papajoe222

I remember some heated discussions among family and neighbors when I was growing up (back in the dark ages) about whether a three pound channel cat fought harder than a smallmouth, Ahhhhhhhhhh, I left out I don't know about that one, but I do know that if a bluegill could grow to that size, a new king would be crowned. I didn't include all the bass species, or the saugeye, but feel free to add any species you feel can dethrone the smallmouth.

I switch it up, but no matter what retrieve I use, you can bet that worm is falling vertically multiple times during the retrieve. Sometimes it a slow lift and let it fall on slack line while watching my line. Other times, I'll let it fall under tension, so it fall on a bit of an angle. When using a weighted version during the summer, I'll stroke it along breaklines or deep weed edges. Believe it or not, sometimes a simple chuck and wind will get some violent strikes. In other words, I experiment until I find what works best on that particular day.

I don't have a TilTok on my desktop, but I will tell you that I stopped using EWG hooks on my C-rigs back around the time I retired (14yrs. ago). I switched to good ole round bend, off set worm hooks and I haven't looked back since. I just seem to loose fewer fish using them. I don't know if it's because the hooks point sits farther back, or because it sits higher than most EWGs so it has more bite. I don't know what hook he's proposing, but I'll bet the angle from the hook eye to the hook point is the reason he suggests it.

I keep a pair of extra long needle nose pliers in my boat for pike and muskie fishing. They come in handy at times like that.

I worked in a casino, on my feet all day, for a couple of years. After my first week, my feet were killing me. I looked around at what others were wearing and the majority of them had quality sneakers on. Some Nike, some New Balance, some Adidas, but all were cross training style. One thing I added was a pair of WalkFit supports inside my first pair of New Balance sneakers and by the third day I wore them, my foot and back pain stopped bothering me. I wear that same pair as my fishing shoes. If you're like me, you stand the entire time you're fishing and you don't spend a lot of time running around the lake. One other thing I added after I turned 65 was exercising my legs. You'd be surprised how much good muscle tone in your legs can help reduce foot strain.

I was lucky enough to be a part of our annual Cops and Bobbers fishing derby for the youngsters of our town. It's run by our local FOP lodge and drew just over a hundred kids today. The fishing couldn't have been any better as every entrant caught fish, mostly bluegill. The 10-14yr old class caught the most bass, 14 with the biggest being a 16in. fish. the older group of 14-17yr olds only had four entries, but they were able to catch 6 bass and a nice 21in. walleye. I love teaching kids about bass fishing and these guys and gals were like sponges, absorbing the tips and suggestions I was dishing out. When the fishing ended and before the prizes winners were announced, many of those entrants came up to me asking questions about spawning bass, different retrieves and what was the difference between some of the baits we were giving away. The majority of bass had finished spawning, but the shallows were potted with bluegill beds. The local BPS, WalMart Dick's and all of the sponsors were extremely generous with donations, and every child received either a rod/reel combo, bass pro gift card, a tackle box filled with lures, hooks, weights and, of course, bobbers, or their choice of four lures,or bags of plastics. I'm happy to say that every child there left with more enthusiasm about the sport than when they first arrived. Today was a glimpse of the future of our sport and from my viewpoint, It looks very healthy.

There is truth in this for sure. We have a shocking survey done every year at one of the clubs I belong to. They do this to evaluate the management of the lakes. For the last four years they've shocked a minimum of 18 bass over three pounds and that number includes a couple of 5lb.+ fish on the main lake and 8 bass including a 7lb. 15oz. gal on the smaller lake. Those numbers haven't changed over that time period, but the board gets numerous complaints about the poor bass fishing. What has changed is both the killing off of weeds one week prior to Memorial Day and the fact that everyone and their guests are throwing stick worms and Flukes and they are doing so randomly because they have only shoreline cover and docks to cast to. I have difficulty finding fish. Some days I'll spend up to two hours searching out baitfish because even my honey holes are void of fish. When I do locate the baitfish, I can put 5 or 6 quality fish in the boat over the last two hours I'm on the water. I forgot to mention, I leave the stick worms and Flukes at home. My point is; The fish are there, but they've adapted to their environment and the fishing pressure. If you can figure out how, you're ahead in the game.

This experience taught me a lesson I'll likely never forget. One of the first tournaments I fished out of my own boat, I drew an old fart as a non-boater. It was a slow day, to say the least, by noon I still hadn't boated a keeper. The old codger, on the other hand, had three quality fish in the live well and the kicker was that we were both throwing the same bait. Now before all you grey hairs start getting on me, this was back in the late 70's and I was young and thought I knew most everything there was to know about bassin'. I started concentrating on what he might be doing that I wasn't. I watched his rod tip angle, how fast he was cranking, how often he paused, or sped up the bait......Nothing, nada.... he was mirroring exactly what I was doing. I made a cast to an old dock piling as we approached it with nothing to show for my efforts. I looked back and that wise old man was waiting until we passed that piling before he cast back at it. Yep, #4 and his biggest of the day. WTH I just cast to that dang post with the same friggin lure, This guy must have some magic up his sleeve, was my conclusion. At weigh in, I sat there fishless while he had a lock on third place. He must have seen the big question mark hovering over my head as I sat there licking my wounds. "You're wondering how I caught those fish using the same bait you were, aren't you? I nodded and he said two words; different angles and walked past to his car with his winnings. The thick skull I have kept me from understanding what he meant for the entire two hour trip home. It was only after I began putting my gear up in the garage when I dropped a couple of rods on the floor. There they sat, in almost a perfect X pattern when the light finally came on. Not only will I never forget that lesson, I realized then that my knowledge of bassin' barely scratched the surface. I'm 74 and still learning.

I'm heading down to Mississippi for a week or so and I'm looking for places to wet a line (from shore). Preferably retention ponds or smaller lakes with shore accessibility. I'll be stopping in Nesbit on the way down and there's a small lake on the property of the place I'm staying. I'm also guessing that the spawn is over down there and figured, being shore bound, I'd stick with a worm for bottom contact, a frog for topwater and a spinnerbait for in between. Any other suggestions would be helpfull. Thanks

perch

Just wondering how many of you have used a Plopper at night and if it produced better than other topwaters you have in your tackle box? It took me a long time to jump on the band wagon called Whopper Plopper. I broke down last season and purchased the 75 and 90 and forgot about them. They didn't end up in my 'Top Water' box, however and ended up in my 'Favorites" box. Last night I decided to do a little night fishing and once all the sun's light disappeared, I broke out my favorite night time topwater, a black Jitterbug. I made about six casts with it and knew something was wrong as I couldn't hear that familiar gurgling sound. I took it off and was ready to put a buzzbait on when I noticed the 75 in the box as I put the Jitterbug away. You guys know where this is going, don't ya? Yes, 14 bass latter, I chased that bandwagon and got on. I don't think I'll be getting off any time soon. Funny thing is, I use a very similar bait for Muskie at night and never thought to apply that tactic to bass fishing. Yes, I'm slow, but in my defense, I was born before Rock N Roll.

You're spot on with your thinking, but missing fish with your retrieve. If fish are hitting your offering just after it hits bottom, or with the first drag, Duplicate that during your retrieve. Almost like stroking a jig, but not as violent. Raise your rod tip quickly to about the 11:00 position and let it fall under light tension. Your jig will fall on an angle similar to its initial fall after you cast.

Two things most anglers disregard when fishing gin clear water. The first is shade, specifically shade that is cast by something under water. Drop offs, weed edges, big boulders, just to name a few. Fish that shaded area first. You do that with shade that's visible above water like that of a dock or a shoreline tree. The second is speed. I can't stress this factor enough. The common train of thought when targeting gin clear water is to downsize and slow way down. You can and will catch fish using that tactic, but don't rule out speed, in fact I start with that until the fish tell me they won't hit a fast moving presentation. I've caught countless numbers of bass from the clear water strip pits of northern Illinois, burning a Rat-L-Trap parallel to the steep drop of those pits. If you can, work a jerkbait, or walking topwater as fast as you're able to.

How dare you even think that.! Golf is the biggest waste of good fishing time there is. What else takes three or more hours and has an outcome that is fairly predictable. The few times I've gone golfing, the only thing I thought about was fishing. I've never been fishing and thought about golfing.

I've been fishing for over 60 years and have gone through my share of mid priced reels, especially spinning reels. Although I don't fish with them as much as I did in my early years, two of my reels are what I consider higher priced ones. One is 15yrs. old and the other is 12. I never had a spinning reel last more than seven or eight seasons prior to that. For the cost of two decent reels, I was able to purchase that 15yr. old. Not to mention I enjoy having and using the better ones. I will admit that I didn't notice much improved performance with spinning gear, but when I purchased my first Daiwa baitcaster, is was like switching form a Chevy to a BMW.

Those rare days are what many of us live for, but they also offer an opportunity to try out a new technique/bait, or gain confidence in using one. The best way to do that is to target active fish. This is exactly how I gained confidence in a Ned rig. I had caught a dozen or more bass in my first hour on the water crawling a tube up the steeper side of a point. I switched to a Ned rig and although my catch rate dropped dramatically at first, once I'd been schooled on the light almost non existent bite, it increased considerably. Now when the bite is tough, I'll switch from a 3 1/2in. tube to a 1/8oz. Ned. One of these days I'll give a 1/16oz. a go, but that's a ways off.

I use my electronics to find suspending bass on pre-spawn locations and then check other locations for active bass near or on the bottom. If I find them there on that first spot, all the better. The bluegill here are usually two weeks behind the bass, but if I see their beds, I'll do a quick fan cast of them from a distance with a bluegill imitating tube. If no bass respond, I'll move out deeper. When the bass aren't feeding on them, they'll be suspended over deeper structure and will be in more of a neutral mood rather than the negative one immediately after the spawn. Keep in mind that not all bass will be using bluegill as their main forage. In seasons other than the actual short spawn a bass' life revolves around feeding. Find the forage and the bass will be close by.

Here I thought you always do, now I find out it's only after the spawn.

I just wanted to wish all you mothers a Happy Mother's Day

I will normally switch to a drop shot using a round split shot (the ones without the ears) lightly pinched on the end of the line. If it does get stuck, a steady pull will get the business end back and you can just crimp on another split shot and you're back in business.

The only time I use it is in the spring for the first couple of outings. After I've gotten a little tan, I rarely bother. The exception is when I'm on vacation and I know I'll be on the water for more than five hours, then it's whatever is still in my bag from the spring. I do use a Coppertone stick on my oversized nose and the tops of my ears though.

I've caught the same fish more than once on a 60acre lake that I fish fairly regularly. The first time I can remember, a nice fish blew up on my spook and halfway to the boat, my line snapped. I was more upset that I lost the lure than because I lost the fish. A little less that two hours later I caught her again, this time on a shallow running crank, not 50yrds. from where I'd hooked her the first time. Got my Spook back. A couple of other times, I've done it fishing the same deadfall a couple of hours after catching and releasing a fish. Shallow fish are territorial and if the big ones don't return to their home, another will move in, sometimes that same day.

I'll drive up to two hours and my 'normal' commute is just under an hour. There are a couple of lakes that I can be on the water twenty minutes after I pull out of my driveway, but I don't frequent those. Once a week if that often. My 'home lake is a 35min. drive and produces a few 6lb. bass every year. For numbers, I travel out of state, either Indiana or Wisconsin.

I began using hi-viz braid on the combos I let the kids use. It was/is a lot easier to see when line watching. The kids catch on quickly and I found that it was much easier to watch that line than fluoro, mono, or regular braid. I've since switched my jig, worm and finesse combos over to hi-viz braid mainline and fluoro leader. I currently only use Suffix on my C-rig and deep jig combo and the jig rod is straight braid.

If you're unsure what stage of the spawn the fish are in, cranks and jigs would be my first two choices. You can fish them at any depth and one or the other will appeal to them based on their activity level. If these two aren't in your comfort zone, a spinnerbait and plastic worm would also fit the bill. If you're unlucky enough and catch them on the beds, Look for areas closer to the dam as the fish there may still be in pre-spawn. If fishing a natural lake, check out the staging areas the fish use prior to and after the spawn. The same baits mentioned are still good choices, but I'd opt for a suspending crank for post spawn fish.