papajoe222

So I was out today giving a modified punch rig a work out. The heaviest tungsten weight I have is 1/2oz., so I piggy backed a 1/4oz. atop it. My bait of choice was a RageTail Menace. I was surprised to discover the fall rate was slower than I expected. Although I didn't catch anything in the two hours I was experimenting, I did get a good feel for the rig, which to me is very important. Thanks to all for your assistance.

There isn't a lot you can do to protect yourself at night. If you were old enough to carry a gun, I wouldn't recommend shooting at noises, no matter how frightening. Your best offense is a good defense. And the best defense is to know your adversary. Determine what animals could be a threat and how active they are at night. The flash of an extremely bright light will temporarily blind most any animal. At the very least, I'd invest in a good tactical flashlight.

Shallow; frogs, jigs and wake baits and buzzbaits Mid-depth; cranks and Spooks Deep; football jig, cranks and C-rig Any depth, or most anytime; Jig, Tube, Worm

My 19 is a Gen4 so it came with the assortment of back straps. I really like that beaver tail, though I didn't think I would. The trigger is set at 5.5lb. which took a little getting used to and I ended up switching out the sights. I'm also getting used to carrying it, but it's only going to see limited duty as such. The M&P is a dream to shoot now. I just wish there were more competitions I could enter with it. It's trigger breaks at 3.5lb. with much less take up and a shorter reset. Well worth the investment. Looks like I'll be doing a bunch of reloading during the cold weather. I already have 600 pcs. of brass.

I love taking my 22WMR bolt action to the range, but I've been out of it's favorite ammo for months. I can find other brands in bulk, but even then .223 doesn't cost much more and I have the 300yrd range to myself.

We don't get them up here, or alligator, scorpion, or Tex-Mex either. Then again, I ain't seen a pair of Daisy Dukes yet this year. Just sayin'

I'd be on the bow with a bat and a batting helmet. Three strikes and you're out, any contact with the bat and a fish is a run and a HPC (hit by carp) ends your game. Batter Up!

You know you have a fishing problem when you return to work after an off 'sick' day with a beet red face and neck (except for your racoon eyes) and your fellow workers all give you a look that tells you, not only is lunch on you, but you're going to be cleaning the presses for the remainder of the week.

Do you guys choose the weight of the punch rig or jig by how thick the canopy is, or how deep the water beneath it is?

Norman makes a fat sided crank that runs 2-4ft. The bluegill pattern (I forget what they call it) is a killer a on the inside weed line and shallow dead falls. I tried untuning one to purposely run to the left for fishing docks, but haven't put it to the test as of yet.

I only use 30lb. braid and I do notice the line digging into itself on the spool after catching a big fish, or getting snagged. If I attempt a long cast immediately after, I will backlash. It's no big deal to make a short lob cast to loosen the line tension on the spool. When it comes to the noise, I look at it the same way as the noise from my ceramic bearings: if either was a big deal, I'd forgo the benefits of them.

For drop shot, go with braid and a leader. Braid is more sensitive and line twist isn't as noticeable.

So you're not only bashing the classic spinning reel, you're saying you don't care for a good vegetable beef sandwich?

Finding a braid that maintains its color is going to be a trick. As for a floating braid, I believe you'll find that most will behave similar to the Maxima. For presentations that warrant line watching, floating or sinking characteristics of a line would matter little to me, my ability to see it is my major concern.

Great info. Learning something all the time on this site. You know at least one of the guys that pours his own plastics will be experimenting on a one leg craw soon. We should come up with a name for it: 'RageTail Pirate Craw'. Stick a toothpick where the other claw should be and blacken one eye to look like a patch.

Here is what I've found out through experience. Low gearing on a baitcaster does reduce the amount of work when fishing deep cranks. I started out with a 3.9:1 Curado. Great reel, but I found that it took quite a while to get the bait down to it's running depth. I moved up to a 4.9:1 and things improved a little. I didn't notice much difference in the amount of effort on my part when reeling, but it still took a while to get the bait down to running depth. Now I use a 6.3:1 that retrieves 28in. of line per turn. I have to work harder and I now tuck the rod against my hip with my elbow when reeling to avoid excess strain on my wrist. Cranks designed to get to running depth quickly do so and even my old standby DD22's seem to. A long rod is a benefit in more ways than one, but the biggest is in increased casting distance. I used a 7'6" cranking stick for years and just ordered a 7'11" M/H Mod/Fast If you know someone that uses a low gear reel, ask to try it. Using one is the only way to determine if you will like using one. They can also be used for slow rolling spinnerbaits and swim jigs.

This is something I'm going to need to learn and quickly. My local lake is being choked by hydrilla and coontail and it won't be long before the weeds are matted on the surface. I understand the basic rigging. My question is how to work the rig. Do you cast it, pitch it, or flip it? Once it gets through the surface mat, how is it worked? My understanding is after working it on the bottom, you can draw it up under the layer of weeds at the top and 'reverse jig it' bumping it into the underside of the weed cover. Am I correct in my assumption? If not, or if you have anything to add, please chime in. There are other waters I could fish, but I look at this as a challenge that I plan on coming out on top of.

I leave the tag end of my knot longer than normal and thread it into the bead along with the main line for this reason.

Norman Lures N XS. They will eventually replace my Deep Little N's if, or when I loose them. They're only available in five colors, but those five are my favorites.

It's a killer in the spring when fishing shallow. I used worm rattles for years, but started doing this after I embraced the C-Rig. Now I do it season long. Does it make a difference? I'll never know, but anything that, possibly, will give me the slightest advantage gets the nod in my book and that includes fluorocarbon (yuk) for deep cranking! (jeez, I hate that stuff).

Two of my favorite topwaters for bass are salt water versions. The ChugBug is a killer night fishing version. I just switch out the hooks, though the first time I tried one and caught a bass it was with the original salt water hooks.

I don't have many dark colored plastics and I also don't encounter many muddy water situations. When I do, I just dip a good portion of the bait in chartreuse dye like ABW and have fairly good success given the conditions.

I'd use the same approach you used in those other situations, providing you had some success. Low visibility is low visibility, regardless of the color of water. I treat muddy water the same way I do a cold front with the exception of the size of my baits. The fish will hold tight to whatever cover there is available and won't chase baits. You basically need to either force feed them something, or stick it in their face for a long time.

Thanks for the replies. I did get out there and the 'dawgs' didn't disappoint, Neither did the bass. I ended up with seven bass between two and four pounds, but the best part of the outing was landing two monster bowfin five minutes apart. The first was 26in. long and weighed just over eight pounds and the second was 28in. and just shy of ten pounds. They both put my tackle and myself to the test as I was using 10lb. braid on a M/H spinning rod. I did quite a bit of back reeling to say the least. The runs weren't very long (10-15yrds.), but if you compare them to a pike, but stronger, you'll know why I love to occasionally target them.

I don't consider this a negative. Neither would have the action it does if the material were sturdier or thicker.