the reel ess

I have to say, I've never had luck with them anywhere else as well as I do at this particular lake. It was one of those lures that just never produced for me before. But this place had grassy bottom for probably 3/4 of it's area. I guess that's the difference. And we've tried burning the bait and yo-yoing it, but the slowest possible retrieve that doesn't haul in a bait covered with weeds seems to be the most productive. And this bait will occasionally snag a big crappie. I could have taken one rod yesterday.

It's not very buoyant so it dives to a couple or 3 feet on a steady retrieve. I could see how it would work well on shallow flats. And I've tried it a couple times in that situation, but it hasn't been the ticket. It's also 3/8 oz vs the standard 5/8 oz. https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEVz57RI5YaOMAYY1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTB0N2Noc21lBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=rat+l+trap+floater&fr2=piv-web&fr=mcafee#id=1&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fart50.photozou.jp%2Fpub%2F396%2F125396%2Fphoto%2F127391578_624.jpg&action=click I have thought it would make a good search bait around spawning flats, but spawn hasn't occurred since I bought one. I will certainly give that tactic a shot come spring.

Have you guys had any luck with these? I've used one a little, but keep going back to the regular one because I need it deep most of the time. I can see a use for the floater though. I'd like to make it closer to neutrally buoyant. Has anyone done this with bigger hooks?

I just weighed a Horny Toad and a Stanley Ribbet. I would have guessed the HT was heavier because I can more easily cast it, but they're both 3/8 oz on my wife's small food scale. I have a MH spinning combo with 20 lb braid that I'll use with lighter baits like the Snag Proof Original Frog.

I went yesterday from 12:40-3:30 with my buddy. I enjoy holding down the back of his Tracker. Weather had been warm in SC for the last week or so but it had gotten to freezing at night and around 52 for a high the last two days. The water temp was about 51-53. We tried Trick Worm, I tried T rigged craw and a black spinnerbait. But we caught all 5 on a gold Rat L Trap. The biggest being this 4.5 lb that crushed my very slowly retrieved Trap in deep-ish water. She swallowed the bait and nicked one of her gills. It was clear most of the fish were on the deep side of the boat. And the bass were not biting on the sunny side of the lake.

This goes to the question that has been exhaustively discussed in the other color thread. But I have no confidence in red. I can't remember the last time I caught a bass on a red bait. I'm sure they work some places andthere is a reason. I know in LA and Miss there are wild red crawfish but they aren't here. Crappie will turn on to red sometimes though.

Some bags of soft plastics. I have to open bags and boxes of most things I get to play with them or smell them. I'm weird like that. My buddy has boxes of unopened spares in his boat, but I use a kayak when I'm alone.

I've caught a lot of weird fish in the dark ages before we all had a camera on our hips. One with a hook rusting out of the the roof of its mouth. Many with one eye that seem to be thriving. I caught one with a craw claw sticking out of his "butt" that I removed and sent the bass on his merry way. And for years, my PB was a bass with one eye, fins rotting off and actively bleeding sores all over it. But it was still hungry. Where I fish now that I have a smart phone, they all look very healthy. In fact, I stopped taking pics unless they're near a PB because they all look the same. A lot look like they have 6 lb mouths and 4 lb. bodies.

My buddy caught a 9 pounder on a crappie jig while trolling.

The bait I have the most confidence in to get a bite, any bite, from a bass is a 4" Zoom Finesse Worm in either watermelon or green pumpkin. Second is a smallish craw or Hula grub. Topwaters would be Spook, Jr and Chug Bug I think.

Was your point that nicotine is a drug? LOL My friend has a pond where the bass are stunted, hungry and dumb. I caught one on a sour gummy worm from the dollar store on the second cast to prove a similar point. If you're interested in my experiment, it was T rigged, weightless. I really like those sherbet swirled colors. But as the day warmed, they got mushy in the baggie. One of these days, when they're really turned on (or off) I'm going to try this. I call it Gummy Wrench, but haven't tied it on yet. It would probably work as well as a jigging spoon. I tried to keep some gummies around, but they always disappear. BTW, this is really in my box and I'm really going to try it. I may tie on a big bucktail fly I have instead of the gummy.

We've done this year round for a few years. In fact, my buddy tried a chartreuse last time out. He caught one dink and I caught 3 keepers on the gold, including a 3 lb. Our setups are very similar in that we both use 15# Big Game and try to reel as low as possible without pulling up weeds on every cast. I just think they're very keyed in on shiners in this spot and that's thee difference. If they want a shiner more than anything else, I see no need to offer a craw or bluegill. To be fair, red doesn't seem to work well for me anywhere around here. Brown craw colors do OK. My dad and i noticed the same between real shad pattern and silver/black foil pattern Shad Raps of the same size. We got into schoolie stripers on them and he caught two to my one. That was OK because I was still catching. I probably should have experimented, but that's hard to make yourself do when they're fast and furious. This, to me, would be like dropping a goldfish down to stripers feeding on shad. You might get bites, but can you expect equal results? I'd rather offer them an artificial shad imitation than another species. If there's a frenzy on, sure, they'll bite anything. One area that I feel color matters the least is in topwaters where the fish see very little color. maybe it matters in gin clear water, but not most places I fish. PS: This is a good discussion.

I have. Here's a specific example: My local reservoir has gold shiners as the main forage. A gold Rat L Trap outperforms others. I've been the guy in the boat who couldn't buy a bite on chrome, red or bluegill colors. And I've been the guy who caught more by using the gold color. My buddy and I have tried this over and over. Gold significantly outperforms other colors, and usually, it skunks other colors. The only difference seems to be that slight variations on the colors seem to work. ie: chartreuse seems to work OK in cloudy conditions, but the reds, craws and bluegills don't work. And the big gals know the difference. I've done enough testing to stop wasting my time with those other colors. Sure, this is anecdotal and local, but an empty side of the livewell is my visual evidence.

Everyone on this thread who says color doesn't matter still has his favorite colors.

I "feel" that color matters to bass sometimes, maybe often. But I know it matters a lot to crappie. If you've ever trolled jigs and set your rods up for different colors, one color will almost always dominate. And usually some colors get completely ignored. It can change during the day or day to day, with no noticeable reason or pattern. If it matters greatly to crappie, I see no reason it doesn't matter just a little to bass.

It depends on water temp. Below 60, you'd certainly be better off fishing subsurface baits. 60-65, it's possible. Above 65 degrees is one of the techniques worth trying. Let the baitfish guide you. if you see bait near the surface, flicking tails, etc., it's a possibility, especially if you see a fish get after some bait. If the water's cool and you see no bait movement, the odds are not in your favor. If it's too cold for turtles to be on the move, forget it. I've heard Jimmy Houston saying if the turtles aren't active, quick reaction baits probably won't work.When it's cold, I'm usually dragging something on the bottom or fishing a Rat L Trap very slowly in deeper water. But then bass will make a liar out of you (me) sometimes.

Fishing late spring at my favorite lunker-loaded private reservoir. I was fishing a T rigged Hula Grub. But I had the drag locked tight for a frog I just took off. My mistake. I cast toward a little rock pile on the bank and started slowly swimming the bait right off the bottom when it just went the other direction so I set. The behemoth (LOL) discovered it was hooked and made a run toward the boat as fast as I could reel. It went straight down at the boat, headed for deep water and my drag was still tight. The line went slack and I pulled up a straightened out 2/0 Gamakatsu EWG-not a superline hook. My buddy said he saw the shadow of it. I was busy trying to do something with the drag when it went came within sight. He was guessing a 10+ pounder. He had already moved everything in the boat out of the way, hoping to help me boat my PB. He has caught a good many 8+ pounders there and he knows new PB's are about my goal when fishing anymore. It would have shattered my PB by 3+ lbs if it was 10.

Maybe the bag was from Guatemala, baits from USA.

Update: An old BPS white Uncle Bucks brand tandem willow blade white spinnerbait. But I lost a sure PB on a T rigged Yamamoto Hula Grub.

Notice black is good for dirty water even on bright days. And there are darks on the chart for clear water/cloudy days. Thus, dark colors have 3/4 of the spectrum covered. When they aren't the go-to, it'll be quite obvious. It's a sunny day with gin clear water. So watermelon or punkin is in order. I find these almost interchangeable so I can probably boil my plastic choices down to two bags of each bait...maybe three. That said, I still fish watermelon/orange or red flake in stained water with good success, especially when bass just aren't reacting. The less reactive they are, the more I want a natural color and/or a smaller size. At least that's how I see it.

You let it sink and drag it. I do this with trick and Finesse Worms. It forces you to slow way down when they aren't biting reaction baits.

I'd like to add to this. in my state, I only need permission and access from one landowner to fish it all as long as you don't get on others' property. I would also stay off others' docks, even if there's a high water level clause. They may not realize it. If there's a card or permit necessary to have in your possession, you'd better get it. Other homeowners and the DNR or police can ask you for it. Here's one I have. On the back is a list of things I agree to respect regarding property and laws and it's signed by me. It can be taken from me by the owner at any time or the DNR if I mess up.

What is your hook of choice? Straight or EWG? And size?

I've caught more bass on one black/blue buzzbait than all others combined. It couldn't hurt that I fish it more of course. But I fish it because the others let me down a few times. I got tired of always buying skirts just to have them knocked off so i put a buzzfrog on it. They still bite it. edit: I should've read the comments before making mine. But, really, the skirt is just there to show the bass where to strike.

Crawfish Etouffee.