toddwchandler

So could one of you guys who are highly knowledgeable about jigs give us novices a breakdown of the various kinds of jigs? As I stated in my earlier post, I have a lot of confusion with regard to the difference between a swim jig, a football head jig, a leadhead jig, etc? Can somebody just give a clear and concise breakdown of the various types of jigs, how to fish them, and in what conditions to use them?

I have seen the term Swimbait used a few times now but I am honestly not sure what a Swimbait is? Can somebody explain and maybe give me some examples of makes and models of lures I can look up that fall into the Swimbait category?

Tried again tonight and finally at least got a top water strike on a buzz bait but missed the hook set.

In my case I am fairly new to jigs. Here are my struggles with jigs: 1. Jig seems to be a fairly universal term used in bass fishing that can confuse a novice like me. With terms like lead head jig, football jig, and swim jig, how am I supposed to know the difference and know when to use which one? 2. How am I supposed to know the best technique to use when fishing a jig? Do I use a steady, slow retrieve or just bounce it along the bottom? 3. After receiving my Evolution jigs, I carefully tied one on and added a matching trailer only to promptly get it hung up on the bottom and breaking it off a few minutes later.

I have been visiting my parents a fair amount recently and they live very close to Lake Lanier in Gainesville, GA. This past weekend, I spent some time fishing from a public park, both evening and morning and absolutely got skunked. Not even a bite. My jon boat stays at the lake behind my house (not Lake Lanier) so I am relegated to bank fishing when I am up around their place. Due to some life circumstances, I am going to be spending quite a bit more time at their house. I read a local fishing report this weekend that indicated that the bass were suspending in 20-25 feet of water. My fear is that I can't get out to those depths from the banks of these local parks that I have access to. There are some areas with some very good cover that I can access, but I am just not getting bit around there. I have thrown topwater, Senkos, Zoom Trick worms, and even tried dropshotting and spinnerbaits with no luck. Am I simply wasting my time trying to bank fish in this area this time of year given the fishing report? I love to fish, but man, it sucks to get skunked every time you go out.

I am a novice fisherman but have been able to land some decent bass since picking fishing back up after a bunch of years back in the spring. I kind of have a fascination with bass tournaments but have never fished in one. Is there anyone with a boat who fishes tournaments in the Atlanta area (preferably) outside of the perimeter on the north side that would be willing to bring a novice along? I would not want to be a liability to the boater but would really like to fish with someone who could patiently help me understand the tournament world and help me with my strategy and techniques.

I have been trying to have some success with the dropshot technique but have yet to catch a fish using it yet and have lost a ton of hooks and weights. It seems that when I am trying to dropshot, I am often getting snagged. I have been trying to use this technique from the bank and around fallen trees, etc. Don't know if I am just not using it in the right place or what. Been a very frustrating and expensive experience so far. I am have been using the Gamakatsu dropshot hooks.

I guess I had not really set a budget if you will, but I'd probably be willing to save up and pay anywhere from $250 to $400, preferring to stay towards the lower end of that.

So how much do you need to spend for it to really be worth your while? Do you have some example makes/models? How are they powered? Do you have to hook them to your trolling battery?

I often see on TV the pro anglers using electronics to help them determine depth, structure, and location of fish. I know absolutely nothing about these devices and how they work. Is there a piece that attaches to the display that is submerged? Does this piece attach to the boat? Are these electrincs hard wired into the boat's electrical system? I have a 14 foot Jon boat that I use in a neighborhood pond with an electric trolling motor and deep cycle battery. Are there any quality electronics that would work for my setup? I have had little luck fishing of late and would love to have a better idea of the makeup of the pond and the location of the fish. I feel like I am fishing where they aren't lately.

What size hooks do you guys generally use for drop shotting? Was planning to drop by BPS on the way home from work and pick up some stuff to give it a try.

So what would be the best kind of line for a drop shotting setup? I have no problem buying a spool of the appropriate line, I just don't know what line that might be.

Interesting. I have been really reading up on drop shotting over the last few days, so maybe the delivery was very timely! I just have to figure out what kind/size of dropshot weights and hooks to get now. Also, I just started back to fishing in the spring and have been using exclusively 10# mono line. Will that work for drop shotting or am I going to need floro?

I just got my order today from Fish Hound and part of my order was a pack of 4 inch Shad Shape Worms by Yamamoto. Should I Texas rig these things and fish them like a Senko, Texas rig them and fish them like I would a Zoom Fluke (jerk bait), or something else? Also, what size hook would be best? Thinking a 2/0 or 3/0.

Let me clarify that I am not suggesting that I am OK with an angler lying about what they caught a fish on. I was only suggesting that it was unreasonable to think that a pro angler would stick to only lures from their sponsor. It appears that everyone here is in agreement with that. In no way do I feel that an angler lying about what they caught something on or even being deceitful is OK.

Dick's Sporting Goods here in the Atlanta area has all Rapala, Strike King, Zoom, and Yamamoto products on sale buy one get one 50% off. Also, their Berkley Power Bait is 2 for $6 with a $4 mail in rebate. Also, Gamakatsu hooks are on sale buy two, get one free. I picked up four bags of 5 inch Senkos and three packs of hooks yesterday for around $30. Not a bad deal.

I would think that it is unreasonable to believe that an angler should limit themselves to the baits and lures of a particular sponsor. At the end of the day, they are there to win tournaments and catch fish, whatever in takes and is within the rules. I don't think any of us here would limit ourselves to just one brand of bait or lure. Think about it like this, if you were fishing a tournament and knew that the best lure for catching fish in that scenario was a Zara Spook, but they were not one of your sponsors, would you just leave it in the tackle box? I don't blame these guys one bit for using what is getting bites, regardless of who sponsors them. Just my 2 cents.

I had this very same experience. After hearing angler after angler on this board raving about Senkos, I bought some. I tried fishing with then on three or four different occasions with no luck at all. Finally, about a week ago I brought them back out and caught several decent size large mouths. Don't know if did something different in my technique or just happened to find where the bass were that day.

I appreciate the feedback on the hook size. Honestly, I feel l like I am just guessing when choosing a hook size. I bought one pack each of Gamakatsu 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, and 4/0 hooks. Really no rhyme or reason why I chose the 2/0 for the Senkos.

I was digging around on the clearance aisle at my local Walmart tonight and ran across a pack of Vicious Fishing Braid 65lb test. It was only $3, so I figured "What the heck" and bought it. Now I am not sure what the correct application for this braided line is or if I even have a rod and reel that can handle it. I have a pair of BPS Stampede spinning rod and reel combos in the medium duty, 7ft model. So help me out. What do I use this braid for?

I was fishing with some 5 inch Senkos last night and finally for the first time had some good success with them. I was fishing the Senkos texas rigged on Gamakatsu 2/0 EWG offset worm hooks. What I found interesting was that when I caught of largemouth, he was hooked solid, but the Senko was nowhere to be found. He wasn't gut hooked, so I don't think he swallowed it, but it was just gone. The next one I caught, the worm was pushed way up the line, a few feet above the hook. I guess I don't understand the physics of a largemouth bite. How is it that the worm is knocked clean off the hook or pushed way up the line? I have also seen this before with Zoom Trick Worms. TC

I picked up a package of Zoom Ol' Monster worms a week or so ago and was wanting to get everyone's opinion on the best way to fish them. I initially tried to throw it out, let it sink to the bottom, give it a couple of jerks, reel in a little, and repeat. I really wasn't getting any action working it that way. I was actually talking on my cell phone at one point when fishing it yesterday and landed a decent bass. I really wasn't paying much attention to technique unfortunately and now I'm not sure what I did right. I THINK that I may have just been steadily reeling it in on a very slow retrieve. So what would you guys think would be the best strategy. As I think about it, it would seem that the steady, slow retrieve would make the most sense so that the curly tail would constantly be in motion and attracting attention. Thoughts? TC

Well, curiosity got the best of me and I ordered an umbrella rig to see what it's all about when ordering some other stuff. It was a Luck-E-Strike Umbrella Rig: http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12580205 After reading up about umbrella rigs, I am quickly learning that I don't believe I'm properly equipped to be able to tie on of these on and use it. I current have a pair of these rod/reel combos: http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Stampede-Spinning-Combos/product/1204201101336/ I have them both spooled with 10lb mono. I got the 7 foot rod and on the Bass Pro website they consider it Medium action. It seems that in my reading, I'm going to have to have some kind of heavy rod and potentially use braided line. Does anybody have experience with these rigs? What kinds of rod/reel and line am I going to need to use to be able to effectively fish this rig? TC

I have accumulated quite a bit of soft plastics (Senkos, Zoom Trick Worms, Horny Toads, Salamanders). I have been keeping all of these in the original bag, but they are starting to take up a lot of space in the tackle box. Is it OK to just take two or three of each kind of plastic and put them right into a slot in the tackle box? Will they dry out and crack or melt or something if they are not stored in the original or a ziplock bag?

I found something very interesting at Dick's Sporting Goods the other day when shopping for spinnerbaits. I was noticing that there were a ton of spinnerbaits with the skirts missing. These were the Strikeking/Dick's co-branded spinnerbaits. I found one white one that the skirt was still on and bought it. The first time I used it, the skirt came off in the water. I returned what was left of the spinnerbait and they refunded my money with no problem. I walked back upstairs to the fishing department to ask what was going on with all of those spinnerbaits and why all the skirts were coming off of them. This particular Dick's store is a big two story store with windows all the way up the front side of the store. The guy in the fishing department pointed out to me how the sun comes in that front window and hits right on where those spinnerbaits are displayed for the better part of the day. He said that the sun is breaking down the bands that hold the skirts on to the heads of the spinnerbaits. Now why in the hell they wouldn't move the display if they know this is a problem, I have no idea. But it did teach me two things: 1. Don't buy any of my spinnerbaits at that particular Dick's Sporting Goods store 2. Minimize the exposure of those spinnerbaits to sunlight when out fishing I am honestly not really sure that those Strikeking/Dicks co-branded lures are really true Strikeking quality. They are really not all that expensive, so I buy them anyway, but they do seem to be a little on the cheap side.