Gundog

My niece was given one of those fitbits for Christmas from her husband. Now he wears it when he walks the dogs, takes out the trash, pushes the stroller, cleans the car, etc....hope you get the point. Moral of the story is be careful what you get your wife for Christmas.

I use a loop knot on topwater baits and jerkbaits. I have,in the past, used snaps but on one trip to a lake with a lot of pike I had a really bad experience with snaps. 4 times during a week long trip a pike hit my bait and the snap opened up. The snap was still attached to the line every time but opened. After it happened twice in one day I went out and bought larger size snaps also making sure I bought Spro snaps figuring it might be a quality issue. It happened again the next day. When it happened the 4th time I stopped using snaps and used a loop knot. The rest of the trip I didn't lose a single lure. Ever since I don't use snaps. I could because most lakes I fish don't have big pike in them but I just don't trust them anymore.

If you are catching fish on the lure then you are working right. When it stops working then try different retrieves or different colors.

In my own life experiences I have found that its more about timing than the bait used. Yes I use bigger baits at certain times but only at those certain times. Every other time I use standard size baits or smaller baits. Prespawn,spawn and in the fall when the water temps cool significantly I will use larger size baits cause bass are looking to fatten up and are more aggressive. At dusk and dawn when bass are more comfortable feeding I increase the size of my bait. But if I'm fishing in the middle of the day and the air temp is in the high 80's I'm gonna go smaller to try to entice fish to bite.

^^^^This. I have a few Cabela's Pro Guides and they are good rods. I don't have any flipping rods from Cabela's but the quality of their other rods is pretty good for the price.

Pretty sure a bait like the duck thing is not likely to catch bass in the lake I fish where 1 lbers are common. Just don't make sense to buy a lure like that.

Looks delicious!

ssshhhhh.....You have said too much Josh.

Saw a short video on "JigSkinz". Allows you to put a new cover on different baits like topwaters, jerkbaits and cranks. The video says it works with lead jigs too. Not sure I'd buy it but looks interesting.

They are just trying to put you off the trail Josh. That rig is a super-secret way to catch big bass and they want you to think it was tossed by a kid with no knowledge of what he was doing. Don't fall for it Josh. Next time you are on that river put on a giant egg sinker, tie on a bait hook and hold on tight. The big ones will be jumping in the boat.

OUCH...well welcome to the club. You are not in the minority. Many of us have had a similar situation turn bad on us. Just glad you are ok. Keep fishing. My worst experience was not being hooked. I was trying to put a pork trailer (yea we used pork for trailers back then) on a spinner bait. I had a tough time getting the hook through the pork so I took a rusty knife out of my tackle box and tried to put a slit into the pork trailer. Well I think we can all see this coming. I slipped with the knife and cut my finger to the bone. A trip to the ER and 10 stitches later and I learned my lesson. I put the knife in my pocket and showed the ER doctor it when he asked what happened. To this day I can still see the look of total horror on his face and the extra large needle he brought out to sanitize the cut.

https://youtu.be/YucYoklZAyE The pelican was the lookout.

If you wanna mess with a whole city get the Godzilla form.

If you are thinking what I'm thinking this thread is about to look like other threads.....

Largemouth or Bigfoot, not sure which but its either or. Might be a Yeti too but I still think its a largemouth. If it smells like a skunk then its a Bigfeet but if not its a largemouth.

Dead sticking means different things to different people. I don't have the patience for letting a bait sit for a minute. I can work a bait slow but that is too slow for me. If I was gonna let the lure sit for 30 minutes like the OP said I would probably go with a Z Man product like a saw tail worm or diezel minnow. Something that would float up from the bottom so its noticed easier.

Dufus rig> Ned rig

Not sure what they were trying to accomplish with that rig but that knot looks like Stevie Wonder tied it.

A friend of mine agreed to go fishing with me in his boat one day. He was on the front deck, I was at the back. On my first cast with the baitcaster the line looped around the tip of the rod and my lure swung back and hit my friend right in the neather regions and stuck there. I was laughing too hard to hear him curse me out. He wasn't stuck too bad but he did need the pliers to get himself unhooked.

I'm thinking a wide wobbling crankbait in chartreuse color or a spinner bait with a colorado blade and a chartreuse/ firetiger colored skirt with a bulky trailer. Just my opinion.

Solid advice from the replies you got. I can't add anything to it except to say keep fishing. Learn from your failures as well as your successes. If you are not catching bass in an area with a certain bait, using a technique mix it up. Change until something works. Patterning a lake in summer time is one of the most difficult things to do I think. Good luck and enjoy your time fishing.

Great vid. I didn't know he had a wife and kid. He seems like a down-to-earth kind of guy.

Sure when I do it the neighbors call the cops.

That kids gonna be a star some day. But for now he is better at flippin' than me.

I wouldn't pay him to berate me, thats for sure. Take your boat some place else and don't forget to tell him why and that you mentioned it to all your friends at the boat launch/bass club/bait&tackle shop/internet forum. And smile while you say it.