dfris

White Mike, if it is the lure and trailer, what's the fix? thin the skirt out some? get a stiffer rod?

Thanks for the reply, I have been using a 3/8 jig with trailer, but have moved up to a 1/2 oz to try and get more distance. The reel is set correct, you can click the handle and the lure falls freely to the ground. I have set the magnets to 0 to try and get more distance. It just starts to backlash when the lure hits the water, and can set the magnets to 10 and get the backlash out but same distance. So the spool is set just about right. IDK, I first thought it was the size of the jig, but I figured a 1/2 would fly, but not much further than the 3/8 jig with trailers. Could it be the jig and trailers itself, acting like a parachute? slowing down the lure? I'm using 12lbs fluorocarbon line could this be the problem?

I own 4 Plflueger Patriarch 3 of the silver and one of the new blue. Best reels I have ever owned. Not saying the others are bad reels at all, every reel has its good and bad points. If I were to purchase again today, I would try and find all silver patriarchs. The blue is nice, but feels cheap to be honest. Not like the titanium silver ones. But the blue ones have a oil hole on the bottom. As for performance. The will throw a mile, but with each breakoff you will lose some distance. I run 12lbs at 100 yrds. last year, this year im going to run 10lbs. So hoping to get even more distance. I have pulled in a 6 and 5 lbers with these reels with ease. Great drag system. Im sure any real in the 200 dollar range is going to be a good reel to be honest.

Hi all, Was wondering if I could get some advice on what type of crank bait to use. The Local lake I fish is a shallow lake to say the least. its only 21ft deep at the dam. So most of the water is in the 8-15ft range, minus the banks that are shallow. I throw a kvd 1.5 90% of the time, with some good results. The lake has grass all over it in the 10 ft range. The lake was actually drained down about 8 ft this week, to build a fishing pier, and I was able to get a good look and pics of the lake. Wow there is so much of the lake I didn't even realize was there. Even with a side imaging sonar I have, I didn't know ledges and rocks were in certain areas of this lake. Anyways. So Now I know there are ledges past the ledges that I knew about, (think steps). what's a good crank bait to use to get down to this depths. I have used a strike king 3 series that is 10 ft in sexy shad, but have not caught the first fish with it, all year last year, yet iv caught several off the 1.5 sexy shad in that lake. The strike king 5, 6 x series I have a few of them but they have such a huge bill that it takes my 7'10' rod to use, and I don't really like to use that rod that much, because I have a small boat. So what's some good crankbaits? I been reading about the bandits, and boomers. But I don't know what are good colors for clear waters? I have been using KVD 1.5 sexy shad, for day, and Char/black with night. Open to all suggestions. Thanks

Hi guys, I seem to be having a problem throwing/casting jig with trailers with my setup. I'm not sure if its the rod or reel to be honest. The rod I have is the Skeet Reese Jig/worm rod. Its 7'1" med heavy, and lure size is 1/4 to 1 once My reel is the Pflugger Patriarch 6:1 bait caster. Its not the new blue one its the Silver one. Anyways, I can only get maybe 30 feet at best with a jig. I have 4 of these reels, I use for topwater, crank, spinner and jig. I can throw a spinnerbait a mile, and kvds 1.5 a good long ways. my topwater, say a spook or a fluke I can launch with these reels, but a jig, forget it. Is this common? Should I be looking for another rod? Some advice please Thanks Daryl

haha, yea, I like his stuff, he has made me a special color spinnerbait that is really working for me here in NC. I just ordered some jigs this evening from him as well. Cant wait to use them.

Ok thanks, well this would still help alot, when you want to fish a certian depth. You could easly see where to fish. Also, do you know the best place to purchase the navtronics + card from,

Thanks Everyone, Ill remember that this year when fishing.

Wow that is great info thank you, you really cleared it up for me. One question about the Navtronics program. Does it allow you to color shade certian depths on the depth finder?

You can get the 598si HD that is the same as the 798 except it has only 1 sd slot. Same size screen, unit size, etc.... Its a bit cheaper than the 798

Hi guys, I was wondering if someone could give me some advice or idea on a fishing problem i faced a few times this past fishing season. There was a few times, when I was fishing, that I was only catching tiny maybe 3-5 inch bass. They were actually hitting a kvd 1.5 crank bait. It seemed all day long was just these tiny little fish. I was fishing shallow on main points on the lake. Anyone have any idea on what was going on, and what I should of done in this situation? Thanks Daryl

Hi all, Iv got a quesiton for you guys who have a humminbird fishfinder with only one sd slot. I am thinking of purchasing a lake map card. Well the only card that has a few of the lakes I fish is the Hotmaps Premium East version. I live in NC. Anyway, I understand that with only 1 slot, I will have to put in the lake map card, load the map, and then put in another card to save images, and waypoints? My quesiton is, Once i load the map of the lake, Do I need the SD map card anymore? Can I just leave in the Card for waypoints/images for the rest of the trip? Or Am I going to have to load the Map, pull that card, save a waypoint, and then put the map card back in? This would be very time consuming i would think. Could someone explain this a bit for me. Also has anyhone tried just copying the lake map to a larger sd card, and then you would have room for the waypoints? Thanks Daryl

This is a very interesting topic. I have been on a major quest this last month learning about how to locate bass, and understanding how to use my fish finder. Glenn has helped me out as well. I have found 2 books or videos on this subject. One is called Sonar and how to use it - dvd And another is The Professor Sonar & GPS DVD Series Just wondering if anyone has watched these videos?

That is the only lure I have not been able to catch a fish with is a jig. Don't know why......

Hey thanks Tom thats some good information about fishing points,Im going to the lake again on Sat, hoping to use some of this information and land some fish.

Thanks for the explanation

wow, thanks Tom, you mentinoned Thermocline, Would one look at that during the post spawn, and early summer? Is the water at 77 degs hot enough to worry about Thermocline? Iv got to do some reading on these Secondary points, and watch the above video on it. So here is my new question, With the given lake situation, late post spawn/ early summer, and 77 deg water, and stained water. I would be lookng for points that run deep into the lake, but I should find the thermocline, and lets say its at 20 feet of water. I would look for bass on these points in 20 feet of water or less? So if i picked up some fish on my finder in 13 feet of water, 30 feet from the points bank, it most likey would be bass, and I would start my fishing at that point? As you can see, Im new and trying to get a graps on this. Sometime I need an explaination that is very laymans to understand. lol

Jhoffman, can you explain your process of finding them? Are you locating main points than then using your depth finder? How do you know its bass, ?

That's, ill give this book a reading. Does it show you how to locate the bass in a lake? Iv read several books the latest was kvd bass secrets. Awesome book, tell where the fish should be and what and how to use certian lures. But I have not found anything on how to locate, except a few blogs about seasonal patterns.

Bgraham91, Thanks for the info, by secondary points, i am assuming you are saying the points, in coves, not the main lake? Your response is great, yet typical, as how do i know they are on the secondary points? I might be reading into this to much. But I want to find bass. lol I always just go to the lake and sling to the banks and usually catch a lone bass swimming. I want to know, how to find the school, and catch 4-5 of those suckers. lol I was using a chart/black back kvd 1.5, those little fish was hitting that thing. I am guessing the point where the little fish were, was a bed of hatchlings from early spawners? Your information of the brim spawing makes great sense. However, I seen no sign of this on the lake. As I was hung a few times in the trees. I did not see any form of spawning of any kind on the banks. I did see some very small minnows or bass fry at one locations, but my deph finder showed nothing around.

Greetings, Ok, I need some pro advice here. I am learning how to bass fish from an boat. I started last year, and have really been learning what to throw, in a given water temp, and water color. However, I do not understand how to locate the bass in a lake. Let me explain. I went fishing in Lake Adger NC this weekend. I have been studying bass seasonal patterns. When I arrived at the lake, the water temp was 77 deg, and water was stained. According to everything I have been reading, the bass should be in the last stage of post spawn, or in the summer pattern. So according to the info iv been reading, I should be fishing main points in the body of the lake, and main lake humps, drop-offs, etc... I tried to fish two points, and didn't catch any bass. I did find one point that had some bass, but they were only 3-4 inchs long, yet they were hitting my crankbait I was throwing. So what should I have done different? Should I been looking for bait balls, on my depth finder? I have the 598 si, side image. I just don't understand exactly what I should be looking for. Could someone explain how this should been done? walk me though it, in laymans terms? I know Im missing something simple to do. What do you pros do before throwing the first cast. How do you guys find what bait fish is in a lake, if you never fished it before. How do you find the fish? Iv read about search baits, is it for searching for cover, or the fish itself? Thanks in advanced. Daryl

Wow, thanks, But isnt there some kind of general rule, for depth vs temp?

Hello, I'm new here. I have picked up this crazy sport of bass fishing. Been trying to get some basics down. Like lure selection. Was wondering if someone could give a reference to bass depth to water temp? So I'm not fishing banks when they are deeper. Thanks Daryl