hi_steel_basser

KVD- Michael Jordan of bassin' Rick Clunn- Dr J of bassin' Ike- Dennis Rodman/cant stanim'

I live in Cartersville area, not sure where Varner is, but I'll take that bet your gonna regret I'm the best that's ever been. They don't have an emoticon that plays the fire out of a fiddle here. ;D

I live on the banks of Lake Allatoona, which is primarily a spotted bass fishery (and not even good at that). Most Georgians refer to it as the "Dead Sea". However, I have had considerable luck fishing the shaky head rig here, as well as at other fisheries. This is not a rig that you throw all day, and it is not a rig that you throw when you aren't sure that there are bass nearby. However, if you know the bass are there, but can't get a bite any other way, there is no better way to put them in the boat. It excels at deep brushpiles, bluffs, points, and laydowns. I use 1/8-1/4 oz. jigheads for all applications. If the wind is blowing too hard to feel the 1/4 oz. jighead, I will switch to a C-rig or jig. For most applications, however, a 3/16 oz jighead is ny all-purpose weight. I prefer Spot Remover jigheads, which are shaped somewhat like upside down mushroom heads. These heads seem to give the bait a slight stand-up quality, but are not true standup jigheads. They will fall on thier side, which adds to the erratic nature of the lure. The key to the shaky rig is to be slow and steady. After the lure lands, start bumping it ever so slightly with the rod tip. Keep the rod bouncing from the time the lure lands to the time it starts "bumping" off of the bottom. A good retrieve will take forever. My favorite ways to work this lure are as follows. First, laydown wood in deeper water. Cast to the middle of the tree, and start SLOWLY bouncing your lure along. You will feel the difference in weight when the line is across a branch, similar to a jignpig. Try to keep the lure shaking in the water about one foot below the limbs/forks. When you do this, the lure is quivering in the face of any bass hiding there. Work it through the branches slowly, and reel in once you are sure you have cleared all the wood cover. Please note: some of my best fish have come when I thought I had cleared th wood, and let the lure fall back to the bottom. Sometimes the end of the laydown has broken off and is laying in the deeper water, and there are some truly huge bass on these limbs. Bites are usually easy to detect in this situation, as the line will be wrapped or bent around limbs. The line will simply pull your rod down, and that is when you know to set the hook. Second, I like to throw the lure on steep rocky banks(ie riprap or bluff- like banks). The only variation here is that you rarely feel the fish, only slack line. Also, you do not shake as hard.A very gentle shake will keep the lure tight to the bank, allowing a slower fall. Whenever you don't feel anything at the other end, a fish has the bait. Drop your rod tip, reel til you feel weight, and set the hook. Finally, and the best technique on the planet for spawning to early summer spots, is working uphill on large points. Set the boat up shallow, cast deep, and work the lure back to you. The best spots in this scenario are theareas where your lure is trying to get hung up. Rock, stumps, brushpiles, whatever, if you hit them on the cast, put your lure back in there. Once again, strikes are easy to detect. These fish will move to deeper water 9 times out of 10. That means your rod will be pulled down. I guess that's all I have to say abbout it right now. My favorite worm is the zoom finesse worm in green pumpkin, although I plan to expiriment more with hand-pours and other colors later.

Hey, I will try to do a thread about shaky head rigs. They are my ultimate confidence lure, and one I know well, but I don't know everything. :-?

When all else fails, I throw a shaky rig with a green pumpkin zoom finesse worm. It will catch fish when nothing else will.

In water that is deeply stained, don't waste time throwing a jerkbait. The jig is the ultimate cold, stained water lure, along with a senko. If you absolutely have to fish fast, try a wiggle wart on the rip-rap. Use suspend-dots to make it rise SLO-O-W-LY, and let it pause about 5 seconds between short gentle pulls back to the bottom. If you aren't bumping bottom, you are wasting your time. MY two cents.

The worst thing about a C-rig is tying it up, spending 2-3 minutes getting everything just so, Then casting it out and immediately hanging up in the only stump in the whole dan lake. :-/Other than that, it is a very productive technique. I also don't like deep-diving cranks, as I have yet to catch a fish on one in my endless 20 minutes of fishing them. I'll switch to something that I know is pounding the bottom, like a C-rig. To clarify, I won't throw a crankbait in more than 10-15 feet of water. I'll throw a jerkbait anywhere, if the water is clear, and I won't throw a spinnerbait except in gnarly wood that I intend to pitch and flip later. But for right now, the ultimate dont-go-to rig for me is the drop shot.

Saltwater: on the day I decided to get serious about fishing, 5 or 6 years ago, I hooked a porpiose on purpose. That fish was way out off the end of the pier me and a buddy were fishing, hit a piece of cut bait, cane to the surface, rolled, and broke my line. Freshwater: I have lost several in the 5-lb range. The most memorable was a LMB that hit a rattletrap, and threw it at my head less than 30 feet from the bank. No s***, I had to duck. Another came off a c-rig at the boat, the day I decided to buy a net. Another taught me a lesson about retying, as it broke my line on the hookset. I was bed fishing, had a good day the day before, with ten fish brought in, the biggest being about 8 lbs. But I didn't retie, and the next morning, the first fish of the day,...

Most o the time I am trying to catch a limit. Some days I want to just catch one. But every time I go I am there to enjoy the day- nature's beauty, the chess match against the tiny-brained creature, and the adrenaline that comes with the realization that the other end of my line feels funny. And it has turned me into a hard-core shopaholic. : I guess I would be a 5-2 type, but I have yet to turn down the 3's. Of course, I plan on going with drop shot tackle for a few trips, at least until I learn it, so those trips will be 4 trips I guess. The only one that does't apply to me is the number 1 answer.

If you're fishing with a 60 million modulus rod you're fishing an Extreme. The Bionic Blades are IM8, 45 MM rods. I really can't say you'll see any appreciable difference in the Elite St Croix rods and an Extreme rod. As someone who sells rods and reels and test drives some of them I haven't noticed a great deal of difference in sensitivity once you get above say the 54 and 60 million modulus rods. Once you start buying rods higher than that you're paying for name recognition and a warranty you'll probably use because those thin walled, uber sensitive rods break. They also don't tolerate any kind of abuse and I mean even slight abuse.

Me niether. I just paint rubber bands and sharpen paper clips for hooks. Pair them up with a stick and some thread. ;D

The bait monkey has been well fed. But he will be hungry again soon. With all that money you saved, he will be looking for lucky crafts and hand-poured worms.

I really don't understand why more people haven't said Mustad. The ultra point is as sharp and durable as anything around. Gammys are OK, and owners are good, too, but I have caught more fish on mustads than any other brand. I do like owner trebles when I'm replacing crankbait hooks, but most of my worm and jig fishing has a mustad fish sticker on the end. 8-)

I thought I would be the first to post abou Spot Removers when I saw this post. THANKS ALOT, fluke. These things are almost like an up-side-down mushroom head, and are the best shaky-rig jigheads around.

I have only caught one dubba digit bass in my life- I caught it bed fishin from the bank. It was 10+, though I didn't have scales. I caught it on a black/blue jig with a 4" trailer at upper raliegh pond in Charlie Elliot PFA, where 3 of GA's top 5 have come from. (Ya'll know about#1, doncha?). My PB spotted bass weighed between 5-6, caught on a pointer 78, 8lb test, spinning tackle, about a month ago.

spook or sammy buzzer pop-r or imitation an old strike king wild shiner that the lip broke off of. This thing is so erratic even I don't know what it'll do next.

I really like wigglr warts in pre-spawn when the water is around 60-65, and too stained for jerkbaits. I use crawfish colors around rocks and wood. Also, I use suspend strips to make them rise really slow, esp. in colder water.

I couldn't find the quote button, So I'll just say that all of my deep water worm and jig fishin is done with P-line flouroclear and let you figger it out. For topwaters and spinnerbaits, I like Trilene Sensation. (Awesome line, abrasion res., castable, fairly low stretch) I'm supprised I'm the first to mention it here. When I'm flippin and pitchin, I use big game, p-line cxx, or p-line braid(can't remember the name, and I ain't about to go out and find it just to put the name in a post). The monos go into wood, and the braid goes into weeds. Crankin rods get a pure flouro, p-line or vanish.

You are'nt too well organized, you just ain't lazy enough.

I'm left-handed, so right-handed baitcasters do me just fine. And on spinning reels, dont you know you can put that handle on the other side!? All you have to do is take the knob that is directly opposite from the handle loose, pull the handle out, and switch sides! Every reel in my boat, casting and spinning, has the handle on the right side.

Myself, the only Shakespeare product I havent had a problem with is the ugly stick. My Team All Star flippin rod lost guide liners in the middle of a row of docks during a club tourney on Logan Martin, and the only Pflueger reel I will ever own threw its gears out the first time I relly tried to fish with it. That reel was and will remain the last Shakespeare product that I ever buy, and if I can talk others out of their junk, I will. My mind cannot be changed on this. They are the worst fishing product on the market. > > >

Wht is the deal with th scorpions? How much are they, and where do I get them? If this info has already been posted, I applegize. As you can see on the left, I ain't been here long.

I really like my St Criox crankin stick for deep divers. Everything else is graphite. I am looking at a G. Loomis rod to handle the shallower cranks, though.

Flukes, sluggos, senkos. If we are talking 60+ degree water, that's it. From late winter to then I throw a pointer, staysee, and jig.

Fortunately for me, there has never been any ice on any lake I wanted to fish. Therefore, it is my duty to be there everychance I can.