papajoe222

I always plan on getting skunked the first couple of outings after ice out, so I'm really the wrong person to ask. I won't be able to resist chucking and winding, so the first bait I tie on that I have confidence in is a blade bait. Once the urge subsides, or when I don't catch anything, I switch to a suspending Rogue. I'll work it with hard jerks and short pauses and ease up and lengthen pauses until I don't catch something, am unable to feel my extremeties because they're frozen, or I've exhausted all the time I have available.

One of the biggest factors in determining which to fish, is how fast the water is moving. The outside turn is going to get more of a pounding by the current and that is both good and bad. That is the side where you're likely to find undercut banks and debris which is great if the current isn't in the process of cutting the bank and pusing the debris into it. On the other side is, slack water, eddys and normally shallower water. Again, those factors can be beneficial or not. Many other factors will determine prime fish location on turns and often the fish will stage above or below the turn. Do a little research on the fish that you're targeting and how and when they relate to current. Your answer will become evident the more you know.

Ouch. I thought we were only allowed one per post. Next thing you know, the age factor will be included. You guys are brutal.

For sure, I'll be getting a pair of WWS Blue Water Oxfords as I've been waiting for them to be on sale. Maybe a couple of bags of Stick-Os and a T-shirt or two. I don't really need much and I plan on leaving the charge cards at home. Now if I can just stay away from the boat displays, I should be okay.

You can't go wrong with the colors you mention. The only additions you may want to add would be a chrome or red lipless crank. It also never hurts to show them something different now and then. The choices are almost limitless.

Bruce Willis and Kevin Costner in just about every movie they've been in.

For target fishin, I like a pistol grip on a shorter rod and my favorite is an old Browning 5'6". For most open water or sparce cover situations, my 6ft. Quantum Tournament Grade TCG60M gets the call for most of my Spooks and ChugBugs. I've been using a Lew's LaserPro since last May and 14lb. Original Stren for as long as I can remember.

I use and work many of my baits in different ways, but my soft plastics are the most versatile. I'm a tube junkie and it's likely the one bait I'm always experimenting with. The last thing I tried was using it on a shakey head. My most successful use was a creature tube used as a jig trailer. My two best fish of the season came off that combination two years ago.

Somebody hasn't looked in a mirror lately. Just saying

Any boat is better than no boat and it sounds like you found one that you'll be happy with. How big a project do you think it'll be to extend and recarpet the deck?

I've tried using snaps on my cranks (after removing the split ring), because I'm basically lazy. What I found out was it was much easier to switch lures, but it was also easier to loose them especially the way I fish cranks. If I don't retie frequently, I loose baits, and more importantly fish. As long as I'm going to retie I may as well use the stronger split ring.

I fish mainly shallow, natural lakes and rarely mark fish on my electronics. Cone angle and water depth will determine how much bottom you actually view and in water less than 20ft. deep and a 16 degree cone, you are viewing a very small section. Add to that the fact that you are disturbing their environment and you can figure on not marking many, if any, fish in shallower water. With the depths you're targeting you should be able to mark some fish. Leave your unit on auto until you become familiar with reading it. That is going to involve putting your rod down and watching it as you pass over known cover and structure. I turn up the sensitivity on my units until I get a second echo,then remove the surface clutter. The bottom contours and composition are easy to identify

Casting light lures with a baitcaster is as much about the rod as it is about the reel. Check the recommended lure weight on your rod. Then check your reel by adjusting the cast control until the lure drops slowly. If you have to back it off all the way before the lure starts to fall, the lure is too light to be cast by you. Either way, casting distance should not be your objective when starting out with a baitcaster. Focus on setting the reel correctly and using your thumb to achieve accurate results. Distance will come with experience

I vary my retrieve throughout the cast. Fast/slow/stop, until I get a reaction. I'll try to duplicate that part of the retrieve on subsequent casts.

I'd love to see someone come out with a 'stupidity canceling' pill and make it mandatory that anyone operating any form of watercraft take it prior to launching. The other alternative would be an explosive device on jet skis that would detonate if the craft came within casting distance of my boat. It would totally ruin the jet ski and leave the operator unharmed.

I pray that it's only six more weeks. We will be lucky to see what's hidden by the snow in six weeks let alone spring!

Similar to a FrontRunner for top water baits? Haven't tried it, but I don't know why it wouldn't work, if it's legal. Some states would consider it multiple lures. It could be tied on the same as a drop-shot with the jerk bait tied to the tag. I like your thinking.

I'm tying my feathers to short shank trebles one size smaller than the original to help compensate for the additional weight. I never thought to use 140 denier to tie them. Thanks for the tip smalljaw. I only use long pauses when I'm working smaller baits and plan on adding a SuspenDot near the nose to maintain a nose down attitude. Tinkering with baits and such helps me get through the 'hard water' season. Not too many of the ideas I come up with turn out to be fruitful, but maintaining some resemblance to sanity becomes a major priority for the next eight weeks or so.

I use them on topwaters when I'm working them slowly and was wondering if they wouldn't also be a benefit when working jerk baits with long pauses. Any of you work one with the addition of one?

I rely on topo maps and my electronics. On the majority of lakes I fish, I don't look for fish with my electronics. I'm checking out the information I get from them with the maps and I'll make indications on the map of bottom content, presence of weeds, and any differences in the depth changes that are or aren't indicated on the map. I don't fish any big impoundments, so I'm able to check out the majority of spots that interest me before I begin fishing. After being on the lake a few times, I'll have enough info to forego that process. The biggest obsticle, IMO, to applying Buck's structure principles is to being able to apply them to whatever lake you're on. You may not use spoonplugs in your maping of an area, but fish location based on the structure and cover is where this game plan of his really shine. Water color, temps. (other than seasonal), and the presence or absence of a thermocline are irrelevent in the process. I didn't say they are irrelevent altogether, but to finding productive structure. If you're looking for additional reading material, check out Lunkers Love Nightcrawlers. Although the chapters on fishing structure mirror Buck's the use of spoonplugs isn't mentioned and it may give you a clearer mental picture of how and what to look for.

My sentiments also. The wife and I will be heading down to Branson in late June/early July. Maybe we can hook up over a cup of coffee if your better half is up for it.

The best producing color pattern on many of my local lakes and ponds is shad and shad aren't present in any of them. The same goes for crawfish, but jigs and craw colored cranks also produce well.

I've decided to do one more build, hopefully, before my surgery and would like to do a spiral wrap. I've read a little about it, mostly about performance and some technical information. What I'm in need of is specifics on guide placement. It's my understanding that the spiral is done on the base of the rod before the area where it begins to flex. I am also aware that there are a few different ways to achieve the final, 180 degree guide placement. The rod I'm building is a 7'6" M/XF, so I'm thinking three guides to achieve it, 60-120-180 with a stripping guide at 0. Is there a general rule for guide spacing. I know I'll need to do a static test prior to wrapping, I'm just looking for a starting point. Can anyone point me in the direction of a tutorial or link to a video that will guide me through the process?

You could say that I'm back asswords, I started out fishing a shakey head on top of submerged weeds. I would get a 1/16oz. jig and a floating worm to sit on top of the weeds and move it just enough to get that worm moving, but not so much that the jig would start working it's way down into the weeds. I found I could work it accross the tops of the weeds and let it fall when it reached the weed edge. I thought that this was their intended use as the only jigs marketed around here were the 1/16 and 1/8oz. ones. I didn't begin using them deep until I was unable to find the stand-up style jig heads that I'd used for years to fish reapers along gravel and hard bottom structure. A 1/8oz. shakey head has replaced those jigs and a trick worm has replaced the reaper ever since. Now I use them almost exclusively in different weights, with the exception of a Charlie Brewer Slider jig.

One suggestion I would make for anyone on a budget is to learn to distinguish need from want. You need certain equipment and even on a limited budget, you can fill those needs. What you want and your decision to purchase it is what can become a stumbling block reguardless of you income. If you can learn that simple lesson it will carry over into all the purchases you make in your life.