scaleface

My bass thumb is always on the lower joint . edited : The proximal phalanx

In 1973 or around , I received a shakespeare spinning combo for my birthday . The reel is long gone but i still have the Wonder Rod . If I ever see a reel like it I will buy it if reasonable . I dont remember the model number but think I would recognize it . It was green .

My list for some of the lures I like from 1 to over 20 .Keep in mind that I have a lot of productive old baits . 0 to 4 foot .As far as shallow square bills go a vintage Rogers Big Jim that is my favorite crankbait ever . It slays big bass for some reason . I also use the rapala Crankin Rap square bills a lot . 4 to 6 foot . The Rapala Fat Rap is what I use the most . 6 to 8 foot . Rebel deep Wee R.s ,Bomber Model A's , Storm Wiggle Wart , 8 to 10 foot . Norman Deep little N , Berkely Dredger 10.5 10 to 12 foot . Rapala Crankin Rap CR14 , Berkely Dredger 14.5 12 to 15 foot . Berkely Dredger 17.5 15 to 18 foot . Berkely Dredger 20.5 18 to 22 foot . Berkely Dredger 25,5 23 and over I have never caught any on a diving crank .

I have a package of the cylindrical weights with rubber stands and a bobbin . They have been in my terminal tackle box for a couple of decades .Never have used them . They might be a great product , it just never occurs to me to rig one up .

Since I asked this question four years ago I did a lot of off-shore cranking and have found lures that reach 12 , 15 , 20 foot depths . I caught bass at 22 ft , my deepest with a diving bait with a Dredger 25.5 .

Willow leaf spinnerbaits and buzzbaits .

One night bats kept bumping my line while I was cat-fishing . One of them must have bit it because I hooked a fish and the line broke just a couple feet from the rod .

I was fishing a jigging spoon off the end of a boat ramp and caught a spinning combo , dip net and two wrist watches .

Virgil Ward . I watched his fishing show every Sunday . After the show he would demonstrate how he worked the lures in an aquarium and every week he would raise and drop them . That has become my style . I do a lot more than to raise and drop sinking baits but thats a technique that is ingrained in my brain .I am extremely comfortable doing that not only with worms , jigs , blade baits ...but also with spinnerbaits , lipless cranks , anything that sinks

I do the same thing . I have a Rapala scale that keeps track of up to 10 fish and I try to keep culling for the 5 biggest . I was just short of 17 lbs on friday.

I know a couple of guys that I expected cheated in several tournaments . I mean I know them personally and I would not put it past them .Neither one was a bass fisherman , had limited knowledge and skills but were winning tourneys .

Catch those little fish by the dozens and release them in that river .

Thats pretty much me . Fish prime cover and structure and hope for the best . Catch lots of med sized fish and the lunkers will come .

Other than using larger lures I dont know how to target big bass . They occupy the same cover and structure as other bass . So I hit the high percentage spots catch as many as I can and hope there is a big one or two mixed in . I use lures that my gear handles well and put them where what I think are the prime spots .

...and lost fishing line in a brush pile .

Braid is the least sensitive string on a slack line . I leave a little slack in my line .

I have never used bass sized marabou , but have a lot with crappie jigs . I caught one of my biggest bass with a yellow marabou right after ice out from a pond . You are right , just hold it still and they quiver . Good luck and let us know how they work . Do they have a weed-guard ?

I have a hard time using a light weight because I cant pitch them adequately unless I make up for it with a heavier worm . 90 percent of the time I have a 1/4 ounce on just so I can present it satisfactorily .

If its brush piles or fallen trees with a lot of small limbs I peg . If its older wood with mostly large limbs I dont peg . If I'm encountering both , I just go ahead and peg . If using a bobber stop , the bead can be moved up a few inches for an unpegged worm . Just dont move it up so far that it gets past the tip eye or you will be casting and wondering what that little catch was .

If the lure is falling and there is a tic , thats a fish . If you ate lifting the rod and feel a tic , that is most likely a stick or something but maybe a fish .I use mono because I'm use to it . When I go to raise the bait I do so quickly but softly , that probably doesnt make sense . If the bait is not moving , theres a reason . I have to make a decision based on years of worm fishing on whether to drop the rod and set the hook or drop the rod and feel for a fish . One thing I am not going to do is keep pulling . Not in my experience . I cant tell the size of the fish by the bite . I've 7 lbers go tap , tap , tap .

Some people never get it . No matter how many fish I caught with a worm meaning we were on fish , my uncle just could not pull the trigger on a bite .Unless he felt the bass moving , he never got it .This went on for years .

Just want you to know Whitewolf , I have been catching bass on points and flats with a Deep Wee R this year . Have not caught any big ones though .?

I'm not an avid shaky head fisherman but I do like a Manns Jelly worm on one .

If the fish are not biting and one is just going through the motions , then one needs to take a break or something . Clear his head and get back in the game or call it quits.

I just looked that lake up on Google earth . Its loaded with cover . I would throw some spinnerbaits or buzzbaits and cover water . Try the banks and the timber . I like squarebills in timber but these trees still have all the little branches and cranks would be more trouble than they are worth .