gulfcaptain

Always offer to help the person who has the boat. Weather it's gas or snacks, always help. I normally will pay for half if not more. But like the above statement offer whatever you can afford or feel comfortable with. It will pay off in the long run for sure.

Soon to be Ex-Sea-Hag, unless she takes his boat in the divorce....then there will be a few four letter words to add to that

Hackney is having a really good year, possible sleeper pick. Depending on weather conditions Martins may also be a good choice. Then again you have Ike who just came off a big win so that could give him a push. Hey it could be say it with me J V D....lol, sorry A-Jay, had to do it.

Firm believer in Pro-Cure. Use 3 scents, Rainbow Trout, Crawfish, and shad. Only other attractant I use is F2-Shad when throwing A-rigs, but I add a little something to it that comes from Pro-Cure.

Sounds like a preview for another "River Monsters", I like Raul's reasoning, I don't like the cold either so anywhere warm for me, I'm sure there's somethng I can catch.....always would love to go catch a dogtooth tuna. But the 3 lakes in Mexico for LM would be good option as well.

X 2 and if you got their attention with a swimbait, you need to change up the retrieve or try something different but I would back off and try later as well. Only would re-cast to it if they took a swipe at the bait and missed, just a follower come back later and try a different presentation.

You can use either. But most would probably use spinning dropshotting. Why, personal preference more then anything and spinning lets you use lighter baits. But I have dropshotted with both on 8lb, 6lb I would stick with spinning.

MS Mini Slammer, any of the bigger "rat" style wakebaits, chatterbaits and spinnerbaits (singleblade colorado blade) darker skirts. Did I mention rat style wakebaits.

I'm a big fan of thinking outside the box or fishing something differently then most especially in heavy pressured waters. Giving them something new to look at or in a way they haven't seen sometimes pay off big. This year it's been swimjigs and the bifflehead dragged across waters normally fished slowly with a plastic worm or fished with spinnerbaits or cranks. The more I fish them the more confidence I have in these as well as fishing the bigger swimbaits I used to use during the late fall to early spring throughout the summer with good results since most have stopped showing them that. Like stated above, all great bass fisherman experiment.

If you use the siwash hooks, bend them in some. Saltwater fisherman who used to swap trebles for singles. But siwash hooks have a habit of opening up so we would bend them in just a bit. I would look at the Owner Aki hooks or you could also go with a spinnerbait trailer hook as well. But siwash hooks will work if that's what you wanted to use.

Slide out deeper and look for submerged grass beds that they haven't sprayed #1 or been affected. Most times when they treat grass, they treat what they can see. Next, look for structure/bottom changes close by where the fish or bait can retreat to. If you have fished there in the spring the same places should hold fish when the grass isn't available....bridges, rip rap, docks, and brushpiles. Look for other cover that the fish will shift to when they don't have the grass option.

July, 9:30am with clear skies and getting hotter. Most of all the bigger fish (above 4lbs) have mainly come between the hours of 10am and 2pm. Think I have one at night that size and maybe a handful before 10am.

It's fun to watch them when the water's clear and you get to see them attack the bigger baits. Nice fish.

DB Rage Craw, Paca Craw, Baby D-Bomb, SK Beavers (both sizes)

Bought a couple of the fluttering spoons to use this fall and winter when the fish are suspended. They seem to hit the yo yo'd rattle traps, figure I'd show them something else as well. I would say this would also be a great technique on those fish chasing shad and match the spoon to the baitfish.

Try one of the smaller umbrella rigs with some smaller swimbait's on it, Yumbrella flashmob jr, or the Picasso Schoolie Rig Jr. Fish it like a spinnerbait or slow roll it. The small school rigs (5 wire) can resemble a small group that has broken off the main school which can be easy pickings.

Only bad part about them being mis-labeled although a great find, no warranty due to no proof of purchase. But then finding a $100 rod for $21 I guess that really isn't an issue if you break it. You are only out $21. They don't have the smartest people working in their fishing departments at all for sure.

Lip them, not a fan of flipping them in the boat especially if I'm gonna be throwing them back.

Grass/Weeds can make some crazy. It did with me until I read to use a heavier weight. Now I look forward to fishing these spots where I used to hate. 3/4 tungsten flipping weight and some bobber stoppers with any softbodied creatrure you prefer. Punching through the grass can be very productive. May give that presentation a try.

I second this, although use them on a few other umbrella rigs. Less hook, more action and dropshotting these are awsome. I would also look into some Mend-It to prolong the use of these as long as you have both pieces.

Matt, Tom, and Raul as well as CATT all catch big fish.....mind it in different ways. But Matt's point, " bigger baits" catch bigger fish regularly. Having only gotten back into bass fishing in the last 3 years, I can say, bigger baits catch bigger fish. But not all are on big swimbaits...yes some of them were caught on those, others on jigs. Main point, bigger fish eat bigger baits, and as stated, you want to know the size of some of the bigger fish where you fish. Throw a swimbait and see what shows up behind it. Will they always bite...no. But it is fun to see them. All four have one major thing in common with one another though, each are extremly confident in their presentations and bait selections that catch them bigger avg fish then the weekend or everyday "Barney". I would rather catch fewer fish of greater size then have a bunch of small fish. Am I trophy hunting, no, but I will up my odds using larger profile baits to target the larger fish in the populations I fish weather it be a jig or a swimbait. Both are tools and each have their places and times.

Maybe a plastic bead, but the glass bead cut into the braid causing it to cut the knot. And although I wasn't a big fan of tungsten when I first tried it, over the last few years I've really liked it due to smaller size. Mainy use it for punching through weeds but tried it with the glass bead to blend an old tactic of shaking a worm with a smaller punch bait.

Well tried a glass bead to use for noise and well that didn't work out too well. That's when I went to the bobber stopper. Rather loose a couple bobber stoppers then $5 punch jigs for sure.

Shaded areas, boat docks. Fish slow, pause rip, watch for followers. The fish will tell you what interests them. You just have to figure out what you need to do to get them to react and strike once they do follow it. I also paint all my hooks a flat black or white so there isn't any shine on the hooks. I don't know if it helps but I know it doesn' t hurt either.

Your swimbait wasn't too big, that bass was just too small.