iceintheveins

So far I like the scumfrog popper and the scumfrog bigfoot frog best. The Spro Bronze - Eye is a good one too. Does anyone here still do well on the original snagg proof frog, with the natural looking legs? I have noticed the legs are stiff and without much action. If you are throwing frogs, you need a bare minimum of 14 pound mono, even for small bass. I prefer mono for all surface lure applications.

When you are fishing heavy weed or brush cover, do you peg the sinker right up against the eye of the hook? Does the sinker and the plastic have to be perfectly straight to entice a lot of hits? When I rig this way, the sinker isn't usually perfectly inline with the hook eye. Should I rig the plastic to where the head of it extends well beyond the eye of the hook?

When in doubt, go with the senko and you will almost certainley catch some bass. The only time they don't work is in murky water, and at most you will get 3 fish per lure. I rig it on the fat side first, the skinny side second, and then wacky rigged.

How is the night fishing for smallies in these riverine reservoirs?

Anywhere the current is broken, the river is slower and deeper, and any rocks and wood cover are your go to areas. I like bigger panther martins in size 9 - 15 as my primary smallie lure. Spinnerbaits in 3/8 ounce size are also good. Don't forget to bring tubes and grubs in 2.5 - 4" sizes and jigheads of 1/8 - 3/8 of an ounce. Shallow running cranks like rebel wee craws, buzzbaits, and a couple poppers and propeller baits should round out your arsenal.

Trout will crush most standard bass cranks, and they will hit tubes and grubs too. If you want to catch both, I would use cranks in the 2 - 3" size.

This time of year bass fishing is tougher. They will be on the deeper rock reefs feeding on crawfish and young shad. Heavier jigheads up to 1/2 of an ounce tipped with a 4 - 5" hula grub are your best bet. Striper and catfish fishing is good in the mornings and evenings. Just find the shad schools and stripers under them, and then drop down a half of an anchovy. I use 6 - 8 pound test for bass and 12 pound for stripers.

Right on the money Glenn. It isn't even proven they would harm a fishery, and some evidence suggests they enhance fisheries. I hope we can get these utility guys knocked down off their power trips.

Many sources claim Zebra and Quaggas have HELPED fisheries!

I always use a trailer hook on a buzzbait unless I'm fishing thick weedbeds. Using a softer, slower action rod also helps a lot when your using any topwater but ESPECIALLY buzzbaits. I like an ugly stik lite in medium spinning for my buzzbait work. Bass will usually almost hook themselves on a buzzbait when they hit it directly. I usually just stop reeling when a bass hits, and if I feel the fish with the bait I will do a hookset.

The sebile has a great swimming action, I only wish it sank a little deeper and stayed deeper. That problem can be solved with a sinker in front of it, which doesn't hurt the action of the lure, but it causes tangles sometimes.

I am using braid, power pro is braid.

Anyone else notice the X - Rap deep doesn't have the same hard, erratic darting action the shallow model does? Or do you have to fish it differently than the shallow rap to get the good action. Any pointers? I fish the deep model on 15 pound power pro with a 12 pound fluoro leader on medium spinning gear.

Nothing worse than water utility goons who act like dictators and further turn our great nation into a nanny state.

For numbers of both smallmouth and largemouth, nothing beats Powell. For TROPHY smallies, Jordanelle is the best. For big largemouth, Quail Creek Reservoir in the SE part of the state.

Crankbaits are must haves. I fish them with a stop and go retrieve, and banging them off a rock or log is really a good tactic, as is having them hit the bottom and dredge up a rucuss. With lipless cranks, I count them down to the depth I want to fish, then begin a moderately paced retrieve. Every 5 seconds or so, I will let the crank sink for a second or two, then rip it forward with the rodtip. I add the occasional rip - twitch with my rod while bringing a lipless crank in.

White creme Senko, 4" rigged weightless with a 1/0 EWG hook from Gamakatsu.

The castaic sunfish is a great gill imitator. I have even seen bluegill shaped cranks from bagley. I would use bluegill colored fat cranks.

Can't wait to toss them for pike.

I usually wacky rig my senko after both ends are torn up by fish when I had it rigged texposed. Using an O ring cuts down on torn baits, and using a weedless hook is a must around heavy cover.

Black skirted spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, jitterbugs, jointed minnows, and big black jigs.

Guess thats another color I need. *Brings out wallet again.

Original Stren 6 pound test.

Panther Martins, even more so than Mepps, are a LETHAL lure for smallmouth and largemouth bass, especially smallies in rivers. They are in fact my go to presentation in rivers for smallmouth. I use the #6 - #15 sizes, with the #9 probably getting the most use from me. They will catch anything that swims.

Bluegill, green sunfish, and the like ARE lethal for bass, especially big ones. If they are legal to use in your area, I would use a lot of them.