Shakes

How long can a bass go without eating? Anybody know?

Whoa man! Thats a beast.

Welcome. Make your mind a sponge and absorb as much as you can.

Hey. Welcome. Just stick with it and you'll learn so much from this site.

I baby the hell out of my equiptment. Just take good care of it. For that far north, I'd say Jerkbaits or Jigs.

One word, Jig.

I just recently got into crankbaits. I think I've mastered the spinnerbait presentation, but have a lot to learn when it comes to crankbaits. GET A RAPALA DT! If you fish from the bank, go with a 4 ft diver, boat, take your pick. I got curious one day about crankbaits. How come every pro has a number of tackle boxes full of crankbaits? Bought my first one. A Norman somethin, Purple Back, Chartruese body. Anyway, I hated it. It ran wierd in the water, and I fished it forever and never hooked into one fish. Now everybody says the best technique is deflection. Banging your crankbait into anything around, primarily wood. I'm thinkin, "how crazy is that, its gonna hook into the wood and I'll lose my lure." No you wont. I saw on a fishing show that featured Rick Clunn, and he showed how to un-snag your crankbait. He just pulled the line back like a bow and popped the line. Sent a shockwave down the line, and the crankbait popped right out. I tried it yesterday, and it works. Just buy the crank of your choice (recommend the Rapala DT) and just don't worry about losing it. If it hangs up, who cares... shoot the bow on it. Bang it into everything. Make sure to cast beyond the cover. You'll catch something. As for lipless cranks, I'll only run one in open water just about weeds and beds. Wood is the enemy with these things. No bill on the front to deflect, just my razor sharp hooks.

Yea try braid or Bass Pro XPS Fluro. Both extremely sensitive. Make sure you're keeping contact with the jig at all times. Grip the line with your pointer finger for better feel.

Please list the size of your personal best catch, and the lure on which you caught it. Mine was 8.9 on a Heddon Baby Torpedo (Silver) **Updated** 9.4 as of March 28, 2007

River2Sea Bully Wa Frog (Similar to a Spro) when the water is warmer 5/16 oz. PB&J Eakins Jig with a Okeechobee Paca Chunk Berkley PowerWorm 7-inch in all red Zoom Trick Worm Zoom Horny Toad Recently I saw a video explaining that the best bait for catching big bass was a topwater lure of some sort. Something about how as bass age, they tend to feed upward a lot more than facing down. Eyes are positioned on top of the head, and the mouth prime for feeding from below. I don't know. Also heard that big fish feed during midday. Between the hours of 9a and 3p. I think alot of people will tell you that their PB came from a topwater and between those hours, mine did.

Yea I don't think scent has anything to do with bait moving that fast. After the first 2 or 3 casts it'd be gone anyway. I've tried it, I'll admit, but scent doesn't seem to make a difference no matter what bait you put it on. - Aaron

Definately the fisherman. I see what you're saying. MFerris just mentioned a buzzbait, and I'll kill on a buzzbait. Its all about the way you work it.

I LOVE running spinnerbaits and lipless cranks during the spawn. You can run a spinnerbait anywhere in the vacinity of a bass and give it a twitch or let it helicopter down and they'll kill it. Lipless cranks just tick to the tops of weeds and beds.

Yea, I agree. Storm is the worst tackle brand I can think of.

Yea I've used the Bully Wa. Very happy with it. Its very comparable to the Spro Bronze Eye. Its great around lilly pads. WOW! When the fish hits it, drop your rod tip and let the fish take it down. Once you feel the fish on the line (1-3 seconds after the strike) set the hook hard. Its hard not to set the hook as soon as the fish strikes, but its key to landin 'em.

Will this technique work on the Mississippi where there is current or is this a lake/impoundment thing. I'm curious about the presentation. Is it as simple as hop-pause? You could use it with current, just get a heavier jig head. And yes, its as simple as hop pause.

The shakey head is one of the best things to happen to worms since "fake worms" were invented. Its a ball head jig with no skirt. Slip the worm on, just like you would a T-rig... and fish it hop, pause, hop, hop, pause.

Shakey Heads ($3.19) Zoom Trick Worms in Watermelon, Junebug, and Black ($10.17) Zoom Horny Toads in Yellow ($3.99) Spinnerbaits in White, White/Chart., Chart., and Firetiger ($15.96) Buzzbait in Black 3/8 oz. Booyah Buzz ($3.99) Rapala DTSS-8 crankbait in Bluegill pattern ($7.29) Xcalibur XR50 Lipless Crankbait in Rayburn Red pattern ($6.99) Eakins 5/16 Jig in PB&J w/ okeechobee paca chunk ($9.68) Having 2 major advantages on all 3 water columns, priceless. ... For everthing else... there's Bass Pro Shops.

Scent is ok. Never had any bad effects from it, still catch fish. You just don't notice too big of difference. Can't hurt though. All of the Berkley Gulp baits have 400x scent as standard soft plastics. Check em out.

Kevin VanDam's Line and Lure Conditioner. You won't believe what it'll do.

Eakins PB&J, Black, and Brown. Paca Chunks to match.

Starting out on soft plastics, I'd start with a worm. The worm is the basic soft plastic, and most other soft plastics have a similar fishing technique. Find yourself some Zoom Trick Worms. Couple of different ways to rig it. One, get a 3/0 hook and a bullet weight (1/16 or 1/8 oz.). Another, and the best in my worming experience, is the shakey head. Basically a ball jig head with a worm on it, and no skirt. Rig it up however your gonna, and cast it in. Let it sink the bottom, and let it sit for about 10 seconds on slack line. Keep an eye on your line while you fish with worms. Its a little more difficult to fish worms on a windy day because the wind is blowin your line everywhere, and its all by feel. But on those calm sunny days, a worm kills it. After letting the worm sit for about 10 seconds, gift it a little jerk on the rod upward a few inches. The best way to see what your worm is doing underwater, run it really shallow so you can see the movement of the worm and understand how rod movement effects the action of the bait. Basically, you want your worm hopping on the bottom. Looks like its hoppin from feeding spot to feeding spot. While it does this, the tail sticks straight up from the bottom, and has a little wiggle. Bass love it. Mix up the retreive. (Hop, pause. Hop, hop, hop, pause. Hop, hop, pause.) Each pause should be anywhere from 5-15 seconds depending on how aggressive the fish are that day. Good colors to start with are Watermelon (you can do red or gold flake) for clear water. Junebug, bubble gum, and redbug are great stained water colors. And black is the best bet for dirty water. The main thing you have to remember is fishing with soft plastics takes a lot of patience. Some people can't handle it. Hope this helps you out, and have fun out there! - Aaron

The most effective topwater lure I've ever used is a 3/8 oz. black Booyah Buzzbait, aka "Killa". Black blade, skirt, head, and red eyes. Its got a small metal tab that slaps the blade on each rotation that makes a "clank" sound. Unbelievable how effective this bait really is. Second choice is a Zoom Horny Toad, and a third is a Sizmic Pop N' Toad.

Yea... um, ok. Anybody that has trouble pitchin or even casting a baitcaster... it just comes with practice. The more you fish (or practice in the yard/house) the better you'll become at pitching and casting. I agree with Garnet though, in the beginning... a heavier jig will help with the feel quite a bit.

I second that. Silver blades put off a much more natural flash then the more intense gold blades. Gold blades are more effective in heavily stained and dirty waters. I personally believe that the red 1/0 trailer hook makes all the difference in the world. Wouldn't be caught dead without one on my spinnerbait.