SENKOSAM

I thought that what I indicated: I've covered the bases between shallow and deep water uses, fish location and finding the relationship of bass to structure and prey fish.

Fish finders are not used by shallow water anglers as fish finders. By shallow, I'm talking under 8' or deeper in clear water. The only true shallow-water fish finder is the sidefinder sonar. It covers the top few feet near the surface and indicates size of fish and the distance to it or them. Side finder sonar is especially valuable for finding schools of prey fish and gamefish in open water and the presence of fish anywhere near the shore line and under surface cover. I've caught many solitary fish that were indicated to the sides of my bow. You can see the need for a sidefinder for ice fishing in winter and will save a great deal of time by indicating in which direction to move to and start drilling holes. Straight-down transducers are used to indicate bottom hardness, dropoffs and cover and will find fish from top-to-bottom, as well as indicate sizes. Used in shallow water, they are useful, but only in indicating the first three, because fish that it picks up under the boat will usually be panfish or minnows and not the fish you will target. Sonar in this sense, is a navigational and topographic tool and is used to understand the layout of the bottom long before you ever make your first cast to an area. Used in deep water, fish that are found may be caught with vertical techniques and lures, but usually the information is a guide to how near the bottom fish are feeding or suspending and their relationship to baitfish schools and structure. This info is valuable in chosing lures that will target fish at those depths and the techniques that should be used for active versus inactive fish. Mike Delvisco has one of the finest dvd's on sonar use and tweaking ever made. I've learned a lot from seeing him at a Bass U. seminar and it changed how I set up my sonar for maximum efficiency. http://www.bassbytes.tv/ This site (Ult. Bass Resource) also has excellent tutorials regarding sonar use and is the first place to learn the basics or advance one's knowledge. Sonar is my underwater eyes and anyone that blindly casts to shorelines or to open water, is hoping luck will prevail versus using ones intelligence to put probability in your favor.

Nick, I stand corrected ! For the life of me I couldn't remember fly & rind and my mind made up jig & fly. I remember Doll flies - an artificial fiber jig with a smooth painted head. They used to sell out every fall, locally. Brrrrr! Hope you got some good thermals on! I stop fishing until I can stand on the ice, not in it! ;D A few years ago I slipped on a rock in 40 degree water. I fished with frozen feet and wet undies for 4 hours before reason prevailed. Good thing I have insulated waders or they would have found the body in spring. It only took three hours to get feeling back in my toes. The black hair jig and 4" pork eel is a classic that never fails. My largest crappie ever (14"), hit the combo on the bottom four times. Thought it was a bass until I got it to the boat!

I tie my own and use either all bucktail hair, all Krystal Flash (artificial irridescent fiber) or a combo of both. The flash jigs work all year for panfish, pickerel and bass. The hair jigs seem to work better in spring and fall, either with no trailer or dressed with a small plastic trailer, 4" Uncle Josh eel or or #101 pork frog. This is a prime smallie bait regardless of seaon. Hair or fiber produce the ultimate finesse action and rod tip action imparts hundreds of unique motions even if held perfectly still. A very old but very effective way to fish hair or fiber jigs is with a float. Wave action produces all the action necesary and it's a must not to set the hook with too much force or too fast. This was once dubbed the float and fly presentation. A pork eel and hair jig went by the name of jig and fly. I have no idea why! Here are the jigs I tie and use on a regular basis. http://www.xsorbit6.com/users/senkosam/index.cgi?board=&action=usersrecentposts&username=SenkoSam

Great tubes from Ed. His sticks and shads are also quality. http://www.proschoicelures.com/index.html

Chris beat me to it. A para drogue (drift sock) is well worth the $50 or less (for smaller craft) and lessens the affect of the waves from wind or other craft. You pitch and roll far less and drift at a nice crawl. (Of course, I wouldn't be out in 30mph winds either unless I was in wind protected coves or lake ends.) I used one for my 17' canoe two weeks ago (the same one I use for my 17' bass boat), in a 20mph wind and drifted parallel to the shore, making corrections with the trolling motor. Where the trolling motor goes, the drogue will follow, especially when the shoreline isn't straight. Drogues store in a little space when folded and inflate easily with boat drift. Better to attach them to the bow and drift backwards for less water splash. I was able to long-cast a fat tube into shallow weed beds on hard pack shelves and blasted bass from 2pm-6pm - not possible with just a regular anchor. The drift was less than 1 mph, giving me all the time in the world to make multiple casts to the same areas. It's so nice not having to curse out jet skiers and ski boats anymore because of the small and large craft stability that comes with the drogue. Cabela's sells them in many sizes. SS

The one good thing about fishing clubs is fishing with partners with all kinds of experience. Even if the master only two or three lures, there's always something to take away when you see them catch fish. You might not fish them as often or the same way, but you know how deep and where they caught fish and how active the fish were when the bite was on. Lurkers and contributors alike. take something away from active fishing sites such as this one. The more ideas put out there, the better, because you never know when the light bulb above your head will light up and introduce you to another facet of bass fishing.

I posted that question in his forum and will call him about it. I've thought about ways to make a 2-part tube mold also, using the fat design as prototype. It would save having to dip a few times. Thanks

Exactly!! Haven't seen them around since 1986.

Raul, in my mind it doesn't make a difference if the body is solid or hollow when T-rigged. The last 1/3 of the tube is hollow (not counting the skirt) and when texposed, is very weedless. The action is a little different, though not much, and what I'm after is the chunky profile and tail action (similar to a small T-rigged Ika with skirt at the tail end). One of my best crappie lures is a solid grub body with skirt and sometimes works better than any of my favorites. Tender Tubes (not dipped) have done poorly in my local waters for the last 10 years, but now that their profile is chubby, bass and picks can't stay off them! I catch fish on the fall and off bottom; on bare hardpack sand and in weed beds. They just plain work, hollow or not.

A friend gave me a half dozen handpoured, fat & salty tubes to try out and I've got to say that my misconception about tubes has been changed forever! For one thing, I always thought tubes should be soft and under 3" to be effective. The handpours were exactly 3" from the rounded end to skirt end and were a thick firm plastic (due to the salt). A month ago, I started using them on a wide gap hook, t-rigged, with a 1/16 oz. bullet wt., in depths down to 15', but mostly shallower in 3-5'. They have caught more bass in different sizes than most other lures types (except Senko-type) and the only difference was that the hookset had to be much harder. Recently I began using 3" Tender Tubes (BPS) that I've had for a decade, laying around in the basement collecting dust. I dipped them in melted and salted plastic to give them that fat appearance, rigged the same way and caught fish in the same waters. Since the TT's were completely hollow and made for a jighead insert, I shoved a 1/2" pc. of plastic worm to the front of the lure to give it more hook holding ability. The solid center made no difference in the number of strikes or the bait retention. (I don't believe it was the salt, but keep an open mind just in case.) I've been using Iron Silk or Power Pro and have been not losing the hookset to a majority of fish. It's nice to know that I have an alternative to Senkos for deeper water and hard pack bottoms. I'll be trying C-rigging the fat tube also and modifying Strike King's tube lizard for use as a heavy cover flipping lure.

That gives me an idea. I pour my own and would only have to leave out the salt for the Senko copy's tail to be at a 45 degree angle to bottom. (Plastic floats with no salt.) I've always used action tail worms for bottom scratching, but my recent success with 3.5" t-rigged salted tubes with a 1/8 oz bullet weight leads me to think that a fat stick may work as good rigged and worked the same way.

I think what we're talking about here is quality vs. price. This will always be a confidence thing and based on personal bias. People buy Lexus and Mercedes. Are they better riding, more comfortable, better on gas and more reliable than a lower priced luxury counterpart like the Maxima? The same goes for any 50k plus vehicle vs. a comparable vehicle at 30k. It's simply based on a personal prejudice that one is best overall and worth the price. That's how certain companies can easily stay in business versus their economy counterparts - they sell less for more and continue to hold market share. This thread has been started on many bass forums and the consensus is always the same - buy them if you believe they always have an edge over all copies or buy copies if 98% of the time you find them to be just as good, based on you're experience and confidence level. If given free Senkos and free copies, I would probably fish Senkos 50% of the time, but only because I hate to change baits after every 5th cast or after one or two fish. I use Assalt sticks (which are the same price as Tikis) and find them to be as good as Senkos 100 % of the time. The same goes for my own handpours because I've gotten the salt:softness ratio down to a science. If I want a bait with more softness and wiggle, I use more softener, but expect the durability to be less. At a nichel per bait, I don't care if I lose 100/day versus $.80 or more/bait when you count tax and/or shipping and transportation. It breaks my heart to see 80 cents quickly sink to the bottom of the lake because a pickerel or small bass jerked the bait off the line. Let's see .... the price of five Senkos, lost in 10 minutes, equals the price of a good crankbait or spinnerbait, which are good for 30 fish. I'm no math major, but the numbers speak for themselves. So, as far as me buying Senkos ever again, I'll stick with the economy models that give me more satisfaction per bait due to the fact that my imparted action makes the best copies work as well and I don't have to take the time to change baits as often. As far as rewarding the inventor or innovator - BUNK! As long as Gary and Randy (RI) haven't applied for patents, royalties are the only thing they should be missing out on, not lost business due to legal competition. Everything else should be based on price and demand. Gary didn't invent the plastic worm, soft jerk stick, creature bait, hula grub, curl tail grub or salt impregnated plastic. He built on those concepts and came up with variations, variations that have made him a millionare. I thank all of the observant and creative individuals who have contibuted to my fishing pleasure and have indirectly paid them for their products, but my loyalty only goes so far.

There are quite a few disadvantages to using a bucket. 1. the para drogue stays open with the slightest boat movement - the bucket falls to the bottom and many pickup mud or weeds 2. the bucket will twist the rope as it spins; the drogue has a weighted side and floatation side to prevent spin 3. the bucket is far more difficult to pull in, filled with water, whereas the drogue colllapses in second by pulling the trip line 4. the drift is in inches per minute vs the faster speed of the bucket 5. the 3' diameter drogue takes little space to store once folded, unlike the 5 gal. bucket 6. the drogues come in different sizes to match the boat size and force it exerts when taken by wind and waves

Anyone use drift anchors?

Pour and use my own soft plastics: jerk worms, grubs, prototypes, slider worms etc.

Color, in my opinion, confirms lure form and dimensions. Lure action (vibration) and form, are lateral-line specific and are usually the first detected by a fish's senses. For example, you hear a train approaching in the dark, but until you see it emerge, you can't be sure it's not just a recorded, amplified sound. It's a wait and see proposition. A fish hears a splash and is alerted to an object's subsurface vibrations once the object moves vertically or horizontally. It faces the object and may swim over to investigate within visual range. The object's color or shading, contrasts against a background and helps the fish confirm it's dimensions and action once within visual range. Now the fish can use sight and sound to target the object. Can color be as much a provocation as lure vibration and action? Are some colors better than others in a few instances and for certain lures? I believe so, as do many that have had anecdotal experiences and that have been repeated year after year. If given the choice between a black grub and a chartreuse grub with black flakes, I prefer the latter 100% of the time. I pour my own Senko knockoffs and prefer any color than black for any conditions. Do anglers catch fish on black grubs or Senkos. Sure they do! Could they catch fish on them in my local waters? Yep! But my experiences just about force me to have confidence only in colors I believe contrast and standout, even if only clear with flash. Cloudy days have seen a bunch of fish caught on white or florescent colors, but bright days and murky water see me using any lure they will bite on, regardless of color, which is secondary and never a universal choice or rule. My suggestion is to keep color choices simple for where you fish and keep in mind that today's wonder color or lure may be ignored for years to come. Light, dark and in between. The choice is yours, more so than the fish's.

Good reply Shad Master. Some of my basic lures choices can always be depended on to catch bass. Size and shape dictate action and bass may prefer a particular action one day, but turn their nose up at it the following day. I killed them with long-billed jerkminnows in spring and now can't get a bite, but flash jigs have caught fish from winter until now. Soft jerk sticks have worked since the water rose to 50 and are still hot. I'm throwing the same snot green or brown sticks and the postspawners are picking them up off the bottom, in the same weed beds, week after week. An early summer pattern will begin soon and I'll have to overlap lure choices and find new ones to work different structure and depths.

I have my doubts that bass or any fish can be conditioned to a avoid particular lure or color after having been caught on one or having seen it multiple times. Many fish have been caught more than once, but on what? Could it have been the same grub or Senko? Will fish avoid one lure type after having been caught, yet still bite others? Can fish communicate an avoidance message? In my experience, when a lure is used for the first time in a lake that receives moderate lure pressure, the lure works well for most of the year. In years following , it works less and less as time goes on, regardless of how many fish have seen it or been hooked by it. Just because I cast a certain lure 1,000 times and hook 50 bass doesn't mean the lure put fish off to biting it or other lures, but that fish are fickle by choice or for some other unknown reasons. The reverse is also true. What reason will a lure, fish have never seen, be avoided, even though it worked fantastic in another water? Many of us have seen where a collection of lures seem to excel in one water and flop in another. This happened to me Saturday. I caught many species on my flash jigs without batting and eye, yet a week before in a different lake, only one species hit the same lure, but with much less success than other lures. This lake sees little pressure and the probability is low that anyone has ever used the jig there. Senkos worked great in both lakes and both waters have seen them used extensively. A set of reasons, that may include environmental factors (water, seasonal factors), spawn stage differences, genetics and other unknown influences, may be keys to some predictability, but at present the mystery of lure preference is still unexplainable. Only a few lure types have continued success in one or more waters, regardless of how many fish were caught on them, yet other lures may only see a few good seasons. For the lake near my home, grubs, tubes, Senkos and flash jigs always get fish. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits and topwaters are sporadic and only seasonal successes. Jigging and swimming spoons rarely get hit, along with 10" worms, 5" tubes and the jig & pig. Just try to remember not to buy a hundred of the lure that won the tournament or broke your own personal record for the simple reason most lures work - the right place/right time. Next week it may be avoided like the plague, for whatever reason.

Mercury cannot be cut out of the fat layer or near the lateral line like it can dioxins or other toxins. Sullivan C. and waters in the Adirondacks have a new advisory warning against pregnant women eating any bass from those waters and limits the quantity anyone else can eat. Warm, algae loaded water and many of our small polluted rivers don't offer good testing fish and no matter what you soak them in, they taste like the crap that was in the water! Even Hudson R. fish taste like s*** or the smelt they feed on. A few gin-clear waters have yielded the best bass I've ever tasted, but I'm not familiar with many that are clear and clean. Even the reservoirs might not have decent water for good eating fish. Though SBR is off limits until the dam is fixed, the heavy algae and resulting ph of 8, mean the fish are constantly soaking a yukky bath of fertilizers, cow crap and other runoff. White L. and L. Superior State Park might be your best waters. I don't know about Yankee or Louise Marie. My favorite recipe is fast-frying boneless fillets in clarified butter and using a bit of lemon pepper in the cornmeal batter.

Same here. I tie my own jigs and spinnerbaits. Pour my own plastics from my own molds and aluminum molds. Make my own in-lines SS

It depends on where the food chain happens to be. In spring, emerging weeds, sportfish and panfish spawns draw all species into the shallows or in deeper water adjacent to flats. The wind doesn't make a bit of difference. A few weeks ago, I fished the windy south shore and caught 5 species, panfish mixed. I traveled to the wind protected north shore, cast jerkbaits and caught only sportfish. The north shore has many rocky areas and few weeds, but has wetlands on either side of the flats and point. The food chain has been moving around in large schools, with occasional surface activity and the water temp is only in the low to middle 50's. The wind was howling last Wed and Thurs, but the fish were concentrated in wind protected and windy areas, but always adjacent to wetlands. If there are white caps on the lake, I like to cast from the wind protected side of a point to the wind swept area. Sometimes the surface transition areas get more action than just calm or just windy areas. Many times in spring to early summer, I'll hit bass in shallow weed beds first, versus those in open or deep water. If bass happen to be present, I figure it's near or within their home territory and wind doesn't factor in. Once water levels drop due to heat and runoff, deeper water areas are usually key and wind may play a roll in where the chain is, but not always. Structure priority always beats the wind factor, any day.

In the n.e. we've had too much rain and the added amount of depth has made finding fish tougher. The prespawn bass are still holding in deep water and we've only caught a few on small baits. Next few weeks of rising water temp, weed growth and dropping water levels should produce a dramatic change. Spring fishing can turn on a dime and being there almost daily will insure some fast and furious fishing. Sam

Went to Dicks Mon. and noticed an improvement in selection and tackle organizaion, but not as good as the Dick's in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. As usual, no sales personal to answer questions, and spies to make sure you weren't stealing, when crouched down to get something off a rack at ground level. Unless the sales are stupendous, I won't shop there. Gander is only a half mile away and my local shop, 4 min., both excel in service, variety and sometimes price.

Depends on which Dick's store. The one 20 min. form me sux; the one 35 min. away is well stocked and the prices fair. Walmart has clearance sales that are amazing! (rod/reel combos for $15); soft plastics for $.10 a bag; Trilene line for a dollar a spool.) Other than that, same ol boring stuff and poor variety. My local tackle shop, 4 minutes away, has double the variety of either store (and except Gander Mt.), but is pricey.