Bass2124

Yes. I was doing that as well all day as well as retying every 5 or 6 fish something I never do. It will need a few more reps before I start throwing into cover.

Thanks.

I'll look into this bait as well.

It casts a mile. It is also tough as nails. I bounced it off a few rocks because it got away from me. Does anyone know what type of hooks they use? Dinged one up pretty good Still caught fish but would like to replace it. I have some triple grips that are a little larger but worried it would throw off the balance.

OK.......I admit that I was a non-believer with high priced baits when I first started this ridiculously expensive sport. I mean how much of a freaking difference does it really matter to a fish how it moves and twitches. It's a reaction bait. A jerkbait is a jerkbait....I thought. I have always gone middle of the road with my bass gear and all of my crankbaits and jerkbaits have been in the $4-9 range, sticking mainly with strike king KVD brands, with good results. After reading so much about how great the LC Pointer 100 and 78's are, I thought I would treat myself with the $90 winnings from my weekly football pool and dropped $16 on one from ebay the other day. So it arrived this weekend and I headed out today to put it to the test. I'm a little sickened by the results I received form the pointer. It was absolutely amazing. 31 SM bass with 5 over 3lbs and 20 or more over 2lbs. Defintely a winning bag. Not one under 12". I have never gotten results like that with KVD jerkbaits or Rattlin Rogues which I primarily use. I have a 10 cast rule before I leave an area or try another bait. The most I got to all day was 8 casts before I caught a fish. So we all know what this means. The bait monkey has bitten me again. And this time it hurts. Back to ebay for another $16 jerkbait.

Thanks Guys. I ordered new cables. Hoping I can get them back on. I live in Maine and there are no repair service centers in my area.

Busted the cables on my Edge 70 after taking off with my trolling motor down (I'm sure we have all done this...Me a thousand times...Numb really) This time it broke unfortunately and inside the housing on top of the unit looks like a bomb went off as both cables snapped and sent parts flying. The plastic(cheap) gears look ok but probaly should be replaced as well. I am hoping this can be a quick easy and inexpensive fix. Anybody have experience with this?

Great point and why I am done fishing most other plastics.

I fish mainly for smallmouth unless I go south as we just don't have any largemouth bodies of water in the north. Even Yamamoto 5" grubs don't fish like the 4" on the river I fish for smallies. 4" seems like the magic length for where I fish. I have heard of Kalins and if they are indeed more durable and catch fish at the same rate and are cheaper sounds like a no brainer. Unfortunately the bait monkey got me last week as I ordered up 6 more packs of GYCB (120 grubs) so I will be good for a few weeks.

As my previous post has alluded to.....The Yamamoto 4" grub hands down.

Funny how some people have such different experiences with the same bait. I have never caught so many fish in my life as I have on these expensive Yamamoto grubs. Cheap Zooms.....nothing. I have had good luck with zoom lizards however. Just bought a bunch of Yamamoto lizards. Don't expect much in their durability though. I guess that is why there are so many different brand and style of baits out there! Friggin' bass! Make up your mind already! I wish I had your experiences rather than mine however. My wallet would be a lot thicker!

Right in your home country dude home of the longest covered bridge in the world. Most were just little but with light tackle just as fun. Just move a little east !

I hear ya about the durability. I have purchased a lot of superglue to keep these things together and try to make them last. Definitely an expensive bait but I just can't justify changing when I have had so much success especially with his grubs...absolute killer. I caught 58 the other day 45 on Yamamoto grubs including 5 3lbers. The fish were flat out biting but I couldn't get bit on any other grub that I had from other companies using the same colors. For some reason the fish just go crazy for his grubs where I am at.

Ok..... At the beginning the season I bought 3 packages of 4" Chartreuse/black flake Yamamoto grubs on sale for $3.99 and a pack of Eagle claw 1/4 jig heads. I had never tried grub fishing but as I read and try to get more educated about this sport I thought I would give it a try as it seems to be a great technique for smallmouth which is what I target. Drop shotting was my newest and favorite and most successful technique last year so I thought I would try to master a new technique this year and it is without a doubt the best technique of all of them. But my question is .....is it the technique or the bait???? Yamamoto products have a little somthin' somthin' in them and that is becoming more and more apparent to me as I waste money on other plastic products. The senko has worked for me for years. Even my kids get bit 10 to 1 compared to the yum dinger. So anyway.... I run out of the 3 packs of yamamoto grubs recently and head to the local walmart and pick up a pack of zoom chartreuse grubs along with a pack of Berkley powerbait grubs quite a bit similar looking as the yamamoto. Tie em on all excited that I saved a few $$$ and.... Nothing! Can't get bit with either one of them. Tie on an old torn up superglued tail shredded to pieces yamamoto that is barely hanging onto the jig head and wham...... 3 lber! Are you kidding me!!! Confidence, luck????? Uh....No way!. It is the bait man. These things are magic! I am done messing around with any other plastic that doesn't have the name Yamamoto on them. I am not saying I don't catch any fish on other plastics but Yamamoto products be it the salt, softness or a combination of both flat out catch more fish for me and my kids than any other plastic 10 to 1. No I am not a rep for Yamamoto. Just an honest guy who tells it the way he sees it.

At what temperature and time will northern smallmouth start to spawn? Last year during this time I had 2 unbelievable weeks in the shallow gravel areas trolling lizards on a river in Canada that I fished for the first time. Just trolled against the current with a carolina rigged lizard and hammered them. It was literally like 30-40 in a 3 hour period. This year nothing in the same spots. It has been much colder this year, although the water temp today was in the low 60's. I thought bass started to spawn late May and early June but have read it is also depends on temperature and or full moon. Just wondering when these river smallies will start to spawn?

Agreed!

If you fished the lakes that I fish in you would know why. Rocks Everywhere. Lets put it this way you would not own a fiberglass boat where I fish. I am quite familiar with the lakes but when you cover 2500 acres you never know when one is going to come out of nowhere and bite you. There have been camp owners that have lived on the lake for 40 years and get their props trashed. It just happens and I am tired of spending $200 a pop on props. I really should get a SS prop but I just feel that too would get damaged. Much better to lose a prop at $80 than $300-500.

Anyone have any experience with these props? Ebay has them for 80.00 for a 13 X 19 4 blade prop. Looking to replace another $200 4 blade spitfire merc OEM prop that I hit a rock on last summer. Looks the same but the spit fire is a 12.5 X19 prop. I know props are finicky so not sure if the .5 diameter changemakes a difference?? THe 3 blade blackmax that I have is 13 X19 so not sure if the diameter on a 3 blade is different than a 4 blade? Any help or suggestions would be great. I would love to get a SS prop but scared with as many rocks that I hit that it too would get damaged and I would be out even more $$$.

The easiest, quickest, most userfriendly way to catch a bass that I have ever tried is trolling a Carolina rigged lizzard about 100-200 ft back from the boat using slow wide S turns. I use a flyrod because the action and fight it is an absolute thrill for first timers. This is the only way my wife likes to fish. When my kids bring their friends this is the method I use every time because I don't have to worry about a kid getting jarred up side the head with a crankbait full of treble hooks. The bass inhale these things and there is no hook set required. I have caught 1000's this way.

That is exactly what I used last season on all my drop shot rigs and had great success with it. I have recently switched over to 8 lb vicious flourocarbon pro elite because I picked up a spool for next to nothing at a bargain store but really haven't had a chance to fish with it yet. I spooled 2 baitcasters with it and am using it as drop shot leader. I'm guessing before the season ends I'll probably go back to Red Label as I haven't had much success with other Vicious lines. I have a lot of confidence with Red Label. Doesn't make sense why I would go away from something that I have that much confidence in but half of the fun of Bass fishing is trial and error.

I'd have to agree. I also used a swivel to try different drop shot hooks but after switching to the spinshots why anyone would want to use anything else is beyond me. I mean they are about as hassle free for drop shotting as it gets. I never get line twists and the hook up ratio is second to none. As bass fisherman we are always looking for better ways but I bet you would be hard pressed to find a more user friendly catching machine than the spinshots.

Thanks! Much better understanding.

Our local salvage store had a huge fishing assortment come in a few weeks along with around a 100 bags of Yamamoto senkos and other creature baits for $3.99 a bag and power pro super slick from 15lb-50 lb for $11 just to name a few. I have been like a kid at Christmas! I have been buying stuff every week and the cool thing is no one else is buying them! I'll have the whole assortment before long. The advantage of being in a salmon/trout mecca where very few bass fisherman exist!

Anyone have any experience with the BD baits by Vicious? Their prices are awesome and according to Ducket the components are top of the line. He has a variety of baits including jerkbaits, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwater baits. Not much in the area of reviews, so was wondering if anyone has had any experience with them? I am a Strike King guy myself and find their baits the best bang for the buck but theses baits if as advertised might be worth trying out.

I have a few jigs in various colors and have never caught a smallmouth with them over the years in the river that I fish. I have caught a few largemouths on a lake. I don't spend much time trying mainly because I just don't have any confidence in them. I have most success on shakyheads, dropshotting and crankbaits and churn out a good number of bass but never seem to get that 5 lb trophy that I know is in there. My thought is I better learn to fish with a jig to land the bigger fish especially if I decide to tournament fish. Just wondering if others struggle as much and if there are any learning tips to get better at it especially fishing smallmouths in rivers.