papajoe222

You didn't give us much information about the lake, but assuming it's in your neck of the woods, I'll assume its a natural lake. Mid june would put the bass somewhere between late spawn and post spawn, even venturing to summer haunts. If a map of the lake is available, look for possible spawning areas and concentrate your efforts near them. If it's a shallower body of water, your search will be easier as most of the post spawn areas will be the same one used for deep,summer fish and the spawning areas will become feeding flats for both fish that call deep water and the shallows their home. Until all the fish have transitioned to summer mode, you'll want to cover water until you contact active fish and a crankbait and spinnerbait (or swim jig) are just the ticket. The weeds should be up and a well defined weedline is a good indicator of either a bottom transition area or a drop to deeper water. Either way, an inside our outside weedline is a prime area. Natural lakes don't have an abundance of points that are extensions from shore, but the weedline has plenty. if you can locate a section of it with multiple points and pockets, slow down and grab a jig or worm and work both starting with the points. Same goes for your approach after contacting fish along a stretch of weeds. The other area I'd concentrate on would be any major break close to either that spawning area or the shoreline. Weeds or not, that will be the 'road most traveled' and an approach that covers the entire water column will not only get you in contact with fish, it will tell you whether they are active, indifferent, or inactive. Use your faster moving baits shallow and deep and slower presentation in the mid water areas for any inactive fish. If I'm off base about your targeting a natural lake, I'm sure there are guys that can help you out.

Current breaks are key to river fishing. I'm not familiar with the Snake, but man made jettys and the like are key areas where there is a larger interuption of the current vs. say a big boulder and they extend out from the shore for an easy shorebound approach. Another key spot is what's called a 'seam'. This is where faster water runs alongside slower or calm water. Active fish will hold in the slower current and dart out into the faster water to strike. A 'push' upstream of shallower rapids and the 'draw/ just below them create a similar situation with faster water alongside slower moving water.

For explosive strikes, and more misses than I care to mention, I like a clear Spook on sunny days or in clear water situations. There's something about that comotion and not being able to see what's causing it that seems to draw those kind of strikes. I'll normally follow up the misses with either a bone colored Spook or a super Fluke. That same bone color gets the nod on overcast days and sun-up and sun-down. I've also had good luck with the G-finish and black spooks, but for smallies I prefer something with chartruse or a firetiger pattern. If you're only getting one, go with bone with a red head. It was one of the first colors they came in and it still produces day,night,sunny or cloudy.

I use the same general rule with topwaters, but on lures I don't have in smaller versions, I'll go to more natural colors. The exception, for me, is when I'm targeting smallies holding deep. Then I'll go with brighter colors in the larger size. If you've just started building your topwater selection, I'd start out with the mid-sized stuff. You may get bit less under tough conditions, but you'll still have enough bulk to your presentation to attract fish under low light or stained water conditions.

Guess I'm lucky when it comes to breaking rods. On the other hand, if sticking myself with hooks was a side event during a tournament, I'd place in the top ten everytime. Wearring eye protection is mandatory for anyone aboard my boat. I am glad to hear that you're taking it all in stride, I mean at least you didn't sink your boat, or your buddies. Not that would be cause for beating yourself up.

If you'll be fishing a natural lake, things will have settled down to what would be normal. If the lake has risen substantially, you can target areas of newly flooded brush or the tops of previously emergent vegetation. If it's an impoundment, the combination of inflowing water and possibly open gates at the dam will create increased current. The first point downcurrent from any incoming stream can be dynamite under those conditions, especially if the water isn't muddy. The fish can stack up at that current break and feast on whatever is being washed down to them. I'd start out with a fat bodied crank with good rattles or a spinnerbait with either an Indiana or Colorado blade. Don't forget to give a jig a shot before giving up on any spot with potential. You can often pick up some big, less active fish with it.

I've been fishing for decades and never had a problem with line breakage until this season. I'm not talking breaking off at the knot or on a hook set, I'm talking the line breaking 20-30yrd. down. Today, I saw it on the spool, before a cast and was able to save the lure before casting. Can a backlash cause a weak spot in the line that would cause breakage during a subsequent cast? I know the line isn't getting nicked by a bad guide or from banging cover and this was new line I'd just spooled up over the week-end.

I've seen this tip mentioned by pros in some magazine articles. Same for the rattles. I don't have a problem with casting distance or hook-ups, so I leave well enough alone.

Saw one listed on e-bay a few weeks ago with a starting bid of $100. I've been wanting to get another one, but lacked the finances. I decided to bid the $100 and see where it would end so I would have an idea how much I'd need when the time came. No one else bid on it, if you can believe that! I got it today and this thing is in excellent condition. I'll be spooling it up tonight and giving it a work out tomorrow. Just wanted to share my good fortune. :respect-059:

Every now and then you hear about an angler being struck by lightning and it happend again over this recent holiday week-end. My daughter's friend was out on Lake Shelbyville here in Illinois over the week-end and was killed by a lightning strike. The other occupant of the boat was unharmed. This was one of those freak occurances where there was no prewarning other than the forcast that had called for a 50% chance of thunderstorms. I love this sport as much as anyone can, but I love my life and family much more. I'll take a chance and go out in rough, windy conditions, or not put my flotation divice on while fishing from the deck, but one time I will not chance it is when it comes to lightning, or even a good possibility of it occuring. PLEASE, don't risk the saftey of your co-anglers or yourself when it comes to dealing with lightning. The joy of catching can not trump the tragedy of being struck by lightning.

I'll echo loosing the swivel and changing to a heavier line that's a little stiffer and won't sink as easily as the light mono. I had a similar problem throwing smaller Spooks on light line. Switched up to 10lb. and the problem went away.

Top water baits can pull fish away from whatever cover or structure they were holding on. When the bite dies,they are unwilling to abandon those areas to chase prey . Their strike zone may still be a large one, or may dwindle to next to nothing. If you can find what they were holding to, you can choose a presentation to effectively probe it. In the instances of isolated cover (stump, dead fall, etc.) they may return to it or another fish may take over residence there. Although other baits can apply here, a jig gives you the option of picking a piece of cover apart like no other. So make a mental note of the location of the fish you're catching on top and return to the same areas. Chances are the fish are still in the area, just unwilling to chase a bait down.

For spinnerbaits, you can't beat a black one with a big Colorado blade and for cranks a fat one with a wide wobble and rattles. If ypu're target fishing, a jig with a good rattle and a trailer that gives off plenty of vibration would get the nod from me. On a nice, bright day, a double willow spinnerbait waked just under the surface will give off more flash in the water than you'd think which just may be the ticket for fish accustomed to sight feeding.

It's much easier to work up the drop than down it as far as maintaining bottom contact. Ii will also keep you from pulling following fish into deeper water where it takes them longer to return. I like to parallel a drop similar to fishing a weed edge, especially after finding a productive depth on it.

If the bite is still tough due to the cold front, you'll want to slow it down a little, but you won't know that until you try a spinnerbait or crank. If you don't get any love with those, I'd opt for the swimbat as a weightless Senko (my first choice) is going to be tricky to fish in the wind.

If they are in post spawn, they'll have moved back off the beds to deeper water. The good news is that the females, which are the larger ones, will recoup and put the feed bag on sooner than the males. Some may return to the shoreline areas sooner than you think If you can reach that deeper water out from the spawning area using a tube or a Senko, you may be able to get a few, just don't expect to be killing them at this time.

First off, welcome to the board. Be sure to stop by the introduction forum a tell us a bit about yourself. In answer to your question; It sounds like your drag is set a little too loose. Check it by pulling on the line directly in front of the reel. If the reel dishes out line too easily, a simple adjustment may be all that's needed. If the reel has been in storage for any length of time (talking a year or more), the drag washers may need replacing, although that is doubtfull.

I haven't done it with a tube, but it's a great presentation with a CrawPapi or beaver style bait when you want to stay on top of the weeds or give your plastic a slow, enticing fall. Another set up is with a french fry worm for bedding fish. A lot of guys fish it like a mini C-rig, but I prefer a drop shot when I want to stay close to the bottom.

I have two different brands of auto inflatable vests. One is a Mustang and the other a BPS. I've worn both when it was raining without either inflating on me. The only times I've worn them during a deluge, I had my raingear on over them. If you're really concerned that it might inflate unexpectedly, you might want to consider the manual model. It requires pulling on a cord to inflate, but seeing as you mentioned wearing it while fishing and wearing your regular vest at other times. the likelyhood of you being rendered unconsious is minimal. Of the two that I have and one that my son-in-law has, I prefer the BPS model as it doesn't seem to get in the way as much. I wear mine whenever I'm in the boat by myself and on those occasions where I'm fishing really rough water and could loose my footing.

They're a great addition to a C-rig when you want to keep the 'bait' well off the bottom. I've nose hooked them with a 1/0 weedless hook and didn't notice any increase in hook ups so I went back to T-rigging them with no weight. The only time I fish them that way is in the spring.

Their MeanGreen has every characteristic you mentioned in those sizes, but I can't say one way or another about the new co polymer

Not that a swim jig, or spinnerbait wouldn't be a good choice, but I'd give a buzz bait a shot under those conditions. It's likely something that the majority of guys aren't using and under heavy fishing pressure, I always like to show them something different.

X2 and don't forget a trailer hook.

You are experiencing one of two things that happens when you target fish on structure, especially fish that are also relating to forage. When you hook a fish, others will follow. Maybe not all the way to the boat, but they will break from the school of baitfish they've been relating to. The other thing that happens is the school of baitfish will also move, so in reality the spot your end up recasting to no longer holds the forage or the fish. The good news is that if there is good structure, like that hump you mentioned, the fish and forage will be relating to it. The best thing you could do in that situation is to sit on top of the hump and cast to the school. That will pull any following fish up to the hump rather than away from that piece of structure.

If I knew the location of active fish, I'd opt for the hard bait that'd cover that depth range. If I were using it as a search bait, I'd opt for the soft as I could cover more of the water column with it when rigged with a weighted hook.