fishwizzard

I hit some ponds yesterday and managed about a dozen, all in this range; To Sadly with most at the smaller end. However, every fish came on a crankbait, which has never happened for me. I worked the first pond for like two hours with a wacky senko to no effect but as soon as I tied a crank on, it was instant action. I got most of them on one of the Booyah Prank lipped popper. I have never gotten one to pop well, but I am really starting to like them as a 12-18" running crank. They look a bit like a jointed Rapala, but with a much broader wiggle and the long flash on the rear hook makes them really stand out in stained water. No luck today, but I got to see a nice big snapper grab a bulegill off some guy's stringer.

I used to fish these all the time, but moved over to the small sized Batwingz trailer. I would cut the Punch Crawz down so the hook exited at the crotch of the "Y" on the craw's back. I find the Batwingz have a slower fall and have more action on a slow swim.

I have a hundred pounds or so of lead that I hoarded up years ago when I was looking to get into bullet casting. But as of now, I don't have the space or really the desire to get into pouring lead. It is just so odd that no one else sells heads with smaller hooks. I hope Gopher comes back, or atleast sells the molds to someone who will keep them in production.

I had the same thing happen to me. Gopher always took a while to ship but they always answered the phone. I firmly believe that even a #1 hook is too big for a 1/16oz head, but I cannot find anyone who offers, other than Gopher, a hook that small. The Zman heads are ok, but the hook is too brittle for my liking. It is killing me as the Ned was a standby and I am almost out of Gopher heads. I would love a lead on where to find some small-hooked heads. Also, for a weedless option, look at the Owner Ultrahead 1/16oz w/ #1 hook and the Decoy Nailbomb head, also in 1/16oz w/ #1 hook. The hookup rate is worse than an open hook, but they are a great weedless option and still catch a ton of fish.

I have though about doing that or replacing it with a single hook. I have not caught a ton of fish on the WP, but I do agree that the hook up ratio is extremely high.

Ok, got you. I have been erring on the side of "too tight" so I am going to try to back it off a bit more and see how that does.

I have tried the RI Big Dipper and am not sure what I am supposed to do with it. I have tried it both weightless and weighted large swimbait hooks and both ways the lure has no real "action". It just kinda flops around and has a very very hard side to side roll. What specific hooks are you guys fishing them on and what sort of action are you getting"

The WP 90 is my most used topwater. The 1/2oz weight means I can use it on a ton of my combos and I always have one on me. I have also found that keeping the tip high and tension on the line makes them run perfectly. I also enjoy popping and chugging them along. My state has no natural lakes, so any sizable body of water has a dam, they are the perfect spot to fish the WP90. I can stand like 15' up the bank and bomb cast out. It is super easy to keep the line tight and I can run down the bank when I hook one.

Wow, 2mm of side to side play? I have been keeping mine far tighter than that, just at the point where any play is detectable. Going to have to try them that loose next time I go out.

A few of the older guys I kayak fish with have turn the old family minivan into some pretty slick Mobile Kayak Command Centers. I have been thinking of buying a used one and doing the same.

Man, I, based on some positive stuff I read here, bubblegum colored lures in a few different styles of plastic. Thus far I have caught squat on any of them. I feel like someone has sent me to the store for some prop-wash for our upcoming snipe hunt.

I picked up a telescoping casting rod, a Daiwa B.B.B (sometimes listed as a "Triple B"). It is a JDM rod rated for like 5-21 grams. I have never used the upper end of the rating as it seems soft for that, but it throws 4" senkos and 1/2oz Lipless cranks very well. I have only used it for about three days, but really like it so far. It seems to have a good amount of power, but it doesn't feel up to heavy cover work. It collapses to a very short size and comes with a really cool case. There is very little to no info online about it in English, so if you are interested I can take some pictures of it for you.

They are on Ebay from time to time. I have two of the 6'8" MH/F ones. I got the first one and liked it so much I bought another one when they were blowing them out on FFO. They are great rods, especially for the $80 I paid for them.

Yea, see I will run a weightless/lightly weighted 3.8 FI on a ML rod with great success.

I think this is sort of explains it. The Rage Swimmers seem to be made of a much tougher plastic than the Keitech and I have found that the light wire hooks and light tackle that I had been using were giving me endless missed hooksets when I first tried the Rage Swimmers.

Man, I have never really looked at the color options Megabass has out there. Some of them are just beautiful. I think I wanna buy an old panel van and have it airbrushed in this pattern;

So I have some Trick worms labled "orignal" and some labled "super salt". The Orginals sink at about the same rate at the Super Salts do, but the tails do float up a bit. Am I supposed to be seeing more of a difference, or is this it?

I found a Booyah frog in a tree but it was ripped up, so I took the hook and made myself a finesse frog. I look at the hooks and fear I am gonna loose it on the first cast, but I am excited to give it a try. I have a spot in mind that is mostly duckweed, so I am going to try it there first.

Very nice. By coincidence, this afternoon I found a Pop-X sitting snagged on a branch within easy reach of the bank. Tied it on and caught a tiny bass like my second cast. Some of those colors are crazy, what's the name of the green one, bottom row, five over from the left?

In addition too rigging the worm straight, make sure the head of the worm is either flush or slightly below the back of the jighead. The way you have it in the picture gives a little lip for stuff to snag on as you are pulling the head through cover. It will also extend the life of your worm a little.

I spent a rainy day a few months ago on the quest for cheap tungsten. Siebert is the cheapest place I found that will ship in days, not weeks. Omfishingsinkers beats his prices a little but takes up to a month to arrive and I always fear the site will just disappear. They do have a rotating selection however and have some really great shakyhead jigs in stock sometimes.

Today started small; Then it got a little bigger, this tough SOB looked to be missing half of his tailfin And had a dead eye as well Then I caught his fat wife and called it a day; All these fish and a few other small ones were caught on a Daiwa BBB telescoping casting rod I picked up over the winter. Other then today, I used it this spring in Miami to catch some small peacocks and a few tilapia. Once I get more time on it I will post a review, so far it seems like a great rod and with a compact reel, make the best traveling combo I have yet found. As a bonus, I found a Pop-X and caught a fish with it on my second cast; I have never fished a popper much before, but I kinda dig it. I was using an ML spinning reel at the time and I swear I can cast this lure further then I can a 1/4oz drop shot weight.

What temps are you guys wearing these rain suits in? I bought a pair of Stormr bibs last fall for fishing and hiking in the rain but they are so warm that I have never managed to wear them for more then maybe 30 min before I overheat. Even as snow pants they are too warm for me most days. I know on top of a bass boat you are exposed to the wind all day, but even in my kayak in say low 50's with a decent downpour I was roasting.

Hah, great! I have also found that cranking a jerkbait is like a siren song for pickerel.

Yea, it's hard to see, but there is, tied to like 6lb briad, a huge snap swivel hooked to a thick mono leader. To that was tied a heavy wire 1/0 saltwater circle hook with a green gulp worm threaded on it. I wonder why I wasn't catching many panfish?