Josh Smith

Hello, I have weighed them on a couple different scales I have. After the spawn, the females were coming in at 2lbs and all these critters have grown since, in girth mostly. It's odd. Some of these are really short and chunky, not so much as pan fish, but more than I'm used to. I might be underestimating the length a bit, though. I've caught some keepers (14"+) that I released. They were bigger around than most 16" bass I've seen. Probably should take pics. I'm in a hurry to get them back in the water, though. What do you use to measure the girth? My tapes are all metal and I don't want to touch them too much, anyway. Infection and all, you know. Regards, Josh

Thanks for the answers, guys. I guess maybe what's going on is that I do have a set retrieve speed that feels good to me, and when I take it to a faster reel, it starts messing me up. I tend to lay spinnerbaits over on their sides, for example. This is flat out no good as it starts messing the action up. Some methods of jigging do require me to take up a bit more line faster than can comfortably done with the 4.7:1 gears, and this is why I have 6.3:1 on the larger reel. I'm looking forward to the 5.3:1 5500c3. I should be able to use it for more with less adjustment in reeling speed. The one thing I'll miss is my anti-reverse dog. If I had my druthers I'd find a reel that has both instant anti-reverse with a dog backup. I don't know which reels have this, though. So tell me about burning lures across the water with these high-speed reels? I know bass can hit things really fast and I've never been able to add extremely high speed fishing to my armory of techniques as I don't have a reel for it. How does one "burn" a lure, and in what circumstances? I asked that question just now in its own thread, here: > I was going to ask it here, but technique seemed apart enough from hardware that I figured I should probably make a different thread. Back to gears -- how fast do you turn the handle? My comfortable speed is one turn per second to one turn every half second, meaning about 23" to 46" per second, not counting pauses if I'm rolling the jig (or whatever) over timber and other obstructions. This also changes if I change the size of the handle. I usually have Power/Speed handles from the '70s on the reels, but I also have some that I use from stock '80s reels (larger) and even a couple smaller ones from Gator Grip. I've never been comfortable with the stock, small-crank handles, though they can go fastest of all of them. Regards, Josh

Hello, How does one "burn" a lure, and in what circumstances? What lures? Does this refer to just hydroplaning them over the water? I'm going to get a new reel or two. One reel has 26 IPT or so and is just a modernized version of what I prefer in round baitcasters. The other one will be an experiment, and burning lures is not something I currently have in my knowledge/experience locker. It might be fun to learn and maybe even do under the right circumstances. When do you do it? How do you do it? Regards, Josh

I usually lock it down on the baitcasters when using only braid. This gives around 15lbs of drag. I let up off of it a bit when using leaders, but my leaders are usually in the 15# to 20# range with the MH rods. The way I set it for leaders and used to set it for mono-only is pretty simple: I'd grab the line, point the rod straight into the air, and pull. I would back off the drag until the spool just started to move. I have no idea what weight this was. I do know this method served me very well when I hooked onto a buffalo by accident. The drag let it run, but not too far, and I was able to fight it for the time needed to land it. I did bend the hook a bit, but that was all. The hook was very old (antique spinner) and frankly, I couldn't ask it to do any more than it did. It held up as well as any modern hook I've seen of similar size. Where I fish now, if a bass makes a long run I will lose it. My "drag" is the rod. I'll lower the rod to 30 degrees or so, letting the fish run, then raise the rod again to turn it and reel. I find this method works well and lands the bass fast. I've seen bass killed due to playing them out. I'd really rather not play them any longer than I have to. Josh

Hi Folks, I'm trying to like fast gears, you know, 6.8:1 on up. From what I understand, these serve two purposes: Burning lures across the water and fast retrieve to boat or bank after the lure leaves the strike zone. Is there any other reason to go faster than, say, 5.3:1? How about IPT? These low profile reels and even the round Shimanos seem to have an IPT retrieve at 5.8:1 or so similar to that of my old Abu Garcias at 4.7:1. I've had bass come at me with 23 IPT and I kept up just fine. I do have a reel that retrieves at about 27 or 28 IPT (off the top of my head here; I'm not looking it up right now!) and will shortly be getting another that's around 25 IPT. I'm really trying to understand the 7.0:1 and higher ratios, with the 30+ IPT retrieves. The places I fish, it seems those would be quite difficult to use. Winching power is important among brush, seaweed and grass, and for the crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and the like that I use. Can you explain, please? Thank you, Josh

Guys, I'll tell ya': I've been on a quest to find the "best for me" reel this year. I keep coming back to the Abu Garcia 5000 and 5500 reels, both with bearings and bushings. All are 4.7:1 ratios. This translates into about 23 IPT for this type of reel. When I need faster, I do have a 5600MagTrax that is 6.3:1, I believe. In addition to the magnetic brake, I installed the centrifugal brakes of the standard 5600. It's a really good reel but just a bit large for my uses. I'm waiting on payment from a commercial contract to come in. I'll be ordering a 5500c3. After very careful study and consideration, I believe this will be the best reel for my uses (in addition to the old 5000 and 5500). The Shimano reels intrigue me. I will probably end up getting one; I'm researching them right now in fact. They are rare around here, though, and I've not been able to lay hands on one, let alone try one out. I need to make a trip to a larger city and find a sale sample or something. Regards, Josh

You know, I would put Tom Mann in the running. I'm not old enough to remember him as much as some of the newer crowd (and Bill Dance, of course), but in reading his books, man, I think he really understood bass. I'm testing his techniques and ideas and am finding them sound. The more I live and the more I fish, the more I find myself going back to the pioneers like Tom Mann, Jimmy Houston, Bill Dance, and the rest. Josh

I'm OK where I'm at. I'm always learning and experimenting and asking "why?" It used to be that catching bass was a huge thrill for me and adrenaline would make my body do things it didn't want to do. Now I enjoy it just as much, but it's a lot more mellow. I can go out and catch two bass and be as happy as if I'd caught 10. This comes from working on my own reels and such these days, not just polishing them as I've always done, but rather taking an active interest in making them perfect. Too, pitting myself against the bass is the challenge now. Losing to a crafty bass can be as exciting as winning. Josh

Hi Folks, No, it's not really my lake. I've come to think of it as being my lake, though, as it's been my sole focus this year. Last night we had a thunderstorm. In fact, when I got to the small town I pass through to get to this lake, it looked like there may have been a tornado. The bridge over the Wabash River was covered in branches. (The Wabash and Salamonie Rivers, though, didn't look like they had risen at all. This was nice!) This morning pressure was rising. Sunrise was at 7am or so, so I left to get to the lake at 6:45. I took three rods and no tackle box. I wanted to try to "shoot and scoot". My ultralight had a Jelly Worm on it, the 5'6" MH Bill Dance Daiwa Spinnerbait Rod with modified '70s Ambassadeur 5000 had a blue and black swim jig with a rattle chunk of some sort (without the rattle), and the 6'6" M Jupiter rod had a modified '70s 5000c mounted. The lure was a Zara Spook "Speckled Trout". I was the only one there. Starting at the boat launch, I tossed the jig out and made it swim. I felt something hit it, but it was a miss. I fished in a fan pattern, and when that spot came up again, I got a tap-BOOM as the bass hit the jig. A brief fight later and I was holding a 12" (or so) bass that was hooked perfectly and weighed around 2lbs. I released it and moved. The first thing I did when I moved was to throw out that jig and rip it through some likely-looking bait fish places to stir 'em up. Sure enough, it worked! Not as well as a boat, of course, but well enough. I tossed out the Zara Spook, and started the pattern again. Something splashed by the Spook, and when I got around that way again, a whirlpool opened below the Spook and sucked it in the first twitch after it hit the water. This bass was about the same length as the first, but was chunkier, weighing around 2.5 to 3lbs. Neither were huge, but they were chunkin' up. I've been watching these bass grow this year and have been studying their habits. I believe I have them pretty well patterned, though there are still a few things that I'm not sure about. One gent opined in another thread (where I asked about catching one then moving) that the bass in this lake sound like they're primarily ambush feeders and don't usually school. I've been testing this opinion and it appears to be correct. Another interesting note is that these bass are relatively short. I haven't seen any over 12"-14", and only one 14" long, but they are all pretty chunky, even the males. It seems like compact power rules in this particular lake. I'm still working on the boat and hope to have it out before the snow flies. There are some spots I'd really like to get to that are only boat-accessible. So far, I'm catching these only because nobody else seems to target them like I do, or present the lures that I present. It's a heavily-fished lake, but mostly the folks who fish it use live bait and/or fish at night for catfish. I fished for panfish in this lake when i was a kid, and Dad targeted the bass with some luck. Now it's 20 years later and I'm finally enjoying this lake again. The panfish have either moved on to places unknown (until I find them with the boat!) or have simply been fished out by those needing food, but the bass fishing is better than I ever recall it being. I'm really enjoying myself! A couple notes: I didn't bring the tacklebox and it didn't gel in my mind that a Zara Spook might need pliers to remove. I got lucky in that the bass cooperated. I swear it knew what I was doing. Bass are strange fish. I had trouble hooking up with the jig. I'd trimmed the weed guard when I trimmed the skirt, but I still missed a couple strikes. I can't remove the weed guard due to weeds and timber. Is there anything else I can do to improve hookups? Josh

You know, I never used 'em. Staying downwind seems to have worked. I'm thinking about starting up again, so we'll see. There's a lot of new stuff out there since I last went deer hunting. Josh

I have a bunch of different rods. There are fiberglass, graphite, and I even have a cane pole for my son (though he's 6 and prefers his spinning rod). I can hit or miss on about all of them just as effectively, but have really come to prefer the full graphite rods. I'm playing with Dad's old tournament-style baitcasting glass rod for crankbaits, but I'm afraid I've been spoiled on graphite since I was a teenager. One thing I do like about glass is that it is more whippy, all else being equal, and puts a certain action on certain lures that just catch fish when nothing else works. On the other hand, a graphite ultralight will do that same action. An observation: I hooked into a bass the other day a good 20 yards out with the ultralight. Now, had I been using a glass rod or heck, had I not been using braid, this probably would have been a lost fight. However, I did feel the bass hit it (it was not an explosion, but rather just sucked it in). I was able to set the hook effectively (I set it three times to make sure, hard enough to sound the drag each time.) I was using the lure action that required a slower rod, and had I chosen the glass rod instead of the ultralight, i doubt I'd have felt the strike until it was over and lost. This is not to say the glass rods are not still extremely good for some things. They seem natural to me for catfishing, for example. Josh

I used to use an Albright or Alberto. I found that it works best if the mono is tied to the braid so that the braid is wrapped by the mono, and not vice-verse. The braid can cut the mono otherwise. I've gone to a Seagur knot since, though. It's much simpler to tie and though I have no idea of its strength, I find it's plenty strong. Josh

Hi Folks, As I've mentioned before I'm trying to figure out one particular smaller lake since the boat is down for rebuild for most of this year. I've noticed that bass usually do not hang out in the same spots they use for spawning. In fact, it's rare to find them there post-spawn. I figured out one spot they go to, but I'm not understanding their behavior. First, they seem to only bite on plastic worms. They hold to cover as bass will, and a weedless Texas rig is about perfect. It could be the water temperature, but I've not been catching them on topwater baits, jerkbaits, or rattle baits I've tried. For that matter, I've had no luck with jigs. Any idea why? Additionally, after I catch one, I generally have to relocate. They don't seem to ever school. The only times I've caught more than one in the same spot is during the spawn. Any thoughts on this? I'm used to finding a loose school that will give up several bass before it's fished out. I'm certain I can understand this, and it feels like there's something I'm just missing; you know, one of those thoughts that's just out of reach. Thanks guys, Josh

1. Dig trench in from pond. 2. Line trench with sticks pointing inward to form a funnel. 3. Bait and wait for fish to swim into trench. Josh

I am finding the stuff that I grew up with is working well again because others have abandoned it. I guess my technique is to fish natural-style presentations, but do something to the bait or presentation to make it stand out. A lot of my spinners are Dad's from the '70s and '80s. I caught my first bass of the year on a small vintage inline spinner with a trailer. Josh

I was kinda' proud of myself. I recently read Tom Mann's Think Like a Fish. In it, he described how he got bass to jump into his boat. This last fishing trip I went on, I was fishing some heavy tree cover from the bank. A largish bass blew up my Jelly Worm and began to dive under a fallen limb. I didn't have time to play it out, so I got it to turn and using that technique, got it to jump onto shore. It was really pretty cool. It's not a method to be relied upon and Mann never used it for more than a stunt on his show from what I gather, but in the case of this last bass, it worked. Regards, Josh

I want an update from the OP! Josh

Thank you for the link. That stuff looks interesting and I would like to try it. Regards, Josh

Hello, I use an Albright or, more recently, a Seagur. I must confess I don't know a couple of these other knots listed and will be looking them up. The Seagur is very small and strong. Josh

I like it when using bushings, but I agree with you with regards to the ball bearings. I wanted to try it, though. There is some gun stuff called Militec-1. It's light, and it's made to fuse with the metal. The military doesn't like it because it operates dry and gives no corrosion protection, but it doesn't attract that talcum-powder sand either, and is therefore popular with at least some troops. I've been thinking about trying it on the bearings. As long as friction is reduced, running dry should be good, I think, for operation. Do you have any thoughts on the matter? Thanks, Josh

Enough votes for Zoom; I like them as well. I found something that's working better, though: Mann's Jelly Worms. Give me a couple of those Jelly Worms and a tungsten bullet weight for a Texas rig, and I'll give you some bass. Josh

Well, I'll not give you flak. I'll just tell you this: When I was in high school, the gym class was playing with weights. The leg press was set up and contests were held. I won, though it really was close. Thing is, I felt something "give" in my right knee. The next day it was swelled as big as my thigh. I got some steroids for it and it healed but was never the same. A couple years later in martial arts, I got to be the dummy on which a knew guy was practicing joint locks. I did volunteer, but my teacher had been sort of hoping I would because I was incredibly flexible. Well, nothing hurt, during the leg lock, but the student torqued my leg a bit more and I felt a "snap snap snap" down my leg, including that same knee. Well, now I'm 36 and fat. I can run, but it's hard on that knee. When I do run, I prefer it to be in the woods, carrying a rifle. The rifle helps balance and the ground is soft. I can jump over downed trees and across the creek and not hurt too bad. Running on roads is just too hard. It hurts that knee. I'm sure I'm facing a rebuild some day. I'm 36. Like I said, be careful. I'm not giving you flak, as I also said. I'm just sayin' be careful, man. Josh

Hi Guys, I live in Indiana. I was engaged to another woman prior to the woman I would eventually marry. She rescued a "dog" from the city park. I knew right off it was a wolf cub, and told her so. Sure enough, training him was a chore. He was a very, very loving, loyal pet, though, and scary smart. I started him on come, sit and stay when he was only a few weeks old. The ex-fiance and I went our separate ways. She took the wolf, though I knew it was a bad idea. Nothing ever happened, but I did just learn that she put it down to please her new husband. The wolf did not like the new husband. It was idiotic, putting him down like that. There's a wolf breeder less than an hour from here who would have taken him. Wolves and coyotes do not coexist as they compete for food, and that print was one among coyotes. The way the tracks read was that the canine with the large paw came through after the coyote pack had last drank at the creek early the night before. It was the only time I saw that track, too, so I can only imagine it was a transient canine of some sort on the move. To this day I simply do not know. It's interesting but not particularly scary. Josh

Hey, found this picture I took a few years back: That's too big for a coyote and there are not supposed to be any wolves in Indiana. Josh

Hey, I'm not judging. Just thought I found a deal and it turns out I didn't. I'll pick up a Shimano when I can. I'm curious about them. Regards, Josh