einscodek

Its been a long long time since I used natural bait.. hopin to avoid

Need some advice. Finally located a spot on my reservoir where deepwater fish are sitting. I've been looking for the LMB and where they disappeared to in mass after early summer from the shallows. Its early fall so I am thinking it may still be bass suspending a few feet off bottom or it could be the infamous deepwater fish: yellow perch. The deepest point is 18 feet and these fish are suspended at 15- 16 feet.. pretty much off bottom. I wasted a good part of the afternoon assuming its bass and trying to coax them with jigs, swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and plastic worms to no avail. I caught a 17" largemouth in the same area weeks ago on a spinnerbait on the fall at a depth of 3 feet so they are around and so thats why I am thinking they may be LMB. However our reservoir has perch and I often wonder where they go and this is pretty much the deep-end. What do you think? Short of using sinkers and earthworms to try and get some perch to confirm.. I dont know what to do.. I dont wanna waste more time throwin big baits at perch if its perch instead of LMB..

In super clear water, I'm matching forage so if I were you I'd get some bluegill bait I have trout and it works where no trout lives but I mostly fish in somewhat stained water.

My glass rod is the king of topwater.. gives all my topwater super action walkin. When I'm going topwater stick baits 1oz or less.. I whip out my glass rod!

I second the Phenix M1 line .. I have the swimbait rod but their entire M1 repetoir of blanks and rods are just awesome to see and feel..

Most of the big bass I've caught were skewed to one single lure. I live in the north and 4lb+ bass is a good fish 20 inch+ Half of the 4lb+ bass I've ever caught were caught by lil ole Koppers Walkin' Frog.. if it were a general, it'd be highly decorated with medals all over. I like to see the fish smash the Lunker Punker and my Xwalks but most of the big uns hit my KWF.

You might have some branches and wedge rocks on the bottom.. I'd avoid the bottom rolling and skim them just over bottom. That said I second, third and quad the Walmart spinnerbaits.. The Wally World spinnerbaits by me are on sale.. they were $1 each and now they are 50 cents.. I bought 8 spinnerbaits for $4 and change .. this the day after I paid $7 for one single custom spinnerbait at a tackle shop.. If any get snagged, its a 50 cent tear rolling down my cheek.. I was tempted to buy the entire inventory.. would've only cost me only alil over $20 prob for a lifetime worth of spinnerbaits

I had a swivel wire ripped out of a barrel on me .. had to go into the drink to fetch my expensive lure. Opened my eyes to what can fail on a connector..

I use interlock swivels I forget the size but its heavy gage wire. Too many standard swivels have come undone for me and I switch up lures alot so swivels are a must. Never had a problem not feelin any strikes etc. Only thing I will warn is, I've used every type of connector even the tactical clips and NONE of them is foolproof with walk-the-dog. That is, walkin-the-dog, I've had every kind of connector fail.. coastal, interlock, tacticals, etc.. u name it.. I still use interlock.. just use my pliers and crimp it shut..but for walkin.. I'd say for most.. better to tie direct.

Keep in mind everyone and their grandma uses spinnerbaits.. The fish has probably seen more spinnerbait than any other lure.. Where I fish EVERYONE throws them.. no wonder I rarely see them get the big fish and I mop them up using lures the fish hasnt seen. That said they still do work (a testament to their effectiveness) and even I resort to them at times.. but I hate the straight retrieve..caught one the other day bouncing it off a wall..plop.. the bass nailed it right away

I buy parts and sometimes the el cheapos from wallyworld.. and modify them. I like running 2 small willow leafs and a large colorado on top.. I like slow running spinnerbaits 1/2oz+ with lots of vibration. White color is fav with white skirt over a black worm trailer. I dont usually like using spinnerbaits favoring other lures but its fall and they r startin to work for me when my other fav baits r quittin..

Pretty tough to have a "balanced" pistol grip rod..

I used to use my Xheavy flippin stick when I started out swimbaitin just to see if it was worth my investment If it werent the money flows stop. Its gets expensive real fast Maryland record is an 11 pounder.. caught it on a plastic worm not a swimbait.. I think yer right to tip toe into it..

Finally got a topwater bite on my Lunker*Hunt Frog today and it were big too . got the hook set which is always tricky with frogs.. The lunker lept and violently shook the d**n frog outa her mouth! I stood 30 yards away desperately the whole time reeling in slack to keep the frog line tight only to see it in slow motion.. Head shakin' .. plop.. frog out like she just spit it out.. Sigh.. at least the frog has merit

Yes I balance my spinning setup and I actually balance it butt-heavy to compensate for the weight of lures I will be using. Center of balance for me is slightly lower than the spinning reel. Used tungsten weights epoxied on butt-end..

In my limited experience with baitcasters, when I'm not birdsnested, I just cant see how any of you can match distance of a spinning outfit with those multiple brakes.. sure freespooling I could see maybe.. how many of you are that good you can freespool all the time? Baitcasters generally have more guides and smaller guides .. more friction guide-wise on the way out. Spinning rods have less guides and are generally bigger.. less friction on the way out. The only major thing impeding a spinning line is the lip on the spool and most are contoured these days towards the rod tip. A baitcaster also has a small oscillating guide (or whatever its called) at the reel where theres contact as well.. and thats a small hole. As for lure weight, that a generalization since most freshwater spinning setups aren't usually heavy.. the saltwater surf-fishin guys use alot of heavy spinning setups to chuck huge baits afar .. so it is done certainly. We're only talkin distance here..

second that .. sufic 832 for braid .. a second option is Power Pro Slick 8 .. I use both only cause I still have alot of line on spool for slick 8..

Lo Viz Green is best for stained or murky waters but those colors wears off the line too fast.. If yer worried about braid visibility, use a fluoro or mono leader on 832 .. make sure the knots are strong tho. I think visibility is an issue with braids so I toss on a fluoro leader. On one of my setups, I have straight 832 50# with no fluoro and when I toss subsurface swimbaits, I usually only get bit on entry.. that seems to tell me somewhat that the fish may see the braid and get shy after initial entry..

Give it a shot if you dare.. I'd go with Shaw Grigsby.. have not lost a lure yet on it.. what a relief with the cost of lures these days!

My topwater frog bite has slowed drastically.. I'm generally now using subsurface and deep using swimbaits.

Gosh I just noticed the board ***'ed out the topic.. Lunker*Hunt frog is what I'm talkin about.. Anyone used this? It won the award at iCast recently.. Anyway some nice posts.. will be patient more and pause the frog. Not a fan of poppin frogs.. I sold my Spro Popper Frog cause the Koppers kept gettin bit and it didnt. Sold my Koppers hard Popper frog for the same reason. I mainly use Koppers Hollow Body Frogs and I get most of my bites actually opposite a pause.. fast-walk-twitchin' the Koppers. I also noticed my medium frogs get bite ALOT more than the small and large sizes. However I just bought the Lunker*Hunt Frog and it just cant get bit and I SO WANT IT TO!

I second third or fourth .. the uniknot.. never gave me problems on braid but I do give it extra loops and an extra hitch at the end.. no problems. The Shaw Grigsby knot is also good but I use that mainly for fluoro..

hes lucky to be privy to all those super strong & sensitive sticks.. when Im tractorin my bait, I feel everything you should get him to toss you a few on the cheap or for free!

Depends on #lb Fluoro.. I use 25# and the uniknot will unravel.. the fluoro is too slick and thick at the higher # for uniknot .. I lost several lures on that and I love and use uniknot alot for mono and braid

Rods one of the best swimbait rods I've touched.. reel is best spincast.. works troublefree for me