dink

Welcome aboard. Don't waste your time at Wash Co.... it has no fish in it. ;D ;D ;D Seroiusly, feel free to ask anything about any of those lakes in your signature. I know a little about each one. dink

Not sure if this is posted inthe correct spot, but I am looking for a distributor that carries these brands (R.I. and Robo) in the St. Louis area. My friend who runs a tackle shop is interested. Any info is appreciated.

V&M baits at www.bayououtdoors.com makes a 10.5" ribbontail and a 14" ribbontail. BassProShops also makes 10 and 12" worms that are close to 11 and 14" actual length. If you look hard enough online, you can find others in the 16 - 18" category. TRUE SNAKES!!

First of all, excellent post, Catt. I try to see things objectively, so I understood the essence of Catt's statement. If taken literally, one could see this as a detriment to a newbie's learning curve. I don't think that is what was implied here, though. He simply stated that we, as slaves to the industry , tend to overcomplicate things in the name of convenience or progress. With this, I wholeheartedly agree. I know Needemp. I've fished tournies with him and just for fun. This guy is like a sponge to info ;D. Yet, he likes to compete (as do I) and bases success on those outcomes. I know not totally, but this is where the 'glory hunt' comes into play. And since he likes to compete, his measuring stick will be the touring pros. Where the chips fall? I usually eat 'embefore they hit the ground.

My peg is a little more unique and as cheap as it gets. Cut a 1/2" section of a strand from a silicone skirt. Now cut a 5 or 6" piece of mono. Double the mono up and thread both tag ends through the weight (either end) after you have threaded your main line through the weight. Pull the tag ends almost completely through leaving a small loop on the end of the weight. Stick the skirt strand halfway through the loop. Now pull the tag ends through thus pulling the skirt piece into the weight, doubled up. Leave a little skirt piece sticking out of the weight and pull out the mono piece from one end only. Pegged and harmless. dink

Man you wouldn't believe the difference in speed and handling. Night and day! The paint job might have to wait a bit.... too much fun fishing out of the old girl. Maybe I'll just post some pics of her now with the existing color... Scumline Blue ;D ;D ;D.

A nice paint job is the only thing left. I am actually working on the trailer right now. I'm converting the old roller bunks to carpeted ones and replacing the steps. The tinkering with this and that has been alot of fun and shouldn't be hard to continue. Thanks for comments guys!

Someone is definitely singing "sour grapes". ;D And that BS about not being able to afford the high end stuff on low income is wack. I have NEVER made 30 grand annually, yet I have all St. Croix rods and all brands of reels. I just bought a $2,000 engine yesterday and a trolling motor a month ago. Oh yeah.... I make ten bucks an hour. But fishing courses through my veins like a drug with no release, so this is what I do. Save your pennies and skip the fast food once in a while and you will be amazed at what you can afford. Now, the guy on the bank with the cheaper equipment gets as much of my respect as the guy in the Z22. Unless of course he starts whining how unfair it is that some people get big nice boats and others don't. That guy does not need to be fishing. Don't hate the player(s), hate the game. dink

My goal for the year was to replace the decks and floor in my little 14' V. I did that and decided to rewire while I had the boat apart and accessible. Since it got rewired, I thought a new battery would be nice. So I upgraded to a class 29 deep cycle battery for my TM. Not long after that, I had a wheel bearing go bad on my trailer again. Upon close inspection I noticed the axle was cracked. I was lucky not to lose an entire wheel on the road. Naturally, a new axle (and tires) found its way onto my trailer. Feeling good about all the "newness" led me to search out a new TM. Found one and bought it. MK 40 Edge bow mount...6 months old, used 3x, $250. The only "old" thing left other than the hull was the motor. That 20+ year old Gamefisher 7.5 hp was a good engine but is no longer mine... sold. Yesterday I hung a 2006 Yamaha 9.9 on my little pond-hoppper. Saturday should be fun!

Beauty!!! And on a V&M product to boot!! Gotta love that Hog Lard. ;D ;D Good job, Catt!

I fish a murky lake here in the midwest quite often. One thing I have noticed over the years on this lake is that there are always fish shallow regardless of season. Target the shallow visible cover first and work your way out deeper. All of the baits already mentioned are good choices... just remember, big and bulky. Yet something not mentioned is presentation. In this kind of water, keeping the bait in the strike zone is essential. Jiggling or shaking soft plastics and jigs and slow rolling moving baits has always been more productive for me personally. dink

That sound of fishing line cutting through the water like a knife through hot butter. Reading this thread has been quite enjoyable. Whoever said man has detached himself from Nature has never met a bass fisherman. Kudos to you, Fivebass. dink

Feathering the spool is essential. The less appendages the bait has, the easier the bait will skip. If you are skipping a weighted Tx rig plastic, peg the weight. If you don't, the weight will often separate from the bait and kill the skip resulting in a mess. Most of all, what Raul said.... PRACTICE!

Exactly what Kelley said. I got my round-nose pliers in the craft section of Walmart in a pack that also had a pair of needle-nose and a pair of wire cutters. The whole pack (3 pliers) was under $10.

"Here piggy, piggy, piggy." Nice one, Dan.

I fish a very stained lake alot. During the spawn, I throw T-rigged plastics with 3/16 or 1/4 even when the wind ISN'T blowing. My lake has only 1-2 feet of visibility which makes the fish much less spooky. So, I can't see why you couldn't use a weight big enough to feel what is going on down there. One other thing I do when the wind is in the bedding areas is throw a big spinnerbait with huge willows bringing it directly through the beds.

I'm already on it, cart. I'll be PM-ing you guys with some suggestions hopefully soon. By the way.... I fished Wash Co on Sunday and saw some pics of a NINE that was caught a week ago! I think that lake may be coming back into her own. I caught 5 keepers with two of them over 4.

Gotta be different. I replace ALL hooks that come on LC's. Only because I have lost fish on them on more than one occasion (3 keepers in one tourney on a RC 1.5, yet landed a 4 pounder after changing out to TX3s that same tourney). But to each their own. Some people have great luck with those same hooks... just not me, so I change. Gammy rounds and EWGs are also very good replacement hooks.

I'll bite (pun intended). All I have to offer is spinnerbaits, chatters, custom skirts and hand-tied feather trebles. PM me if you are interested. dink

I'm sure this subject has been touched on before, but with the latest weather changes most of the country has faced in the past week I figured this would be a timely entry. How do you fish when the mercury begins to fall rapidly? Slowly? Although all of us above the water's surface feel temp swings almost instantaneously, I am referring mainly to water temps. So to anyone and everyone... enlighten us to your approach on possibly the toughest fishing condition out there.

Check out barlows.com and staminainc.com also.

My buddy and I caught the same one... at the SAME time! I was fishing a worm and he a crankbait. Our casts were 20 ft. apart. I felt a tap and went on point as my line went to the side towards my buddy's crankbait. We both swung at the same time pinning the fish in both corners of the mouth. I would have seerious problems believing this story if it had not happened to me personally.

Just don't fish the lake I am on! ;D ;D Seriously, I don't know what is acceptable or not. Regardless, the type of fishing we all do here puts us in the position to run into these type of scenarios... sort of an 'assumed risk'. I have actually had a guy (catfishing) drop two anchors into a sunken tree that I was still dragging a C. Rig through. It blew my mind but I didn't blow my top. I just went somewhere else. I consider rude or ignorant people at the lake to be just another variable to deal with... much like the weather. Just remember, (the next time somebody really ticks you off with their antics) you are out fishing and some poor sap somewhere is at WORK.

The "bread and butter" jig retrieves have alredy been covered quite well in this thread. Yet, sometimes you need to mix it up a bit. Case in point: A couple years ago I was fishing a lake during the post-spawn. Hoping for some morning topwater action, I began my day on one of the few rip rap areas on this lake... a long point lined with rip rap. My buddy was coming up the other side of this same point. I started throwing a spook, but after one shrt strike I picked up a small jig and began "snapping" it. By snapping, I mean pitching it to the rocks and as soon as it hit bottom I would give it 2-3 quick snaps of the rod tip like a crawdad fleeing. Six solid keepers in about 10 minutes. My buddy continued throwing topwater and caught one short fish. I showed him what I was doing and he proceeded to catch a few solid fish as well. This is just one of many presentations you can make with a jig. It is a very versatile bait. Use your imagination and have fun!

Thanks, Chris. Hey man, even though the bite was tough, I had a blast fishing with you. Thanks for having me out there! You are very welcome for the jerkbait thing... you had the technique, all I provided was the vote of confidence in the form of a 3+ LM ;D. I bought an annual license... I will be back!