scaleface

Being the water here is to dirty for sight fishing I just hit the spawning coves and see what happens .They will spawn in May and early June here . I dont target spawners but fish where they likely are .

I use to fish worms mostly during the hot months but the last several years faster lures have been effective . Crankbaits , spinnerbaits and buzzbaits have really come on , even in the dog days . I have been better at selecting the correct crankbait for the depth targeted resulting in a lot of deep bass caught , as deep as 22 foot . Then the chara explosion has made worming difficult but spinner and buzzbaits have filled in nicely . I still have my days with worms and each year conditions change , so its hard telling how this summer will play out .

In use to think Colorado's worked better in muddy water ,just last year I was using them . Last week I tried a willow/Colorado combo and slayed them in 1 foot of visibility and water temps in the high 50's. Those fish are so attuned to their surroundings that willows are not going to sneak by unnoticed .

I'm convinced just about any spinnerbait will catch bass in the spring . I use a lot of maufacturers plus ones I pour . A good choice year round for me is 1/2 ounce Gold willow rear blade , Colorado front blade with some chartreuse in the skirt . Make sure it has a quality swivel because a lot of bites come when the lure is paused and those blades need to keep spinning .

I dont know how big of a role eyes have in getting bites with crankbaits but I'm convinced when slowly fishing a jig and grub combo in a nearby river during cold water periods , eyes make a difference .

This has helped me .In rocks I peg the weight with a bobber stop and make sure the bait is wider than the weight . This helps from keeping the weight from wedging in the gaps and the soft plastic compresses so a lot of times it can just be pulled out .

About how long does it take to sufficiently heat the mold ?

Same here. I was allowed to go pretty much anywhere i wanted, unsupervised. I would ride my bike to the Mississippi river just a couple of miles away or ride it to a large bay 8 miles away . I fished for every species . Whatever the hot bite was thats what I fished for . My Dad worked at a lock and dam on the Mississippi and I often went with him . He would put his eight hours in all shifts and I would fish down-stream .

Do-It molds Bullet spinner . I even applied some of that spray on stuff . The collar doesnt fill . I use a Hot Pot and pour lead in the empty blanks to warm the mold . It all looks good until i add the wire hook harness .

Haha , you made me check and see if I spelled it wrong . They get real hot . I dip them in the molten lead to melt the hardened lead . I forgot to mention that .

I poured a few spinnerbaits today and once again had a hard time getting a complete product . I just tapped the lead off the hook/wire and re-poured them . I poured one five times before getting a complete lure . Does this hurt the hooks ? I dip the incomplete lure back into the molten lead to melt it then try it again .

I do the same thing with just the body of a grub on a round jig-head , I remove the tail . Put the blade on exactly like you and use them along the rocks in swift current . They catch everything , including catfish .

Spinnerbait , Bomber Long A Minnow .

My Lake Fork lineup

I use to try but didnt have much luck . Now I will hit a good point just to see but if I dont hook up right away , I'm heading up the coves . A lot of it has to do with water clarity and the water around here is not clear .

I had a 125 HP Force that would do something similar . Turned out the fuel line was clogged with something that resembled petroleum jelly .It would run good then no rpm's at all . I went through this for weeks. After the clog was found and removed it ran great .

I've often wondered if a trailer-less jig would work just as well . I've never tried it because it is just unheard of . Thanks Manly for your report . I might just try it .

I made my picks for Lake fork and predicted 120 lbs will win it .

I ran out a long time ago . They were effective for me too . I caught several lunkers with them fishing a culvert that went under a road . Back when I had good balance I would walk down the sides which were about 4 to 5 inches wide and flip the worm to trees that had washed up on it . I never fell in . No doubt there are big bass waiting there today but I would fall in now .

That type of old timber is a perfect place to use square-bills . Buzzbaits and plastic worms are faves too . Try to find structure like points , humps and channels . The trees on good structure are better than the rest .

How far north in Iowa are you ? I'm not that far from the Iowa border and last week the bass fishing was excellent with spinnerbaits shallow in bays , coves and pockets .

...and that dock is right next to what appears to be a slight point .

Any of the Ozark lakes Missouri or Arkansas .

That is what the 200 acre lake I fish would like if they dropped the level three foot . Standing timber everywhere .I just fished it last week with the visibility at 1 foot, the surface temp started out at 57 in the morning and rose into the 60's by afternoon . The bass were in bays ,pockets and back of coves . I counted 58 bass caught near the bank with about a dozen over 15 inches and the largest 5 lbs all on a spinnerbait . The lake has a 30 foot max depth .

That use to be considered high speed and will fish anything even buzzbaits .