tubedude

Most suspending jerkbaits with the short bill dive to around 5 to 6 feet...what's the difference in action for the deeper diving long-billed baits? Preferences?

Yep. I'm at school right now and unable to fish. Meanwhile the bite is on back home. The only reasonable thing to do is take a detour on the way to the grocery store and pay Sportsmans Warehouse a visit...I tell myself I'm only there to look but we all know where that leads!

I fish the gizzit as well in the brown root beer color, but I'd definitely recommend the 1/4 oz. I fish it down to 30 ft and have had good success on summer smallies, or even as they're staging during pre-spawn. I don't like the flat gizzit jig heads mainly because the hook itself is pretty weak. Standard tube heads seem to spiral down alright for me. If you push the eye of the jig head further back through the plastic, closer to the tail, you'll get a wider spiral. Closet to the front of the bait produces a tighter spiral typically.

Darter head jig about 1/4 oz if you're fishing around 10 to 15 feet of water.

I agree with the suspending jerkbait comment. Right around that temp is when the bass will start hitting them, especially if the lake is on a warming trend..the Smithwick Rattlin Rogue is a good bet, fished with long pauses. Finesse worms/jigs on the bottom are a good choice if you can't get a reaction bite and don't forget the drop shot!

All time favorite would have to be Jimmy Houston...he is a crackup. Just a happy go lucky guy who loves to fish. Aaron Martens ranks up there in my book as far as the competing pros today. He seems like a classy guy from what I can tell.

I agree. I've fished out of a float tube quite a bit and you really have to reel up the slack while leaning back as you set the hook...two guys setting the hook at the same time in a canoe can put you in the water quick though (I'll only do that once! )Your hook size is fine. I've had good success using the Owner mosquito hook, but I haven't tried the weedless version. When it comes to weedless senkos i love texas rigging them weightless using 2/0 EWG offset hooks.

I'm sorry my friend, I would have to disagree here...it's hard to beat the excitement of tossing a weightless senko right in front of a bush where you know a hook set is inevitable. Can't say I've taken advantage of too many top water opportunities though, so maybe there's something to it

I know what you mean about cabin fever. Ive got a buddy headed down to Mexico for some nice largemouth fishing and would absolutely love to be doing the same. For pre-spawn I like starting out with some reaction baits to test how active the fish are, maybe some jerk baits or deep diving cranks and I've also been wanting to try a jigging spoon if the fish are still holding deep. If no luck with the reaction bite, I'd throw some finesse baits like a small profile jig, or weightless texas rigged fluke both fished real slow.

Everybody out there has a certain lure or technique they flat out enjoy the most...from a bobber and worm to the slightly more technical Carolina rig and everything in between, what's your favorite way to fish? Granted it's probably not the best idea getting too caught up in any specific technique, but sometimes I can't help having a few favorites. Me I enjoy the challenge of finesse fishing a tube in 30 feet of water or enticing a lunker with the sporadic action of a weightless fluke. What technique seems to fit you the best?

I'm in the same boat as far as using tubes over skirted jigs and I've never had problems with hook sets when using a tube jig, especially if they are actively biting! The lakes I fish are deep, clear, and rocky and the tubes seem to trigger the best bite but I think it's time to give the skirted jig a try.

Gittzit tube with 1/4 oz tube jig (brown) Senko (watermelon or green/pearl) Shad rap (shad) Zoom trick worm (grasshopper or watermelon) Curly tail grub with 1/4 oz roundhead jig (smoke or pumpkin) Hopkins shorty 1 oz spoon (chrome) Zoom fluke (pearl and rigged weightless) 3/8 oz spinnerbait (white/chartreuse) 1/2 oz jig n pig (brown or green) Yo zuri floating jerk bait (rainbow trout)

Hooks: 2/0 or 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG offset worm hook; size 1 Owner mosquito hooks for wacky rigging or drop shot. Weights: 3/8 to 1/2 oz bullet sinkers for carolina rig; 1/8 but usually 1/4 oz tube jigs; 1/4 oz darter head/round head for grubs and worms; 1/2 oz dropshot weights. I fish clear deep lakes much of the time, so I'll resort to the 1/4 and 1/2 oz weights if going deeper than 15 feet, so it depends on where you are fishing.

I'm prefer using the 6'6" rod for all types of bass. I like having a bit of length to reach out farther when casting from a boat/float tube...but to be honest I've never tried the 7' rods. The 6'6" just seems more versatile. And I use a medium power rod almost always unless I'm throwing spinnerbaits or heavy jigs. I just can't afford 5 different rods for every situation but I still get by alright. Good luck!

Some of my more memorable bass fishing experiences as a kid were from trolling. We'd troll shad raps and catch good numbers of fish. The key is getting your bait a ways behind the boat so you're not spooking the fish, which you can do by letting your line out while boating forward before clicking your reel over. The distance also allows your bait to reach optimal depth. It's a great technique for introducing beginners to the sport and there's almost guaranteed to be a few active biters from the spring to the fall for trolling, depending on where you are...I've also hooked up with some giants bouncing a senko 50 yards back in shallow water, usually from a float tube. You just really have to set the hook!