scaleface

I cant imagine any of you hardcore anglers in the midwest fishing the next few days but I wouldnt bet against it.

I had a Lazy Ike and a Flatfish as a kid. I think I caught some farm pond bass with them. Dont think I threw one since. I have an older wood, weird looking antique one.Its called a Top Ike.

I have some Tom Seward balsa baits new in box. CORRECTION. not Tom Seward, Lee Sisson. My bad.

Thats a cool story. I'm thinking the same thing. I bought these baits when I was fairly new to bass fishing. They never quite caught on with me but I feel it may have been more my fault than the baits fault.I still have six of them. I also have another foam bait. I dont know who made the lure at the bottom of this pic.

When I first got heavily into bass fishing I bought several of these lifelike lures. They are beautiful lures but I never caught a whole lot on them and retired them. I think I'll give them another shot.For those of you who have used them, what are your impression? They are made of a hard foam , silent, sort of like a flat sided bait.

Man, you guys are much more commited to fishing than I.

I bought two new vintage Rogers Big Jims at an antique store for a buck each. Didnt expect much out of them but I caught more bass on those two baits than I ever had with any crankbait, big ones too. The only reason I have'nt throw them more is they are a little light to cast with my baitcasting gear. I have a set up now to cast them. I scored four more lures on the auction site. I bought a new Bomber Long A Minnow. When I got around to using it , I noticed it had this stupid prop on the back. I went ahead and started throwing it and caught a limit.The next week i caught my largest limit ever with it. I have about 8 of them now . Other than a buzzbait , its been my most productive top water.

I've been gravitating that direction.

I fish a Ned a lot on riprap. It almost always catches some bass. I either lift it then let it sink straight down by lowering my rod tip as its falling, or lift it and keep my rod tip high and let it pendulum toward me on a tight line.

Who's your pick for angler of the year? i'm going Palaniuk. I think the new format with ffs limitations will benefit someone who excels with and without it. Patrick Walters is my second pick.

I dont post fish photos on Facebook. Did that a couple of times and had several people wanting me to take them. I just enjoy fishing alone. I crave it.

I use to be primarily a deep water angler. I caught multitudes of bass on spots not being fished by other anglers. I fished deep water so much that my growth as a shallow water angler suffered. Eventually , every single off shore structure I fished were discovered and fished to death. I did a 180. I had to learn to cast. Casting offshore was simple , putting your lure in a tight spot between a rock and tree took some practice. I still dabble offshore but the bulk of my fish come from visible cover.

I dont throw Rocket Shads enough. For some stupid reason I overlook them but they get bit. I like them deep and in current. My favorete lure in tailraces.

Speaking of facebook , over my life i have accumulated all the family photos I can. They are all on Facebook. I have cousins that I have never met, who live on the other side of the country ,friend me just to see the photos. Remember those photo booths, I had a little one inch picture of a cousin as a baby being held by her mother. When she saw that she was stunned. Its the only baby photo of her there is.I have pictures dating back to the early 1900's all on Facebook.

Next time I use a Guido Bug I'll think of the Hibdons.

Had my picks in a week ago Co. Johnston Lester Palanuik Swindell Robertson

Bomber Model a crank has worked well on rip rap. I also like a tube with a pegged bullet weight smaller than the diameter of the lure. That helps the weight from getting wedged and the tube collapses . Rebel Deep Wee R is another crank I use. An inexpensive jig and grub because snags happen. Inexpensive spinners like 1/4 oz Beetle Spins or H&H spinner.

I hope the ml rod will give enough shock absorbance.

All right guys. I'm building a combo to throw small crankbaits about 1/4 oz. I have a 6'6" ml rod , a lightweight reel with a light waffled spool not BFS. I'm not looking for BFS. I want to underhand toss or roll cast to targets accurately with it. I put on some 8 lb XL and practiced in the yard and it seems to work well but am worried that the line and the rod are not strong enough to use around the cover I fish. So I'm going to put on some 20 lb test braid, probably Power Pro because its available locally. Any reason why braid would not be a solid choice?

Thats a little to steep for me at 300 dollars. I actually slapped on a light weight Piscifun Phantom and spooled it with 8lb XL just yesterday. Went out in the backyard and it did good. I may have to go with Power Pro or some other braid though, 8 lb test is a little light for where I'll be using it.

I've only been there three or four times so am not real familar with patterns and strategies. Last time I visited was in the spring and the water was high. Stayed for a week and was on three patterns. For largemouths I was catching them in flooded brush with a buzzbait. I caught smallmouths on points from about 7 to 20 foot deep using tubes. Then was sight fishing for nesting spotted bass using the same tubes.

I just placed it there for scale and it was handy.

I use 12 lb mono on a 7 foot mh rod. This year I am going to add a second crankbait combo for lighter lures. It will be a work in progress, I dont have it figured out yet. I want to be able to roll cast 1/4 oz lures with the same muscle memory as heavier lures.I have a 6'6" ml Shimano Compre which should suffice. Matched with a light weight Piscifun Phantom I'll have to figure out the right line weight. I might start with some Trilene XL in 6 lb tst.

Its almost impossible for me to single out one old time lure becaue most of the lures I use fit that catergory. I picked a Bomber crankbait but could have easily selected a Rebel, Rapala, Jelly worm, Spook, Lunker Lure...

I think thats it. The lip looks correct from thje overhead shot. Thanks for the help.