jimmyjoe

Thank you for sharing that! I had to search for it, but I finally found it. jj

BTW - if you're on the water, reflected light can be wicked. If you decide on a style that isn't wrap-around, use temple blockers, sunglasses being about safety just as much as convenience. ? jj

If I could "Like" that a thousand times, I would! What good is it to hook a fish if you can't keep him hooked right on into the net? Blade lures are one of the easiest lures for a jumper to throw off. jj

When I hear you guys talking about "deadsticking", I gotta agree with you. I hate deadsticking. But what I do when I say s-l-o-w is more like shakeyhead techniques. This video by Scott Martin shows about what I do with a slow bottom-oriented retrieve. Of course, with a spoon I get more lift than someone fishing a jighead. I hope this makes some things at least a little clearer. jj

I think that statement, right there, is one that is the most telling about this whole subject. jj

Flex/buy/use/sell Flex/buy/use/sell Flex/buy/use/sell I guess I just do it the hard way. ??? jj

Thank you! Your post really helped me to put things in perspective. jj

I hope the rodbuilders here have information on this. I've broken two St. Croix Mojo Bass rods by hitting them against something. These are SC3 blanks, but it's unclear whether they're SC3 rolled in Park Falls or SC3 rolled in Fresnillo. In both cases, the damage was my fault. HOWEVER ...... I had 11 other rods, all graphite, that have never had any problems at all. These include Avid and Avid-X as well as other brands. (One that broke a tip years ago has been sold long ago.) The Fresnillo blanks seem to be more brittle than the other rods, but maybe I'm imagining things. I also have a fiberglass rod. I used to have fiberglass rods, but I got rid of them when the "graphite is better" train rolled into town. I would like to note that since 1963, I have never damaged a fiberglass rod. Period. But fiberglass is heavy, and I'm getting old. The two don't really go together. There are graphite rods made to mimic the action of fiberglass, but I have no idea whether they are brittle or not. (I kinda suspect that they are, but I might be wrong. Please tell me if I am.) There are composite blanks used to make rods that mimic fiberglass, but I have no idea whether they are as durable as fiberglass, or whether they share the susceptibility to impact that graphite displays. I also don't know how much weight composite will save me over straight fiberglass. Looking at it the other way, I don't know how much heavier composites are than graphite. I'm going to get two new rods, and they are both going to be moderate action. One will be MH, and one will be M. I don't know whether to go graphite or composite or fiberglass. I don't know whether to go off-the-rack or custom. So I need information. I need to compare the three materials, and I need advice on quality and durability. Can you guys help me? Thnx. jj

For two days before it froze up here, I had exactly the same situation you did. I fished a sand quarry, from the bank, shelf on one side about 8 feet deep, and the rest of it just a bowl about 20 feet deep in the center. I don't know whether it's wise or not, but I usually start with shallow retrieves and gradually move down and down in the water column. These two days I knew that the water was cold (there had been skim ice that melted), but I still started shallow and moved down, gradually circling from the deep side over to the side that was only 8 feet deep. I had a L/MF spinning setup with 4 lb. mono on a 2500-size reel, so that I could cast wa-a-a-ay out there with lighter lures. When I finally let lures drop to the bottom, I lost a spinner and a miniature spinnerbait. So I put on a 1/4 oz Dardevle Spinnie in chartreuse, and I let that drop. When I tried pop-n'-drop, I thought I felt something. So despite my misgivings (remember: I had just lost 2 lures) I let the spoon sit a bit .... maybe 10 seconds. Then I pulled it in SO DADGUM SLOW THAT I THOUGHT IT MUST SURELY BE DRAGGING. It wasn't dragging. It got hit. In 45 minutes, I walked out of there with 6 bass. Nothing big, but they were 6 more than anyone else there that day got. The next day I went back, and in 25 mph winds and temps falling to freezing, I did the same thing, and got another bass. Like the day before, I got him SLOW, as in SUPER SLOW. So I'll bet that the fish were there. I'll bet that the fish saw your lure, and that you were just moving it, like I was, too fast. Of course, I have a separate set of spoons that are really thin, that will have action at the slow-est of speeds, that I can use in situations like this. Try it. I bet you'll get surprised when you think that surely nothing is going to happen, and then a hit comes right out of nowhere. Good luck! Hope you slay'em ...... slowly! ? jj

Amen to that! You have to have confidence in other people's ability to recognize their own mistakes, if they really are mistakes. I made mistakes, and I learned. I'll bet you made mistakes, and you learned, didn't you? We all make mistakes, and we all learn. That's living life. ? jj

I'd prefer to say, " ....then I can't afford to be in business." Lots of things happen to people that they don't really deserve. jj

One of the best things that I've learned from BR is to listen to what other fishermen say. So .....I hear ya .... and I'll try it. ? jj Later: I just got finished with Zona and the "stupid rig". Man, that guy really seems to slay'em! Now I'm interested! I think I will be able to use tubes no matter where I fish. I hope. ?

BTW, @Catt ..... the very first time I tried a frog, I really didn't know how to cast it accurately. So I went down to the quarry and thought I'd try just pitching it out there a few feet. Naturally, I was off the first time. The frog only went about a foot out from the shoreline onto the weeds, and I had a minor backlash. As I was taking the backlash out, BAM! a bass snarfed that frog up like it was candy. I wasn't prepared, and lost the fish. That ain't gonna happen again, I tell you that! jj

Hmmmm. I'll remember that. the Johnson Silver Minnow is one of the lures that translated to lakes from the river very well indeed. I fish them with a twitch, both with just a skirt .... ... and with a trailer hook for those places I get short strikes. Needless to say, as much as I love my Eppinger spoons ... ... I still wouldn't want to be without a Silver Minnow. jj Most of my tube fishing will be in the lakes, not the rivers. Not only that, but the first six weeks of fishing a river is done by hitting the backwaters and quiet places. They warm up sooner than current cuts. However ..... if I do fish them in the river current, I'll remember that. Thnx. jj

If you ever went hunting for deer, squirrel, fox or coyote, you'd know that's wrong. jj

Yes, I used to. I fished irrigation ditches and pumper drainage feeders. But nowadays people don't want you on their land. I grew up on a farm; I understand them perfectly. I could fish culverts, but bass are usually not by the culverts; they're lining the sides under bushes and grass, because that's where the food is. Lotta other fish in those feeders (like catfish), but I don't fish for catfish. jj

Welcome to BR! I can only tell you how I would handle this situation. Like I keep telling people, my opinion is worth what you paid for it. ? The walleye can be handled on a ML/F, although no one would blame you for moving up to a M/F. Everything else? M/F, at least. And I'd move up your reel size to a 30 or even 35. I would use 8 lb. nylon minimum. Otherwise the cats, pike and bowfin will dominate you. If you use braid, the 30 size is fine. I had a 25 size years ago, and I put it on an ultralight. Good luck and good fishing! jj

Now, you KNOW that rod has no street cred, don't you? It has to have worn spots, dirty streaks and the writing on the shaft needs to be worn into illegibility. A few fish scales in crevices here and there wouldn't hurt either. ??? Just kidding, @Paul Roberts. Beautiful pics! ? jj

Well, I think I've made a decision. I'm gonna go with tubes, and I'm gonna use them weightless. I'd like to thank @MGF for the tubes idea, and @TnRiver46 for the weightless idea. One of the reason I'm interested in going this way is that before I quit using plastic worms and senkos, my most productive technique was wacky-rigged. And the most productive way for me to fish it was "pop-n-drop". I miss that. In certain places, it was the best producer by far. And although I've taken plastic worms out of bass and seen senkos cut out of bass, I've never seen a tube inside a bass. So I think tubes are probably OK. I'd also like to thank @Glenn for his video on tubes. Now ........c'mon, SPRING! ? jj

Yup. I guess you're talking about stuff like Kalin's grubs? They were a very low-producing lure for me. Other people around here had the same luck. Don't know why. jj

What's the old saying? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." jj

He'd take one look at me and die laughing. ? jj

Tubes weightless, huh? Wow. I'm gonna look that one up. Watch some videos here as well as other places. Weightless was something a person fishing in the river just didn't do. I fish where Iowa, Illinois and Missouri come together, or within 120 miles of there. Almost all my fishing was river fishing until a few years ago, when the guys here started coaxing me (okay, browbeating me!) into fishing lakes. Now lakes are at least half my fishing time in a year, maybe more. After over 35 years fishing rivers, my attitude toward lakes still needs a little ......... adjustment. I admit, I might be just a little bit set in my ways. ??? jj

If you're looking for something that will " hold up for awhile", get a pickup or minivan rather than a sports car. For every reduction in weight and increase in refinement, you pay in other areas. Lew's and Shimano both have lots of reels that will work very well for the task you've described. On the other hand, if you really want a Metanium, it's your money, and you don't have to make any excuses to anyone. Nor do you need to feel "guilty" for getting a top-of-the-line reel. They're great reels. Whichever way you decide to go, I wish you good luck! jj P.S. - if I were to limit myself to lures that were 1/2 oz. maximum, I'd strongly consider the new Curado 70 MGL K HG. But that's just me.

Okay............... I think it boils down here to swim jigs or tubes. BUT THE PROBLEM IS RIPRAP. I have no idea how to deal with this stuff, other than my preferred method, which has always been squarebills shallow, and spinnerbaits deeper. Of the two I mentioned (swim jigs and tubes), would either one be better than the other in riprap? I'm hoping so, because if not I might as well go with Tom's advice and try rats. Why do new things have to be so complicated? ?? jj P.S. - I guess they only are for old people. ?