout the country seem to prefer and half good luck with. But even that doesn't really prove much except that people read and compare notes and once they hook a few, decide that that color or lure should be a standard in their tackle box. Ask about color choice and you'll get 50 different opinions, none qualifying the choice by stating the water color, time of day, sky cover, rain, depth, presentation, rigging, etc. It's like making a general statement of how you won the last tournament and expecting those conditions not to change or that the plan worked today but may not tomorrow. For instance, anglers stick by brands they feel can outcatch inferior brands or knockoffs. If partnered with an angler that excels at using that design bait (ie soft plastic worm or spinnerbait), the partner using a less expensive brand and different color may well outfish you from the back of the boat and do so consistently. IMO it's not the brand or color, but the angler's skill using his equipment that equalizes brand or color factor. Unless I fish over 200 days a year on a few different waters, I cannot possibly know what the best of anything is seasonally or daily. We all have favorites, but none are universally best for all waters and cover or structure types, but many are by chance and our exposure to the media, widely used and believed in. If a color and lure type/design (regardless of brand) consistently catch fish for me on a particular body of water year after year, it's a personal dependable favorite which may work in different parts of the country. Most likely regional favorites will produce better than my choices for local waters and the specific question that should be asked for example , 'what's your favorite color spinnerbait, in spring, when the water temp rises above 55 degrees in weeds over flats on lake X. Maybe correlations can be made to your body of water; maybe not. FrankM

Fish management for any body of water is a tricky balencing act and few anglers know the health of the fishery. Those who always catch fish feel the fishery is good shape; those who have sporadic catches might feel the water is overharvested. Unfortunately the state doesn't have the resources to shock smaller or waters with private access and only those who fish the water most have an idea of it's fish quality and quantity. Of course an underpressured lake will yield bigger slobs, but the pressured lake that doesn't may have more active night-feeder lunkers that have become wary of too many anglers bothering them. The Hudson R in NYS now has a new 15" size limit which has many tourney anglers scratching their heads. The Hudson is huge and has quite a few areas that hold fish. If the DEC ever bothered to follow tourney guys on the river and be at the weigh-ins, they'd see that the 15" rule is unnecessary. Sometimes our over protective instincts lead to unfortunate results or no change in the fishery.

So true! The best rewards for working with soft plastic(s): customizing baits that you already own always being able to pour a selection of baits without having to spend the gas, shipping or tax to buy them not having to worry if certain lures are in stock or that the QC sucked and half the bag is defective being able to come up with unique colors or combos weight the plastic to your specs with salt or make them softer As far as selling is concerned, unless you advertise on-line and build a large clientele, forget about making money for the first 4 years. You have to have the time to make thousands of baits on demand in one year and when it becomes like a second job, not fun. Plus, a few customers can be a royal pain! I make them for a select few and usually not in summer.

Your imagination is the best source because no one knows what looks good to you. Personally, I feel that the bait's action must be enhanced by the fusion and also the overall appearance. Here are a few very successful fusions that have caught many species: Fin S Fish and Sassy Shad tail 3" Mr. Twister grub body and S.Shad tail soft jerk stick and small curl tail from a grub Tiny Brush Hog and S.Shad tail Mann's Shadow body and 2" of Slugo tail Bass Pro's Spring Grub body and the double tail from Mr Twister grub Bass Pro's Spring Grub and rear 1/2 of Ring Worm Zipper worm body and small double tail Living rubber pulled through soft plastic lizard where the legs would be

Funny though, you never hear of a pro winning a tournament with a yamamoto product, including the Senko. I have a feeling it's about slower presentations vs. faster to be able to cover water for the reflex strike. If a pro depended on Senkos for machine gun casts, he'd go broke rigging new ones every 10th cast plus waste time having to do so. Senkos are idiot proof baits that even kids can catch bass on as long as bass or picks are nearby. 90 % of the catching is location. Yesterday I was in a bass tournament on a new lake and my best baits were a Riverside grub and a handpoured fluke. I had a limit before 8:30 am and was able to use one grub for 8 bass (plus 15 rock bass) and the fluke for 4 bass in 5 hours. I didn't even have to add hardener to the handpour which was tough and soft enough to be resusable. More casts per lure equals more water covered when fish are scattered and when slower presentations don't cut it. The nice things about handpouring is that you can make most designs to you're own specs, making this part of fishing very specialized.

Got it now. I'll bet there is no patent infringement on any of the copied designs because few patents have ever been applied to lures. The Beaver was one of the few originals patented and the k/o companies changed the design fast so that Andre couldn't sue. Like the Senko (which is not patented), the Beaver is far too expensive to be worth buying it. Again, one fish/one lure.

*** must make baits for Gander Mountain because I've seen all of their on-line baits and have seen the same ones sold under the name of Black Magic. The jig trailers are the best I've used and I have over a hundred to use up before I'll begin molding my own. There are good knockoffs of so many designs, I've stopped counting and at 3 bucks a bag, pretty economical.

Some people equate price with catchability and that may be true for some baits, but most of the time I've found it's the angler that makes the difference, not the price. It amazes me that so many anglers are convinced that Lucky Craft lures are that much superior to lesser priced lures of the same design. I got a friend into making his own molds and in winter he went nuts carving them out of wood. (Too much work if you ask me, seeing as how POP is so much easier to use!) But those lures have caught a bunch of fish since early spring and originally they were poured using old remelts. His designs are original (so far he has only bought one mold from Lurecraft), but he likes making everything from scratch and will continue to carve molds. Catching fish on your own creations is the next best thing to catching fish period! Frank (BTW, *** are decent soft plastics for the price!)

....especially if you get them free as a sponsor! That's why I pour my own and can add or not add salt and softner or repair some on-board with a small welder. Sometimes slower-falling, harder jerk worms outperform Senkos and last for 5 or more bass, not 8 casts and then fall off the hook! 65 cents a worm is not cost effective in my mind when I can make a bait for less than a dime and catch far more fish with it because that bait is being cast to far more areas. Try keeping a Senko on the hook after casting into heavy cover a few times! Recycled baits (even pieces of Senkos) work as well, if not better at times, than new baits. Bass don't care about pretty as long as the action is lifelike to their puny brains and the fish are active. When fishemen go to a tackle store, all they see are perfect baits and once they catch fish on them, assume that fish are more attracted to lures that are perfect looking and symmetrical. Most definitely not! Even flat sided jerk worms work as well as full round jerks when used as jerks or wacky rigged. Misinformation about lures has mostly benefited those who produce them. It's what they withold, infer or lie about that keeps sales up. Barnum was right!

I mold my own Beavers and the bodies have been used for different hybrids.

There are a few things you can do to recycle plastics. The easiest and most challenging method is to take parts from two lures and use a candle flame to fuse them back together. The only lures that don't do well are Yamamoto plastic that is loaded with salt and too soft. I've welded hundreds of bait parts together and many I've molded from plaster of paris. Imagination, scissors and a candle are all you need. This is also the way to make a used lure reusable though shorter. Melted down plastic doesn't do as well as fresh plastisol from a jug, but can be melted in a microwave and poured into a mold. It's most important not to overheat or the plastic turns black, smokes and clumps. Don't expect the salt (if any) not to settle to the bottom of the pyrex, leaving no salt in the bait - it will. Sometimes a hot knife will work to fuse the tears in old plastics and extend their life for a few more fish. Here are examples of fused baits, which I call hybrids.

For me, a log is productive for a few reasons: Most important, is to see what worked that shouldn't have or that worked for the first time in a certain location, time of day, season, etc. I don't need to post entries when fishing is predictable because why would I want to include boasts and read about it later? (Of course, lunkers are always posted!) Primarily, I want to document lures and presentations that worked well consistently and why and wherethey worked in order to build a data base that could help me be more versatile on the same or new body of water. We read and watch fishing media for that reason and I'm disappointed when a pro catches fish but gives no clue of what he used, why and where he used it. I'd rather watch my partner catch fish! I'd learn more. Taking this into consideration, I include the following: Fish related: species - size (length and wt.) lure-size-color-modification (if any) - presentation (speed, pauses) where caught: depth - structure (rock flat, wetland weeds, docks, points, hump) - area of water (n/s/e/w/ne/nw/sw/se cove, corner, stretch, shoreline) time of day tide (if applicable) general environmental conditions: water temp/ clarity/ height as compared to seasonal height or flow air temp or range wind speed and direction clouds/clear/raining/sunny etc. post front/prefront unusual season info the water and date photos to take: fish with lure visible and in it's mouth lures-that-worked shots location caught (don't aim the camera directly towards the water LOL) unusual or scenic shots I also include lures that didn't work the whole day and on future trips. Fishing is a puzzle and the pieces we discover help make finding and catching a little more predicable. If I had to name my journal, it would be the journal of the unusual; believe it or not!

Listen to Matt! Great advice and a good start to what could be a nice and productive sub-fishing hobby. Better yet - catching fish on your own creations! As far as saving money, it's definitely possible considering transportation cost and tax for mail order or local purchase, but it's more about getting into what makes lures work or not and surprising yourself seeing how many can. I think fish go after unique stuff and what's more unique than a creation that it's never seen!

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic_worms_supplies.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic_worms.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/pouring_plastic.html

Lurecraft.com for one part molds, decent plastic and good color selection. Best prices and service along with fishingworld.com (M-F Mfg.)! Make you own molds from plaster for less than a buck! (see my tutorial on this site.)

Spike It will bleed throughout the lure and into other lures. To do a quick laminate, I take a pipe cleaner, wet it in one color dye and swab the bait where I want the dye to be. Easier and less is used. Of course, if you do make a two color lure, both colors will bleed throughout the plastic and blend into one. I depends on how much you use. To paint stripes or dots, I use Spike It Chunk Paint which will not bleed and stays on the surface of the lure in an opaque color. Use white Chunk Paint beneath florescent orange or chartreuse for the brighest, true florescent color. There are a few other brands which are cheaper but Spike It service is great. Here's an example of a fire tiger pattern. (The black glitter is .090) (The chartreuse shad--- pumpkin over chartreuse)

Depends. If he doesn't have the mold(s) in stock, it could take over a month. Unfortunately he usually doesn't give an estimate for the time of arrival , so you're left wondering if he went on vacation. Bob, on the other hand, always gets back to the customer about delays. Since Del has switched to FedEx, the shipping is cheaper than it used to be, but no faster. If the molds and other products are in stock, it should take no more than two weeks. (BTW, I haven't heard if Calhoun's plastic is consistent in quality yet.)

Super glue and then nail polish.

Service and product reliability has gotten so much better since Poor Boys took it over. They solved the problem of their plastic and I'm ordering my usual 5 gallons; my angler buddy, who sells plastics and goes through $1000/yr. is ordering their 55 gallon drum. M_F is on par with service, quality of products, wide selection and shipping charges.

Don't count on the salt to stay in suspension for the repour and you might find that the plastic becomes too soft. The color will not be the same most of the time.