gulfcaptain

Watch your line as stated several times, also feel it, keep a finger on the line as well as I also end up with a finger on the spool and I'm sure it's been mentioned before, if it doesn't feel right, SWING! I know we have all heard that swings are free. I'd rather swing on something I thought was a fish then realize that I had a bite and didn't swing. ANYTHING that doesn't feel right with the bait your fishing odds are there's your bite.

Do a lot of punching, first I use a marker on the first 12" of my line(useful in keeping tabs on the braid there incase of wear spots. Next, your drag may be too tight. No stretch can cause you to part at the knot as it's the weakest spot. I'm betting you broke off on the hook sets, try loosening your drag a bit. I keep mine a bit lighter to obsorb any stress from my hook sets and once the fish is on use my thumb to help control the spool if I need more drag and power to pull them from the grass.

old style plastic worms, Mann's Mannipulater worm, or the Gilraker and slimraker's. Fished those 3 styles of worms when I was a teen and they caught a lot of fish. Or the Gene Larew Salt Craw in Plum w/Silver Claws or Black w/Chartruese Claws....2 colors they don't offer anymore but caught a lot of fish on.

Getting skunked does suck, but this shows us that our same approaches don't always produce. I try hard each year to pick up a new technique to my arsenal and I have to say, days of getting skunked become fewer and fewer and quality of fish increase as well.

Okay, first have to say I have been really impressed by the Savage Gear Line Thru line of swimbaits. Great action, a little tweeking and you can make them suspend and the top hook holder design works great. Have watched several nice fish follow and eat these baits including a 9lb fish I watched fishing from shore follow, creep up underneath to set up for the strike, watch it quiver, twitch the bait and watch it disappear. A bite I know I will not forget. For the price of these baits I have to give them a 9 out of 10. They deserve to sit up there with the Hudds although they have more of a Triple Trout swimming action and gives a different presentation option for those looking to expand their swimbait arsenal without breaking the bank.

I lip anything over 2lbs, just to be safe. Don't want it falling off hitting the ground, or deck. I know they do it in tournaments on the ELITE Series because they don't allow nets, but if you watch FLW they net almost anything that looks to be 3 or better. I agree with respecting the fish and causing as little stress as I can to them and returning them to the water as quickly and softly as I can. I do like the Major League rule, everything has to be released below the gunnel and no fish can make contact with the angler or the deck. They even have a rule if you brake a fish off I believe....so they give the fish all the respect they deserve.

Glass are less sensitive thus causing us to react a bit slower and have a softer "feel" not as stiff as a graphite. This is why they work well with cranks and spinnerbaits. I wouldn't go that way for a texas rigged worm. I would go with a softer graphite rod (IM-6) if you're looking for something to do both with and have a fast action to it opposed to an XF. And glass is heavier, but can last longer as they aren't as prone to breaking like graphite if you happen to hit them on something which can cause weak spots in graphite.

Rodger, I did mean windward side, not leeward, lee would imply you were on the calm side, not windy bank. And although Catt and myself have had a few discussions and different opinions on things, I think both will agree you happened to find a school of shad more then likely spawning in the weed line and the fish schooled up to take advantage of the easy meal. Now since it couldn't be duplicated through the lake then it's hard to say it's a pattern. A pattern is something you can reproduce over and over again. Best example I can relate to at the moment is a recent FLW event where Greg Hackney found fish at a certain depth and found a grass that grew in that depth. He could run and gun through the lake looking for that grass and pull up and catch his fish through out the lake. So with that said, great find and great observation to find the fish schooled up and catching them. But I couldn't call that a pattern and I think Catt would agree with me.

Yes, as stated the conditions have to be right for the rig to produce. When they are though, you can def put a hurting on the fish in both quantity as well as quality. Being all I fish is shallow from the bank, watching a 5-6lb bass role and explode on the rig as it would attack an entire school is def a bite you look fwd to getting each time and never gets old with the way they seem to attack it. But then there are days where they follow and never commit.

So just from that it almost sounds like you were on the windward shore of the lake.

be aware as well, the rigs do and will break. Wires get fatigued. The Yellow Hornet is probably the most durable of the 3, haven't had one of them break yet but the wire is bigger as well. And fish a somewhat lighter drag if you do fish it with braid, if not you will end up pulling them off. Found that out the hard way when I tried to horse the first bigger fish I hooked in. If you don't have a lot of snags I will switch to a Picasso swimbait head with a 4/0 hook on a 4" bait. But normally stay with the Kietech heads now which are 2/0 and give the 3-4" baits more action. And once you get confidence in the baits and if you equip them with what I outlined well it's more like $25-30 attached to the end of your line.

Roger, did you fish one area or did you repeat this over several areas of the lake? To me a pattern isn't finding a school that's fired up, it's being able to locate another school of fish that are in the same kind of area in other parts of the lake. To me a pattern would be being able to have the fish so dialed in that you can almost call your bites. I've had days where I established a jig bite. How, the first 4 bass happened to relate to a steep bank with brush and a transition to rock. Each time I found that exact combination in the lake I was fishing, I would catch a fish or several. It let me bypass lots of shoreline that I could have wasted time on and focus on the combination of those 3 things that they were keyed in on.

What you listed, I would say probably not. But could probably get away with 3 set ups. I'd say one spinning rod, and two casting. Spinning: Dropshot, wacky/shakey head, weightless, light soft plastics. 7'MH Casting Texas Rig, spinnerbait, buzzbait, heavy soft plastic, jigs, and frog 7'M Casting Crankbait, jerkbait, popper, smaller frog. It's tough to just use one rod for as many applications as you listed but this might help give you a quick overview and idea how I'd break it up to a minimum of 3.

Jacob Wheeler is a beast of a fisherman. But you can't compare the two. It's like comparing Labron James to Micheal Jordan. You can't. Both are great players. KVD and Jacob Wheeler are both great fisherman, and time will tell but he is def one to watch and has the abilities and confidence to be as good as he wants to be, but seems to be a very humble and nice kid. KVD has been doing this a lot, so as good as he is, sorry he's fished a long time and like all of us, I'm sure common sense and respect go a long way with him. If you don't show him the respect he deserves he probably wouldn't show it back.

I have spent the last year fishing these rigs is shallow ponds and trial and error is part of it. I can tell you that if you're looking at the flash mob jr, go with willow blades, not the colorado, the arms are really short. The willows are a nice size to start. I have found 3 rigs I like that work well and each are a bit different. One, the flashmob jr Willow, good starting point. Next the True Tungsten Roll Tide rig(with blades), longer wire, but more flex, and finally the Yellow Hammer Spinnerbait Rig. All have willows, and all work differently. I fish all mine on 30lb braid with 20lb mono topshots. Now here is the part that takes the longest to figure out, the bait configurations, most of mine all run 1/8oz leadheads and 1/16 to 1/8 dummy heads as in CA you can only fish 3 hooks. I prefer to use a 2/0 hook on most of mine and the best hook I've found are the Kietech jig heads but they are costly and made out of tungsten. If you're worried about hanging up and loosing the whole rig, Owners round ball jig heads have a light enough hook you can bend out if needed. Plastics, well that's something you are gonna have to figure out, I normally stick with the swing impacts from Kietech in the 3-4 inch range. Again, all my fishing is from shore and in ponds, although if I did fish deeper lakes, I would just change out to heavier heads and do my thing. And all the rigs mentioned I throw on a 5:3 ratio reel and use a BPS MH 7'6" Crankin Stick. It's got a soft enough tip that it doesn't rip the hooks out when they bite. But if you're serious about fishing this rig, you're gonna have to throw it, not fish it 20 minutes and put it down, fish it all day. Fish it till you catch a fish on it and refine your technique. The ponds around me have lots of shad and when they aren't biting for everyone else, well this rig seems to produce. Hope this helps you a bit in your pursuit and understanding with the umbrella rig.

first off, are you fishing a lake or pond? Next what's the water temp? What baitfish or forage is available and how big is it? What structure(rock, ledges, points, drop offs) is in the body of water as well as cover, is there lots of weeds or just spots and is there any timber. Which way is the wind blowing? Now this is all observations you make for each body of water or wherever you fish. Next, you need to think about seasonal behavior of the fish your after. Where do they move to. How long ago did they spawn? Are there bluegill beds around that you can see? A pattern comes from understanding what the fish are most likely doing, presenting your bait to the higher percentage areas that they should be located, and then refining it to key in on small high percentage areas and duplicate it over and over. Read everything you can find on here, look at all the conditions you have each time you go fishing and make notes, observe everything you can. And once you have an idea of what the fish are doing you can alter your tackle and presentations to maximize your chances and become more proficient as an angler.

Use the slower gears for yes cranks, larger spinnerbaits, large swimbaits, and also for umbrella rigs with blades. I can crank at normal retrieve speeds but having the slower reel causing my presentation to slow down as well as not where yourself out from the drag of bigger blades and cranks. But most everything else is 6:1 and almost all my flipping/pitching is done with 7:1.

yes it comes with a treble hook. So you just need to feed your main line through the hole and tie it to the hook. There's a groove in the bait that holds the hook in place. But as stated, make sure you're using the right gear. I would use at least 20lb minimum, but 25lb would be a better bet.

Could also fish them on an Owner Twistlock Finesse Hook and fish it just like a worm with a sliding sinker and the hook texsposed. Good option if you don't want to use a tube jig head. I'd go with a 3/0 size hook.

I'd probably go with the Strike King Tour Grade Tube Heads. Good hook and would probably go with the 1/8 or 3/16 oz size.

yeah, but tired of hiding from the Sheriffs helicopters. It was fun when I was 16-18, but now it's just expensive if you get caught. Some people just don't respect the course and cause damage which then ruins it for everyone. And if I did try coyote hunting I'm sure they would bring the swat team as well as all the local news helicopters. They tend to frown on hunting in the city.....lol

Well if you want something different for topwater, you can look at the River2Sea Whopper Plopper....they run about $15 each.

I'd take up golfing if they would stop kicking me out for fishing in the water hazards.

it was a pros vs cons question, not what pros fish with vs what cons use....lol But yes both set ups have a time and place and use both as catching fish is the main goal of why I'm out there too and people that choose to not use spinning rods I believe do so because they have never really learned how to finesse fish when the fishing is tough.

Gonna have to say just for the pure fun in catching, Jack Crevalle's. They are just mean, explode on topwater lures like no other, and will fight as hard as they can all the way.