papajoe222

I think we all need to petition Glenn to add a drool symbol to the like, sad.confused, laugh, thank responses.

I have a serious dislike for answers that included the word winter! Spring and late fall are great for catching big fish for me, but my vote for favorite is SUMMER. Numbers are up, there is next to no one on the water, the temperature drops to bearable levels and I just got my first bug bite last week. The Lord has seen fit to all but eliminate those pesky vermin the last few summers and the last hour of daylight into the darkness is as close to heaven on the water as I could ever imagine.

I smiled when I read this. Not because I remember being taught it, but because I have my own scale for shooting bench rest. 0-8mph = prime time 8-14mph = stick to 300yrds or less 15- ? mph= save the ammo and go fishing

My club lake is only 120 acres and has many long islands, it’s an old strip mining pit. Those islands shores are on the east and west sides. What I’ve found from fishing this small body of water, I’ve also seen in most every lake I fish. After two or three days of wind from the same general direction, my catch rate is almost 50% higher on the wind blown shores and structural elements than on the calmer ones, even though they may be facing the sun for the majority of the day. This catch rate is slightly biased as I have been targeting the wind blown areas first whenever this happens. During the summer, the prevailing wind/breeze may last a week and I may never hit spots on the other side at all.

I pieced together my equipment and the piece that made the biggest difference for me was a wrapper with a tension arm. Made it super easy to back up a wrap that maybe crossed over. I believe that kit includes one. There are many videos for beginners, including ones from MudHole, so if you decide not to go with the class, there is plenty of guidance available

Thanks all. Good news for me, It appears that a couple of changes on my part have, so far, eliminated the leader knot breaking at the hook-eye.. First, I went back to a long(er) leader, around 7ft. Second, I changed from a 'cross their eyes' hook-set to something resembling the one I use for hair jigs. I believe the leader length made more of a difference, But I'll stick with that style hook-set for now, except for my skirted jigs. For them, the dinks are gonna grow wings.

My first thought was; change colors. My second was; they're not taking the frog deep enough into their mouth for the hooks to bite. Topwater bites are, for sure, hit or miss. I throw full sized Spooks and wonder how one of the three trebles doesn't hook them, but I've had that happen more times than I'd like.

I don't recall. All I ever ordered from him were the original FishinFool and SinkinFool.

Of all the hard baits I have, cranks outnumber all the others combined, even if I count skirted jigs. I have a box full of each, shallow runners, square bills, med. runners, deep runners and another box of each that are silent. Add lipless cranks and I have a small fortune tied up in just cranks. I just picked up some Live Target cranks........just because.

Looking for a light wire worm hook to use with big, 10in.+, worms. I lost a beauty the other night. My worm came back balled up with only the tip of the hook making it through all the plastic. The nose of the worm didn't slip down the hook, the worm was just in a ball for the first 6in. or so. I was using a 5/0 round bend worm hook that is made of fairly thick gauge wire and I'm convinced that a lighter wire hook would have penetrated all that plastic. In all my years of fishing big worms, I've only had this happen a couple of times, but if I can eliminate the possibility of loosing what could be my next PB when it does happen, I'll sleep a lot easier.

Wiley X offers a few fishing models in that price range and if your patient, you can pick up a pair on sale at one of the sporting goods sites. The lenses are shatter proof, so if your 1/2oz. tungsten jig comes flying back at your face at Mach 1, they'll save your eyesight too. That's provided it hits your sunglasses and not your noggin.

OMG, evo! if they were right hand models, I'd offer to marry you!

It sounds like I may need to change more than one thing, my hookset for one and my drag setting, which I’ve always set on the tight side, along with lengthening the leader to allow a bit more stretch. Except for my jig rod, the majority of my reels with braid are 30lb. My leader choice is either 12lb. Yo-Zuri or 15lb Abrazx. The rods are all MH either fast, or mod/fast action. the main reason I switched to braid/leader was the super clear waters I fish and as I mentioned the problem is with single hook, slow presentations. I’ve tried the Pitzen, SanDiego jam and most recently the Uni. The knot isn’t the culprit, it’s likely a combination of other factors. For now, I’ll be going with 12lb. Big Game on a couple of combos and work on changing up some things.

Line breaking at the knot has been a continual problem that has really frustrated me this season. It only happens with single hook presentations and I know it isn't the knot that is the culprit. It dawned on me (yea, I'm hard headed) that there is next to zero give to a short leader and of course, zero give to braid. Looking back on the season, all of my break offs have happened when my leader has been shortened by repeated lure changes or reties. I've never been a fan of leaders to begin with, but with slow presentations, braid is just too visible to have confidence in, so for years I either went with straight fluoro, or straight mono on my reels. Even though I never had a problem prior to this year, I did start going with a shorter leader, under 3ft. The last break off I had, the leader was well under 2ft. I had always used a leader at least the length of the rod. I learned the lesson the hard way and am passing it along to anyone, for whatever reason, considering going to a short leader for jigs or T-rigs.

Try wrapping the braid around the mono, or fluoro. Doing it this way eliminates stressing the leader when tightening down the knot. I've yet to have that knot break since I began doing it this way.

Luckily, the Lord has blessed me with quick reflexes and they have not abandoned me with age, I'm 73. Maybe it was his way of making up for my color blindness. LOL For whatever reason, my reflexes have never hindered my fishing, but sadly my age has decreased my stamina which has negatively affected my time on the water. A very active life style along with a physically demanding career kept me in great shape well into my 60's. Like many my age, I wish I were ten years younger so I could spend the day on the water rather than three or four hours.

I used circle hooks when first introducing youngsters to plastic worm fishing in order to avoid gut hooked bass. It's worked out so well over the years that I even use them for wacky rigging on occasion. As for barbless hooks, I bend the barbs down on the rear hooks of my Spooks as they tend to catch in the gills of fish during the fight. I've hooked and landed many a bass on that rear, barbless treble. I also fished a number of tournaments back in the day that required their use. Few anglers had difficulty limiting out in the majority of those.

I most likely fish the same lakes you do and honestly, I've caught 6lb. largemouth and 4lb. smallmouth on jigs. In fact I rarely throw any soft plastic with the exception of a drop shot. If you're catching them on soft plastics, I'll bet that the jigs that you're throwing are heavier than the weights you use. We've talked about this here many times; Rate of Fall makes a big difference when jig fishing. Twin Lakes, WI are both shallower lakes and I never throw a jig over 3/8oz. and when I throw one of those, the trailer is a full size RageTail or Paca Craw to slow it down. The other thing you may not have tried is dragging a jig slowly on the bottom. That tactic produced a 6lb. 7oz. largemouth from Powers on the 4th of July week-end.

I'll add that under sunny conditions, switch between an underspin and a plain, weighted hook until the fish tell you which they prefer. Also, experiment with different weights as the speed of your retrieve should increase the heavier the weight and sometimes they want it faster, or slower.

LOL, you'll be getting a bunch of varied responses based on ones individual success. Fisrt thing to consider is which docks to target and those would be the ones closest to deeper water. A dock sitting in 5ft. of water with 15ft. within casting distance of it is an example. As you mentioned, target the shade, be it under or to the side or front of the dock. Depending on your casting skills, there are any number of baits you could get under a dock, but if pitching, or skipping isn't your strong suit, try tuning a crankbait to run left or right (I keep one of each tied on) and run it under the dock. CHECK YOUR LINE OFTEN! and retie frequently.

For those of you familiar with The Knot Wars, the Fishin'Fool Knot was a surprise winner. What many may not know is it's originator also made the Fishin'Fool line of lures prior to his retirement. I knew Rick from a long gone fishing forum and just recently hooked up with him on FaceBook. I also knew of the bait's unique action as a soft plastic jerkbait with a different profile. I've been trying to get him back into making them and if he starts up production again, I'll be sure to give an update.

So was the WoodChopper, but I find that a Spook will catch bass as well as a prop bait in all but windy conditions that catch the line and make working the bait all but impossible. That said, it is likely not my first choice then.

When I switched from mono for bottom contact baits, I also switched to lighter weights. I only use heavier 5/16oz.+ under windy conditions, or when I want a faster fall rate. There are time, even in water under 10ft. deep, when a fast fall rate will produce. I use tungsten in combination with fluoro or braid to increase what I feel. For heavier weights, I use brass for C-rigs and lead for punching.

I'll add to stick with what you have confidence in. If it's hard baits, spinnerbaits and lipless cranks can cover the entire water column and run just above weed tops. If it's soft plastics, bring an assortment along with an assortment of weights. If you have any confidence in tubes, you'll be in tube heaven.

I'll approach it in one of two ways; Match the hatch is more important in super clear water or under tough conditions when the fish are holding tight to cover and you need to basically hit them on the head to get a bite. Either way, they'll be getting a good look at it. The second way concerns faster moving baits and or stained water. Either gets something the bass can see from a distance, but something they won't get a good look at until they've already decided to strike. This is where white and chartreuse combinations shine for me. Chrome, or other reflective surfaces on hard baits also excel here. In murky water, vibration is more important to me than color.