papajoe222

Black grape. It actually works better than green pumpkin around here. A dark grape worm with the end of its tail dipped in red dye has caught me more fish than just about everything except a jig/trailer combination

Thanks for the replies and a special thanks to looking45,Barry, who is sending me a couple dozen of his hand pours. Looking forward to using them on some rocky points and weed edges.

Back in the day, a Reaper on a stand up jig head was a killer for fishing weed edges. We'd just drag it for a couple of feet, lift it about a foot and let it fall, rinse and repeat. I love fishing the Megastrike and Crush jigs with a trick worm, but I think I'd do better with Reaper. If nothing else, it'd be something the fish rarely see. I'm looking for something mass produced as I'm not into pricey hand pours. Any suggestions/recommendations?

never when I'm on the water fishing.

Reading the post concerning football jigs got me to thinking about the different ways to stroke a jig. When I first began doing this, the only way I knew was to jerk it up like I was setting the hook, and then letting it fall on slack line to the bottom. That is still a great way, but since then I've also had success letting it pendulum down on a semi-taught line, giving it a couple of quick, short hops before stroking it and dead sticking it after it hits bottom. The last one will get me bit when most guys are throwing shakey heads, or drop shots. What variations, if any do you employ, or do you basically stick to the quick lift and fall option?

I believe the reason I get such explosive strikes on chrome topwaters, is that they mirror what is around them and the fish can't see a good target. They, in turn, will suck in as much water as they possibly can to get whatever it is into their mouth. I've never had a bass just slurp a chrome one like they do sometimes with colored ones.

IF there were bass using the schools to feed on, which is very likely, your timing was likely off. Bass have feeding windows and although they can be caught using different approaches when they aren't feeding, getting their attention immediately after one of those windows can be frustrating. You didn't say how deep the baitfish were in relation to the the depth of the water they were holding was. My choice would be something like a Razor blade spinnerbait, or a crank that won't kick out when burned, like a Speed N from Bill Norman. If you can get a reaction strike from a fish or two, it may fire up the other fish in that area. If you suspect the bass are holding in the nearby weeds, something buzzed over their heads may do the same thing.

I'm with Tom on this one. Give me a 3/0 straight shank, light wire hook. If you insist on going with an EWG, choose one that the hook point sits well above its eye.

My go to, summer time worm is a NetBait C-Mac. I don't recall the exact length, but I know it's over 12in. That and a Mann's Jelly Worm. I fish both the same way, on a light weight C-Rig with a short 18in. leader. I know a lot of guys will tell you to use long leaders in the summer, but bite detection is much better with the shorter leader. To activate the tails, I use a quick, short sweep and then let it sit until I can't stand it and then I wait a little longer before moving it. Most of the lakes I fish have little vegetation, but the ones that do, I'll ditch the C-Rig and go with as light a weight as possible, not pegged. Whether it's grass, rocks, or structure, as long as there's deep water fairly close, I'll fish the worm rather than a football jig.

A couple of suggestions. Use a frog with a pointed nose like a Mann's. It'll come through the eel grass better than one with a wider snout. More importantly, experiment with your retrieve. Not only the speed, but the pauses. My most effective summer retrieve in vegetation involves 4 o 5 quick jerks followed by a long pause. I've let it sit for over a minute before the fish would explode on it. If you've ever spooked a frog from the bank, that is exactly what they do. Other days they want it with long jerks, short jerks, frequent pauses and even burned back, so experiment. Frogs are not just early morning/evening topwaters. Don't be hesitant to try them mid-day.

I gave up trying to recover it, even though I dropped a waypoint on my Lawrence unit. It's in 45ft. of water and even If I could see it on downscan, I doubt I'd be able to snag it. Besides, it gives me a reason to purchase a new reel. I love Daiwa reels, but have been hesitant about purchasing one incorporating the T-wing. Not that I've heard anything negative, it just looks like a screw up waiting to happen when I go to clean it. I just may bite the bullet and get one. WTH, I can always sell it, right?

I had a massive brain fart today and one of my workhorse TD Advantage 150H went swimming along with its best friend for the last decade. I was tempted to jump in after it, but then realized I'm 73 and that puppy was sinking fast. Anyway, I'm looking to replace the reel with another reliable high capacity one. Nothing too pricey, If I can get away with something in the $150 range I'd be happy. I don't remember the line capacity on these reels (I still have two), but it needs to be more than the 100-120yrds of 12lb. test most of the low profile reels hold now. The one I lost was used exclusively for trolling and hooking into a good sized fish doesn't leave much line to play with on those models. Suggestions and relating any good or bad experiences with any would be appreciated.

This is basically the same approach, but I switch baits to something more subtle after a couple of casts with the buzzzer. The reasoning behind it is to get the fish interested and looking upward. Then something like a jerk bait or popper gets them to strike.

Many years ago (more than I care to admit) I read an article in a magazine. This was long before the internet was born. Anyway, the article mentioned a way to get bass fired up. Basically, it involves running a buzzbait over some prime cover or structure a few times and then switching over to a more subtle presentation. The reason this tactic works when bass aren't biting is the buzzbait does two things, it gets the fish in a defensive mood and it gets them looking up. The follow up lure was something that also stayed above the fish. As Flukes and Senkos were not around, a Rapala, or a Pop-R were the recommended follow up . I decided to give it a try next time things were slow and low and behold, I was able to keep the skunk away. Although this isn't something I do on a regular basis, I will, on occasion dust this one off , which surprisingly works just as well today as it did back in the day. The Rapala and popper have been replaced by other lures, but I'm sure they would still produce as well as back then. I've actually caught quite a number of bass on the buzzbait after the third or fourth cast. So has anyone heard of doing this, or actually done it themselves?

I only throw black or white buzzbaits. The fish don't seem to have a preference for any particular. I own some other colors, but they've never gotten wet except for when I pull the skirt off and add a white or black soft plastic. Then they're no longer a different color.

It depends on the cover I'm fishing. For target fishing like dock pilings, timber, etc. I'll work the cover and out a few feet, reel it in and cast it out again. For weeds, if I'm working above them, or along the edges, I'll work it until it clears the weeds by a couple of feet and do as above. If I'm fishing structure, I work it all the way back. I don't want to miss out on a fish that's interested in my offering by showing it to her and then immediately taking it away.

My compartments get hot when the sun beats down on them for hours. When I reached for my mid depth crank box today, I had to drop it a second after I picked it up, it was that hot. The high temp today was 81, but I'd bet the temp in that compartment was 110+ One reason why I take all my tackle out of my boat, it's stored outside. I lost a couple of Big O's a while back due to swelling.

The weeds were in 14-15ft. topping out around 12ft. The best spots on weed beds were where a mixture of different weeds, mostly pond weed mixed with hydrilla or coontail moss began, or where the weeds grew to the top and layed on the surface. This is all from water that sat close to deeper water. I would look for points of weeds, or indentations.

Thanks again to all who chimed in on this. Tried a double fluke rig presented over the weeds today, along with a punch rig and beaver combo. The double fluke rig was a bit of a pain to cast accurately, butshortening the leaders, helped. Has anyone tried adding weight to this rig? I was using stout, EWG hooks for a little added weight. If so, where do you add the weight? The weeds weren't super thick and punching would not have been my first choice, but once I switched to a lighter weight, it was like turning on a switch. I think the ROF made the difference in getting bit.

Most hair jigs I use are 1/8-1/4oz. If I add a trailer, it’s a curly tail grub on a jig with shorter hair. I work them along the bottom, dragging the ones with the trailer and working the others with either short hops, or a yo yo style retrieve. I use them mostly for smallmouth, but early pre-spawn they work well for largemouth, too.

The active fish are wearing camo sneakers. If you look close, you can see the laces.

For those that fish from shore, or from a boat without the aid of electronics, a 'search bait' is a valuable tool in locating active bass. Most anglers will automatically think of crankbaits when this topic is discussed, but others like a swim jig or spinnerbait are equally effective in searching out active fish. I'm wondering if anyone else used a jerkbait (hard or soft plastic) as a search bait? Although my boat is equipped with electronics at both the console and the front deck, when fishing shallow water, I rarely mark fish even though I know the bass should be in the general area. One of my favorite ways to search out those areas is with a Norman Speed N, or a jerkbait. When worked fast they will draw strikes from both active fish and those in a more neutral mood. Once I get bit, I'll make a few more casts with that bait until I don't contact any more fish. Often times the fish will swipe, or slap at those offerings. Either way, I'll then switch to a presentation that I can methodically cover that smaller area. This approach has been extremely effective this season on an old gravel pit where the deepest water is 12ft.

Thanks for all the replies. So I left the hard baits at home and only brought some swimbaits and creature baits (along with my tubes and worms). The girls were holding on deep structure, so i rigged a creature on a 1/2oz. football jig, added a rattle and surprised myself by boating four LM over 18in. Normally I would have chosen a C-rig with a tube or worm. The Rage Swimmer produced three dinks holding tight to shallow cover. I’m going to try some Flukes on a lake with a lot of weeds this weekend. That and a punch rig/beaver.

I know there was a thread here recently about bringing only soft plastics for a one day outing. It got me to thinking and I decided I'm not versatile enough with my choices as I mainly fish hard baits (I consider a jig/pig a hard bait }. My confidence soft plastics are tubes and ribbon tail worms, although I do fish a stick worm early in the season. I have creature baits, beavers, toads, trick worms, swim baits and about most of the varieties out there and I've caught fish with all of them. I want to gain confidence in the others and am looking for input as to which of the many offerings you would pick if it were the only one you took in the boat for a day. Please don't say a Ned rig or a drop-shot. I know they catch fish, but I'm looking for baits I can fish using a baitcaster.