TOXIC

Don’t discount the value of the reaction bite and what I call the oddball bait. Neither of which match the hatch. A reaction bite is just that and works well when bass are not actively feeding or there is an abundance of forage. Ever notice how most of the pros put an “oddball” bait on an a-rig? And that is the bait that gets bit. Works the same with single baits as well. Whether it is contrasting colors or size, the oddball will get bit.

I have been throwing Senkos for over 35 years and even developed a couple of colors for Yamamoto. Here’s my take......297 (green pumpkin/black flake) has proven to catch fish in the most water conditions. I’ve caught them in tannic Florida water, gin clear lake st Clair, muddy Potomac water and all shades in between. I’ve literally thrown it coast to coast, north to south and in every water condition and have caught fish on it. That being said, I have also found other colors that work better in certain conditions and there are some bodies of water that have better color choices specific to them. 297 is Yamamoto’s #1 selling color and it’s not just because Roland uses it or somebody won a TX with it. It’s because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of color choice if you are in a new place or maybe not as experienced analyzing color choices.

Sure. The great thing about the DShad is that it can be fished in all sorts of situations. I used it in the heavy weeds on the Chick last weekend by pulling it across the top of the cover pausing in the open holes letting it sink. I was getting most of my hits just as it made it to the weed edge. Earlier this year I threw it in open water where there were fish schooling on the Rappahonock River. They would either hit it as soon as it hit the water or if I let it sink like a wounded baitfish. In Michigan on lake St Clair, I have dragged a weightless DShad drift fishing. It was all the smallmouth wanted one year and it saved our trip. It can also be used as a search bait by just casting and twitching. The DShad is heavier than most other fluke style baits and sinks at a faster rate. It’s probably one of the most versatile baits I throw and I always have one tied up. I use a 7 foot Quantum Smoke spinning combo (2500 size Smoke reel) with 6lb mono. I use a 4.0 gamakatsu ewg thin wire hook for my Texas rig. Be advised, when fishing the heavy grass, it does require that you go in to retrieve bigger fish if you are fishing from a boat.

Here’s a past post of mine that explains why the DShad is so deadly. I throw a Yamamoto DShad a LOT. It is one of my go to baits. I have rigged it many different ways but weightless is the most deadly for me. Depending on how I want the bait to act, the key is where you insert the hook in the nose for a weightless Texas Rigged bait. Straight in the center will give you a flat level fall. to the top and the bait will dive when you twitch it, to the bottom and the bait will climb on the twitch. Likewise left or right of center will move the bait sideways. There are a lot of minor adjustments inbetween those that I mentioned that will dictate the baits movement. Although spinning is my preferred gear, you should be able to cast a DShad with a properly set up baitcaster.

Since I Texas rig my dropshot baits, when I stow, I wrap the line and weight around the spinning reel handle and cross it over 1 time. I then spin the rod and wrap the line like normal. The bait and hook lay tight to the rod.

For 17 years, we’ve been driving from Virginia to Michigan. Driving the 10 hours up is no problem but driving home after a solid week of sun up to sun down fishing can be a challenge. For the trip home we leave at 3am. I am a driving fool and only once in those 17 years did I have to ask my fishing partner to take the wheel. It’s an hour to any of my local spots and isn’t a problem.

You shouldn’t see any more than a 2 to 3 mph drop in speed with blades.

Ha, the owner of the campground was trying to please the fishermen. All of the normal parking spots were roped off for food trucks. it ended up being a very good day. You got the ramp correct. No matter how tough it is, there’s always the chance of catching a big fish in the Chick due to the stocking of Southern strain largies. Just wish it wasn’t such a long drive.

You have been given the pros and cons but also remember that in order to use the GPS to its fullest function, you have to have very current electronics that integrate with the trolling motor you choose. That is for following contours and mapping in addition to just the spot lock feature. You don’t say what year or size boat you have but power pole blades are the lightest of the shallow water anchors.

After my frustrating trip to Wisconsin and the fact that the Potomac has fished so bad this year with 11lb bags by some very good anglers getting checks in tournaments and our secondary river, the Rappahannock blown out by the recent and constant rains, I was just content to fire up the smoker, throw in a couple racks of ribs and call it a weekend. My fishing partner called me and said let’s make the run down south to the Chickahominy river and give it a whirl. To be honest, we have fished there before but it’s a long drive, small ramp and it is Labor Day weekend after all. I got myself up at 3:30am drove to my buddies house and we headed out. Thought it was going to be a goat rope when I found out the campground we launch at was having live music the next night so I knew it was going to be jammed. I was right, after we launched, I had to park a 1/4 mile down the road and be brought back via golf cart. As we made our way out, there were a lot of fishermen spaced strategically down the whole river which only made me think how busy it would be when the pleasure boaters all woke up and hit the water. Now that I’ve bellyached enough, we had a good day with around 20-25 fish, all good sized and one that got off at the boat that was a 6 or 7 pounder. Still got to fire up the smoker and call this Labor Day weekend a success.

Most all of the tournaments local to the lake i guided on did not allow me to fish the tournaments. It is up to the client whether or not they wanted to catch numbers or size. A lot of my business was taking tournament fishermen out before their off limits time frame. By the time you factor in business licensing, insurance, fuel, oil, tires and maintenance on both the truck and boat, gear, baits, Launch fees, and a 1000 other incidental expenses added to the fact that is also seasonal, you have to be on the water most every day. You can offset some of your costs with sponsorships but those too require time and commitment. Either doing shows or writing articles or finding some other way to show you are earning the sponsorship. It’s just like the old saying, “How do you make a million dollars guiding? Start with 2 million.”?

As a guide, the best advise I can give you is first and foremost learn how to run a business. Second, learn marketing. If you can’t locate and follow your target species of fish throughout the season, we shouldn’t even be having this conversation. Make sure your customer service skills are well polished because no matter how good of a guide you are, there are going to be days where the fish don’t cooperate. Your clients need to feel like they got their money’s worth even if they didn’t catch a fish. Whether that is teaching them now techniques, or how to read water, or to learn the lake or just being able to entertain them. I would suggest you go to work for an established guide while you learn the ropes. At the end of the day guiding is a low margin business and you better have your ducks in a row if you want to be successful.

Watched an old Elite series tournament where Mike Iconelli repeatedly caught fish by starting his big motor and doing doughnuts in a cove he was fishing. The bite would die off and he would do it again. Worked for him. Many times I have fished the mud line created by heavy boat traffic by throwing a wide wobble crank horizontal so that it wove in and out of the muddy water. World a lot of the time.

Normally when waters decline you have to look back in time to the year class of the size fish you are catching. For example, 4 and 5 years ago we had bad spawn years on the Potomac. Those bad spawns are catching up to us now. It’s taking 12lbs to win on the river when it normally takes 20+. We have switched to a different river and have done much better. I’m not a tournament guy any more so I’m just out for fun. Give your river a couple of years and I’ll bet it comes back.

I just spent 2 weeks on a chain of lakes in Wisconsin that are overpopulated by rental pontoons and people who don’t know the first thing about safety or things as simple as being able to read no wake, shallow area and navigational buoys. It kept the sheriff quite busy so this doesn’t surprise me at all.?

Yes and no. Yes you can throw just about every lure on a baitcaster but no they are not the best tool for every job. Just take a peek at any of the upper level pros on any tour and you will see a good number of both spinning and casting.

Exactly right. Gary does prefer the 3.0 because it allows the 5 inch Senko the most action. You trade off a little action when you step up to the 4.0. On windy days or fishing relatively deep, I will even use a 5.0 but it is rare.

What type and manufacturer of reel? Quality of the bearings may be the issue or the water may have washed all of the lube out of a bearing. If the bearing is rusted then it is more complicated.

Thought I would report back on my trip. Good news is the boat ran great and no major breakdowns. Bad news is that the lakes are almost not worth the trouble of pulling my boat 2 days up and 2 days back to fish for 2 weeks. I don’t know if they sprayed again but all the aquatic grasses are all dying or dead and as a result, the bass (both largemouth and smallmouth) have turned into night time feeders almost exclusively. Yes, I know how to fish deep and I did catch some fish but to really be successful, it was a night bite. This has been coming for the last 5 years. I talked to the sheriff out on the water and he patrols a few different bodies of water and said this has been a tough year. As for night fishing, the mosquitoes were off the hook this year. Nothing was stopping them and I forgot my thermacell. Right at dusk they came out in droves and were ravenous.?. I could have loaded up and done some day trips but that kind of defeats the purpose besides, it’s a royal pain to pull the boat out since I have to store the trailer offsite and deal with the marina. I’ll still go to the lakes but I am going to have to put some thought into pulling the boat next year.

Use a 4.0 ewg hook for your Texas rig. The larger hook and gap will jump more than a 3.0 when you get bit. I guided many new Senko fishermen and women and very rarely had them deep hooked using a 4.0 Gamakatsu ewg.

Yes.

It goes on the dash and reads the plate height. I do not have one and it is a pain turning around to see where it is set. When running and I am adjusting for speed, I can watch my water pressure gauge to tell me when I have reached maximum safe height. I also forgot to mention that a hydraulic comes in handy when you are running in rough water and need to lower your motor to keep from blowing out and get safer performance in the nasty stuff.

Answered above. As for question #6. I would stay with Bob’s because I have had excellent customer service from them and I feel their plates are a little more responsive, as in speed of adjustment. I use the hydraulic because I fish shallow water and it helps get on plane without dragging. I also fish a chain of lakes where there are 26 lakes connected by canals that are shallow and it is much easier to raise my motor than to tilt it. It keeps the nose from swaying and the rear from dipping. I also like to tweak the plate to get a few more mph out of my tank. A manual plate is for those who need/want some additional setback and the performance gains that come with that. Manual plates are a set it and forget it kind of thing whereas I am adjusting mine for a lot of different reasons. One thing I would suggest to anyone who gets a hydraulic plate, also get the gauge installed.

Tom, My sincere condolences for you and your family. If you ever get out my way in Virginia, I always have an open seat in my boat.

Thanks for the well wishes. I’ll be sure to take some pics. I’ve been traveling quite a bit throughout this pandemic helping my daughter pick up and deliver high dollar horses out of quarantine after being imported into the USA through the USDA in New York.