Shakes

I got some 2 cents on this. Everybody has their own opinion when it comes to rod placement. The main guy I go fishin with thinks you should keep the rod low when pullin in a hawg. I think you should keep the rod up. More like 2 or 3 o'clock than straight up. I used to have the same problem with fish flyin off my line in the air. I finally figured out that you should just have a constant retrieve when bringin em in. Keep you rod up, and it puts even more tension on the line. Keepin the rod tip down, I've seen my buddy break his line a couple times on a catch. I use Power Pro 50 lb. braid test line, so I'm not worried about breaking anything. When you hook a big one, first place it's goin is down. You hold your rod tip down, you give the fish more line to run with. That ends up tangled in trees, lillipads... I don't know. Dudes right about KVD, never seen him rod tip down reelin in a one.

I caught a 7 pounder on one of my friend's "blinking red light lure." it was the topwater plug, looks and runs just like a zara spook. It was blue/purple/green but translucent with a wierd little device in the center that put out a blinking red light that was suppose to simulate an injured bleeding baitfish. He's still never caught a fish on it.

I've tried something similar. This particular spinnerbait has a small metal ball that smacks the blade every turn. I've caught quite a few quality fish with this spinnerbait. I prefer double willows any day, but the tornado did me good. Really strong wire too. Check it out. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=15387&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

1/2 oz. white Strike King Bleeding Series spinnerbaitt with size 2 and 4.5 double willow blades. I'd run about 6 inches below the surface everywhere I fished. Those flats would be FIRE!

Man you guys are crazy! I'd rather fish a nice size farm pond any day of the week than a 100+ Acre lake. Farm ponds are some of the best fishing I've ever done. I live in Missouri, right in the middle in Jefferson City. Lake Ozark(100+ Acre Lake) is 30 minutes away, Binder Lake (20-30 Acre Lake) is about 2 miles away from where I live. My favorite trips are the ones where we'll drive 30-45 minutes to small towns and farm ponds. You guys should be happy. Big lake fishing is cool, yea... but in farm ponds you hardly have to search. You can cover the whole pond 3-4 times before you leave.

I went out to the local lake today. When I got there, bass were busting the surface all over the lake. Bright sunny day, water was very stained from rain and melted snow. I'm fishin from the bank and the water temp is around 40 degrees. I started with a White/Chartruese Double Colorado spinnerbait. Tried all types of techniques, fished high, fish low.. nothing. So I tried a Black 5/16 Eakin's Jig with a mini blue zoom chunk. Nothing. Keep in the mind the whole time, fish are bustin' the surface. I switched back to a spinnerbait, but not colorado. It was a Terminator Steel Series which was red, green, and chartruese with a #6 Indiana blade, and a #3 painted orange colorado blade. This lure is designed for muddy water. Fished for a while, about an hour. Caught one (maybe a pound) RIGHT on the bank. Fished another 2 hours, (fish busting the surface the whole time) threw 3 other spinnerbaits, a black buzzbait, an Xcalibur lipless crank in silver and black, and a Spro Frog. Nothing. What the hell happened? The whole time I was fishing they were hittin the surface. I fished topwater, midwater, and bottom. Any comments?

I always have a 3/8 oz. black Booyah Buzz tied on. It has a metal piece that slaps the blade as it spins. Makes a "clank" sound that bass just can't resists. I've caught so many fish on that one buzzbait. Wow, it's nuts.

White and chartruese. Don't need anything else. I've fished alot of different colors and baits. When you're not catching anything at all, switch it to a white or a chartruese. Its all I fish anymore.

This dude knows whats up. Couldn't have said it better myself. A big fat colorado blade has a whole lot more lift in the water than a skinny willow. The upside to the willows is that you can run them relatively high in the water at a fast speed. This gives the bass a split second to see your bait, and wonder "what the hell was that?" and get curious. Clear sunny days are great for going fast. A fat colorado gets a hell of a lot more vibration than a willow. Willows are the visual blades, colorado's are the feel. Cloudy days, or heavily stained/muddy water is the time for slowin it down.

Dude. You can frog anywhere. If you can work the frog in open water, then it doesn't matter what water you fish it in.

Lilly Pads!

9-3 bout 2 weeks ago.

Whats up fellas? Been out of the forums for a while. Lost my job that had the computer. Just bought a brand new lap-top though, just in time for spring! Just wanted to say hey, and I really missed this forum.

Throw a chrome/black trap.

anybody own the LC500 in the American Shad pattern? hows it do for you?

I think color matters more than we all think. Yes, #1 has got to be retrieval, but #2 is color. A fish won't eat or chase what it doesn't see. Opinions vary I guess. In my personally experience, its hard to get fish to bite bright colors on bright days. Brighter days when the sun penetrates a little more, I try to go with the natural looking colors that I have. On cloudy days, I'll switch it to brighter colors.

Baitmate. Don't freak out with it, just enough to cover your scent.

a bright rattle trap or spinnerbait with gold Indiana/Colorado blades. Chartruese or Perch Colored (Chart., Orange, Green)

I've never had any kind of luck on painted blades like i do on gold/silver. Stick with what works for you.

Yea. The Rapala DTSS-4 or 6 are great in the bluegill pattern. To answer your question, the best colors to imitate bluegill are blue, green, and yellow.

Wow. Hot Topic. Didn't expect so many responses in so little time. Thanks for all of the advice. I'm gonna pick up an XCalibur Xr50 and one of those Lucky LV's. I like the things I read. What RW said about the difference in sound really made me think. Its true. I've had some lakes where they get a unique lipless crank that they've never seen before and they freak out and you catch 40 fish in a few hours. I think most fish in the lakes I've fished have seen a Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap many times before.

I'll answer it. Have you ever fished with a lucky craft lure? If you have, then you know why they cost more. The way the bait runs in the water, the colors, its just an overall better quality. Its like a Mercedes vs. a Hyundai. I own a few Sammy 100's and its the best walk-the-dog lure on the planet. I'm really considering picking up a few of those LVR 500 lipless cranks too the way people are talkin. Just invest one time, and you'll see the difference. It's worth it, just don't freak out. Go one at a time.

1) Sammy 100's are bad 8-). The 85's are alright, but the 100's are what is preferred. I've caught several smallies on a 100. I catch far more Largemouths tho. 2) The flat CB's dive as deep at 3.5 ft.

Give me your two cents on lipless cranks. Favorite brand and model, size, color, and how you run it. I go with the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap Mini-Trap in pattern #61 (chrome w/ blue back and orange stomach.) I run it as high in the water, and as fast as possible. I think the weight on it is 1/4 oz.

I know exactly what you mean. I have 4 seperate tackle boxes, and I find myself going through them pulling aside what I know is worth carrying. I have a small tackle box, that fits in my cargo pocket that I carry around most of the time (I'm a bank fisherman most days.) I just put what I think I'll use, usually only about 10 lures (mostly spinnerbaits) in this small tacklebox, and leave the rest at home. I honestly can say that I haven't made a lure purchase in probably 2 months. Pretty proud of myself actually. Just shows how many lures you really need to have.