the ohh face

I notice there is no saltwater section to this site. I would like to try some striper fishing this summer, but what would be the proper forum section for questions and discussion?

I usually will surpise myself with a few big fish when trying a new technique. Never really tried a dropshot rig till last week and caught a 5lber. Have seen a LOT of threads on this forum on big fish techniques as well. A keyword search will provide you with pages of advice. And if you arent adverse to using live bait you can usually catch a monster or two a day with shiners.

Im trying out braid on my new saltwater rig and need to put some mono backing on. My first question is, should the line diameter of the backing be the same as the braid? Secondly, what knot works best for this application?

Looking for my first boat and would appreciate any tips you guys have. I want something in the 15 to 17 foot range. I would use it mostly for freshwater but will be going out into buzzards bay on calm days. Not sure what kind of horsepower engine I should be looking for. I am used to using my uncles 25 footer with an inboard outboard so I dont know how much muscle i will need to get around the bay in a smaller boat. The one tip I have heard is to insist on taking the boat on the water before you buy it. Ohh and I would like to keep the price under 6k. Not yet sure how much boat that will get me but im starting to search prices soon.

every time I use those damned toads

I sometimes use rattles. Usually in muddy water. If I am throwing them into the slop I TX rig. I dont use weedless hooks with tubes cause I can TX rig easily enough and its usually more weedless. In open water I insert the jigheads.

If you have the patience for it topwaters can be deadly in the noon-afternoon. I have caught some monsters on baby torpedos twitched every few minutes. I mean minutes too. Also a buzzbait with the biggest blade you can find worked as slow as possible close to every piece of cover you can see. An original rapala floater as well,worked the same as the torpedo. And hey, sometimes you might get a reaction stike too, although that usually works for me earlier or later, so try working those baits really fast if slow dont work. Lets not forget toads either, rarely will I not get at least an exciting strike working them through the slop. Whatever you try, Good Luck

Generally I tend to favor the newest lure or soft plastic in my bag. Sometimes switch it up to a technique I am not as comfortable with just to gain confidence with it. Then I have my favorite lures I go to when nothing else seems to work.

Caught em with large tubes dropped into cover. Also with fat ika's. Once or twice with a jig. Buzzbaits with large blades worked as slow as possible in the daytime. Smaller blades at dusk a little quicker. Good thing about the buzzbaits is you can usually tell pretty quick if the bite is on. Plus I just love topwaters. If you have your heart set on the swimbaits, try doing a search for them on the cabelas, basspro, *** websites you may find em cheaper.

Nice. Thats usually about the size I catch on that lure. Occasionally it will entice a bigun though.

In the slop on some type of soft plastic or buzzbaits on open water and weed edges.

I like to just guess most of the time. Then leave a really wide range when I talk about it. Like that fish was somewhere between 6 and 12 lbs. You can never tell from a cell phone camera anyways.

I think you could probably catch fish on a buzzbait in 20ft of water with enough effort. But why would you? It has to be tough to keep that buzzbait down, nevermind attract a bite, due to the design of the lure. It is made to be a surface lure. Not that you cant catch bass with unconventional techniques but I think that may be a little unwieldy. As far as how far away from the bait the bass must be, that mostly depends on how aggressive the fish are that day. There have been days I would see the fish come from 20-30 feet away for a buzz. Other times I would need to be within a foot or two of where he was hanging out.

ahh, I see how these methods may be better than mine. I will have to try all of them today. thanks for the tips

Sounds like its worth a shot. I could probably try using a straight hook for this too, I guess it doesnt really have to be weedless.

I got one of those and the two blades bind on each other and stop spinning. Thumbs down from me.

I fish the super fluke weightless every now and then and sometimes I get it to move how I like it, but usually not. Generally I use a gammakatsu 2/0 or 3/0 offset EWG and the point gets skinned on the outside of the belly of the bait. How do you guys rig this bait weightless, and with what type hook? PS: Whoever always suggests wacky rigging this bait, I do sometimes, and thank you for the tip. I have caught a few fish this way.

It used to be jigs, then I got a good rod, then tubes till I caught a monster on one last year and started using them more often, now its cranks and spinnerbaits. I'm going to start using a spinnerbait more often though so hopefully that will start producing for me. Cranks I just cant get into. Too many treble hooks to get caught on everything, I cant really tell what depth they are running at, and I have never caught a fish on one. But for some reason I have like 15 cranks in my box. Probably 10 of them have never touched water. Maybe its just because they look good. I think im going to start hanging them on my wall.

uhh, as long as the hooks are still sharp thats an ok price. They go for, I think, twice that in the store. I dont think you can replace the hooks on those lures though. So if the hooks are dull its a bad deal. You can always sharpen them but its never quite the same IMO.

I use black or dark green and sometimes a rust red in certain areas for lizards. The jitterbug I usually go with is solid black.

I concur, and I usually have the most luck with it when twitched very patiently near some cover. Have caught many a bass on that and the tiny torpedo.

It doesnt really bother me but I have heard people complain about that before.

For the spots where the fish are getting wise to your tactics try throwing a tube at them. Gives a totally diffent action than other soft plastics or jigs. May be just what you need to get them biting again.

I like using a frog in the slop because I always see a few topwater explosions among the weeds on sunny days and spinners along weed edges and points as a searchbait. I cant really say that is the best though, just what I try first. Caught some monsters lately on a tube in the afternoon w/ bright sun.

I would think that would totally depend on how the C&R lake is managed and how healthy it is. Dont know that C&R only lakes would have better numbers of large fish. It may be C&R only because it has been overfished. Some lakes are better than others obviously, but the most dramatic difference I have seen is in places that very rarely see fishermen at all. Such as golf course ponds and reservoirs it is illegal to fish.