papajoe222

If you like willow blades, this and a Terminator. For one with Colorado blades, the Hart Throb gives off a ton of vibration even though it's blade is more like a turtleback.

I found a local guy that custom paints lures and have had him do a few of my favorites and a bunch of different sized Spooks. They're so pretty when I get them back from him that they just sit in my tackle box for me to admire when I'm reaching for one of their factory painted cousins. It's not that I worry about loosing them, I just would hate to scratch up the paint job. I did break out a custom craw colored Little John last week, but cut it off the first time I bounced it off the rip rap I was targeting. Luckily just the bill was scratched.

Water temp in that range, being the only factor you consider, tells you nothing. Has the temp. been slowly and steadily rising, or dropping? How deep is the average depth of the area you’ll be targeting? Is the surface layer of water significantly warmer? Historically, what are normal temps for this time of year? Not to mention, What are your electronics telling you? Focus on water temp. and its importance in spring fish migration has been a subject pounded to death by both the pros and media. Some of that info is dead on, but a lot of it is much too general to be of any benefit.

This is only one strategy, but YES. You either know from watching your DF that the cover is holding bass, or you assume that it is. In some instances the fish may be away from the cover, but if you've identified 'fishy' cover you should fish it at that depth. I think he meant to say if you're fishing wood and not getting hung up, you're likely leaving fish behind. I fish some nasty cover and this is my motto, but loosing baits isn't. If I get hung up, snagged, or whatever you want to call it, I'm going to get it back, sharpen the hook and retie. Then I'll move on.

Simple answer....NO. I recommend doing just the opposite and going with power fishing presentations. The first reason is because that (finesse fishing) is the mentality for fishing pressured lakes and the majority of anglers will be doing this. The second reason is because, if the fish are active, you can cash in on the fact before others do. Lastly, if you treat high pressure bodies of water the same as you do cold front conditions (presenting offerings as close to cover as possible, or fishing deep structure with a bottom presentation, you'll be able to cover more water and up your odds. If that strategy doesn't work, downsize your offerings and slow down. Bump hard cover and pause for..........that long or longer. Find the nastiest cover closer to deeper water and start flipping/ pitching a jig and trailer into the thickest stuff there is. Lastly, resort to finesse tactics. This go big, or go home empty handed is at best a 50/50 thing, but if you're eliminating 50% of the competition, you're on your way to finishing in the money more often.

If it's a big body of water with numerous tributaries, I'll look for pre spawners before fishing the beds. If it's a big, natural lake I'll do the same. On smaller lakes, I've found that the majority of fish will spawn on the same moon phase and searching out that 10%-15% of fish that aren't is tougher than fishing for the ones on beds. I normally avoid fishing those lakes at that time of year.

Which are you asking about, tournament fishing this lake, or pre-fishing it during the week? The best strategy,IMO, for fishing a one day tournament is to get your limit as soon as possible and then to target better quality fish. Finesse fishing, although it may be slow is, likely, the best approach to this way of thinking. The downside to this strategy is you shouldn't use finesse tactics until you've located fish. Very few would be considered search baits. This is where pre-fishing gives you an advantage. You can slow down and pick apart different structures and cover and return on tournament day and search for those fish using the current conditions as a guide to locating them. I'm guessing you're referring to club tourneys as most sanctioned events don't allow pre-fishing, within a certain time frame, before the event.

This is an example of either; 1-fishing where they aren't 2-not knowing where to look 3- not knowing what to throw 4-knowing what to throw, but not changing up the presentation until you find one that works, or any combination of two or more of these.

I only use a scale on fish that exceed 18in. During the summer, that’s a fis over 3lb. my arm then re-calibrates and I no longer ‘need’ the scale unless I catch one over 23in. Ive caught two at that mark , one 6lb-12oz and the other 7lb-7oz. The scale doesn’t lie, it only humbles me.

So I got out on the water today with the sole purpose being getting to know my new depth finder. It's awesome, BTW. What I discovered sort of puzzled me on one hand, but on the other it made perfect sense. It seemed like all the bass were in the deeper water and they were all right on the bottom. Of course I started thinking about how I've approached this situation in the past and I had a senior moment of sorts, but this was a memory. Back in my early days of fishing my dad and I would target walleye on the Wisconsin River Chain north of the Dells right after ice out. We only used two presentations, hair jig/minnow and a tail spinner. We caught a cooler full of eyes every year, but we also would catch a bunch of bass from a spot and move on in search of our favorite table fare. Dad used the jigs he'd tied over the winter and whatever minnows we could find for sale and I used a tail spinner. Those bass loved that tail spinner (the walleye not so much). Dad passed when I was still in high school and I didn't fish again until after my time in the service. Sadly, mom got rid of all our gear and I started out fresh targeting bass with my new found Creme Worms and forgot about tail spinners until today. Needless to say, I stopped at BPS on the way home and picked up a few. Do any of you that live in areas where the lakes freeze over use tail spinners for ice-out bass? If so, share some tips please.

Spool up with neon braid and a mono leader. That will give you the benefit of detecting bites when using soft plastics as well as acting like a shock absorber when fishing faster moving baits Focus on one technique to start,I suggest a wacky worn or a drop shot, until you feel comfortable moving to another. Lastly, remember there is no magic lure that can guarantee catching fish every time, so don’t get caught up buying everything someone tells you is the best thing.

“Learn different styles and apply the one that’s best for where you are.” That applies to bank fishermen as well as boaters. Another way to put it is to fish your strong suit until it doesn’t work then try something else. it’s much easier to adapt to conditions than trying to change them.

I was introduced to tournament fishing as a non boater. For the first few seasons, I threw whatever the guy on the front deck was throwing. Sometimes it worked, but the majority of times I’d get only one or two fish all day. After seeing the same guys finish at, or near the top, I approached an older one and we talked over a couple of beers. Long story short, he does just the opposite of what the boater does and on the few occasions he’s throwing the same thing, his presentation is different. That mentality worked for me then and continued to put me near the top even after I bought my first boat. THROW SOMETHING DIFFERENT UNTIL IT STOPS WORKING and if you’re throwing the same thing, do something different with it.

N You're cheating. He said buying tackle,not tackle you make. Jeez, I wish I'd gotten into tackle making. It's a heck of a lot cheaper that the hobby I picked for the off season.

I just mounted this unit to the bow and have a Tripple -Shot (with side scan) at the console. How do I find out, before purchasing, if my lakes are included one the chip. any general tips would be appreciated. I’m not new to depth finders, but charts and way points are an area I need to learn.

If I’m fishing a BIG lake, I look for fish that haven’t spawned. They’re more willing to bite than spawn ears, or those that have spawned already. If it’s a smaller body of water, I’ll still look for pre spammers, bu won’t waste the whole day looking.

I read somewhere that the HP limit was removed and any size outboard is now allowed use as long as the operator adheres to the no wake policy. Is this true? I'd love to get back on that lake as my new boat's trolling motor can drain my batteries on a windy day there and I hate being stranded on the water, or interrupting someone's day by asking for a tow.

After loading about half of my Plano boxes into my boat's lockers, I came to the conclusion that I have and use so many hard baits that I'm missing out of the awesome performance of soft plastic baits because I don't throw them anywhere near as often as the hard baits. Even under cold front conditions, I reach for the hardware before 'resorting' to soft plastics. Just so you know, I normally carry about 40lbs. of soft plastics in my boat, so it isn't like having an assortment is the reason. I just love throwing the hard stuff. I also don't catagorize a jig and trailer as a soft plastic bait (I don't consider a buzzbait as a top water 'Lure' either, but that's just the way my mind works), or that percentage would be a lot closer to 50/50. So the change in my game plan is to only take one tackle box of hard baits in the boat for a few outings and see if I don't enjoy catching fish with soft plastics as much. Probably not, but I have a feeling my catch numbers are going to go up....... At least for those few outings. So am I the only one that is so dependent on hard baits that they neglect the soft plastics, or the other way around?

Such a rookie statement. I have enough gear to last me to well past my expiration date and I'm still buying. As to your question, maybe two weeks during hard water season. During fishing season.............. the local BPS has my credit card number on file and they just smile and hand me my bag of stuff and say see you soon.

Sorry to hear about your mom and uncle passing and your dealings with prostate cancer. Thanks so much for sharing the information about testing and early detection. A simple blood test, as you mentioned, is the key to early detection. I myself have been tested yearly for over 30yrs. So to all the members and their dads, uncles, brothers, friends: GO GET A PSA TEST NOW. I really can't stress enough how important this is.

This is worth repeating. As mentioned in the OP, dragging works most of the time. Being attentive to changing conditions is just as important when fishing during the cold water season as during the rest of the year. spring up and fall down is something I do unconsciously, but I forget about retrieving on an angle until I loose a couple of jigs. Then the lite comes on, sometimes.

Glad I never subscribed to that way of thinking.

If you approach a bluff the way you should any structure, you look for changes and any form of cover. Bass will hold somewhere along (down) the drop, so that is where you are looking for those changes. The base of the bluff can hold fish, but I’ve found that only bluffs that bottom out in 30ft. or less and have chunk rock, or cover productive.

This is a subject that I've devoted more than a few seasons studying. There was a time that I didn't give it much consideration. When one didn't work, I'd try the other (keeping it simple). But having a few inquiring brain sells among the dozen or so that I still possess, I questioned why one over the other. Because bites are few and far between at this time of year, I began observing what factors were present when one presentation worked and the other didn't. Water clarity, light conditions, barometric pressure, even Ph. What I found was that the bass would take a jig dragged slowly and with pauses much more often than a lift/drop presentation. When the latter worked best, it produced numbers and the bites were much more aggressive. What factors contributed to the more aggressive bite? Exactly those that you'd consider during the summer. Cold front conditions made the lift/drop/hop presentation almost ineffective and although production using the dragging method wasn't something to write articles about, I'd get two or three bites on it. My conclusion was, and is the reason why I choose one over the other to start the day, don't overlook the conditions during this time frame. You sure wouldn't during the rest of the season. ?

Realism, like color can be the difference maker in which bait will catch when others don't. The OP compared two craw imitators, but I've done a similar comparison with tubes vs. craws. The majority of time, when both were presented the same they both produced about the same. However when one was presented different (say the tube spiraling down) one would out produce the other by a wide margin. Sometimes the tube and other times the craw. This leads me to believe realism plays a back seat to action and presentation. I also believe one craw can out produce another at times, but just like stick worms the difference could be the density, or bouyancy of one over the other.