Brian_Reeves

I'm going to say rough water. Cold fronts and hot weather just mean that the fish are very, very predictable. Rain means it's time to party. Clear water makes color selection easy and wind tells you what side of the lake to fish...but there isn't anything that makes sitting on a boat in 3 ft chop and catching fish easy or pleasant.

I'd hit the main channel. On any body of water, it's hard to go wrong working main channel structure. Laydowns, deep water close to flats, and steep banks/bluffs are always good holders too. For search lures, I'd use a 1/2oz spinnerbait with a big willow blade. Slow rolling it around those drop-offs and laydowns would be a good bet. People don't consider a spinnerbait as a winter lure, but it will still generate reaction strikes. Another good searcher is a rattletrap fished the same way. I prefer those two over crankbaits 10 fold. For saturation lures, it's hard to beat a hair jig with a pork trailer in the wintertime. It's nice, soft, munchy, and subtle. I've had better luck with those in the winter than silicone or rubber jigs. Carolina rigs are a year round producer as well. Never underestimate the dropshot in deep water situations either.

I'm impressed. I can't wait to get out of this sandbox and get home. I'm wanting to start making my own spinnerbaits, jigs, and pouring a few soft plastics. Work like yours and GMAN's is going to be the standard I set for myself. I really like those jigheads.

Some of you know that I've been over here in Iraq for the last 14months. I'm coming home soon. This isn't one of the threads that I expect a show of appreciation for my service, but rather I want to get across the appreciation that I have for all of you for supporting me and guys like me. Anytime that I mentioned the whole "i'm in Iraq thing" that particular thread was taken over by the members of this forum who wanted to express their gratitude. It's touching that people will take time out of their day to show appreciation and I felt that it was not only fair, but necessary to reciprocate that. So thanks guys, it means a lot to me. Specific shoutouts: Glenn for putting this treasure chest of information together. Over the last 14months I think I would have fogotten tons and fallen behind if it weren't for the constant upkeep of this site. I know more now than I did before I left, and I haven't picked up a fishing pole since leave in April. The mods for keeping topics straight, adding endless amounts of priceless information, and making sure that this whole things runs smoothly. The comic relief and info that you guys provide is a service that I respect and enjoy. BrokeJaw for drilling me with questions about lures and presentations, specifically jigs. His questions have kept me sharp and thinking about fishing, which will help me when I get home. Not to mention his bass pics he's sent me have been a source of motivation for me over here. Pictures of family come first, but fish are a close second lol. Catt has me wanting to go to Toledo Bend more than I do Amistad right now. His info is always top quality and I'm amazed that Bassmasters hasn't picked him up as an article writer. If you need to know something, this is the guy to ask. Avid and muddy for never having a serious side. A joke in just about every post helps me pass time over here in the desert where there isn't much to laugh at. If I didn't put your name up here, don't think that its because I've forgotten about you. The truth is that my 30mins of internet time is up and I have to leave. Thanks everyone. Post your thanksgiving thank yous

If I'm fishing a new body of water during any time of the year, I'll usually start out with the same few baits (colors varying). I'll have a 3/8oz jig, a 1/2oz spinnerbait with small, double willow blades, a rattletrap type bait, a fat ika or fluke, and a carolina rig. These lures are pretty much guarentees for me. I'll throw in floating rapalas, spit'n images, poppers, and frogs when I need topwaters, but I am pretty picky about when and where I throw my topwaters. Most of the time, you'll catch me with either a jig or a trap on the end of my line.

As a soldier, I'm really appreciative of those that fought before me. This guy was and is an inspiration that no matter what happens "over there," there are still things worth fighting for and enjoying back home. From one vet to another, thanks.

so true muddy, so true. Add to that that no crankbait is worth getting into 40 degree water over....NONE

When fighting fish, I tend to let my rod do a lot of the work as far as keeping tension on the line. I do this by keeping my rod high. If the fish jumps, I let him jump. I am really aggressive on fish and have only lost one jumper. I never drop my rod tip. If he jumps and you drop it, the motion itself can create slack. When a fish jumps, I make him give up a lot of ground and really crank down on the reel. I know it's boneheaded, but fighting redfish will give you some bad habits. A lot of the fish I catch never jump though. When I'm using light tackle and light lures...I do the same thing. With crankbaits, I don't set the hook as hard, but I still keep my rod high.

I'm not a huge white fan, but will occassionally through it when I'm popping or swimming jigs in the fall. Most of the year, I'm going with black and blue or black and red. For "finesse jigs" I like green pumpkin/orange and watermelonseed/red. I like darker colors for jigs because they tend to draw more strikes in more situations. For the deep winter months, I like a brown hair jig with a matching pork trailer in about 1/4 to 7/16oz weights

I'm still not certain where I can view and order products or what products you even sell? Custom lures, rods...??? Is there a catalogue or website where I can view your lineup?

Now granted, I chunk-read most of this thread and I might have missed it, but what do you sell and are your products homemade, machined? Website maybe? I would like to work with a company and hopefully grow together, but before I make an application, I would like an opportunity to test and view products. So....whatcha sell?

Coots are a protected species??? :-? There are more coots on my secret lakes near the red river than there are mosquitoes. Those blasted things are everywhere.

Can't say exactly when I get home for security reasons, but I can say that I turned my extra bags in today. Not too much longer. I've been wanting to fish Toledo for a long, long time. Might take you up on that lol.

LBH, in wintertime, usually I prefer to watch people on TV fish. But when I go out, my presentations are almost a mimic of Catt's. Although not a fan of vertical jigging, I'll do it from time to time. Normally, I never trust my depthfinder to find a fish. Next to lawyers, depthfinders are the most trusted liars in the world. ;D Finding wintertime structure works like any other time of the year. I prefer to start out casting and working the bait slowly, giving it an opportunity to fall off of any breaks available. When I'm on top of what I want to fish, I'll drop a heavier jig straight down and let it hit bottem. This is where fishing off-shore oil rigs comes into play as far as presentation goes. I'll reel it up a few cranks and let any wave action affecting the boat move the bait while I stuff my hands in my pockets and cuss myself for being on the water in the wintertime. If that fails to provoke a strike, I'll reel it up a few more feet and repeat. It's not uncommon for me for one "cast" to take 10 minutes or more when vertical jigging in the wintertime. This is just something I do because I can't tolorate cold weather though...but it does work. I'm interested to see how Catt vertical jigs in the winter. Oh yeah, and in the winter, I really, really, really favor hair jigs with pork over silicon and plastic.

I got his book as a christmas present from my wife last year. I loved the book. It gives a lot of insight to the innards of the tournament world as well as one of the most colorful figures in it...Mike Ike. I gained a lot of respect for the guy through this book and he has some helpful tips. It's worth reading at least once. I don't know of any other books like it, though. I'd be interested in reading one from another angler.

I'm gonna keep working on my year-round jig techniques. I'm also stepping out of tournament fishing and going to start working on smaller lakes to refine other techniques. Spinnerbaits being really high on the list. I've got a good lineup of virgin lakes that no one fishes that has great population and I'll be testing some home made jigs and soft plastics there as well as working on becomming an all around angler. 2009 is the year of the tournaments.

The main two I look for are depth and structure/cover. I classify everything else accordingly, but those tend to play the biggest roles in my experiences

About a foot, foot and a half tops. Any longer than that and it can become troublesome. Also, pick more streamlined baits that can punch through grass easier, like flukes, senkos, or beavers. Brush hogs can get hung up by their excessive appendages.

that happened to me when I had my whaler. I trimmed the motor up to where the prop was half way in the water and and gunned it. Nice rooster tail of 50 degree water just about flooded his boat. I have a really, really, really bad temper though...and it was worse when I was younger :-/

That's good advice from matt, but there are some lures that you won't be able to get around 'copying.' Senko-style stick baits, chunks, and slugs are examples. Not much more can be done to those to originalize them. I'm thinking about making my own jigs and soft plastic trailers and might sell a few if anyone is interested in them, but I am not going to break the bank to try to squeeze into an over-filled market unless my latest idea pays off like I think it will Got a -never been done- plan that needs testing. Sometimes 15 month deployments are a good thing lol. I think it's a good plan to pour your own baits, test them, and sell them if you so choose. But Matt is right, try to modify an existing lure or create something new. Heck, melt the favorite parts of your top 3 most favorite soft plastics together and make a cheap plaster mold. Who knows?

What if I made a tube mold...not sure how to explain this but you soft plastic pourer dudes might be able to tell me if this is stupid or not. 1. Make a mold using 2 different sized dowel rods. It would have to be a 2 part mold. The thick dowel rod is for the "tube" and the thinner one would be for the skirt. 2. Pour the plastic in from the top then insert the smaller dowel rod 3. Let plastic dry 4. Pull out the "thick headed tube" and cut the hollow part into the spider grub legs. Would that work or no?

Weather in iraq is finally cooling off...but not enough to convince the gods to let it rain enough to support a freshwater ecosystem, so i still haven't caught a bass since april. God I can't wait for this deployment to be over with lol

I just spent 2 hours looking for a mold for them and can't come up with anything. Does anyone know of anyplace that could either make one for me or sells a mold for a 4in soft plastic spider grub/hula grub? Or do I have to buy the skirts and melt them on seperately? If a mold for the entire grub isn't available anywhere, is there a way to get a mold for just the skirts?? this is frusterating

I'm going with Catt. I'd start off with a jig (3/8-1/2) with a craw trailer around the creek channel. If that failed to produce, can't go wrong with a senko or fluke around lilly pads, as long as they are still green