papajoe222

I live in the flat lands of Illinois and anytime I'm driving outside the state, this is what I do. You ask the busty blond bending over in front of you to move so you can see the crankbait display better.

??? That's one I've never come across. Could it have taken on some water, or chipped the lip?

As long as you are using equipment that can handle fishing a jig, the weed guard shouldn't be a concern. With most novice jig anglers, the large diameter hook is what becomes a concern. With suitable line, rod and hook-set you'll find a jig hard to beat no matter where you fish it. An easy way to get a bait under the dock is to tail weight it. It will fall away from you on slack line. You can add weight to most compact plastic baits, but an internal weighted tube rigged backwards has a ton of action both when backing under a dock and when you pop it off the bottom. A little off topic, but be sure to check your line frequently no matter what technique you may be using. That goes for your hooks, too.

I fish a lake in SW Wisconsin that is no wake from 8:00PM-10:00AM. Picked up a 22in. LM the eve of July 4th. The locals got this one right because everyone gets to enjoy the lake no matter what day it is.

Important: When rigging a worm with a straight shank hook like this, be sure to angle the hook point down, NOT STRAIGHT into the worm. (as in the third pic Mosster47 posted). Reverse the angle when inserting it back into the worm. Some guys like to run the point all the way through the top ad then back it down just past the edge. I like to just break the skin. The way I set the hook, getting the point through the worm and into the fish's mouth Isn't a problem

I have a 24V MotorGuide with70lb. thrust. It's a bear to steer on high speeds as the torque wants it keep it turning and my normal response is to let up pressure on the pedal. I've had the remote 24V and steering was a breeze, but with the model I had the speed or thrust setting remained where it was set with no indicator to show what it was when you turned it back on. One too many times it was on high and the motor was turned when I pressed the remote. The last time it pulled the mount off the bow and bent the mounting bolts . time I almost went over the side.

That is what most use, but you could just use a strip of black electrical tape on the spool if you want to spool up with just braid. You don't need to waste the line you have on. if you have another reel, use it to rake the line off (or spool that reel with the braid) and then put it back on the first reel.

You got your answer. The line is slipping around the spool.

If I'm using a shakey head, I'm dead sticking it a lot so I use a thin floating worm. The slightest bit of current, or just attempting to hold the rod still gets that thing wiggling. Before I went to hand poured, Berkley Havoc worms did a fine job.

Mid-summer, 9:55AM, water temp. 78. air temp 72, Barometer 30.1, two days after a major front moved through. I was slow walking a SuperSpook Jr parallel to a vertical drop (7-15ft.) just off a small hump. I'd worked that same area earlier, but was walking that bait a lot faster. Caught one on the slow tapering side of the hump working it slow and immediately moved over to the steeper side. I can't say for sure, but I'm confident that the change in speed made a difference as that fish was suspended 15yrds. off the drop.

If shade were the only factor to consider, the northeast side of the lake would offer shade longer. That shade would position fish facing out (west). With other contributing factors being unknown, I'd concentrate on the east side, not only because of shade, but the wind is out of the west, or southwest most often.

I'm with WIGuide on this, but a sure way to find out if rod action is the reason you're having difficulty is to attempt to work the frog with the tip up rather than down. If you're still having difficulty walking it, it's very likely the rod, not it's length.

As long as you mentioned it, a fish caught with a reaction bait doesn't necessarily mean the fish are active. When used as a search tool, it is valuable because it gives away fish location. Many guys will immediately put it down once that first fish is caught and go to a presentation that allows them to pick apart an area. Others will probe the area with the reaction bait. The big difference, IMO, is that when the fish aren't active, the angler that sticks with the reaction bait may pick up another fish while the one that switches may clean up. Of course, there's the flip side when the fish are active and the guy with the reaction bait cleans up in short order. I prefer the 'let them tell me what they want' approach and will stick with the reaction bait before switching. Even if it's working, I'll make a few casts with a jig or worm.

I can see where the braid backing making a filled spoil lighter may help, but not if it's going out when being used for backing Possibly you're thinking using braid as the main line with a leader attached.

Summer time? Chart/white Stanley VibraMax double willow.

It's happened to me on a number of occasions, but the best was catching a fish with my wife's favorite crank hanging from its side. She'd hooked a nice smallie and after about the fifth or sixth jump, her line went slack. I couldn't guess as to why because I saw that both sets of trebles had found something to bury into. The front one was completely in its mouth and the rear one had caught on the outside of its mouth. The line had broken a few inches from the lure and I figured we'd never see it, or the fish again. Two hours later about a hundred yards from where she'd hooked it, I tied into the same fish on my favorite topwater. When I got it to the boat, there, stuck in its side was her crank. It must have done something to get that front treble out of its mouth only to have it impale itself a second time. The wife was none to happy to discover that the crank was now mine as finders-keepers applies to found lures too.

The most important area of improvement, IMO, is in finding fish/ eliminating unproductive water. Skill level, when it comes to presenting lures, or even determining which style lure to use in what conditions/under what circumstances is something that can be achieved with practice and time on the water. I've fished with guys, and if I'm honest I'm one of them, that had what I consider have average skills yet consistently placed high in tournament standings. What separates them from the others is how quickly they can find fish and determine their activity level.

If the wind has been blowing in the same direction for some time, I'd concentrate on where the water is being pushed under the bridges. Those neck down areas will provide more current. The same goes for rain. The influx and out going water creates current with the bonus of water coming in to the pond having increased oxygen and nutrients. Lacking either of those situations, I'd concentrate on areas offering shade and cover.

I'm curious as to why you feel the backing would make a difference it casting distance?

I consider a few things when choosing the size, color and type of trailer. First is the cover and/or structure I'll be targeting. A trailer with a lot of action is a great choice for rock or gravel, sparse weeds, or flipping deadfalls, but it's a poor choice for heavy vegetation. Second, and a lot of guys don't understand this, or are unaware, matching your jig and trailer combo to the predominate bottom or cover color. Lastly, the size of the trailer adds to the bulk of the presentation along with slowing its overall rate of fall. A light jig with a bulky, action trailer will give you a big bait that falls slowly and a heavy jig with a slender or one with less bulk is going to fall faster. The second two are ways to tweak my presentation when I'm looking to find out what the fish want, but when it comes to a vertical presentation, I don't feel color to be as important.

This is a little off topic, but changing bait styles to something like a swim jig will not only get you more distance (less wind resistance), but will enter the water with less splash and also get your presentation down to the big girls lurking below the schooling fish. Really, any compact bait is going to cast further than a bigger one of the same or relative weight. The same goes for baits with weight transfer technology.

Tenn. Shad, or Nutter Shad

I have a whole peg board full of baits that haven't been used, but I only have them to replace the ones I loose, or tear up. I would venture to say that over half of the tackle I actually carry with me has never gotten wet. Mostly cranks and topwaters as I have my favorites and rarely venture outside my comfort zone. Add to those, Swivel head jigs. Chatterbaits, Money Minnows, a couple of Lucky 13's and I likely have an extra 20lbs. of stuff I just have to take along 'just in case'

Take the rod with you on your next trip to BPS. They may replace it for you even though it's only warrantied for one year. I had one of their MicroLite rods for almost four years. Lost the insert on one of the guides and took it with when I went shopping for a replacement. While talking with an associate I told him the reason I needed to replace the rod. He picked out the current edition and replaced mine with it. No charge. Great customer service. I ended up using the money I'd set aside on some tackle.

I'm not familiar with a Daiwa RG. I do, however have two Regals and I would rate my Pfluger President much higher in overall performance. Not that the Daiwa isn't quality crafted, but the drag and rotor balance is superior on the Pfluger.