papajoe222

I'm a tinkerer (is there such a word?) when it comes to my equipment and lures are no exception. I've been known to modify some baits to the point that you couldn't guess what it was when I purchased it. Many of my modifications have ruined the lure, or had negative affects on it's performance, but a few have proven themselves and are performed on every lure of that style that I purchase. Here are a couple of my favs. What are some of yours? Spinnerbaits.........I'll shorten the arm on most of my baits and remove the smaller blade from a tandem bait. I'll also change blades to alter the drop rate and running depth. Crankbaits............I almost always add a splash of red to the underside. The exception are craw colored and deep diving baits. Top-Water............I add split rings to the linetie of all my walking baits and upsize the hooks to get them to sit a little deeper in the water. Soft Plastics.........Spike-It is my go to when it comes to altering these as it also adds scent to my offering.

In the spring, I like a curly tail grub for the water resistance as I can crank it slower and still keep it up in the water column. If I use one in the summer, it's a twin/ straight tail. These are thin bodied and offer very little addition of resistance which reduces the lift (compared to a bulky trailer) and that allows me to keep the bait down. I normally don't use one in the summer unless I'm going for a bigger profile and then, I'll normally downsize the blade on my bait to compensate for the additional bulk/lift.

Look out Lake Michigan smallies!

I approach brand loyalty similar to the way I approach loyalty to a woman. I like 'em tall, short, plump, skinny, brunett, red head (notice I didn't say blond), white, tan..... to look at that is. Okay, I may have held a few and even took some out for a spin. But when it comes to loyalty, there's only one woman that gets my stamp of approval......my wife. So if anyone asks about a woman, I recommend avg. height, not to skinny, not too fat, brunett, and white. When it comes to fishing gear, I rarely recommend any one brand, but I am loyal to a few. My first low profile baitcaster was a Daiwa and twelve of the ones I own and use are Daiwa's. The only rod I ever used that tripped my trigger was a Browning. I fell in love with Zara Spooks as a kid. Don't get me wrong, if you look at my gear I have other brands, but when it comes to those three, they're like the wife......I like to look at, hold and maybe even take something different for a test drive, but if anyone asks....................

Just wondering what rigging you tube fishermen use for skipping. I prefer a straighter line tie arrangement than internal jig heads offer and have been using the internal weights and lately weighted swimbait hooks. What about you?

For smallie cranks I like the Rebel Crawfish in the 2in. size and the Deep Little N by Norman. Crawfish and chartruse colors (the Norman has a color similar to Rapala's Mardigras that's been a killer). For jerkbaits, it's a Rogue in a bright color or an original Rapala #7 in gold/black. If I'm river fishing, I'll down size to a smaller bait and go with the Little N instead of the deep version.

Great bait year round when conditions call for cranking. Until I started using Bandit cranks, I even used them in wood cover. Those I couldn't unsnag didn't cost a bunch to replace. Early spring I normally opt for blade baits or lipless cranks for their tighter wiggle and the blade baits don't have rattles, but from the spawn until ice-up, those two brands get the nod from me.

My home lake is similar to the one you described Senkosam. It went from being weed choked last spring because of a mild winter, to totally weed free from mid-June until late august. There is really no 'deep' water or structure changes and the shoreline cover is limited to felled trees and chunk rock lining the shore. Bottom transitions are a big key as are gradual depth changes. When the weeds are up, these areas are easier to find, so under those conditions, IMO, this type of lake is easier. On the other hand, deep impoundments like Table Rock can produce good numbers once the fish are located, but because of the many different structures and the depth you find them in, location becomes a difficult and often time comsuming task. If your strength is fishing Senko type baits, your local lake is the type you should target. If it were cranking, the opposite would be true. It's like comparing fruit to vegetables. I'll target the shallower waters with fish scattered vs. the deeper ones where fish tend to concentrate and school because I know the chances of getting skunked are less on those waters.

I only had one rod with micro guides and my dislike of them had nothing to do with their looks, but of their durability. On my third outing, the insert on the tip came off. I was fishing a Carolina rig and didn't notice the small insert wasn't there. My first cast after, I knew something was wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was. When my line snapped of a subsequent cast, I figured it out. If I could find a replacement tip, I'd probably continue using the rod, but I'm sure I'll never purchase another.

I've used the BPS version with moderate success. I like to rig it wacky style with a plastic zip tie. They're great for distance casting and that's a concern for me as gin clear water is the norm on a couple of smaller lakes that I fish. I loose a little of the edge in using them because of the size, but the action is still there and I'm confident in putting them in front of finicky fish. On the one lake I fish it was the only presentation I was able to get bites on and although I only boated three fish on my last outing there, they were all quality (18in.+) fish. Definately not my first choice, but sometimes you gotta go with what works.

You'll find that if you spend the extra cash for a 'nicer' rod, you'll be more carefull with it. That is, of course, if it's your money that you're using. The same goes for a reel. The more you spend, the more care you'll take of it when not in use.

I am so right hand dominate that, although I grew up fishing spinning gear and reeling with my left hand, I'm unable to reel a baitcaster with my left hand. I end up cranking the rod and holding the handle whenever I try. something very similalr happens when I attempt to switch reeling a spinning reelwith my right hand. Did you ever see someone attempt to patt their head and rub their tummy at the same time?? I can only do it one way, If I try it the other way I end up rubbing my head and patting my stomach. There is a name for my condition, but saying it here is forbidden!

Raul and I agree on not matching the hatch although likely for different reasons. I choose baits based on what everyone else is using, and use something different. (The lakes I fish are small and get a lot of fishing pressure) Even if it's just a different size of the same bait in the same color although I rarely do that. I like extremes, big, small, wild colors, no color. It's a matter of personal prefference and that is what you need to decide for yourself. I like crappie sized AND big flat sided cranks in the spring. I haven't used the KVD series yet, but the 1.5 and 3.0 would likely be my choices.

The biggest difference in fishing morning/evening vs. mid day is fish location. Fish are more active at certain times and adjust their location accordingly. That location change could be as little as moving deeper or shallower, tighter to cover or structure, or as much as a migration from a shallow feeding flat, back to the deep water they call home when not feeding. Often during mid-day the fish aren't active. Where they go and how they position themselves in relation to that cover or structure is two fold. The difficult part is determining where they go. Wind direction, current, shade, light penetration etc. will dictate where they'll likely be on that cover or structure in most cases. There are fish that stay shallow or use shallow water as their home base all summer and many bassers target these fish as the first part of that equation is eliminated for the most part. They, those fish, don't move great distances. If you find them on a flat when they're feeding, they'll likely still be there during their off feed hours providing there haven't been any drastic weather changes. You know your lake fairly well, or well enough to catch fish during the low light, high activity periods. Take that information and fine tune it paying attention to the details and you'll find the fish. Then it's just a matter of getting them to commit to your offering and hoping that the wind, or sun or whatever doesn't change without you noticing it, because I guarantee the fish will.

Hey W.W. The first thing I notice in your pic was the marker bouy. Only one?? LOL I keep six on the boat and always have one on deck to throw out after hooking a fish on open water structure. Old school, old fart here.

Thanks guys. Although I prefer a slow rising bait early in the season, I'll retrieve them slower and use a graphite rod so I can feel the line rubbing against the timber. As I'm not looking to actually bump the wood in that situation, getting snagged isn't as much of a problem as during the summer when I'm burning them through the wood. Most often the bait will catch a branch where the lip meets the body and a slight pause on slack line will free it. I havent tried coffin billed baits for this. How do they compare to square bills when it comes to fishing timber?

When fishing as non boater in club tournaments, I'd carry my rods is a hard travel case and reels in a hard case designed for pistols. Both have foam linings and the equipment stayed stationary during transit. I'd unpack the rods before blast off and kept the reels in the case until we got to where we'd be fishing. I lost a little fishing time, but avoided quite a bit of boat rash on those reels. I guess a soft case could work just as well, but I went with what I had at the time.

I just picked up a few of the KVD silent baits and was wondering about their bouyancy. I fish a lot of downed timber and brush piles and like a bait that rises quickly when paused and was wondering if these or the 1.5 would fit the bill.

I've used some saltwater baits fishing for muskie and ended up catching some nice largemouth. Since then, I've added a couple to my bass tackle. The most productive has been the saltwater version of the ChugBug. Switched out the hooks including adding a feathered treble on the tail. The others are soft plastics that were poured in bass colors after making a mold of the saltwater version.

I start out cleaning and relubing all my reels. This year that included adding carbon fiber drag washers to three of them after polishing the washers and gear. Then it's the rods. Check all guides, clean and seal cork grips, and mark application on similar rods. On to baits starting with spinnerbaits. I'll check hooks for sharpness, replace skirts, polish or replace blades. Next is hard baits. After organizing and marking boxes as to content I'll start with top-waters replacing hooks and split rings where necessary and sharpening hooks on hollow body frogs and spoons. I'll do the same with cranks and when done, I'll replace any baits that were lost or are no longer worth the time and effort to get into fishing condition. Plastics are next, mostly just organizing and replenishing. The same goes for hooks, weights, terminal tackle, blades, skirts, etc. This whole process takes me about five weeks. At this point, I start driving the wife nuts as I'm already finished and other than getting the boat and trailer ready. Seeing as I've completed all but the boat and trailer and opening day at the power plant lakes is over four weeks away, it's time to start antagonizing the cat and momma so I have no problem getting out for at least the first couple of week-ends before either one figures out my strategy.

I know Joe will be happy to pass everything along to the guys. On their behalf, let me be the first to thank you. BTW hooligan, you know you're going to go out and buy more stuff and so am I. It feels good to do this and also gives us an excuse to go out and get more stuff

Decide what you'll be using it the most for. That will help you decide. Do you fish salt water extensively? Is line recovery,IPT an important factor? What about weight? Senkos or hard baits? Also, look into purchasing used equipment. Your dollar will go further and you may be able to afford a good used combo for what you have to spend. Some shops will have last year's models well into the following season. I picked up my Sol from a guy that had two of them on his shelf for longer than he cared and got a great deal on it.

Jig

I've used Kalin's on everything from Slider jigs to Umbrella rigs. I even tried the PowerBait in this style T-rigged with no weight and fished it like a swimbait. Like plastic worms, they just keep producing, so I just keep using 'em.

Thanks, I have the gut hooking occur more with long leaders on rigs that I float above the vegetation. I think it's more because of that long length of mono than my main line, but I'll give that a try too.