papajoe222

I had one of those days, late this summer, that I dream about. I found an active school of big fish (18in.+) holding just offt he bottom on a small ledge that dropped from 10-12ft. It was a perfect set up for cranking and my Norman Deep Little N was getting the job done. Add to the fast action the fact that I'd built the cranking stick I was using and had my favorite reel (Daiwa Sol) spooled with 12lb. flouro and it was a cold winter night's dream come true. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten into good sized fish that were schooling other times this year. This one was special as these were the first fish I'd contacted after two hours of chucking and winding some of my favorite structure. The biggest was just under 21in. and the smallest was almost 19. Every one of them engulfed that crank and took off for deep water. I thought the others would follow and made a couple of casts deeper, but the rest of the school stayed put and I was able to pick off the majority of the fish I'd marked. I kept that crank tied on that combo until my season was over and it produced consistantly for me.

I forgot to mention a favorite spawning area in a lot of Wisc. lakes with muck bottoms......Beaches The swimmers aren't testing the water until the temps. get around 70 and by that time the bass are long gone. On my favorite lake, despite the presence of abundant hard bottom shallows, the smallies love the beach areas despite the lack of cover. Go figure.

You're describing my favorite type of natural lake. A few generalities may help you. When pike are present, they are the dominate species and the bass are second in pecking order. As bass can be forage for the pike, they tend to not use the same areas and cover. Pike, because of their stature need more room to navigate and so will gravitate to cabbage weed vs. say millfoil. If the forage isn't there, they'll cruise the edge of thicker weeds, including the top.. This leaves the bass inside the weeds or, as you've discovered, the inside weedline where the docks are. I prefer baits that will call the bass up out of the weeds. Topwaters and weightless plastics that will sit atop the dense weeds when paused. My favorite for the inside weedline is a Reaper on some sort of stand-up jighead or shakey head. For spawning areas, check flats having docks with wood pilings. Most docks where there is a muck bottom will have metal posts and the larger base of a wood piling is a great spot for spawning bass and bluegill. Minnows and bluegill are the major forage as are small perch, so pick your colors based on that. A frog pattern from late spring through early fall is also a great choice.

Set up the reel as Mike mentioned and remind yourself not to attempt long casts with light baits and you should be casting like a pro in no time. BTW, provided the reel was maintained well by it's previous owner, it's a great entry level reel.

I'm with you when it comes to sensitivity in my cranking sticks. I like to be able to feel the line draging over a limb, or be able to feel the difference in bottom composition during a retrieve. I also swear I can sometimes feel the change in a bait's vibration just before a fish hits. The down side to more sensitive rods is their action. Most have Mod/fast to fast actions and that makes it easier to miss fish that don't totaly inhale the bait. I use a stretchy mono on my graphite composite sticks and flouro on my glass rod for that reason. The flouro adds a little sensitivity and the mono slows down the rods ability to unload as quickly.

I rely on three baits when the water temps. drop into the 40's all the way until there's ice covering the surface. A Mepps in-line spinner, a suspending FatFree Shad or Norman Little N, and a white jig with a smoke colored Kalin's grub. That Mepps Aglia is something that they rarely see, can be fished relatively slow and it has a different vibration and flash than a bass style spinnerbait.

The vast majority of my bass fishing is catch and release. For that reason, most of my single hook baits and worm hooks have the barb mashed down. I'll loose an occasional fish, but the enjoyment for me is finding, enticing and then fighting a fish. Getting it in the boat is less important to me than, say, the loss of my lure or being able to snap a photo. It also gives the fish a fighting chance to 'win' the battle and I'm okay with my win/loss percentage. I just wish my hook up percentage were a little better.

I ran accross this as I was cleaning out some old files and thought I'd share it. Speaking solely from personal experience, nothing is more exciting than to witness the explosion of a bass on a top-water lure, especially if that lure is a ZaraSpook. Of course, I prefer that it’s my Spook that I’m witnessing, but you too can master presenting this awe inspiring lure with a lot less effort than most readers think. For those uneducated, a Zara Spook is a cigar shaped plug with a line tie just under the nose of the bait. Originally it was a wooden bait, but has evolved into a complete line of plastic baits in different sizes, vibrant colors, with and without rattles. You could fill a tackle box with all the different variations. I know because I have. The bait has no inherent action of it’s own. The action is imparted by the angler and this is the reason many anglers haven’t added this awesome fish catcher to their arsenal. I don’t know where the term ‘walk the dog’ originated, but I’m guessing that whoever coined it was fishing a Spook when they did. When worked as intended, the bait will change direction from left to right and back with little or no forward movement. Worked in that manner it is an excellent target bait and imparting the action isn’t all that difficult to master. I’ll get to how to work the bait in this manner in short order. In my opinion however, this bait really shines when it comes to calling up fish. No other bait I’ve tried has the characteristics to elicit strikes from fish twenty or thirty feet away. I’ve had fish in twenty feet of water rise to strike one and I’ve also witnessed a fish chase one down from ten yards away on more than one occasion. There’s just something about that side to side movement that is irresistible to Mr. Bass. As with most any artificial bait there is more than one way to work this bait and that is where it’s versatility comes into play. Luckily for us these are just variations of the basic retrieve. A Zara Spook is worked with the rod, not the reel AND it’s worked with slack line. Those are the two factors most anglers have difficulty adjusting to. After a cast is made and before the bail is closed or the handle of your baitcaster is turned, raise your rod tip from 9 o’clock to around 11 o’clock. This will add the initial slack in your line that is necessary to start it walking. Now, without reeling, drop your rod tip back to the 9 o’clock position and snap it back up to somewhere between 11 and 12 o’clock. The bait will dart to one side or the other. Now drop your rod tip and take up just a little slack with your reel and repeat the same motion and your bait will dart in the opposite direction. Continue dropping the rod, picking up some slack and snapping the rod tip up and you’ll be walking that dog like a pro in no time. Now for the variations I mentioned. The biggest involves moving your rod to the side or down versus in the manner I described above. The reason you want to learn the walking technique as I described is because it forces you to focus on the rod movement and the slack line. Making the transition to either side or downward rod jerks is much easier than attempting to start with either of those retrieves. The second biggest variation involves the amount of line you move when snapping the rod. The more line you move, the more distance the bait will move. If you want to keep the bait in one general area, short quick snaps will do the job and that is the way to really entice a fish holding tight to a piece of cover. If you want to cover an open area of water quickly, a longer and softer jerk of the rod will move it further to the side and toward you.

Hey guys. I'm not sure if this is the right forum to ask, but I'm planning a trip to Mississippi next April and would like to fish either Sardis or Arkabulta while I'm down there. I won't be bringing my boat, so I'd like to hook up with a local that guides during the week, not just on week-ends. Any first hand recommendations or the name of a reputable tackle shop in the area that can hook me up with someone?

A private club I belonged to years ago had a taging program. One season I caught the same fish four different times. It was about a 60 acre lake/pond with a max. depth of 15ft. Twice I caught that fish in the deepest water that pond held and the other two times in shoreline cover on opposite ends of the lake.

Bill Norman makes some quality baits. Shallow to deep runners, even suspending models, all at very reasonable prices and they come with decent hooks too.

You're not that far south of me, and until the water temps. dropped below 50, I was catching quality fish on buzzers and lipless cranks in some of the same staging areas the fish use for pre-spawn. Buzzbaits on the flats that still held some green vegetation and the cranks on the drop offs just off the flats. I'd suggest finding the baitfish and picking a presentation based on their location, but you'll be playing beat the clock and unless you can locate them quickly, you can waste valuable time.

I like to keep my off season filled with fishing related activities. I'll start with cleaning, organizing, updating my gear. Next it's tinkering time. Bearing and drag washer upgrades, switching blades on spinnerbaits or hooks on cranks etc. and different lure modifications I'd been wanting to try, but was too busy fishing to do. Then it's time to work on building a new rod or two, or at the very least, adding a decorative thread wrap to the butt of one of my rods. Now it's time to plan the two fishing vacations I'll be taking next season. One is a yearly treck to N.W. Wisconson and that's just a matter of determining what dates and which lake I plan to visit. The other could be anywhere and between research and coordinating vacation time with my buddies, figuring out who will be driving and which boats we'll be taking and actually making reservations, the process can take a few weeks. Plus, there's all that communication between us that gets me pumped. Next to last is catching up on fishing related reading. I hold out on this until a few weeks before opening as it really gets me pumped. Last is getting the boat prepared. With a newer boat it won't take long, but in years past, some of the projects have been lengthy. Then, it's sit and wait for opening day and hopefully I'm not to this point until after New Years! :mouse-28493: I forgot to mention, I also spend a lot of time on forums like this attempting to learn something new, or relearn something I've forgotten.

Most 20lb. braid has a smaller diameter than 10lb. mono which is what most lure makers use when determining a lure's running depth. So, the answer to your question about a DT10 on 20lb. PowerPro would be yes. The easiest way to determine this for sure would be to find an area that is known to be 10ft. deep and make a long cast. If the lure is bumping bottom for the majority of the retrieve, you'll know for sure that it can reach that depth consistantly.

Years ago, I experimented with larger baits in the fall. Now I'm sure there are plenty of guys that will disagree with my findings, but after three seasons I found no significant difference in the number of fish that I'd caught. What I did discover, however, was a BIG difference in the size fish I'd caught. The downside to my findings is that I haven't completed the experiment (I'm still throwing big baits in the fall). I have adjusted the baits I use to those with more subtle movements such as flat sided cranks like a Rapala FSDT10, tighter wobling lipless cranks (removing the split ring will cut down the action on most), and spinnerbaits with one, long/narrow blade and a full skirt. My numbers haven't gone up enough worth mentioning, but I have noticed that the fish seem to attack these offerings more accurately. Most hook-ups are on the front treble, or the main hook of my spinnerbait offering.

I look at reviews by people that have purchased and used an item, but not for positive reviews or opinions. I look for negative reviews and if I see more than one on the same topic, I'll shy away or determine if that particular negative would be applicable to how I'd be using the item.

I'm always looking for something different to show them. I'll have to give this a try next season (if I can remember). Thanks for sharing.

The other thing you may try is a different location. Most water that is accessable from shore gets fished heavily and fish will eventually shy away from those areas, or at the very least become extremely wary. Look for a spot with an abundance of wood or weed cover. Most bank fishermen tend to avoid those areas in fear of loosing gear to the ever present snags. Those are prime buzzer locations. As far as presentation speed is concerned, don't give up on an area until you've tried slow, moderate and fast retrieves. I was catching them two weeks ago in water that was 52 degrees reeling fast past ambush spots and then slowing to a crawl. If I just reeled fast or slow, I wouldn't get any takers. Also, remember that your lures are tools designed to get a specific job done. A buzzer is like a hammer, but sometimes what you need is a pair of pliers.

When you're talking technique specific rods, you're talking rods that are designed for a certain bait or presentation. The type of bait and often the type of cover that bait is most often used in, are the major concerns of the rod maker. This doesn't mean that the rod can't be used for other presentations, it's just designed to be most efficient for one. Lure weight or action can eliminate the use of say a cranking stick for use when frogging. When you see rods that have the same specifications from the same manufacturer, but are labeled for different techniques, the actions and power ratings may be the same, but the materials can be vastly different and something as simple as the length/placement of the handle can make the difference in determining the technique it's designated for. As DVT mentioned, a diverse arsenal is desireable in this sport. How diverse your approach and skill determines how diverse you'll want that arsenal to be.

Actually, my favorite is my Daiwa Sol. The TDA is the work horse of my collection though.

I know where you're coming from. Although for different reasons, I've felt that depression. I started planning excursions rather than hooking up the boat on my off day and heading out. The planning stage would start with a location and evolve from general approach strategy I'd use to picking out the exact gear I'd be using. This would take a few days and the anticipation was almost as enjoyable as the outing itself. The other thing I've done that helps overcome the let down of smaller numbers, is to make/modify my lures. I've even gone as far as building my own rods. The excitement of hooking and landing a fish on something you've made is more gratifying than catching twice as many fish on store bought gear (it helps to keep the monkey away too)

Just about everyone that ownes multiple reels has that one work horse that gets the most use. You know the one that's always in your hand or right there on the deck because you know that sooner or later, no mater what rod you have it on, you're going to use it. It's the one that gets multiple cleanings or line changes and during the off season it gets a little extra TLC. Never mind that it's a few seasons old, it's like an American Express card, you don't leave home without it. Mine's a TD Advantage 153HST It's heavier and larger than almost all my other reels, but it performs flawlessly season after season. What's yours?

One of your first considerations before deciding on which rod, action, material, etc. should be what length is going to suit you best. If you fish mainly from a boat and fish off shore structure lean toward a longer rod. If you shore fish or need to be more accurate with your casts, a long rod would be a poor choice. Personally I prefer a long rod with med. action and good sensitivity and a long handle that I can tuck under my arm when cranking deep and a shorter rod/handle composite when fishing shallower. If this will be the only rod you use for cranking, you'll end up compromising. Make that decision based on how you'll be primarily using it.

You can't beat a minnow as a trailer and when you don't have that option a white, paddle tail grub is what I've found to be the next best thing. This year, I've been adding a white PowerBait grub with great success for walley and smallies. Don't see why they wouldn't produce when targeting largemouth.