papajoe222

I have a Humminbird DI amounted to my MotorGuide it's one of the smaller units. The transducer is mounted under the motor and the cable is run up the shaft. You can purchase a special mount that protects the transducer. My total cost was under $200

Sounds more like line twist if it's wrapping itself around your rod tip. Try cutting off whatever you have tied on. Let out about thirty yards of line, close the bail and idle sccross the lake. That will take out the majority of twist.

I do three things to a frog before it ever hits the water. Shorten the legs. Bluegill often grab the legs and pull the frog under. Sharpen the hooks. Yea, straight out of the box and every time I take it out of my box. Slightly bed the hooks out from the body unless it's really soft . Like all top waters, I wait until I feel the fish. Take up the slack, feel the fish, swing for the fences

I'll do one of two things on the same retrieve. I'll either stop the retrieve if I'd been reeling fairly fast, or speed up if I'd been reeling slow. No love. Replicate and do just the opposite. If I still don't get bit, but the lure and retrieve were producing, I'd just stick with the pattern and chalk it up to a fish that was unwilling to commit. If the bumping is the only response I've been getting, I'll either downsize or change colors. In Florida, try switching colors first. For some reason they can be very color selective.

Depending on the company, A M/H power may be too much for throwing weightless Senkos. Also if you combine that with a Fast, or X-Fast action, you can rule out using it for cranks IMO. My suggestion is to take your reel with you, mount it on a prospective rod and run the line through the guides. Hold the rod as you normally do and see how it feels. Then, with five or six feet of line hanging from the tip, grab the end of the line and pull down loading the rod. Is the bend in the rod more or less than you prefer? Double check the line and lure ratings against what you normally use and when everything meets your expectations, you've found your rod. I am curious as to where on the blank your Tournament ZX's broke. Where you attempting to unsnag a lure, casting, or setting the hook/playing a fish?

The lure the OP mentioned is a lipless crank and although rod position plays a minor role in how deep it runs, letting it sink to a desired depth is the key

If you fish spinnerbaits, then control the depth the same way. Cast it out, close your bail and let it sink to the desired depth before starting your retrieve. Reel too fast and it will rise, or too slow and it will run deeper.

What Catt said. Plus, even if the spot produced I'll return to it later. With shallow water fish, it may take a day or more for another fish to take up residence on a piece of cover, but with fish relating to structure, they can move on off a spot multiple times. Especially if conditions change.

If you have access to those little rubber bands used on dental braces or can cut a small section of surgical tubing about that size, slip it over the R bend and then tie your line on. I use this method when fishing waters with pike and muskie and attach the spinnerbait with a leader. I've never had the snap slide down or up the arm doing this. IN a pinch, you can bite off a section of plastic worm and push the R bend through it.

How experienced are you at removing hooks from yourself. Seriously. Inexperience with them in addition to using them at night is asking for trouble. Even when using a headlamp or some other lighting in the boat or on shore, any bait can come flying back at you from the water, not to mention handling a fish with one in their mouth.

NO, NO, NO scale. In my mind, my PB can be whatever weight I want it to be. It all depends who I'm talking too and how many drinks I've had. If I'd weighed it, I'd have to tell the truth. This way it isn't a lie because I don't know for sure how big it was.

Once you weigh 'em, they stop growing.

What brand and lb. test mono are you using?? I also use a graphite cranking rod with a softer tip and was having a similar problem last year. I switched to 8lb. Yo-Zuri Hybrid from 10lb. Trilene on the same rod/reel. My problem wasn't tearing out the hooks, it was not getting a good hook-set when the took the bait all the way into their mouth.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it appears to be around 18in. and in the 4lb. catagory. Nice fish though. What'd you get her on. Looks like you were fishing from the bank.

Catching big fish is all about putting the bait where they are. Big, or small, an easy meal is what gets them. The only time I buy into the 'big bait, big fish' theory is when I'm fishing for muskie and catch bass. Those fish are prey for the big boys and they are on the move and burning energy to stay alive, so a big meal translates to your argument of less energy spent for a bigger reward. Many of the bigger fish that I've caught (I'm a northern boy too), I've done so on 3.75in. tubes and compact jig/trailer combinations. I've also caught 8in. bass on a 6in. lure. My advice to you is don't let your wife see our responses. Show her some magazine article that proves your point.

I like to dead stick a floating worm on a shakey head. Using a heavy jig, I can drag it along until I contact cover, or it free falls down a drop. I'll stop it, let it sit for 30 seconds or so, shake it and wait again. A Havoc BottomHopper will wave with the slightest movement or current and really holds the Spike-It garlic scent. I always add scent when dead sticking.

Unless the weeds are matted, a Zoom UltraVibe Speed Worm or a Stanley Ribbit Frog buzzed over the weeds and allowed to drop into openings are my favs. In all but the thickest weeds, I like a creature tube rigged weedless with a heavy internal weight.

It happens more often than you would think. If MikeOGNR knows how to remove the side plate to access the spool, he should check out its shaft. If it's covered in grease, that (being packed with too much grease from the factory) is likely contributing to the distance concern.

Welcome to BR The 'best color' depends on what you want the bait to represent. If you know the major forage of the lake, then something that looks like it would be my first choice, otherwise I'd recommend something dark in color as light penetration diminishes with depth and a dark color will give the fish contrast down deep, or something bright that can be seen easier in the reduced light. There are no absolutes, just general guidelines when it comes to fishing. Find a starting point and if that doesn't work, improvize.

You seem to be limiting yourself to as far as presentations go. As suggested, a Colorado bladed spinnerbait (possibly black or dark blue) is a great choice for muddy water. A wide wobbling, rattling crank,or swimming a jig with a trailer that moves a lot of water, possibly with a rattle, are some other options. The jig gives you the option of slowing down your presentation without changing baits.

Whenever you find cover, or a change in bottom composition on or near a piece of structure take your time probing it with a couple of different presentations. Regardless of what you consider a small rock pile to be, yes, it's worth giving serious consideration to. This goes for subtle saddles or mini points or indentations along the point. The less frequent those changes or cover occur and the closer they are to the main structural break, the better the chances that they will hold multiple fish. Just as an example, a dock thirty feet from a drop off has good potential. If it's the only dock around, that potential increases.

Whichever you have the most confidence in. I prefer using a snap tied direct to the bait. Some baits track better, plus it makes changing baits much easier for an old fart like me. I agree with your statement about them being a great search bait and I'll add that they are under utilized.

Not knowing the lake, I'd start out working the docks (flipping/pitching) on the side of the lake the wind is blowing to. I'd stick with that as long as it produced concentrating on any shade the docks offer. Moving my way toward deep structure with the swim jig targeting the inside (shallow) weed line first, the tops of the weeds as I moved deeper and the outside weed line before switching to a football jig and working any structural changes or cover on the structure. Remember this though, jigs are not search baits. You should have an idea of where the fish are located before you start. Fishing a body of water that you know will eliminate a lot of searching with a slow presentation. If you aren't familiar with the lake, I suggest you locate active fish with some other presentation first. Once found, you can switch to the jig presentation that best fits the situation.

Switch to an oval split ring or a snap. The regular split rings split-section can work its way around to the line tie of the bait and hang there. The result is more torque applied to one side or the other leaving you with a bait that wants to run true, but can't.

Try adding a swivel a foot or so above the hook. If you do go with braid, you can still use fluoro below it.