jomatty

looks like a healthy 1.5 pounder to me, although there is no way anyone can really tell...

if im fishing from shore i never know exactly what depth im fishing. i do know whether im fishing shallow, medium, or deep and that seems to be enough. i may not know that im fishing in 20 ft of water when i got bit but i will be able to count down my jig or whatever and find similarly depth of water. knowing what the exact depth your at dosent help that much if you still have to count it down or find similar water by feel because you cant find it on a graph. jmho

in conditions like that i always try to get the spinnerbait or trap bite going first. i would think ripping a trap along the edges of the grass beds would be something i might start with if i was in fl. (althogh i dont know the specifics of Avids lake) is that kinda like lakist profiling or something, like a cop pulling over a black man, or assuming a white guy has a small...if so i didnt mean to imply that all lakes in fl are grassy shallow. if this one is though...try the trap and spinnerbait...also might be a good day to finally hang a hawg on one of those big swimbaits. i like topwater in the wind, especially if i get some cloudcover. i think it has to do with the breaking up of the surface or something but it seems to work...

ive been using the 4/0 owner witht eh twist lock keeper with good results. this is fast becoming one of my favorite baits. unlike what i expected most fish eat it for me on the fall. any update on the larger version of this bait?

the owner screw locks that look like the horny toad hooks are also great frog hooks. braid is key for fishing frogs of any kind, maybe more so than any other specific combination of line and application. reel the frog with your rod tip high and when you see the blow up quickly drop your rod while taking up slack. this will let the frog eat it but also get you in the right spot for a strong hookset that should help keep the fish out of the muck. for those that suggested a trailer hook the best way imo is to take a treble hook and cut one of the hooks off. then slide it on the hook like you would a spinnerbait trailer. bury the hooks int he legs and you have a completely weedless bait with a trailer hook. this works better on some frogs than others. personally i rarely do this although i have had success when the fish were just eating the legs. matt

no raul i dont think i could ask for more. last time i went to mexico i was 18 and i had a blast. only thing i knew how to say was cerveza, tequila, frijoles. if i had to use the bathroom i had to mime it. great time, i really love the mexican people. ive worked with a lot since then when i was in the resteraunt business and have made some great friends. is it rascist to say "i like mexicans better than white or black people" maybe ive just been lucky but the guys and their families that ive met have been the hardest working, most generous, and fun loving people in the world. well thanks for the invite, im on my way. clean out the spare bedroom and fluff the pillows if you would. i have a two dogs and a 4 year old but none of them bite and dont bard too much. my sons getting better since i got him one of those shock collars that zaps him when he barks. ill drive straight through and we should be there in 3 days so break out the cerveza, tequila, and frijoles matt

thanks triton mike that does look like what im looking for. i think the 6 or 7 inch one might be right up my alley and it appears i could probably throw the 6 on a heavy action flipping stick. what do you guys think about that? im just not ready to to throw down the bucks on a swimbait combo yet. one more question is there anything else you throw on you swimbait rods or are they pretty much only good for swimbaiting. they are too stiff for deep crankiong right? ledge fishing or fishing deep brush with a heavy jig? just curious, as it is always nice for me if there is some versatility as i currently only have 5 decent set ups so unlike a lot of you guys some have to do double duty. matt

oh man avids giving photography advice...

my favorite way to fish these worms is at night with a light splitshot and to just swim it throught he weeds along the surface. fun way to fish. matt

senkos will catch big fish but you are right that they are not what i think of when i think big fish baits. that said they are far and away my most productive lure.

i like the jewel football heads. another jig ive been using a lot lately is the strike king premier pro model jig. there are some serious downsides to this jig, as the rattle is unremovable which makes it really hard to change skirts but i like that i don't have to special order them, and the color patterns are really good. i hesitate to call something that has a something i really do not like about it my favorite but it is what ive been throwing a lot lately when a football head is inappropriate. the design also allows me to swim the jig and fish it in a traditional jig fashion using the same set up (this obviously is true for a lot of jigs).

what do you guys think of the king shad or it's ABT made counterpart as a first non soft plastic swimbait? matt

as soon as i saw fourbizzles initial response i new fireworks were comin. by the way i appreciate both of your advice (how is that for pc) matt ps if avid is having trouble getting bit where he fishes on some of these larger swimbaits then im pretty sure i dont want to be chucking them around in central va because the lakes he fishes look like el salto compared to the waters i fish.

i fully understand what you guys are saying about c&r and personally practice it 100% of the time (actually that is not true i have kept one bass in the last 3 years when my son and i struck out crappie fishing and he had been promised a fish fry on a camping trip), but i think sometimes people do not draw the line between keeping and eating a 14 inch fish and a large bass. very few healthy fisheries do not have and abundance of smaller fish, and if someone wants to eat some then i think that is fine. it bothers me much more when folks kill a big one for any reason, be it to eat or for a skin mount. i know some folks seem to think that c&r is the rule except for that once in a lifetime monster, and i think that is a lot worse than routinely keeping a limit of smaller fish. if it is legal than i wouldnt say anything but thats how i feel anyways. tbh i think i could do a service to a number of places i fish by keeping bass but i just dont do it, mainly because i dont want to deal with it. call me a wimp but it is a pain to clean fish and take em home to eat. if im camping and go crappie fishing it is a different story but i just dont have the time and energy to deal with a bunch of fish cleaning and whatnot. matt

you lucky ducks in mexico and so cal keep on taunting us...if its not big fish then it is the weather:)

if i was in avidville id tie on a topwater but if i was in northern nj i would probably be throwing a spinnerbait and a jig. my guess would not have been senko in all that muddy water but it sounds like that was the ticket. oh well there are a lot of times that i dont think a senko is a good choice, but the fish tell me differently. matt

as the capt mentioned look for areas where two different kind of weeds meet. i fish a lake a lot like this and the other thing that has been very succesfull for me is looking for any difference in the pads. any hole can indicate rocks, as can any indention. there can be so much of the same thing that i try to focus on what is different as it seems to hold more fish and give me a starting point. i work the holes and indentions in the pad edge with heavy pegged plastics and jigs. also fish the obvious frog type lures.

gizzard shad can be good bass forage but one problem can be that they get so big. the populations can get out of control and at that point the gizzards can take over and out grow what most bass will eat. they also thrive in open water and that can make it hard for the bass to ambush them effectively. at lake orange in va i was amazed by the size of the gizzard shad, they really can get big. matt

when i was a kid i caught more smallmouth than i can count on mister twister grubs. now i think there are a number of better grubs on the market, and the ones i use are the yammamoto grubs. there is no doubt that yiou could still catch em on the mister twisters though. matt

if your just getting started fishing for smallies get yourself some grubs, some tubes, and some jig heads and you will be in good shape.

check the smallmouth bass forumn and you will find threads that talk about meanmouths.

i have found that it is not hard to make a bait that is as soft as yammomoto when hand pouring. i also have had the problem of them being too soft or what i call "jelly worms". these are actually great for wacky rigging. i think that the salt content and softness are what seperates teh senkos from other sticks. many people swear by the dingers or *** but for me the original is best of the mass produced lures. i like to pour myself so i dont have to worry about the fact that the super soft sticks dont last long. matt

northland also makes a jig rattle that has two chambers. they are versatile and i also like to use them with fat ikas as it somewhat resembles a craw's claws. matt

im just getting interested in tournaments but that is unfortunate. ive played in poker games outside of casinos for years and it is always a concern (i make my living through poker so it is important to protect myself). at least there you are at the table and can watch the dealers etc. being out on a lake is an entirely different ballgame though. unless the clubs use lie detectors i dont see how they could stop it and i would imagine that a lie detector examination would be too cost prohibitive for a small tournament. the tournaments i am interested in fishing are small buy in and i just want to fish them for fun so it is not a huge deal but it is still dissapointing to know it is a problem.

i hear what you are saying about not wanting to lose a $20 lure but the good news is that in my experience topwaters are the easiest lure to not lose. i mean your not gonna get caught in the brush or the rocks and even if you somehow throw it off they float. i throw my topwaters on 50# braid so unless I tie a bad knot a fish isnt gonna break me off either. im not saying that you should go out and get one, just that if you do find you like this style of lure you should not have problems with losing them.