Josh Smith

Remember, 60hp Jeeps were used to pull trains in WWII. It's not so much about horsepower as it is gear reduction and torque at the wheels. Overloading the platform is a concern. A CJ5 with a 304ci could pull a travel trailer, in theory. In reality, the platform couldn't stand up to the anti-sway equipment. Josh

Maybe I missed it, but I've not seen the blood knot mentioned. Is it not a good braid knot? Josh

The knot I use as a fast alternate to the Albright is the Seaguar. I don't like it quite as much, but it holds well. Josh

I prefer Dare Devel spoons in different weights up to 1oz or so. I also have an old (antique?) silver-colored spoon with engraved "scales". One thing I do to all of them is to replace the trebles with standard hooks. Josh

I use the Albright. The terminal knot (usually Palomar) fails before it does. Actually, to be fair, I have found that when hopelessly snagged and I have to break off, the lure's eye or the snap breaks through the line at the terminal knot. Neither knot fails, but the Albright holds while the line breaks at the stress point. Josh

Thank you, gents. I see things I'm doing right (like fishing slack water) but I'm also seeing things I'm doing wrong, with at least two wrong assumptions I made based on lake bass behavior. I do still need to take the water temp as I'm sure it's dropped in the past week. My favorite spot along this river has a rock perch that puts me in mind of fishing from a boat. This river is one you'd canoe on or wade in the summer; there are too many hazards for bass boats and there's absolutely no way I'd be able to use my deep "V" in it for any distance at all. I'm looking forward to keeping active the entire year this year. Thank you! Regards, Josh

I like these threads. Yes, they do tend to get locked, but I follow them because I seem to always learn something. It may be small and it may be big, but it's always something! Josh

Hi Folks, This isn't a question about any particular lure type but rather technique. It almost went into General Bassing, but I figured maybe it belonged here better. The question is, why does deadsticking work? I grew up to make a lure look alive and so fishing an artificial like live bait goes against my grain. Still, winter fishing still seems to call for it at times. Why does it work, though? Why does, say, a deadsticked black or green Jelly Worm get strikes any better than surrounding vegetation waving in the current? Or does it? How about deadsticking jerkbaits? Does the lure pass a bass's visual scrutiny, look enough like a real baitfish, and get eaten? Similarly, if you deadstick for a few minutes after twitching -- how long, exactly, is a bass's attention span? A twitch might get its attention, right? But why does it strike after several seconds to several minutes? Thanks! Josh

Shimano or Abu Garcia (the Swedish ones). Josh

Hi Folks, I have never fished for bass in a cold water river. It snowed a bunch yesterday, and dropped to 12°F last night. I've done OK with walleye in the (distant) past under these conditions. Never caught bass under these conditions, but never tried. The depth of the river is generally an average of 5ft to 6ft or less, though I've never tried the outside bends in some spots where I suspect it's deeper; they're hard to get to. This is a cold snap and even last week we had one day at 70­°F. I'm thinking jerkbait as long as the current isn't too fast; I also have some spoons packed in my small tackle box. I do have my jigs as always, though only one is a hair jig, black with silver spinners. The others are blue or green craws with silicon skirts. The lipless crankbaits (Rat-L-Traps, mostly) have come out as well. I've had success in fall weather with these by reeling a few turns then stopping, then reeling again, but always did this in fall lakes, not rivers. What does cold do to fluorocarbon line, by the way? Anything? Anything you can tell me about cold water river bass fishing would be helpful. Thank you, Josh

Can. Shouldn't. Josh

Scratch rattle jigs along rocks using fluoro leaders. Josh

Gears are very easy to swap. There are several excellent sources for gears readily accessible online, so I'll not recommend any single one. You'll likely have to call and tell them what you need; they generally know what interchange. Being an Ambassadeur guy, I can't be much help with Lew's part numbers. DVT might know, though. Josh

I would really like to try snook fishing one day. Josh

Cancer sucks. I'm sure you'll pull through fine!

C5 levelwind setups drop in. This upgrade maked the most sense, to my way of thinking. I have one reel in which I kept the spool bushings, but it still absolutely got the levelwind upgrade. Done right, the levelwind adds to the inertia of a spinning spool instead of subtracting from it. Josh

Zen and the Art of Bass Fishing?

A recent study showed sharks are (very!) attracted by death metal played on underwater speakers. I'd think bass would have an analog to that. Josh

I would guess that with the recent rains, the bass were feeding on critters dropping in from above. In the conditions you describe I generally toss a jig onto a log sticking up from the water and let it drop in. Bass holding close to that cover usually hit it. Josh

I am also going year round this year, as much as I can, anyway. Last year the rivers froze here in Northern Indiana and I had to stop. I plan to use jigs, spoons and jerks. Anything that can be made to imitate dying baitfish. My biggest challenge will be slowing down. It's essential to do so, but man, it's hard. I've never understood why a bass will strike a deadsticked jerkbait, for example. I wasn't raised like that. Swap notes as the winter progresses? Josh

I am used to lakes, but I started learning rivers again during this year's turnover. Lots to study yet. Josh

Thanks, Tander. The Lew's is destined for retirement simply because I want a similar grip feel between them all, and the Lew's is the last pistol grip. I might look at a setup similar to yours as I really like the rod. Compared to the others, it's just heavy and feels too different. The 5500 non-c is great for cranking; I've always loved these slower reels for that job! Regards, Josh

Hello, Crankbaits have never been my strong suit, and I'd like to get better. I recently put together a jerkbait rod combo using a Daiwa 6'6" M/F Jupiter rod (same blank as the Aird, with Fuji components). The reel is a 4600c3 tricked out with full bearings and fast gears for 31ipt. It's spooled with 30lb Power Pro and 8lb Vanish leader. It's not what I'd choose for most cranks, and the reel seems too fast for that purpose. Slowed back down to 26ipt, maybe. I also have a MH/F Jupiter with a tricked out 5500c3 at 26ipt. That rod seems more like it's in-between MH and H, and likewise between F and XF. It's mostly a frog rod for this reason. The my jig rod is a 6' MH/F Cherrywood HD with another tricked out 5500c3 26ipt reel, 65lb Power Pro line, no leader. My dedicated crankbait rod is a 5'6" Lew's fiberglass with a pistol grip, with supertuned and tricked out 5500 (non-c) 23ipt spooled with heavy mono. It's mostly for medium to deep divers. It's the last pistol grip rod I have in active service and want to retire/replace it. So, guys, out of those above, which would you choose for shallow divers and lipless cranks? What do you use? Thanks! Josh

Yup, I sometimes catfish with friends and, while my reels handle 'em just fine, I sometimes wish for a clicker -- but never remember when I get home! I can see it having an application in bass fishing: deadsticking. Josh

I have been fishing rocks lately and so have been using fluorocarbon leaders when picking those rocks apart. The one on the ultralight is pretty long, in fact, so that the braid doesn't really come into play since it's so thin. If I don't have a crankbait rod spooled with mono along with me, I use a cheap mono leader as cheap mono really stretches and I want that shock protection. Still a pretty long leader for this, 4' to 6'. Funny; I never use leaders on my slop and jig rod, even in rocks. It's spooled with 65lb Power Pro and I never had troubles, even in rocks. Braid has spoiled me, though. I lost two jerkbaits last fishing trip. I was using 30lb Power Pro with 4' to 6' 8lb fluoro leader, and when I got snagged I flat forgot how easily non-braid breaks! Josh