papajoe222

Just wondering how far you'd travel to find some open water to fish this time of year. Yes I'm talking about my northern bretheren and there is no need for my southern brothers to be dissin' us. For me, it's like a 300 mile drive and I don't know if I'd be willing to pull my boat out of storage, but I'm getting pretty desparate.

Here I thought you were refering to Opening Day, you know the one that's like two months from now.

I fish one lake here in Illinois that has a 10hp limit. The limit was imposed before the lake was flooded as the sole intention was to develop it for fishing. On week-ends the limit is strictly enforced and just like any other lake, it gets heavily used. Even so, it's a joy to fish this lake, especially on the week-ends as jet skiers, pleasure boaters, wind surfers, etc. don't interfere. I'd rather make the sacrifice of using only my T/M than deal with those distractions. One lake that I fish in southern Wisconsin has a no wake restriction from 8:00 PM until 10:00 AM. Both recreational boaters and fishermen get to enjoy this heavily populated water. Yes, there are those that bend the rules, but there are also those of us that tactfully remind them that their infractions won't be tolerated.

Thanks Same situation I'm in, so I already ordered a 2pc. blank and components so I can always have a rod in the car.

The overall length and angle of the lip is a general guideline to help determine the approximate diving angle and depth, but the placement of the line tie and the width of the lip also come into play. Like A-Jay said, take 'em out and check them. I break my baits down into three catagories for storage purposes (shallow, medium and deep), but I also mark the lips with the exact running depth if I know it.

Unless I want to bulk up a jig, which threading a plastic trailer up the hook shank and flaring the skirt out will do, I normally hook most trailers the same as a pork chunk. If loosing the trailer, or having it interfere with the hook up is a concern, I'll use a couple of the plastic circles I punch from margarine lids and use to secure my spinnerbait trailer hooks. I've used HitchHikers, but this method limits the the side to side movement of the trailer for me.

With sooo much time on my hands lately, I decided to attempt another rold build. This will be a jerkbait rod @ 7ft. The blank is a IM8, the guides and reel seat are Fuji and I added blue, metalic spacers between the reel seat and butt section of the cork handle and the butt cap along with the same color winding check. This is my third complete build and I wanted to do something different with the thread work as my previous builds were open butt wraps and only had trim bands on the guides. There are a few minor mistakes and I still need to add a second coat of finish along with a decal on the lower section of white (not visible in pic), but all in all I'm very happy with the project as a whole.

The worms don't necessisarily need to float, but the jig head does need to hold the bait upright. I, myself, don't use a VMC jig. That's neither here or there because the wrong worm will overpower any jig's ability to stand upright. When I say wrong worm, I mean too big of one. Too long, or too wide results in more plastic. More plastic means more weight and that's the down fall to the equation. I love Zoom's Super SAlty Mag Shakey Head worms, but I also know I can't throw them on a 1/8 oz. jig head. If you match the size of the jig to the size of the worm, that jig will remain upright and your worm will stand tail up as long as you don't let it sit in one spot too long.

Almost every top-water bait I throw has a red treble on it's belly. Most of my shallow cranks get the same treatment. Light penetration plays a big part in whether or not a bass can see red and therefore I don't use them on deeper running presentations. I honestly can't say one way or another if they attract more strikes, but since I was a kid (more than a few years ago) I'd add a splash of red paint or nail polish to the underside of my hard baits and I just bought into using red hooks.

Great American and a great ballplayer and sportsman.

The only lure I'll use a snap swivel on is an in-line spinner. I rarely fish spoons anymore, but that's another that I'd consider. I find that the swivel will make a crank roll over when bumping it into cover and on my prop baits it's dificult to get that spitting, quick spin off the blade. If I'm looking to get a little more action from my cranks, I'll tie a loop knot. I also become lazy about retying. My eyesight isn't what it used to be, but I'd rather struggle a little tying a knot than either loose a fish, or loose out on hooking one.

Just thought I'd throw this out there as I know a lot of guys will be getting their gear it top condition for the upcoming season. If you clean the cork handles on your rods, you may want to seriously consider using this stuff after cleaning. Not only does it keep oil and grime from being absorbed into the cork, it toughens the cork to reduce chipping and give you a better grip on it. A 2oz. bottle has covered over 20 applications for me and made clean up a much easier task to boot.

For years, I struggled with keeping my spinnerbait and jig hooks from rusting. I'm always touching up those hooks with a couple of passes of my hook sharpener and in doing so, I'm removing the factory chemical rust inhibitor on their surface. I regularly trashed baits because of rusty hooks I'd find in the spring when organizing gear. Now, rather than tossing out baits, I toss out last season's silica gel packets. I get them from my local BestBuy electronics store, but many products are packaged with these to keep moisture out of the packaging. Best part of this (aside from keeping moisture from ruining hooks) is the retailers will trash these packets when unpacking their displays, or setting up their products for customers. All it takes is a request from you to one of their associates. Smaller packets can be found in shoe boxes, but I prefer 2-4oz ones for my spinnerbait boxes. I know there are products sold comercially to absorb the moisture in your tackle/tool boxes and you can even purchase cans of the silica gel from retailers that sell gun safes, but these 'freebies' work just as good.

The trick worms have salt and although their action is exceptional, they don't float. Yea, that's what I've been doing. I just like to add more stuff to my huge selection of soft plastics and finding a shorter worm would give the bait monkey another reason to pester me, so I'm doing his research for him.

I don't know about bass being line shy, but I do know they tend to avoid more visible lines in clear water and under heavy fishing pressure situations when I'm using a slow presentation. I don't know if they just percieve that something isn't just right, or they actually see the line and react to it negatively. I don't believe they have that opportunity with faster presentations as they need to react quickly and focus on their target.

Pike and Musky do love them, but so do the bass up north. I tend to use them more in the early season when the weeds haven't reached full growth. That SureSet belly hook doesn't seem to get hung up any more than the standard hook. I can't say one way or another about more or better hook-ups as the big girls tend to inhale even the 7/8oz. baits.

I'm looking for a shorter, floating worm than the Zoom TrickWorms I've been using on my shakey heads. Something in the 4"-5" range for when I want to downsize both my jig and worm size. Any recommendations? Seems most of the shorter, drop shot worms are all salted. Not that I have anything against them for that presentation, I just like my shakey head plastic to float up from the jig when it's sitting.

I'll use spider jigs when I want more of a finness presentation as it's a more compact bait. Then again, I don't fish much heavy cover, but when I do, the traditional Arkie gets the nod.

Someone needs to borrow my hearing aids...........er, I mean my reading glasses. Just kidding. Welcome to the board

Onced I started using a different knot and line conditioner, I became a convert to FC. Prior to that, I used original Stren.

Hawg Catcher????

I'm always tinkering. Color, split rings, hooks, you name it. I've even gone as far as changing the action of my cranks by adding weight internally and shaving the lips. On spinnerbaits, I've shortned the arms, switched out or removed blades, replaced the skirt with a grub.... Don't get me wrong, I've ruined more than my share. I've also hit the jackpot in my quest to show 'em something different.

I've been doing this for years. Started out as a walleye presentation for me and I continued to use it on the 'southern' lakes here in IL

Aside from the obvious hooks, sinkers, swivels, etc. I keep an assortment of split rings, pliers, replacement blades and skirts, hitch hikers, Carolina Keepers, soft plastic lure dye, colors of Sharpies and a first aid kit including a hook remover.

I had the same thing happen to me two years ago. Late fall, breezy cool day with water temps in the mid 40's. Unlike you, I had to swim to catch up to my boat and the only thing that saved me (I was the only one on the water) was my outboard's power trim. I was able to grab the side of the boat, but unable to pull myself up and in. I worked my way around to the transom thinking it's lower when the thought came to me to use the power trim to push me up and out of the water. Now, if I'm out by myself or the water is choppy, I always have an inflateable PFD on when I'm on deck. The following spring I ended up overboard and the power trim again came to the rescue/