bagofdonuts

NittyGritty is dead on. But down here there is the shad spawn in-between the movement from spawning backwater out to the main river channel. Riprap banks in the early morning are good starting places to look for spawning shad.

my guess is blue heron. big stab wound from the top.

Your in frog heaven down there. Best retrieve for me has been walking the dog. Same retrieve as a spook. A loop knot will help the action.

i've used the double improved cinch with no issues. but have learned it comes together better if you tighten it down evenly then tighten single tag end, then the main line. inspect the knot to make sure there's no odd loose loops. the single improved cinch will slip.

with any floro you should use a knot that doubles the line to reduce slipping. I use an improved cinch knot, but double the line going through the hook eye then tie the improved cinch with the doubled line. never had that knot fail, but i wet it, tighten it the same way each time, and inspect it. If it's not clean and neat looking I cut it off and retie. you should also check your line fairly often for nicks, if you feel one, cut it off and retie. catching big bass is about being prepared when one bites.

any quality mono in 12 or 14lb will be the easiest to handle. Having said that i love 18lb sniper floro for pitching, flipping and skipping. As finesse said, I too prefer line with a bit more memory when pitching and skipping. It is easier to throw slack into your cast, which allows the jig to sink straight down when pitching, and allows the jig to skip better.

We go through alot of peanut butter at my house. So, I use the empty pb jars for my crankbaits. Put rubber bands around the hooks so they stay separated and just cram them in there. Each jar will hold 8-12 baits depending on the size. Have one full of sq bills, one medium divers, etc. They fit nicely in my tackle bag. Works great for me.

For me its totally a gut feeling kind of thing. If conditions are tough and I'm confident in what I'm doing, I may go at it all day knowing I'm only gonna get a few bites. I still probably switch between a couple of presentations. This spring i had a pretty good stretch flipping a jig or a texas rigged beaver. They are very similar presentations, but some days they'd bite the t-rigged better and some days the jig. But if I feel like they should be aggressive and what i'm doing feels wrong I'll switch up real fast. All i can say is that you should trust your gut.

Interesting story on the Arkansas bass listed on the link as the state record. It was invalidated because the dude bought his license after he caught the bass.

ww2farmer nailed it. but i will add that for me the weight is more of a speed deal than a depth deal. All my swim jig fishing is in fairly shallow water, so weight = speed. if the fish want it fast i use a 1/2oz (this is most of the time in warmer water). i get a lot of reaction strikes ripping the heavier jig and can cover a lot of water. if the fish want slow and subtle i go lighter.

Swim jig works great in weeds. Especially where there’s a soft bottom and fish are not relating to the bottom, but are hanging just under the weeds.

Beautiful fish. Don't see many northern strain lm breaking 11lbs. Looks to be in good shape too - solid muscle. Bet she's hard on the bream.

I count for a living. So, unless someone is paying me i never count.

tie direct to a belly weighted hook. you need to be retying baits occasionally anyway. so a snap saves you nothing. loose the snaps.

some of those old deep quarries are not very fertile. may not have enough prey.

I really am impressed with the Academy H20 line of rods and they're around the 40-50 range.

I love it and wading the local creeks in the summer for sunfish and bass. Foam spider and the cheap wal-mart poppers work for me. I tried some pretty fancy hopper imitations, but the foam ant is hard to beat for blue gill.

Or I just get a pack of flukes and a six pack.

Ok, I’m in. Hack attack jig 3:99 4/0 straight shank hooks. 5 5/16 bullet weights. 4.99 2 packs sweetbeaver. 6

i want to change my original answer. 30 yards with a 1/2 oz weight is a joke. I use to compete in fly rod casting competitions and 30 yards is respectable with a fly rod, but wouldn't win you anything. I think people were trying to be nice and encourage you. You should be able to throw a 1/2oz weight twice as far as you are. Loosen the brakes, practice more, and educate your thumb. how's that for direct.

last time i went(4-5 days ago) they were on the bed in the back water 2-4'. caught them on texas rigged beaver (green pumpkin/blue swirl). not clear enough to see the beds, but was casting to known spawning flat from prior years, isolated stumps away from the bank. caught a few also on gravel bottom in 8' in a back water feeder stream also on the t-rig, these were smaller fish. when they get locked on the bed in this dingy water it can get tough. It's supposed to rain 5" here over next couple of days, so it will change.

adding a trailer will increase boyancy and allow you to fish it at a slower speed without sinking.

I'd say your doing pretty good. I rarely bomb a long cast, usually a inside 20yds. The big advantage to a bait casting reel over spinning is accuracy. Work on getting the bait to impossibly small targets at a shorter distance.

Always like to keep in mind that lures are just tools. There is no magic tool, just magic in matching the right tool, at the right time, in the right place. Take a jig for example - everyone always says jigs are good baits in the spring or in rising water or dirty water, etc. I'm convinced its not that a jig is the better lure choice because it imitates crawfish or has a unique action that's good under these conditions. It's that the bass position themselves under these conditions in areas that a jig is a really good tool (i.e. tight to cover and shallow). Lure manufacturers make a good deal of money convincing us that there's a magic tool.

Floro would be better than braid. With braid there's a good chance that your jerking the bait away too fast. The stretch in floro or mono would help. A slight delay in your hook set might also help.