Brian_Reeves

Yeah the last month is ROUGH. I swear my last iraq deployment went fast...for the first 14months. That last month seemed to take a friggin year. So many plans and expectations...it can actually get kind of stressful believe it or not. I know SFC(P) (right??) Al knows this already. He's played this game before lol. Hopefully you get to stay home for more than a year, though. I just switched to the Louisiana National Guard for a NICE bonus and 2 years of stability. I'd like to see you finish out your career in an air conditioned office stateside. Of course the money sucks, but at least your desk won't explode ;D

I really only use 5 topwaters right now: 1) Open water, sparse cover- Rebel Pop-R or Zara Spook 2) Medium Cover- Rage Tail Shad 3) Heavy Cover- Snag Proof Frog or Rage Tail Frog

Add 10-14 days to that and you should be on 30 day R&R. nothing but good things to look forward to i'm happy for you.

Who knows? Maybe I'll give it a shot if I can get the time. I probably wouldn't even sell it though. I'd probably put up a link in my signature line or something. I enjoy helping people. I don't know how I'd feel selling information on two things that I'm passionate about. I like helping and I like fishing. To me that's not a market, it's one heck of a hobby. Most of what I've learned about bass fishing comes from LBH, Catt, Roadwarrior, CJ, Fourbizz, Mattlures, Earthworm77, Raul and quite a few other honorable mentions. I forget how long I've been a member here, but when I signed up, all I knew how to fish was texas rigs and redfish/speck lures. Thanks to this site and the members of this forum, I can apply a multitude of lures with an understanding of why and when. With good teachers, a passion to learn and apply, and a genuine love of passing around information, I guess that's where I get the energy to make posts like this. If you look at my past jig posts, they change each time as I pick up new techniques or tactics. Experimentation in the futile quest for perfection...but it is sure fun! if there is anything else that I can help with, lemme know. If I can't answer it, there are many, many other dynamite fishermen here who can.

I do a lot of trading, buying, and selling on ebay. I'll keep a look out, but it's a longshot. Hopefully someone can turn up something. That's a lot of money. Y'all don't have lockable storage boxes or did they break into them?

I'd love to write a book on fishing, but I doubt I have the credentials to be taken seriously right now. But one day...maybe. I actually enjoy writing fiction books, so I guess it wouldn't be that far of a stretch to write a non-fiction fishing book. But it would have to be REALLY good before I let someone else read it. I'd hate for the review to be "This book sucks butt!!!" ;D

A year that had at least 200 on-the-water days.

Just keep at it and keep experimenting with weights, trailers, and colors. it took me a year to catch my first fish on a jig...and that was when i was fishing about 200 days a year. I would use it every day in hotspots and eventually it paid off. When it finally did, things started to click.

I'm curious to know too. PM ME SAM!!! ROFL ;D

Some jig bites are very, very subtle. I'd be willing to bet that no angler feels all of them. But some are pretty aggressive. If you fish senkos, flukes, or other weightless lures then you already know about line watching. You'll see the line bump or move off to one side or another. Sometimes a fish just sits there with it. Knowing how fast your jig falls will help you tremendously. Go to 10ft at a swimming pool or go to a 10ft flat on your lake and flip/pitch it out there. Count about how long it takes to get to the bottem a few times. keep that count in your head when you're fishing. Eventually it becomes second nature. To increase your chances of feeling the bite, there are a few things that you can do. One is keeping your fingers on either the line itself or on the rod blank. Cork will deaden the graphite's sensitivity, so keep that in mind. One of the things to look for in a jigging rod is an exposed blank on the reel seat. Another thing you can do is upgrade to flouro or braided line. This is probably the most helpful thing you can do. Braid is the most sensitive, but it's harder to use in gin clear water. You can either run a flouro leader or use all flouro in place of braided line without giving up too much sensitivity. Line weights for me run between 20 and 65lbs, depending on where I'm fishing. 35 is a good average I suppose. I prefer braided line over flouro 10 to 1. Also, casting distance and depth will affect the sensitivity...especially with mono lines. The bites will be most sensitive with the shortest line possible. Of course you don't want to be 3ft away from your target in most cases, but you shouldn't be casting 60ft away either. Gin clear water is tough for jigs because of this and a million other factors. But for most clear to muddy situations, a good pitch or solid short cast is a good bet. You'll feel tons more when using braided line on a pitch than a mono line on a long cast. Casting distance with jigs is really not important, as long as you can flip/pitch it or at least get it a little ways away from the boat (for clear water situations) The best practice for feeling the jig bite is by flipping a lure that is going to get a TON of bites is a shakey head with a zoom critter craw or finesse worm, a 4 inch senko, or a fat ika. These are clearer water applications. If your fishing dingier water, try a * from * in your favorite color. Put them on a jighead with an exposed hook if you can get away with it. One last thing. Trim your fiberguard for the situation. If you're fishing heavy brush with lots of snags, keep it thick. You'll get less hookups, but you'll keep more jigs, which is good. If it's sparse cover, take a few jigs and really thin that bad boy out. Once you do feel the hit, you'll have a better chance of connecting if there is less between hookpoint and fish mouth. Using Action trailers like the Rage craw or double tail grubs (I prefer the Rage Craw) will get more aggressive strikes more often. At least they do for me. most straight tailed chunks don't produce very aggressive strikes for me. They hit that rage craw/jig combo like a freight train pretty often. I HIGHLY recommend them. I wouldn't be affiliated with Rage Tail if I didn't firmly believe in their products.

Ahh...football jigs. I just use the heavy ones (1/2, 3/4, and 1oz...mainly 3/4) for fishing deep structure like humps or river channels. i really don't like them around brush and timber. Anyway, I pop them off of the bottem or drag them like a carolina rig. I'm just now getting the hang of deep water jigging, so there is much more info out there than I can offer, but that is what works for me with them. I choose colors and trailers the same way that I do other jigs.

That had to be a pretty cool experience. i'm jealous, but I'm happy for you and your family. That is better than 10 trips to disney world.

Mono works fine. I use it a lot. The fluke won't sink as fast or be as sensative, but it works for me.

What style?

Yeah, that's the booger about jig fishing. You really can't go out and say "I'm gonna catch all of my jig fish on a 1/4oz jig in 10ft of water and that jig is going to be green with chartruse accents." That will be the day that the fish want a 1/2oz black and blue moster with a brush hog for a trailer. Experimentation is always key. Don't go exclusively by what I posted. It's just a rough set of guidelines that work for me (most of the time.) Don't get frusterated. Even the pros get skunked from time to time.

If you can get a few companies to pitch in for either travel costs or tournament entry fees, then that is a BIG plus. Even if it's for co-angler. I doubt very many companies will take Joe Smoe off of the streets and pay 1,000 or more for a boater's entry fee, but getting a few smaller companies to chip in for the 350 or so for a co-angler deposit might work. It all depends on the relationship that you build with the company. For example, if I went out and started fishing BFL or Stren tournaments as a Co-Angler with a decent reputation from local club tournaments, I'd have a good starting resume for a few tackle companies. I doubt you'd convince Strike King or Lucky Craft to pay your tournament fees, but maybe one of the smaller guys that you have a good working relationship with will help out. Even if they give 50 bucks, it helps. Set your initial goals low. Never despise meager beginnings.

I had almost 3X's that in my paintball marker.... Same here. Paintball can get really expensive, but it's so friggin cool ;D That airgun would be the death of me lol That thing is bad

Yeah, I included that one in my first post. I think you posted yours before I modded mine though. I had to go in and find it. His post is probably better than anything I've written. It could be an article all in itself.

Here are some color basics that I use: Most of the time, I'm fishing water 5ft-15ft deep (when I have a choice in the matter) For these depths, I really prefer watermelons and green pumpkins. If there is some orange or chartruse in there, even better. When I'm fishing deeper, black and blue gets the thumbs up. These colors seem to really shine for me in dingy water or in really deep water. Of course, there are thousands upon thousands of color combinations, and any one of them could out produce my little simple formula. Closely matching the colors of existing forage in your lakes and rivers is a safe bet to start with. When fishing unknown water, I really like a solid black jig with a thin skirt. I tie these myself. I'll use the soft plastic trailer to give it color and definition. This gives me a good starting place that has worked from very muddy to very clear water. Mixing the black skirt with a green, brown, red, or blue trailer will help you build a basis on how to choose jigs in the future for that area. It's an ugly jig, but someone's gotta use it. As far as rattles go, I don't use them unless it's night time or in muddy water. I prefer the jig sneaking up on the fish and either scaring it away or ticking it off enough to bite. I feel that rattles give the fish a warning, which could be a breaker in pressured water. Others will probably disagree though. That's about it for now. If I type anymore my hands will fall off lol.

Again I guess the first part of jig fishing is understanding what each part of the jig does while in the water and how to take advantage of each component. Jigs are unique in the way that there are about a million different types, colors, and techniques of fishing them. Understanding the basics will build on itself over time and you'll learn to apply the jig in more and more areas of your bass fishing. Before fishing your jig, you might want to take some time and tune each of these components. Here is what I do: Fiberguard- Many trim the fiberguard even with the hook. Personally I like to just thin it out a little bit, trimming about 10-20% of the fibers to the hook point. I like keeping some pretty long to help the jig deflect off of snags. Skirts- Most manufacturers tie their jigs with 30-45 strand skirts, but some will have less or more. Choose your jig skirts to an appropriate size. The more strands in the skirt, the thicker and more aggressive it will be in the water. If the jig is too thick, trim some of the skirt down some. I like to trim the entire skirt to about 1/8 of an inch past the bend in the hook. Hooks- Occasionally a jig's hook will need to be tweaked for maximum performance. Bending the hook point UP will increase hookup ratios, but also make the jig prone to snags. Use this tweak wisely. Trailers- All jigs need a trailer in my opinion. Personally, I like trailers that produce a lot of action like a Rage Tail Craw or Chunk, an * *, or a double tail grub. Pork trailers work well for me in clear, cold water, but for most of the year, I like action. Other good trailers to consider are beavers, chunks, and brush hogs, just to name a few. Any soft plastic can be used. Some are better than others. This will be an ongoing experiment for you. Color Selection: I'd put money on black and blue as being the most popular jig color. I personally like green pumpkins and watermelons with lighter hues mixed in. I guess the proper term (or at least the one we will go with) are sunperch colors. A good starting rule of thumb for jig fishing is blacks- deep or dark water, greens/browns-clearer shallow water. Of course that doesn't mean that general rule of thumb will apply to every lake or river. Once again, some experimenting and trial and error will tell you the best colors for your stomping grounds. Jig Weight: Probably just as important as your location, jig weight is CRUCIAL to catching fish. This is not and never will be an exact science. I pretty much use one of 3 weights 90% of the time. 1/4oz for 10ft of water or less, 1/2oz for 10ft+ and 3/4oz for deep, offshore structure fishing. For most people, 1/4 or 3/8oz weights will cover many of their needs. Presentations: Casting, Pitching, and Flipping Accuracy along with location selection is probably a million times more important than jig color. If you cast at a tree and end up hitting the boat, missing your target completely, or have your jig land in the water like a depth charge, then chances are that you need a little bit of practice. There are articles on this site that can help. Once you have that down packed, here are a few things you can do with your jig that are effective for me: 1. flipping and pitching- is probably the most popular presentation for jigs...with good reason. It works. You can cover a ton of water flipping a jig to both shoreline and offshore cover/structure. Review flipping and pitching here if you need to: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/flipping_pitching.html Anyway, once you flip/pitch the jig to a tree stump or whatever your target is, allow the jig to fall on a semi-slack line. That means keep a slight bow in the line and let the jig fall vertically. Too much slack and you won't be able to detect a strike. Too much and the jig will swing towards you, away from the target. Practicing in some really clear water (IE:swimming pool) will help. Once the jig hits the bottem, hop or shake it a few times, then wait a few seconds. Flipping and pitching is an in your face technique. There isn't much water to cover, so just hop the jig back to the boat or pull it on in and get ready for the next cast. 2. Short Accurate casts- This is my favorite technique, because I can cover a lot of cover in a short amount of time. I'll use an underhand rolling type cast to get the jig out there, but keep it close to the water. Once it hits near the target, I'll fish it exactly as described in the flipping and pitching section. On the retrieve, instead of pulling it up quickly, I'll swim or hop it along the bottem the rest of the way back to the boat. If I hit anything on the bottem, I'll kill the jig and let it sit there, occasionally shaking it. If that fails to produce a strike, I'll start reeling it in again. 3. Swimming Jigs- There are special designs, but any jig can be used like this. Basically, fish it just like a spinnerbait or crankbait to offer fish a different look. Boot-tail swimbaits (swimming senko), grubs, or trickworms are my favorite trailers when using the jig like this. I'll also cut most of the fiberguard off or at least thin it out more than normal. This technique works well with a white jig in the fall, when bass are chasing baitfish in coves. 4. Popping a jig- Mostly a deep water technique, this is exactly the same as flipping and pitching on crack. A medium-long cast to a point, hump, or underwater creek channel in deep water is made with a heavier jig. Using the rod to it's fullest, jerk the jig as high as possible off of the bottem and allow it to fall as vertically as possible. great for reaction strikes!! There are more ways to fish a jig than this...about as many as you can think of...but these are my favorites. Here are some articles that can help you out: http://www.bassresource.com/beginner/bass_fishing_jigs_overview.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_fishing_jigs.html http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/jig_fishing.html Here is one of the best threads out there: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1189609782

I use flat cranks more in cold water. That tight wiggle is pretty good for lethargic fish. With my flat cranks, I prefer suspending models or adding suspendots to my floating ones.

And all survived with only minor injuries from treble hooks ;D JK That is pretty cool though. Same thing happened to me and my sister when we were little down in FL.

Super Fluke is bigger. You already know to rig it weedless/weightless. Now all you gotta do is fish it near or over cover like you would a regular jerkbait. Experiment with cadences, but usually a jerk jerk pause works pretty good. That's the main way to fish it. You can work them on many, many different rigs.

One technique that I use when I'm stumped about jig color is start with a solid black jig with a solid black skirt. No flakes, no frills...just black. Try a green pumpkin, black neon, blue and black, or watermelon red trailer. I'm out of the jigs that I use for this, but they are very thin skirted...only like 1 pad of 20 strands I think. Anyway, what this does is gives me the most common base for craw colors (blacks, dark greys, and dark blues all kinda look black in water) and it lets my trailer add the real definition to the jig. This might be kind of out there, but it's worked for me and I continue to use it. Don't get too wrapped around color unless you're fishing very tough conditions. Location and cast accuracy usually is the biggest part of jig fishing. A good accurate pitch along with a good, solid presentation will get bites. I have fished with people who like blue/black jigs and treat them like a holy grail. I'm a watermelon kinda guy myself...both worked on the same day. When I'm fishing really tough conditions (gin clear, pressured water for example) I usually lean towards bluegill colors for some reason. It works for me.

I'll sing "I can see clearly now the rain is gone" or "I go out walkin after midnight" while I'm flipping or pitching laydowns, docks, and timber.