iceintheveins

I'm going to get a humminbird that has GPS, regular sonar, downview and side imaging, probably will cost 1000 or more. I noticed Lakemaster has a few lakes in my area that NAvionics doesn't. Which of the two are better? Or should I get both since Navionics doesn't have all that I need?

I use P Line Fluorocarbon leader material that comes in 25 yard mini spools. The others are much more expensive and don't have the toughness it does. Tatsu is much better than Sniper as a main line, but it's expensive.

I've been to Yosemite, and you are correct about plenty of trails off the beaten path than their are heavy used ones. I guess I just prefer bass fishing so much over hiking that it's a no brainer for me.

Have caught largemouth, smallmouth and pike on the shadow rap. No problems at all.

Why would ANYONE want to fish for trout over bass in CALIFORNIA unless they live there and want to change species sometimes? I live in Colorado, and believe it or not about about 65% of our state is biologically MUCH better suited for bass than trout. Half of Colorado is desert or plains, not high mountains. Yeah I fish for trout in Colorado and we have very good trout fishing (and I love trout), but it's not out of this world. Like I said though, trout are biologically suited to only about a third of Colorado. The rest of Colorado is bass, pike, and walleye country. California grows MONSTER bass (since it grows monster bass it's obviously biologically suited for bass above all else) and one could argue it's the best bass state in the nation, while Colorado is probably in the bottom 12, but that's mostly due to mismanagement and lack of protection of older, trophy bass (though Colorado is a great numbers state for both Large and Smallmouth). And hike a crowded national park over fishing the best or top three trophy bass states in the nation? I say HELL NO. Just giving you s*** in good fun though, not criticizing you at all because I love trout myself, and am going to float two days in the next week tossing jerkbaits and drifting crawlers for big rainbows and browns.

My deep crank combo is a Curado 200I in the 5.5:1 ratio, paired with a Halo 7'11" MH Cranking Rod, and 10 pound fluorocarbon. Launches them a mile, especially a crank 3/4 of an ounce of heavier but even with cranks slightly under a half ounce I can fling them a long way.

Spider jigs are one of my absolute go tos. They are great on a jighead or a finesse flippin' bait rigged on a 1/0 EWG hook. If the bass won't hit a normal jig or creature pitched, I'll go down to spinning gear, a 1/8 ounce pegged sinker, 8 pound mono, and a 5" Hula Grub rigged weedless. Works great on casting gear with a 3/16 to 1/4 ounce head as a flippin bait with 14 to 17 pound test, just use a heavier wire 1/0 hook with hte heavier setup.

Senkos are a 1 to 4 fish bait, and that's by using both ends as I usually can catch two bass per end. Invest in some mend it and you can probably get 10 fish or more per senko, just have to repair them after every use. I've used other soft sticks but by and far senkos just work much better, though some companies do make a senko style bait that's just as soft.

Mend it. It's a lifesaver and extends the life of my plastics by a factor of 3 usually. It isn't nearly as effective on Z Man Plastics because it usually peels off, but it is better than nothing. But Z man plastics last 3 or 4 times longer than regular plastics anyway.

I use primarily robo worms and reaction innovations flirt for drop shot. Primarily like Baby Bluegill, Ayu, Ehrler's Edge, Green Pumpkin, B Hite Delight, and Aaron's Pro Magic. For the Flirt, I like Green Pumpkin, Dirty Sanchez, and Bad Shad Green best. If I'm fishing waters with shad (which don't occur in Western Colorado except in a couple places), I'll use Purple Smoke and Bad Shad Green for the Flirt, and for the Roboworms I use Aaron's Pro Shad, Hologram Shad and Prism Shad.

It's a more subtle flippin bait than a Pit Boss, Rage Bug or Space Monkey, but that gliding action rather than frantic flapping is what they want in cold water or really tough conditions.

I don't use them, I broke the jaw on a nice pike once and unfortunately had to keep it because of that. Now I no longer use them.

KVD Fat Baby Finesse Worm, Reaction Innovations Flirt, Robo Worms Fat, and Zoom Finesse and Trick worms. Zoom also makes a shaky head worm and I like that one too, it's in between the size of the finesse and trick worm, but it has a really narrow, almost needle like tail that waves and shakes quite while.

I've caught tons of fish on open water cranks. The key is throwing a twitch in here and there, changing speeds, pauses, and changing hte angles of your retrieve. That can have nearly the same effect as a deflection. Ticking the tops of grass works too. I still believe cranks are at their best bumping off rocks and wood cover though.

I've never had an issue AT ALL with EWG hooks. I use regular offsets for thinner plastics and lizards, and for punching and HEAVY flippin' a straight shank with a snell knot.

Heck yeah they are really effective. Zoom Ultravibe Speed Craw, Rage Craws from the baby up to the Lobster, and all sizes of Paca Craw. Might be more effective on smallies, but I've caught plenty of largemouth on them and a fair amount of walleye, trout, and pike. Even a few jumbo perch.

I smoke em' on a DT6, and have never had a problem with them falling apart. On 10 pound fluoro you can get them to scratch bottom occasionally in 9 feet of water on a bomb of a cast. It's a really good crank with a fairly flat profile and tight wobble, so it's really good in clear or pressured water. The brighter colors like fire tiger or hot mustard still work well in stained water as well.

Pepper Custom baits Fred Roumbanis Swim Jig is my absolute favorite. For trailers I like a zoom swimmin' chunk, Mister Twister Split Double Tail, Missile Baits Twin Turbo, and LFT Live Boot Tail Magic Shad.

Pepper Custom Baits make the best spinnerbaits IMO, and they have several bluegill colors. Terminator has a bluegill colored skirt too.

Dynamic Lures J spec is a 3.25, 5/16 ounce beauty with a great erratic action, but not as wild as an X rap. I also really like a pointer 78 and X rap 8 for finesse jerkbaiting.

1. Spinnerbaits 2. Lipless Cranks 3. Jigs 4. Swim Jigs 5. Soft Jerks And Sticks 6. Ned Rigs 7. Carolina Rigs 9. Topwaters in early fall 10.Jerkbaits for water 56 degrees or under 11. Cranks, especially shallow cranks

Here in Colorado in most places our lakes are frozen from mid December to Mid March. Higher elevation lakes can freeze earlier and remain safe for ice fishing till early April. But at ice out or just before ice up, I have done best on jerkbaits, yo yoing lipless cranks, swim jigs fished slow, jigs with a subtle trailer like a Zoom Super Chunk Or Culprit DW2 chunk, the Ned Rig, drop shotting, and carolina rigged centipedes.

I like the Fat Rap 5, Koppers Livetarget Bluegill, Shad Rap #5 and #7, Bandit 100, and a few others. You can use heavier line to keep a DT6, Bomber 6A, Excalibur Fat Free Fry, Bandit 200 and other cranks that run up to 8' deep running shallower. I really love the bomber 5a, but it needs spinning tackle, though it's doable on a Curado or other good light lure casting baitcasters, you won't get that much distance though. Use 8 pound test to keep a 5A from running past 6 feet. Don't overlook the Rapala Scatter Rap, or the Crankin' Rap 5 either.

Generally for me I stop throwing topwaters when the water temps are below 60. You can still get bit on them down into the low 50s, and I've had a few really good topwater bites with the water just below 60. Keep in mind this is a general rule, not a hard and fast law. In my lakes here in Colorado the water temperatures are now down into the mid 50s in our shallower lakes, and upper 40s in our deeper lakes. The bass are still biting though. Haven't caught fewer than a dozen fish in my last four trips.

It's really versatile, you can use it like a finesse carolina rig or even with a lift fall technique. My favorite baits for it are smaller curly tail worms, straight tails like a robo worm, zoom finesse, or Reaction Innovations flirt. I also really love centipedes/french fries on it, and LFT Hyper Sticks, which is a jointed senko.