buzzed bait

TWMstr you may watch the forecast and if there's rain in the forecast get out before the rain hits. I was watching some videos from KVD and he was talking about the bite being on a lot of times right before the rain

One more question, when you're hooking the worms through the nose are you pulling the hook all the way through so that it's fully exposed or do you leave the hook bedded down in the worm? Thanks for the good info guys, sounds like step one may be to downsize my weight. Step two sounds like get out and try it and adjust from there.

you may be on to something there! i'd say just watch them closely and don't let them go too far...

do you scale them and leave the skin on or do you cut out filets and smoke them like that? i ask because if i filet them it will surely dry out, but skin on can manage to keep them moist

anybody ever put them in a smoker? when i was a kid we'd go for a day of fishing and keep a few bring them back and smoke them that night, mostly trout back then but i've since had bass the same way. I think the flour and pan fry are the best method for sure, but the smoker is a nice change from time to time

Thanks for the info guys! Crestliner to answer your question i'm targeting largemouths and frankly i do not know the exact depths (rigging up a fishfinder on my kayak at the moment to help with structure/depths) but there is a ton of fallen timber, very old fallen timber and it's very high in elevation in the mountains and i'm certain there's plenty of drop offs

So I'm going to try a drop shot rig for the first time this weekend. I have absolutely no experience with it whatsoever so I'm looking for some feedback. I've rigged up a 6'6" medium spinning rod with a swivel shot hook on 10# flouro with about 18inches of line off the bottom connecting the 1/2 oz weight. For that bottom line connecting to the weight i used 6# flouro in the hopes that if I got hung up it would pop that bottom part off and atleast allow me to get the hook/bait back. Any advice on this rig and or how to go about fishing it? I'll be on a very small very old lake with a ton of flooded timber in western north carolina. what is your preference in terms of worm type, color and method to hook it up (through the nose, wacky, etc.) thanks for any help you can offer. i'd like to catch some fish on this drop shot as i hear it can be lethal around this time of year....

went last night to the dunwoody, ga walmart and they had tons of stuff in the $1 bait bonanza boxes. as said, they may be factory seconds but i got mostly top water pop-rs and spooks and it's hard to go wrong for $1... they had PLENTY left too

definitely watch some youtube videos on how to work the baitcaster reels.... and as said before start by making shorter casts and gaining confidence and then step up from there. and there is no way i'd spend $150 on my first, second or last baitcaster reel.... i got the basspro prolite rod and reel combo for like $50 and have been incredibly happy with it.....

buzzfrog, where do you fish from the shore on Norman? You ever thought about a kayak? I used to fish from the shore and then got a kayak to fish in and I absolutely love it.....

I just ordered for the first time 2 weeks ago. I've received numerous offers, but never "took the bait" until they offered a year for $12 plus a couple of freebies so I pulled the trigger. For $1/month it has to be relatively entertaining.....

Question about this topic, would bringing the fish up slower make a difference? Just wondering if this is a natural thing that can't be avoided or if you could slow the ascent of the fish down to avoid this problem?

You hit this on the head.... you should talk to serious deer hunters and they can explain the theory of selective harvest quite well. If we were able to save every single human life from sickness, disease, natural disaster, etc. we would run out of food in no time, starve, and eventually cease to exist. Someone in the MN DNR should take a look at this lake and determine whether the strict catch and release regulation is helping in the long term.

Just ordered mine on Amazon. Couldn't find it in stock close by so I opted for the fast free shipping and no taxes....

excellent point, i will give that a try and if they work out better maybe i'll be inclined to cut the legs going forward....

this is a question that i have. i put 30# braid on a spinning reel and just started using it for cranking. However, i've been unable to get a real feel for how it impacts the depth because the water's so muddy here i can't even see my lures. Any idea how much it would change the depth on your lures vs mono or flouro?

you know the legs on those hollow body frogs always seem so long and i want to cut them off, but in the water they seem pretty natural and not so long? i picked up a Mann's frog the other day at WalMart and it had super short silicone legs, haven't tried it yet either but i'm anxious to see what kind of action it produces. going on a weekend fishing/camping trip so i plan to give them all a thorough test drive....

had a long list of things i wanted from wal mart, went there and these dual snaps were the ONLY thing on my list they had! However, I've been to others where i've seen ridiculous deals and just didn't buy/need at the time. I guess you just have to check regularly and buy it when you find it....

They are so hit or miss for me. I've seen the deals in some and seen some that didn't have anything on sale. I would like to find some puppies and spook jrs for $1....

I was on Lake Norman this weekend on the upper side near between Mooresville and Troutman and my buddy and I hit the water Saturday morning on the kayaks. We found the fish to be scattered around the coves. Anywhere from 3-10 feet of water with most of them in the 3-5 feet of water range. When we got there all we could see was topwater action so we pulled out the buzzbait and pop-r and had some pretty decent luck. The hollow body frog was working as was the pumpkin seed trick worm and the 4" jerkbaits were lively too. Honestly it had to be one of the best days I've had on Norman. I've since moved to Georgia, but can't remember a more happening day on the lake than this past Saturday. Oh, and it rained about an hour while we were on the lake and we caught 2 nice fish (3 pounders wish are nice fish in my experience on Lake Norman) during that hour of rain. Long Long story short, get out there.

Anyone used the H2O Xpress brand hollow body frogs from Academy sports? I went to Academy sports for the first time last night (way better than Dick's Sporting Goods or a Sports Authority) probably better than Gander Mtn too. Anyways I picked up 3 of these frogs, 2 small ones like 4" and one bigger one like 5" maybe. They look awesome for the price. Graphics look really good on them and hooks seemed pretty decent as well. Haven't fished them yet, but curious to see if anyone else has. I've just got into frog fishing and WOW is it fun, easily my favorite bait to fish at the moment.

Nice timing on this post. I am looking for a fishfinder in the same range for my kayak. I think I'm pretty much sold on the Garmin 150. I saw the Humminbird, Lowrance and Garmin yesterday in person. The Lowrance just seemed absolutely too complicated for the simple use I'm looking for. And the Humminbird display was not nearly as crisp as the Garmin. So I think I'm ordering the Garmin 150 today.

Thanks Jay for the info! I'm going to pick one up this weekend and will work on it over the course of next week. Any suggestions in terms of where to place the transducer for the most accurate readings, as in back or front of the kayak?

I am looking to purchase a Garmin Echo 150 Dual Beam FishFinder and am looking for any and all tips/advice on mounting the transducer in the hull of my kayak. I have an Ascend FS-10 kayak so I have a nice "console" to mount the unit on. I am looking for tips/advice in terms of properly mounting the transducer so that I do not receive poor/false readings. Additionally, I am looking for any advice you could offer on how to store or mount the battery as well to conserve space, reduce interference and not slide around inside the hull. If you can point me in the direction of any other threads that already covered this topic that would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!

I went to High Falls Lake on Saturday and had no luck.... The water was so muddy you couldn't see beyond the surface. There was hardly anybody out since the weather was a little questionable, but I was wondering how this lake might turn out under "normal" circumstances. It seemed like there's plenty of structure and cover to hold the bass so in my opinion this should be a pretty decent lake for bass fishing. I put in at the Buck Creek ramp and headed back in toward the creek. Any thoughts/ideas/commentary on this lake?