TommyBass

Yes.... I have had this happen with both the anaconda and the craw... not using JJs. Bluegill were the culprit in my case. Occaisionally a bass will hit just the tail but repetitive cases are usually sunfish or bream of some sort. You have to learn the difference between a bluegill hit and a bass hit... which can be hard at times. This has been my biggest complaint with the entire rage line. The action is good but the durability is the same as a wet kleenex... ive lost many of pinchers and tails. I have alot of them rip and fly off of the hook if a bass surfaces and shakes it head too hard as well. The action is fairly good but Im wondering if its worth the price of the many baits I go through... especially at nearly $1 per bait or more.

X2.. no need to "slam" the palm of your hand against the hook and force it out. That just does more damage to the fish when the barb is forced out in reverse. All you have to do is look at the entrance and line the hook up right and it comes out easy almost every time. Somtimes its hard to tell which 180 degree plane it entered on, so just try one, if it dosn't work, rotate it 180 and try again. Needle nose pliers definately help... they give you more leverage along with more room. Its mostly just practice though...

Chugga Bug Chugga Bug

Yum Dingers... Tiki Worm Sticks... and about every other off brand senko copycat have worked well for me. I have never noticed a sizeable difference in their fish catching ability. I have noticed one thing... senkos tear much easier.. period. For fun fishing I see no reason what so ever for senkos. If you really truely believe that senkos are "IT" and are that much better then maybe save those for tourneys only or something.

Odds have it that I happen to have owned an 87 Cajun FS. Not sure on your length... but mine was an 18 fter with a 175 mercruiser. Obviously the motor weighs more but that boat was built like a Sherman Tank. I think the fiberglass had to be 2 inches thick. Long story short... it was a very heavy boat (actually ended up bending my single axle trailer.. it needed a tandem). I had a 55 lb motorguide brute on it and it did the job just fine. Now if you were talking 20 mph winds or something then no.. but your average run of the day wind then yes. In your case, I would still imagine your boat to be fairly heavy and awkward.. especially with a boat load of people. I would do at least that 55 lb and would not consider a 36 IMO. That 36 would barely be any more noticeable. Just save real hard and get the good one. Im not sure your exact boat but I believe the 45" shaft did fine on mine.

Any of you have an environmentally safe and easy way to reduce the weight of a jig? I know your thinking "buy a smaller one" but the ones I like can only be found in a size that is 1/16th to 1/18th oz too heavy for me. That and I don't like the small hook sizes that come with smaller jigs. Any suggestions for how to reduce the amount of lead? I have thought about filing it down but was unsure of the powdery dust it makes in the process.

Those are great baits... caught many of frog fish on them. Good job!

I've had a similar situation... makes me mad as well. If its going to take that long to begin with they should just tell you, not keep dragging it along. I had my boat in and it was supposed to be fixed within 1 week. Well I call them end of the week and they had barely done anything and told me to check back in two days. Long story short I checked back about every other day for the next two and a half weeks. Ended up taking almost a month out of early spring fishing. If they would have just said "This will take a month" then it wouldnt have been so bad. Half the time its lazyness and slow work... rarely is there a legitamite excuse. Heck, if people like us didn't push them to keep going on it hard telling how long it would have actually taken!

Yep... I fish out of a center console G3 tunnel jon boat and love it. Great for getting up shallow and is very versatile. Dosn't quite have the nice ride of a bass boat, but I feel the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

There is no way to tell for sure just by looking at an arch. More goes into that arch than just what the fish is. It has to do with boat movement and fish movement/size as well. The best you'll get is possbily a larger return for substantially larger fish than you will something like a bluegill. Being able to tell the exact species would all be determinant on reading into where the fish are holding and how they are staging. Like you said, crappie will stack up in schools, bass will generally relate to cover, walleye and catfish like to bottom hug etc. But a definate knowing of the species..... nope.

As the others said, lip size has alot to do with it. Generally the longer the lip the deeper it will go. Steeper angles are shallower and slighter angles are deeper. Theoretical and actual are very different sometimes depending on your line size and particular lure etc. Actually looking at a lure won't tell you tons. One thing I do is turn my depth finder up very sensitive and run the lure underneath the boat. You will see a line at the depth it runs. Its best to do this standing in the front of the boat if your transducer is in the rear so that your bait is not being pulled up as much due to the short amount of line out. I have found you can generally add a ft or two to the depth that you determine this way since its not in the "prime" depth area of your cast. Another way is to simply graph the bottom depth at the deepest area you can feel your lure hit. One thing I recommend is to write the depth the lure is advertised to go on the bottom of it when I buy it new. A good fine tipped permanent marker will stay on for along while and I usually keep one handy in the boat to refresh it if it starts to wear off.

Do any of you make your own weed guards for hooks or jigheads? I have found a longshank llightweight jighead that I like alot but I cannot find any with a weedguard installed. Have any of you used wire etc to make your own before and if so what and how? Im really needing something to put on a light, long shanked jig head (1/16oz) that will be used for swimming various lures in and around laydowns.

My best day ever also happend this last weekend on Sunday. Found a flooded cornfield with a bluegill spawn flat on a private lake loaded with bass. The bass were raiding the nests. I did not keep exact counts but I know the number was around 25 to 30 fish in a row before I went a cast without a fish. A few nice ones and dinks mixed in there. My buddy and I went on to catch close to 100 bass in a 100 yard area.. all released of course. I know that sounds like a lie... but its not. On public waters my best was 14 on a wind blown point. My number for crappie would probably be near the same... although that occurs much more frequently.

I did the same thing only with 8 gauge. My center console has no place for a charger and limited space for my 2 TM batteries. I have a dual pro and they even sell extensions as accessories. You wouldn't want to go real far with them, but extending them some won't hurt. I lengthened my cords by probably 7 ft and have not had any problems. I didn't add any extra fusing.

X2

Sit down with a calculator and total up all the cost involved with a typical one day trip to your local body of water, now divide that amount by the number of bass you actually put hands on. I think that is kinda his point. There are already alot of costs involved if you actually calculate it as a cost per fish value. Losing a lure every fish would increase the cost/fish value alot more than other average fishing related purchases. If its a tournament and a little money is on the line, then yes, losing a lure is worth it because that $7 loss may be a large gain in the end. However if you are fishing to just be fishing then I can see a strong point in lure retrieval. Not to mention the whole issue of many lures containing lead. The environment and the health of future generations deserve a valid attmept at retrieval, not a careless "O'well, that 1/2 oz lead bullet weight don't cost much" approach.

X2 Less likely to catch those other fish that way and you can hone in on the Bass.

Kinda sorta.... only I look at it the otherway around. I use my fishing boat to duck hunt out of Anything that gets you on the water is better than nothing. Heck I've fished off of a homemade 10'x10' Huckleberry-Fin style raft before made from 2x4s and floating barrels. Attachd to it was a WAY underpowered 30 lb thurst TM but hey, it got me around.

I usually try to get it out no matter what. I dont think hooks rust out in fresh water in an amount of time that would benefit a bass. Salt water probably a different story. I have used the method that Glenn posted for a very long time now and it works VERY well. My buddy actually did the same thing with a senko in a tourney this weekend and I removed it with ease using that method. The fish lived all day and through weigh in with tons of life left in him. You can always try to mash or cut off the barb as well.

With treble hooks you barely need to do anything but lift your rod and reel faster. With soft plastics and jigs you need to give it a little more umph but not alot. Most people way over exaggerate the need to set the hook hard. As sharp as hooks are these days they will go in with only the slightest pressure (just put one on your finger and pull slightly, you'll see). Now thats not saying you dont need to set it at all. I usually fish the rod higher, reel down slightly until almost taunt and give it a sweeping jerk. I don't miss many fish doing it this way and you save our baby bass the traumatic hookset flight many of them get (sadly I'vee seen dinks killed by people who set the hook real hard). Most guys have a macho-fisherman feel that they need to really lay into them, but its not completely necessary. Save your back and the fish and just be reasonable about it.

What the heck is it with picknick tables. I also fished a tournamet this weekend in Indiana (different lake) with a picknick table. Same conditions... very muddy high water... and upon pulling up to the table I missed a giant, caught a good keeper and a good 2.4 lber. The rest of the shore was dead. Hmmmmmmm the classic left-over crumbs pattern. Good job!

Just had my Terrova with a weedless wedge 2 in thick weeds this weekend and couldn't be more impressed. That prop really throws them away. The whole time I was only on 25% power and only had one time where any got tangled what so ever. I just bumped the power to 50% and they were gone. Much more impressive than my MG machette. Not sure why you would ever need blades with that prop, but if it works it works.

Metal or fiberglass? I wouldn't want water butting up against bare fiberglass... pretty sure it can absorb some water when not coated.. but Im not sure.

I have a Lowrance HDS 7 with internal GPS and it works great. Never had a problem with it. Reception is emmaculate and the 2D detail and accuracy is 5X better than a humminbird would ever dream about. Humminbird basically had fell off of the map because their basic 2D units were inferior to almost every brand. The only thing that saved them is their SI, as well it should have. The SI looks great and seems to work well on their units; however, their 2D still leaves alot to be desired. I have heard of some problems with the new HDS units, but I just wanted to give you a first hand experience of someone who has one that has had no problems. I have no idea what the Lowrance SI will be like, but Id expect it to work well as do most Lowrance products.

Well I have been out to local lakes quite a few times this year and did really well, until the last week when we got 5+ inches of rain. Went out this morning and no keepers. I know the spawn has been on for the most part, but the fish did not move up into the flooded brush with the rain. Any suggestions for high water when the water temps are in the mid to upper 60s? The lake is probably 2.5 ft high and the water is pretty muddy on the northern ends as well. Planning on going in the morning, with another fresh 1-2 inchdes of rainfall predicted tonight.