logan9209

Part of me is beginning to think that either I'm suffering from a brain fart concerning smokin' rooster or I chose the wrong color. Another part swears that it can't nessisarily (how ever you spell that word) be color. Strike King is not a rookie company throwing colors out there hoping that it works. June bug has to work. Heck, matstone caught a nice one with the same color. Casting is still an issue for me. I put on some some 30# braid (8# diameter) due to my Spook wanting to climb a tree and run away. I'm hoping that will help. Although that rules out c-rig I think. I can't help but feel a deep dark depressive weight sitting on me since I joined this website. Since I've joined, I've realized how very little I know about bass fishing. The website isn't the issue, however. It does what it's suppose to do: teach and inform. The issue is that there's an operator failure on my part. Either it's just not clicking with me or, in some cases, there are obstacles due to bank fishing that I haven't figured out how to get around. Part of me thinks that I should take a week off from fishing. But there was one day I was real bad sick and it took all I had NOT to go fishing. Sorry, didn't mean to switch topics or go on and on. It's just that I don't have anyone here to really talk things through.

It's supposed to be dam. And in case it magically changes my word its D-A-M

I know this has been talked about, but I want to voice my opinion about the KVD 2.5's. I haven't caught anything with it, yet it does have one key quality for me. Most cranks I have to stop reeling when they get within the 10 ft range to keep from getting hung in the weeds. With the 2.5 I only have to raise my rod tip while still reeling and it goes right over the weeds. I've tried Bomber model A square bill and Strike King's 4s and both will continue to get mucked up unless I stop reeling and let them float to the surface. The only complaint about the 2.5 vs the others is that they don't seem to dive very quickly.

I walked to the southern point of my lake this morning. Second or third cast out caught a small mouth on a Spook. The next few casts they were hitting but nothing doin. Then I got a second smallie. So I moved over to the right about 10 feet and started throwing there. They were hitting but not enough to connect. Once bass knocked my lure 3 times and still didn't hook. I went to cast in front of some trees lining the bank I was on and wham...buzzzzz. Oh yeah! The sweet sound of my Spook catching a limb and my baitcaster getting a birds nest. Oh it was so beautiful, the fish were popping the water like crazy and the bass were chasing them hard. A couple even lept out of the water. And here I was trying to get my Spook back (could never get it down) and fixing my line. I lost a good 20-25 minutes and my confidence/zone dropped to zero. I grabbed my other rod and tried a popper. Then I tried a spinnerbait. They weren't even chasing that one. Finally, I put a Yum stick bait (black/blue flake) and quickly caught the next 3. One of them I threw out the lure, went to grab a cigarette, and in a split second he/she took off with it. A 3 pounder. Changed to a Yum red shad ribbon tail 10" and caught 2 more. By this point it's 9:45am (got there at 6:30) so I packed it up to walk home. But, I thought I should try my smokin' rooster one more time. Should have just walked home. I checked all my sides for casting clearance and thwak....buzzzzz! Needless to say the smokin rooster didn't survive but I got my hook back. Turn our that there was a tree behind me with a limb hanging just close enough the my lure buzzed it. Not sure how I missed that one. I love that point but it's so compact over there and it takes me 45 minutes to walk there. I did break my record for total fish caught at that point in a single outing and in a record time just 3 hours. For me that's really good. If I hadn't lost my spook, though, I could have had more. Oh, well.

I pulled out my cranks earlier (I have 2 types of spinnerbaits that I still don't know who makes) and looked up my sk ones. Turns out they are series 4s. They run 3'-6' but they are half the size of the 2.5's and weigh less. So with the 2.5's weighing in at almost a half ounce it should mean that I can get the cast to where I need it. I'm using 12# Stren smoke. I am already having issues with casting the smokin' rooster and with only one b/c I don't have time nor the money to spool for one lure and then respool for another. Although, I am thinking that my rod is part of my problem. It has a great backbone but the tip isn't very fast. I think it is a flipping rod? I got it at a pawn shop so I'm not sure. But wouldn't a faster tip mean the lure will load up which translates to further casts? It's a 6'6" Quantum Lite medium-heavy.

Correction: The 2.5's go 3'-5'. But still I think the size will be the key. Plus the trebles are so much bigger which means easier to rip through the weeds....right?

When I bought my Strike King square bill cranks I got a smaller version. I thought the 2.5's ran much deeper and given my lake situation that's not good. I was looking at the 2.5's today, thanx for the suggestion folks, and realized they go 0'-3'. It's bigger and more noticeable to bass, it runs the right depth I need, and to top it off I am sure that it will cast much further giving them more time to locate and bite at it. I also went to get some toad soft plastics because I can swim it on top or anywhere underneath. Zoom was $4.96 and Strike King's Super Toad was $2.96 (they didn't have the Rage Toads ). Both comes 5 to a pack. I opted for SK Super Toad. I also picked up SK's Redeye Special spinnerbait. It's a tandem painted willow 3/8 oz. It has red eye on the lead head and on the willow blade. I realize that I'm backwards on things. I do my research after I get a product. But, I was wondering if anyone has had any luck with the Super Toads and/or the Redeye Special?

So to be sure I understand this. It's okay to use a keel weighted hook along with a bullet sinker? By the way, I love the keel weighted hook. I hardly pull any slop anymore.

I have caught them with a Zara Spook, white Strike King 1/4 oz bleeding bait spinner bait, and a NetBait Salt Lick red bug. All in the morning and at sunset. Oh, I have also caught one using a drop shot ZMan saw tail watermelon red flake.

I would say half of my worm or lizard fishing has been a thump or a thump thump. The other half would be inhaled. I would have to agree with the rest. Either the bass didn't care for it or bluegill/ bream was messing with it. Sometimes, I will just leave it alone for a few seconds and then start my usual tactic again. If you tried to set the hook into air (water) then just recast to the same spot. More often than not the bass will go for it again. Who knows, you might get a different bass who couldn't believe the first past up such a good meal.

Hmmm.....right now I can't afford any more hooks. Think it'd be alright if I tacked on a 1/8oz bullet sinker or a 3/16oz bullet sinker?

here's the webby. It's actually Mann's 1-minus. http://www.mannsbait.com/searchitems.asp?Groupname=Minus%20Series%20-%20Freshwater

Alot of my lake is mossy or weedy almost to the surface (the areas I can fish that is). Got my boy a Mann's minus 1 yesterday, and I'm thinking of "borrowing" it from him (red crawdad). At a leisurely retrieve it only goes a couple of inches down. On a fast retrieve it only goes a foot. So, I'm thinking that would be great for me. It could be just swimming along minding it's own business but also dive down just enough to tick the weed tops without the worries of hanging up to bad. Plus the joker is heavier than my KVD square bills so it will cast further I think. At wally world they were either the same price or really close to it.

I found Mustad 4/0 adjustable keel weight 1/8oz with spring lock yesterday. I thought I should be able to cast it. It seemed like no matter which way or how hard it would go the same distance. LOL! I'm going to keep plugging at it. Especially after seeing that pic with the same colored one in the bass's mouth. I think I messed up when I fished the same 2 basic lures (worm and lizard) the same basic way for the last 6 months. I've created some bad habits that I've got to break. I just can't figure out why even with 2 different baitcasters I can't throw them further. Hmmm......

Have you ever wondered if some one puts a lure in the fish's mouth then take a picture?...I'm just kidding. Nice chunker. I got the same color. Still have yet to get a strike. Not even a nibble. I still think that a lot has to do with the fact that for some reason I can seem to cast the smokin' rooster as far as I can others. It's weird. I've loosened the fine tuner. I've loosened the magnetic brake. I used both hands. It's like when it gets to a set distance it just drops. No matter how I rig it. The darn lure is kicking my tail and giving me rage. It is the only soft plastic I have out of all the 40 bags (10lb) that I can't cast far and can't buy a strike. Someone please make a video using the smokin' rooster, landing a bass, and hopefully some underwater shots.

Bassun, I agree, but here's the interesting part. There have been many days where all I had was a black trick worm. I fished that thing for hours or changed to another one when the first one became too damaged to use again. But hand me a spinnerbait, or some other lure, and tell me that's all I can use...........I have been doing that somewhat the last few days though. It's been rainy the last 3 mornings. I would take one spinnerbait and try that for a bit. Then I would change to a different color in the same model or I would change to a different brand and try that one. Or today, for instance, I used 3 cranks (0-3ft, 4-6ft, and 6-8ft) using the zone system mentioned in another post. Still no hits. I've seen KVD and Dave Mercer crankin in the rain. The only thing I've gotten out of the last few days is that I have got a lot to learn because I haven't been doing near as good as I thought I was. I mean, I knew I wasn't at tournament level yet, but dang.

I may be in the wrong post or maybe I needed to make my own post, so I apologize ahead of time. I finally got me some hooks for the rage rig. They're mustad hooks with the spring lock. The advantage is that the weight can be adjusted. I'll be trying my rage rigged smokin rooster today.

Gene, that's pretty cool. Look me up sometime when you're here. Or find me on the banks. I am almost always out. LOL! I didn't realize that I had said the alternative stick baits were on par with GY Senkos. I have never fished with them because they're a little beyond my budget. My wife cringes if I get a $5 crank. Still, the NetBait Salt Licks do produce when other worms or soft plastics don't. It's $3.56 for 15 locally. Gotfishyfingers?, I didn't know about that. I assumed that you had to be a member of a fishing club to get near those. I do want to get in with a club eventually. But I need some other things to fall into place before that happens.

I did have a Rebel Pop-R. I got a couple of strikes on it, but I hung it in a tree a few months back. Darn thing casts like a rocket and I wasn't expecting that. I looked a couple of weeks ago and apparently someone figured out how to get it back. But back on subject, George and I were fishing the "normal" topwater frog. Just throwing at the base of some over hanging trees. He started to talk to me and the next thing we knew his was underwater swimming away. By the time his brain registered what was going on it was too late, the bass spit it out.

Pretty much what I was saying, but you did give me some ideas. Basically I was saying that unless one of you actually lived here or fished my lake, there's no one who can really help me as far as the lake is concerned. They can make general suggestions, but when it comes down to it, if I don't start putting the "hands on" research of this lake up close and personal, then I'm going to be stuck in a rut no matter how much I learn to use different lures or have confidence in them.

It was raining fairly good today, so I thought I would try the spook. I didn't figure it would get any results because there was a little wave action. A few people had told me that the water had to be really calm. I found out that it's not always the case. I had a bass slap at it and then a 2.5# came up looking for a kiss (I landed that one). At that moment my wife wanted me to go to the store so I didn't get to fish for a few hours. Hoped this helped.

This morning we got some much needed rain. I, of course, fished in it while keeping an eye and ear on the weather. While trying to figure out why this bass didn't want to commit to my chartreuse spinnerbait, I thought it would be cool to take pics of all the areas in this lake (top down view just doesn't get the job done) that I can fish from. Then post it on here to get some feed back on. After reading pitchin' and flippin's post about the zone system, I realized that while that might be cool and, to some degree, generate advice, it would be lazy of me. I should know this lake better than anyone on here. I fish it practically 7 days a week 5-6 hours a day for the last 6 months. I know I am still a rookie to fishing, especially bass fishing, but I should have enough experience on this lake to give other people advice about it. The wheels in my head were turning but there wasn't any grease: The best thing for me to do is figure this lake out myself. Not saying I shouldn't ask for advice about lures and techniques. I would be a fool not to ask those questions. But I won't learn THIS lake without me putting forth the effort. Some people on here have already seen the birds eye view of the lake. But without me telling them, they wouldn't know that the southern point is a shallow-deep-shallow situation. Oh, I might still put pictures up. I would still listen to advice when it's given. But, if I don't learn to pattern and zone this lake for myself then when I get to fish another lake, I will still pull in low numbers. A lot of work with no real results.

The skirt is fine. Where I went wrong was having a jig with a zoom chunk trailer right next to the chatterbait with the elaztech grub. Of course they shift during travel. Before anyone says it, yes I had already seen the warning on the package. I was just curious to see what would happen.