papajoe222

A Kalin's Lunker Grub is a great addition to a spinnerbait in the spring for pre-spawners.

Super Spoolk Jr. with the original a close second after some modifications.

This, but I will go lighter with a tube jig, or heavier with a T-rig if it's windy.

You don't live near a race track do you. If you want to give yourself a good laugh, pay for a $1 soft drink at McDonalds with a $2 bill and watch the cashier's reaction.

It seems that almost every season there is a different go to, or hot bait for me and this year was no different. Although jigs have been big producers for me for years, I relied heavily on them this year. Part of that is because I've been targeting big fish and for me, jigs have always produced in that department. The other reason is that jig fishing slows me down and really gets me into the mindset needed to fish the pressured waters I frequent.

Oh yea. I've been looking forward to fishing one of the legendary lakes of Texas fame. Looks like I'll have the chance. Anyone looking to split expenses and/or share a ride?

Keep it up. Your time will come.

I don't use them much in cold water as it takes some movement to get any action out of the tail. I prefer tubes or hair jigs. They are great in warmer water from re-spawn through fall with any of the presentations you mention

I like to alternate sides and work my way center 9-3,10-2,11-1 and finish at 12:00. That will cover an area fairly well before I move ten yards or so down shore. I'll do two casts to each position if I feel the fish are in a neutral mood.

So after reading a recent post about hair jigs, I decided to attempt making a dozen or so myself. The results look no where near as professional as W W puts together, but for my first try, i'm happy with the results. Here are a few 1/8oz. bucktails;

You sure know how to hurt a guy, but then there's the fact that while your putting in your 40hr. work week I'm out on the water.

Bass are also opportunist and will hit a small, slow presentation that is easy to get without exerting a lot of energy. A reaction bait may work in cold water, but it will just as likely spook a bass as it approaches. Both scenarios can work at times, but I don't have much choice as it's really difficult to cut a long trench out of the ice so I can cast my reaction bait. By the time I'm done with one end, the other end is already starting to freeze over.

Although it is debateable whether or not bass see colors as we do, I think we can agree that they do see colors and can tell the difference between many of them at depths of 30ft. or more and at night under a moonless sky. Many can testify to this and the fact that they, at times, do show a preference for a certain color. The difficulty we face as fishermen is knowing when their color preference outweighs, or becomes more important to them, than shape, size, action, scent, etc. There are way too many variables in a bass' enviornment that affect both their behavior and how they may or may not percieve colors. I doubt that science will come up with any definitive answers in my lifetime, so I stick to my way of finding out the answer as I'm sure most of you do. Trial and error is the best way I can describe how I answer the 'right color' question. If I'm confident there are fish in the area and that they are likely to prefer a certain style bait presented in a certain way, but I'm not getting any action on it, I'll switch colors. If I begin catching those fish, in my mind I believe they have a color preference. If I switch to a different style and color of lure and begin catching, I don't sit and wonder if it was the color change or the change of lure type. I just keep on chucking that puppy until it stops producing.

My inflatable PFD's. They're light, not bulky or hot in the summer and they automatically inflate.

I use it when they're ignoring a shakey head. Something about the free movement of a worm or craw that floats turns lookers into biters more often than not. Not my go-to by any stretch, but i will go to it in certain situations.

As a general rule, I always start out with a long one and work my way shorter until I find that majic length. My reasoning is that a bass is looking upward the majority of the time, so I'm presenting my bait where the majority of the fish will see it, provided that I'm confident that they are within a few feet of the bottom.

Happens to me on my home lake all the time, but the guys will normally wait until I've moved down the bank, or off the break before they swarm in. There's a couple of regulars that I got to sit on a spot with no cover and a featureless bottom after I 'fished it for ten minutes or so. They worked that spot for almost an hour before they gave up. Next time out, they didn't give me a second look.

Whatever lake I happen to be at on any given day! Seriously though,there are a couple that I haven't been able to figure out. Powers and Deer Lake in Wisconsin. I don't visit them anymore because life is too short to get out and NOT catch fish on a regular basis.

I add split rings to both the line tie and hook hangers of my Spooks. Stuff my tubes with styrafoam, my hollow body frogs with pieces of torn up worms. Add a jig rattle to a spinnerbait, or shorten the arm of one. One of my most productive modifications was reversing the buzzer blade on a lure called a TwoFer which looks similar to a Lucky 13 with a buzz bait blade on the other end. It's intended to be fished in either direction, but reversing the blade and tieing it on the chugger end gives off a lot of comotion on windy days.

Once the water temp. drops below 60. I start throwing white jigs and will keep doing so until the fish move out to their winter haunts. I don't use pork. My mainstay trailer is a Kalin's Lunker Grub in smoke or clear/hologram and my most productive retrieve is swimming it with an occasional pause to let it drop a few feet. Once they move out, usually around the 50 degree range, I'll switch to a light hair jig and drop down to a 2"or3" grub. This is a great time to drag a white jig a short distance, give it a short hop, pause and repeat. Your first fish will tell you if they want it dragged, hopped, or sitting still.

My numbers have been down the last couple of years, mainly because I've been concentrating more on quality fish than numbers. For me, that's 16" or longer. I've also stopped keeping a log, but I do know that I only topped the 20"/5lb. mark four times this year, so I'm guessing my average has been about 3-3.5lb.

I would suspect the sun, or should I say shade first unless this occurs throughout the year. Then, I would venture it's a combination of structure and cover that attracts and holds them and the baitfish there. If there is a steady flow of water, current or lack of it in that area could also influence their location.

There are two things you need to really focus on when fishing powerplant lakes early in the year. First and foremost is current. If the plant isn't generating, there isn't any and if there isn't any current, the fish scatter. The second is water temp. Although the temps. will be higher than normal lakes at that time, there will be bigger differences depending on where you are (colder by the intake and warmer at the discharge). Despite the warmer water temps, the bass won't be in a spawning pattern. Temperatures will be fluctuating and the sun's angle and amount of daylight will hold that off for a while. Look for the bass to be in more of a pre-spawn situation, shallower in the warmer water and deeper in the colder. Also, look for active fish to position themselves in areas off of the main current nearer the discharge when the plant is generating.

He decided, after more discussion, to go with a combination of double and single footed guides. He isn't that concerned with added weight, and decided on a Fuji Alconite set. The first two or three up from the reel seat will be double foot. The build will be on a 7ft. white MHX blank using a split, cork handle and blank through reel seat. It'll be a good, multiple purpose rod that won't be a big investment for him. If I like the finished product, I may even build one as a gift for one of my buddies.