WookieeJedi

I have never done it, but I can see it happening. That's probably why I have only entered one tournament. Competition and money changes things.

When I first started whacky rigging, there were no senkos, and it was called a Jersey rig. When I started doing that, I also started trying different ways to hook a plastic for different action. Just like anything else, sometimes a straight retrieve will get them, and sometimes you need to slow it down. What I love about soft plastics is the nearly unlimited ways of rigging and fishing them. The variety of lures we have now is incredible, too. I have caught fish on a whacky rigged clearance bin Lil Fishie. You never know.

Bring a flashlight, and pretend it is daytime. The only difference for night fishing is I use more topwater lures at night, but not all the time. Watch for gators if you got 'em.

Nice!

Thanks, I have been using the Giron as a slower moving version of a jerkbait. It swims nicely on a slow, steady retrieve, so it does stand to reason that it will work just like a shallow crank as well. While I was putting my boxes back together last night, I noticed that I had bought some Storm swimbaits. I had them in with some other soft plastics I use primarily on stripers. I think I got them out of a discount bin at Gander. One is a pretty big minnow-type with a treble dangling from it's belly, and the others are rainbow trout imitations in 3" and 5" sizes. I think I'm going to give them a shot on LM, or maybe use the SS4 on LM and let the stipers destroy the soft baits.

There's a reason the natives manner of dress covers them from head to toe, and it isn't just the mustaches on women. Keep your sleeves down, and wear a shemagh if you can. That SWA sun is no joke.

The videos helped a lot, he talks mostly about largemouth, since that is his main business, but he gives out the most vital information for all fishermen right up front. Water clarity and color, water temperature, and lake level. Between his reports and OzarkAnglers resources on the lake, I was able to pick out a few good places ahead of time. One of the best links for TR IMHO: http://newmdcgis.mdc.mo.gov/tablerock/ They have some angler-embellished topo maps available on there too. Sit down with a cup of coffee, those maps, and the ghost of Buck Perry. It was time well-spent.

I haven't had any trouble from other boaters while fishing from the kayak. I did have one guy stop to check on me, he went around a point full-blast and thought he might have swamped me, and I got to explain how that was pretty much impossible. That turned into a 10 minute conversation about kayak fishing. I think overall, boaters are more courteous and careful than they were in the past. I can remember back in the 80's, woo-hoos would swing a skier by right next to a bass boat just for fun. It has been a long time since I saw behavior like that.

My big fish was a 4-pound SM, he may have been a little bigger than that, but with no scale, I guesstimated him at 4 even. The biggest SM I had before that was a little over 3 from the Buffalo River. Not a monster, but something of a milestone for me anyway. I got some decent spots out of there too. Only one spot was over 3, but none of them was under 1. Looking at the map of the lake, it looks like it could be a killer place for spots. So many things went wrong (for fishing) on this trip. I forgot to pack my LJ Hotlips cranks, I left the anchor at home, and wound up forgetting half the grubs I intended to take with me. The rod that wound up catching the most with is a light Mitchell Avocet combo I brought along for my kids to fish for trout. I gotta give credit to y'all, though. You pointed me in the right direction. I need to head over to OzarkAnglers and express some gratitude as well. Without the good intel I gathered beforehand, I would have just been another Billy Bob Bankbeater out beatin' the bank. Y'all deserve a big hand-clap!

Welcome!

I'm not familiar with the Hudd baits, but just this past year, I bought two swimbaits. I got a Jackall Giron minnow and a Cabela's SS4 shad. I have only used the Giron so far, and it has caught some nice fish. It looks just like a bluegill in the water. I got the SS4 mainly to use on stripers, but I have my doubts about how it will handle more than one 15 pound fish. I suppose I will just have to see for myself, I bought it with club points anyway.

I still have two of the old Poe's, and I still fish with them. One of them is getting a little beat-up, I'm thinking of repainting it.

Spot remover or football jig with a Speed Craw.

One decent sized swarm of biting gnats will make you rethink that.

I have what is considered to be a "catastrophic" cervical spine injury. As a result, I have limited sensation in my fingers and toes, yet I am still able to detect strikes while fishing. I always thought it was maybe a muscle memory thing, but if the sensation is more in the wrist, it would explain a lot. It would also explain why I have started to use spinning gear more, that's definitely all wrist.

The icing on the cake: My littles swept the Lodge pond fishing tournament on Thursday. My oldest won his age group, and my next two finished 1-2 in their age group. My big girl also scored the biggest fish and only bass. She got it in the last minute of the event, but she's not one to pump her fist and shout.

I wear long sleeves as well. When I was younger, I did not, and will probably have some problems later as a result. Of course, back then, we didn't have those nice light fabrics we enjoy now. I have even started using a mask and fingerless sun gloves to protect my face and hands. Those long sleeves help with bugs too.

Some of the lures that caught 'em this week on TR: The 2" crawfish in motor oil/green flake did the most damage on SM. I rigged it carolina on a 8" to 10" leader and used a light red offset worm hook, and T-hooked the craw, I used 6# flouroclear P-line. That rig prob'ly got 30 fish. Half my strikes were on the fall from the initial cast, or just when I first moved it. The cranks got some fish off some fairly sheer drops just off the bank. Remember, I am paddling, so I fish along the way to where I'm going. I was using the light 10-footer, so no fish-finder, I just tossed the jig out if the bank looked interesting. If I found a good drop, I tossed the crank to it. The purple ghost Xrap caught the most fish doing that. The big BPS crank and the DT did all of their damage in the Big Cedar cove area. Mostly dink largemouth, and a few SM and spots. I used both the Yum craw and an avacado/red flake grub for my jig setup, depending on the rod I was using. The craw got a fish off one drop along the shoreline, and the grub didn't get anything until I got offshore in the dam area. It got a few, but the small craw did so well, I left the grub sitting there. The Jr. Zara got a few on top in the late evening. Sorry I don't have more pics, I took that one pic of the fish with the craw, and it got me so off my spot I didn't try to take any more. That wind was keeping the fish going, but it was also kicking I disagree. Next time, I'm bringing the bigger boat, and the anchor. I'm glad Big Cedar has a nice hot tub right there at the lodge. I was hurtin' for certain.

The juice is easy, and no secret. I got a very large bottle of omega-3 fish oil gelcaps on sale at a local hippie-food store. I was going to take them as a supplement, but they made my burps taste like raw trout. Instead of tossing them out, I started using them as cover scent for my soft plastics. I puncture the end of the gelcap with a hook and squirt the contents in the bag with the lures. 2x of the 1000iu's does the job for a bag. I keep a small pill bottle full of them in my tackle box, in case I find a bag running a little dry while I'm on the water. Sometimes, if the lures are very absorbent, I need to put more in later. As long as the lures stay slimy, I figure they are good to go. From what I can tell, a glossy exterior on a lure seems to make it less absorbent. My saltwater grubs don't absorb much at all, while the Speed Craws and BPS senkos absorb more. I didn't really think it was working as an attractant until I started the craw battle. Now, I suppose it would be hard to deny that scent plays a big part in attracting fish. I know I'm not going to fish without it again, and I'll definitely start looking at plastics for their absorbency as well as action and color.

Exactly my problem with the test, but now that I see the juice really makes a difference, I'm not putting any more water time into it. Like many other things, this was supposed to be fun, then it got complicated. The married guys know what I'm talking about.

It is beginning to appear my juice is making a difference. When I got the new Speeds, I put them in the same bag with the Rages. Both are green pumpkin color, and the Speeds were ever so slightly lighter color. Mixed together in the bag, they were virtually indistinguishable from each other. After a few weeks in the bag, the Speeds are easily discerned from the Rages without even opening the bag. I pulled out the craws, and sure enough, the Speeds are more porous, and have soaked up more juice. If those Speeds are slow releasing that scent into the water, and the Rages are getting washed out faster, it could explain the difference. So, now it looks like I need to test the Speeds without the juice against the Rages without the juice if I want a fair and accurate comparison. Thing is, if the juice is making that much difference, I'm not fishing without it. I was just using the juice to mask my scent, now I think there may be more to it. Even worse, I have been working on a new soft plastic lure, and it has been very effective. It has also been coated in juice for the entire process, so I have no idea if the lure is that good, or if it is just the juice. I'm calling this a draw and forgetting the whole thing. Both the Speed and the Rage have great action and both can catch fish. Though this is technically a draw, the slot in my box is going to the Speed Craw, soaked in juice.

The sulphur works. You can get it from a pharmacist, I ordered mine from Amazon. This will be my first year trying the diatomaceous earth, so I can't yet say if it works or not.

You can dust with powdered sulphur to keep them off. Put it around your waist and ankles to keep them out in addition to using insect repellant. I got Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever two years ago. I'm really careful now, that stuff is no joke. Any tick can carry RMSF or Lyme, it is just more common in deer ticks. If you have dogs, make sure you keep them freshly treated, too. They bring them into your yard like crazy. I got some diatomaceous earth to dust him with too, it is supposed to keep them off.

Brother, I don't see much difference in your rig and a regular snap rig (aka, jika rig) without a soft plastic attached. If it enticed a gamefish to take it up into his mouth, and you set the hook; then that's no different that what every single one of us does every time we go fishing. If I somehow got on a bare-hook pattern, you bet I would be fishing with a bare hook. Your rig would be perfectly legal in Louisiana and Arkansas, where I hold licenses, but I am unsure about NY. In my experience, if you can think of it, if it works, or if it's fun; it's probably illegal in NY and CA.

I still use primarily the black shad color, but I think I may be giving the red shads a go pretty soon.