papajoe222

I don't do a lot of builds, maybe two or three a year, and I'm looking for a better way to keep the guides in place while I wrap them. I've been using those super small rubber bands and they work fine for a 'normal' size guide foot, but I'll be starting a build with micro guides, not my idea, and there isn't much foot to begin with. Any hacks that have worked for you that you'd care to share?

I was going to say just about the same thing. If the forage is using the last green weeds, or ones that don't die off over the winter, you'll find some smallies there, if you can fend off the LM.

Am I the only one that throws a Rocket Shad for deep smallies? It's not the only thing I throw, tube-blade-hair jig, but it's the first thing.

Public lakes close for waterfowl season.

Although I love ribbon tails, for me they have a time and place. Cold water, under 40 degrees, is not one of those times. I will downsize to a 4in. finesse, or a french fry and I will use a split shot, or drop shot to present it. The only time I'm able to do this is just after ice out and I won't go to a ribbon tail until the water is pushing 50. From then until the lakes close, I'll be throwing one on a T or C-Rig

Any condition that breaks up light penetration is a plus when it comes to bass fishing. Clouds, rain, dusk, dawn, wind,etc. is a bonus. That's when horizontal presentations seem to rule. Cloudless skies and little or no breeze is when vertical presentations seem to work better for me, especially around cover. Pitching soft plastics, or jigs tight to or into cover are the best producers. The sun also aids in finding location patterns as shade plays a big role then.

Or we both would rather be fishing. If that's the case, I must have a lot of kin on this site.

Which one????

As the water gets colder, I tend to throw something with less action. Both those baits have quite a bit of built in action, one is just a tighter action like a flat side crank vs. a normal one. When it gets downright cold, below 50, I'm throwing a chunk on a stand up, or shakey head head. Let it sit after it hits bottom until I can't stand it any longer and then I move it a few inches and repeat. I never feel, or see the hit. The fish is just 'there' when I go to move the jig.

I was throwing a .5oz. single Indiana bladed spinnerbait when I went out last week with a new friend. They were hammering it until the rain started and we got off the water. A short arm, single Colorado or Indiana blade is one of my go to choices for fall fishing up here.

My dad was a die hard walleye fisherman and bought a cabin on a young flowage in central Wisconsin when I was 12. My first bass was caught fishing a rip rap bank that had produced on trips prior to buying the cabin. I don't remember what lure I was using, likely a Rapala imitation, , but that bass jumped two or three times and hooked me, literally, in the hand after I landed it. It continued to shake around while both he and I were firmly hooked. A trip to the hospital to remove the hook (from my hand) and a ruined new lure and you'd think I'd have sworn off bass forever. Not. 60+years later, I'm still chasing them and still get that rush when one jumps.

Nothing wrong with a work in progress. My marriage is 53yrs. old and it keeps changing, but I still have a marriage.

I always love to hear/read about others experiences and you have a way of igniting excitement in your sharing. Thanks for doing just that and as always at the end of the season for us northeners, have a great off season. I'm tipping my glass to you and wishing you a great one to come.

I’m okay with my season being over. All the lakes around here close after October 31 for fishing. Making a list (and checking it twice) and lining up a couple of major projects will get me through the holidays and the projects will keep me busy until the lakes open in the spring.

So, my fishing season is over and I'll be putting the winter cover on the boat and jacking up the trailer this week-end. Prior to covering the boat, I'll be emptying all the tackle I have in it. Prior to putting that in storage, I do a quick inventory to see what I'll need to replenish during the off season. That's when I begin to put together a Christmas/Birthday list. If I'm looking for a new reel, or rod I'll start searching the web for what I like, I don't need another combo, but that never deterred me. I'll save the bait monkey a visit and give him a courtesy call and we'll go back and forth until either Christmas, or my birthday in early Jan. roll around. If by some slim chance the wife or kids don't get me something off the list, then I just gift myself. Whadaya think? Too early??? I could hold off until after election day................

It depends on the size and if the bait is solid, or hollow and how fast I intend to present it. A 5/8oz on a 5in. or 6in. hollow body would be difficult to keep at that depth and retrieve it slow enough to get a good body roll and tail action.

I always have a few rods pre-rigged and set up others as conditions warrant. If it’s a lake I frequent, I’ll scope to find out the depth of fish activity and base my other choices on my findings. If it’s a new lake, or one I may not have fished in a while, I’ll cruise around looking for both a starting depth and potential spots to fish. After entering those waypoints, I’ll return to them with my rods rigged accordingly. .

I didn’t read all the responses pertaining to the map, but regardless of the water level dropping, the contours don’t change. The shortcoming of the map is the fact that they are marked at five foot intervals. I suggest graphing any area you intend to fish to locate the exact location of the structure and what the bottom composition is. That and the presence of any cover will give you a good idea of potential areas, not only now, but for spring and summer locations.

Mine is a 7ft. ML/Fast casting rod I built using a Forecast spinning rod blank I acid wrapped the Fugi guides. I paired it with a Daiwa Alphas 103. The biggest fish I've landed on that combo was an 11.5lb cat just today. I never doubted the equipment and it performed better than I'd hoped for.

The lakes around here close on the 31st, so I played hooky from honey do's today and got out on the water. I only had four hours to fish, but I made the best of it: Four LM bass, the biggest was my best for the year from this lake, 4.5lb. Six trout, the biggest was 16in. Four giant perch and the the grand slam on my last cast was an eleven pound cat, all caught on the same BFS combo and a 1/4oz. Blade bait. I never picked up another rod. Last game of the season, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and I crushed it! Freddie Freeman ain't got nothin' on the old man.

For me, 5/8oz. is a little heavy for a 5in. I throw mine on a St.Croix 7' MH/Fast, 15lb. YoZuri SuperSoft and a 5.9:1 Daiwa Fuego. That being said, I also slit the belly on both my hollow and solid paddletails for a weedless presentation and rarely fish them deeper than 12-15ft. You may want to go to a heavier power for that weight, but keep your line in the 14lb. range to keep it from prohibiting the bait's action.

Yea, I've been experiencing this. Every season as far back as I can remember, there's been one lure that's produced better than what did the previous year. That excludes soft plastics and jigs. Crankbaits one year, spinnerbaits the next, even topwater from pre-spawn, to iceup. Then there's years when hard baits just don't produce well at all and lately, that's been the situation. Sometimes it's the same category of lure, but a different style. Flat sided cranks seem to be hot one year and the next it's square bills and the third year, flat sided are back hitting clean up.

I'm lucky, I'm retired. If I plan to go fishing and the wind is out of the east, I simply change plans. Cut the grass, load up some ammo, read a book, etc. I put in enough week-end time on the water with the wind out of the east when I worked to swear off doing it once I retired. Did I catch fish back then? Yes, but very few and I worked hard for every one of them. I'm easy like Monday morning.

One way to avoid those 'traps' is to study the lake you'll be fishing beforehand, take into consideration the season and recent weather, then put together a loose plan on where to start your search. Do just that, search until you either locate fish or at the least some sort of cover on or near a structural element. Then determine the depth and activity level of the fish. Now you have a loose pattern of where to find more fish. Catch fish on a second spot and you can refine your pattern to eliminate more water. If conditions change during the day, at the very least you know where they were and can then deduce where they may have gone, or if they're still there, what you need to change to continue catching.

There really isn't an all around line for the presentations you mentioned. Mono will work, but 14lb. is a little overkill for everything but T-rigs. Fluoro is a good choice for everything but topwater. If you're going to purchase line, I'd go with 12lb mono. For moving baits, I don't concern myself about line visibility and for T-rigs, I've been catching bass on mono for decades in some super clear water. I don't think fluoro gives you much advantage there as it does with sensitivity and a more direct connection to your bait (no bow in your line).