scaleface

If you have an old buzzbait lying around , try straightening the wire remove the rivet and blade and do what I did , then see how loud it is .

I make my own buzzbaits . Yesterday I decided to assemble one . Went through my parts box and was out of rivets . No problem I have actual rivets. I select the smallest one but its still bigger than buzzbzit rivets . It has more surface area but the lip is concave , so very little will make contact with the blade . So with a pair of pliers and a piece of 2x4 I flatten the lip out so it all makes contact . Then I take the pliers and squeeze the lip of the rivet as hard as I can . I do this all the way around . It created spoke like ridges . I do the same thing to the lip of the blade that makes contact with the rivet . Then assembled the lure and crimped the rivet in place . This thing is loud . If there is a louder squeaker out there I dont know about it .

I thought about going to a heavier line or braid when fishing sunken cover but I have a hard enough time breaking off 17 lb trilene . I would have to cut braid . Can you break that stuff ?

The most important thing to me is to catch fish , not to see how many lures I can catch them on .

I dont try to force a bite . Some lures excel in conditions and places where others dont .

A large Bagleys Balsa Shad . One of those realistic looking ones meant for striped bass . Every so often I catch a large bass with a huge shad in its gut , so I thought this lure would catch some lunkers for me . I threw the lure until the lip fell off and never caught a single fish .

When I joined Bass Resource nine years ago [ it doesnt seem that long ] I was already a seasoned angler but had a lot to learn and still do . Its a constantly evolving process . When I compare the way I go about fishing now compared to then there is a stark difference . I made the sport to complicated and over thought it . Its not really the answers to questions that brought me to this conclusion but the questions themselves . My questions and others . So what I'm getting at is Bass Resource has made me a better bass angler .

I've worn the rivets out but dont recall ever have the wire break on me like a spinnerbait .

I have a Red Eye Shad like that . Its my favorite . I dont even like to fish it unless I'm pretty sure there are no snags to lose it on .

Even silent ones make noise with the split rings and hooks .

When I'm fishing for pressured bass off shore , it seems like loud rattling crankbaits sometimes break up the school and scatters the fish .

That crappie pattern has been my most successful .

Keep it simple . Use lures that work in the cover or structure targeted and of the weight that can be presented competently .

I have a couple with weed guards , havent used them for a long time . I use to attach a pork frog and fish them in wood . . Retrieve it then kill it and let it flutter through the limbs . It works well on waters with lots of standing timber .

Eyed

I fish a lot from a flat bottom aluminum boat . I can actually hear the RES go tic, tic , tic when its falling, regular and two-tap . I can hear strikes too .

Thats what it looks like .

...and If you miss , make the bait act like it crashed into something .

It was moved here .

Three out of the past four years my largest bass has been caught on a Red Eye Shad yo-yoing it off the bottom on points . 20 to 25 fow,

I use spinnerbait skirt material to add legs and antenna to half a senko . It resembles a crawfish , dragonfly nymph or some other bottom dwelling criter . Rigged them on a jig head . Its a Ned rig with antenna . River smallmouth have a hard time resisting them . .

Sometimes I use whatever pack I pull out of the soft plastic satchel first .

For River Smallmouths I almost always use a craw , hula grub or other lure that has appendages that can be mistaken for crawfish . Largemouths on the lakes I fish dont give a hoot . If they hit a craw , creature bait , lizard or worm they most likely will hit any of the others too .

Looks like the Rebel Double Deep Wee R with the lead molded into the bill to get a little extra depth out of them . The problem with these baits is the hook hangers are to close together . Short shank trebels are needed or they will be constantly tangled . . They work well in 6 to 8 foot of water . Those are three good colors and well worth getting them back in action .

Its whatever floats my boat at the time but if encountering heavy brush I like a stick worm . I dont want any appendages , fire tails , curly tails... standing out that tempts little fish to grab hold of it .