Todd2

Welcome... I live in a different part of the state now but I grew up about a mile from Cedar Creek (before it was a lake). I get over there a few times a year to fish. My brother has told me a lot of stories of pulling smallies out of the Rockcastle River.

Assuming you keep your line semi-tight, braid is more sensitive by far. There are other factors besides sensitivity though. I laugh when people say they never miss a bite when fishing fluoro...how would you ever know you missed it?

McCoy is the best I've tried...and I've tried a bunch.

1/2 to 3/4 oz spinner baits worked along bottom structure works great. Just don't go mind numb and forget to change your retrieve up if slow and steady is not working.

Google "Stupid Tube" rigging. It's the way I rig regardless of the eye. Works great.

This is dead on. I studied John Hope's tracking studies last winter. His findings were that big bass feed in the shallows (kitchen) in low light and suspend over deeper water (bedroom) during most of the day. By sitting on these funnels that connect the two for an hour or so at dawn and dusk you can intercept. The fish fed all night in the study. I put this into practice and had, by far, my best year last year for bigger fish including a PB for my home lake. The one thing I noticed, the type of lures didn't seem to matter. The biggest was on a jig but slow rolling spinnerbaits was a close second. Good thread!

Lost it years ago. A orange Rooster Tail. I put it my pocket one day when I was about ten y/o. I had to cut it out with scissors which left a hole in my shorts pocket. I forgot about the hole and put a $10 bill in the pocket to ride rides at the fair. Needless to say, I lost the $10. Lures have been costing me money every since, lol. I think the Rooster Tail ended up in my pond.

I couldn't agree more. The arky is my favorite. Comes through almost anything with a little shake.

No company would ever use a marketing gimmick to catch a bass angler. We are too smart.

Chrome/Blue is my favorite.

It sounds like lighter jigs are more popular with bass folks than I thought. Interesting to see responses from 1/200th to 1.5 oz. I stopped by the tackle shop and picked up a few 1/8 and some more 1/16 which is what I was vertically fishing with. Thanks again....

1/8th is what I had in mind when I posted.. I'm going to grab some 1/8th hair jigs and experiment. Thanks

I've bass fished only (for the most part) for about twenty years but I've picked up another past time this fall....Crappie fishing. My last few times out I've bass fished in the mornings and crappie fished in the afternoon. Those things are tasty. I'm mostly fishing for suspended crappie on standing timber and having a lot of luck. So my question is what is the smallest jig you'll bass fish with...thinking I can find that middle of the road size that would work for both when casting to cover. Thanks...

I fished with my ex's dad a few years ago. We had fished for hours without a bite. So he says "wanna troll some crank baits back to the ramp". I said yes...but was thinking this will be a waste. In less than an hour we landed about 7-8 nice bass. No real pigs but I think all were keepers except for one if I remember right. People can frown all they want but it was fun. I don't troll much, but occasionally I'll troll back to the ramp and usually pick up one or two.

Same here... And you don't have to do that rod hand switching thing on each cast. I switched 10 years ago and wished I'd switched sooner. To each their own though.

They were trying to fill that stomach when they hit your lure, lol. I think we have the opposite problem. Our lake is chock full of shad..so there is too much food.

Not much of a flipper either...but learning to pitch makes all the difference. Of my 5 biggest fish this year, 4 came from pitching. Practice at home in the yard trying to hit targets.

I'll tell you when I catch it.

Wow...that's the kind of stuff I was looking for. I was back today. I couldn't get much going in the trees. I tried a square bill through the tops but never got bit. I did catch several smaller ones running it down some lay downs. Today was more cloudy..when that happens the timber bite is not there for me. @Fishes In Trees.. for the life of me I don't know why I've never dropped a 10 inch worm down one. I think I've probably used them every way except pitching to standing trees. Another thing...I've been pitching in the shade mostly (not just outside) I'll have to try that too. I usually use Senkos for shallow stuff but maybe I can force myself to be more patient. So do you (or anybody) have better luck in calm or windy conditions? Thanks again....

I mainly fish a 4000 acre Highlands reservoir. It is loaded with standing timber in a lot of the creeks and some of these creeks have channels of 30-40 feet deep with timber on both sides. There are plenty rock banks as well but very little grass. The water is stained year round. I've fished this lake for years but I've really clued into fishing the timber more lately. What I've determined is...when the sun is out and high, I can usually catch a nice pig by pitching a jig/pig. The downside....I have to pitch to a lot of trees to get that one nice one. I mean...a lot of trees. I almost never catch smaller ones when pitching. So I sacrifice quantity for quality. Does anybody have any tips to increase the strikes? I've tried different things...from only letting it fall only few feet to feeding out line all the way to bottom. I switch up weights, colors, shady side, sunny side. Sometimes, I'll stick close to the channel but yesterday my bites were closer to the bank. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks...

I agree with a note where you found it. If they describe it...it's theirs.

Bon Scott

It can be a great rig, I haven't thrown one much this year though. The only thing I'll say is that I have much better luck with a Mojo weight coming through cover.

Spinnerbaits

Slightly off topic...if you're using pork, thread about an inch of old worm up the shank then punch your pork on. This will keep the pig from sliding up the shank and blocking your hookset.It adds some body and color too.