papajoe222

It's finally that time of year when the leaves start changing colors here. That change is a few weeks later than normal and I can usually get in three or four outings before the majority of the lakes here are closed to fishing. You can bet the farm that I'll have a short arm spinnerbait tied on a rod and I'll likely not put that rod down all day. There is something magical about a single willow blade short arm during this short time span, especially in the strip pit lakes I frequent a lot. This bait, when allowed to helicopter down a bluff wall, steep drop, or deep outside weed edge is just amazing. The problem is, you just can't seem to find them anymore, so I end up making my own out of a standard bait by cutting the arm about 3/4 of the way up from the 'R' bend, slipping the smaller blade and clevis off, and attaching the willow blade/swivel to a newly formed loop at the end of the shortened arm. I've used a number of different brands of baits to do this, but the ones with thinner wire arms seem to produce best. I believe it's because the shorter arm still retains plenty of the vibration characteristic. If you're looking to add a bait that is not only different from what the majority of anglers are throwing and is a proven fish catcher, look no farther. For the cost of a standard spinnerbait and a little time, you may just find out what I did almost 40yrs. ago. But keep the secret to yourself.

I actually haven't thrown one since the spring of '19 and that was actually the only time I tried one. Never did much research on them. Thanks for the insight.

Something I've never done, but have been questioning that decision, is using an A-Rig in the fall. I would think that one would be a good choice now as the bass should be targeting schools of baitfish. Are they just a bad choice for a fall presentation, or do we just not hear about their use by the pros in the fall?

If you're getting her a 10karat diamond necklace, No. If you're thinking along the lines of a new set of pots and pans, make sure they're light weight aluminum, not cast iron. You'll thank me later.

A jig rod, a crankin' rod and a topwater rod. Jig of your choice, same for the crank and topwater, but don't toss that jig without some type of RageTail trailer. ?

The problem, I think, is you likely put a high arc to your cast as you attempt to cast as far as possible. That leaves a lot of slack that need to be taken up before the lift of the lure can bring it to the surface. The bait is moving toward you, so you feel the tension in the line, but there is just as big a bow in your line under the water (as the lure sinks) as there was above it. Watch your line, if you can, when you make a cast. If it resembles that first hill a roller coaster starts up and then plummets down. This is exactly what I'm talking about.

Welcome I'd really like to answer your question, but with the information you provide my answer would be so vague that I doubt it would be of much help. Can you tell us how cool is cool in your area. For example 60-70 or 50-60 degrees. How deep is the water, or is 15-18ft. a bottom depth? Lastly; What type of gear do you use? Spinning or casting? How heavy is the line you have spooled? That information is vital to getting you the answer. A very general answer would be a lipless crankbait, or a swim jig allowed to sink to the level of the fish and retrieved steadily within that depth range. There are likely baits that are much better suited to your style of fishing and the gear you have, so tell us more.

When fishing them with a long pause, if a bait is going to do anything other than sit level, I tend to do better with one that sits nose down and falls very slow. If I'm working it quickly, I don't even consider what it does sitting still, because it never does.

I would also go with a small tube in cold water. In fact, There have been Decembers here recently when the lakes haven't frozen over, when I did well with standard and smaller tubes. I even tried the AlkaSeltzer trick a few times when fishing was super slow and was able to pick-up a couple of decent fish.

FYI fellas, I'm starting a support group for anyone that has this affliction. Its purpose is to support your addiction. We accomplish this by passing the bait monkey around thereby getting him off our own backs until the next meeting. Meetings are twice a week (Tues.& Thurs.) and limited to four members.

Wasted gear? Never.................Wasted money? It sounds like you have, but don't feel bad because most of us have got caught up in the hot new lure or presentation. I love to buy lures (you should see my crankbait collection), most of which will never get wet, but you can be sure I've caught bass on a similar lure, or I wouldn't have given them a second look. If anyone would like to be the beneficiary of my crankbait, topwater, spinnerbait, or rod collection, send your name address, which type of gear along with $50 to cover the cost of changing my will to.................

I wouldn't say frenzied, but in your situation, I would venture to say, with the stability of that westward moving front, you can expect the fish to be cooperative. With 4-7in. of rain, depending on where you are, you can expect the fish to be moving up. Especially if the lake wasn't drawn down during the preceding months. If that's the case, I'd recommend starting the day targeting the upper water column and any newly submerged cover. Have fun.

Five years after the question was asked, I can say without a doubt that I am a better catfish angler than you. At least when using artificial baits. I’ve caught more cats when bass fishing over the last five years than for the 50yrs. that proceeded them.

He’s providing a service at an agreed upon price. My question is do you tip service people like your barber?

Can you backhand, or underhand with a standard casting reel? If you can and you can also cast sidearm with your BFS combo, I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to master either one fairly quickly. Don't change your technique. A nice, smooth pendulum allowing the rod to load is the key. Just like a standard casting reel, when you attempt to over power the cast, you're asking for trouble.

It's advertised as a Hyper CoPolymer, Advanced Monofilament with better abrasion resistance, lower stretch and more sensitivity than regular mono. So, I bit and bought a spool in 8lb. test. I've had one of my baitcasters spooled up with it for a few days and went to rig up for an outing tomorrow. I'm impressed with the line's memory, or should I say the reduced amount I'm seeing. I didn't condition the line when spooling and although there are loops in the line, they aren't small, tight loops like I get with Original Stren, or Big Game. As I stated, I haven't actually fished using this line and I'm wondering if I've found the 'Holy Grail' of monofilaments. Anyone tried this line willing to give your opinion?

I start a couple of days before hitting a new lake with research. If I can get a topo map, that's first on the list. I'll look it over and mark areas I think would be productive for the season. Next, I'll check to see recent tournament activity and if available, what the winning pattern was. I'm not concerned with what bait was used, just the structure, cover and presentation. Next I'll call any LSGs or bait shops and ask about water clarity, weed growth, or other type of cover that may be present and most importantly, what the main forage is. When I do hit the water, I'll make a few quick passes over the areas I've marked on my map looking for mainly baitfish activity, but also fish positioning if I actually mark fish. I'll check the weather for the past few days and that day will play an important part in what presentation I begin with, but it will always be a 'power' presentation that will cover water. I'll slow down if needed, but not until I check out all the spots I've marked on my map.

How much deep cranking do you do and what do you consider deep? I use 6.3:1 gearing for cranks down to 11-15ft. and a 5.2:1 for depths from 16-22ft.

I'm thinking you need to add turns, when using heavier line, to avoid slippage. Is the line is breaking at the knot? If that's the case, it's likely you're not lubricating the knot sufficiently. Lastly, how well does this 'not well known' knot fare under real life use with heavier line?

I was just going to recommend vertically jigging a spoon, especially this time of year and through the colder months. If you have a transducer mounted to your TM, you can actually watch it drop down to the fish. As for interpreting your sonar, if the echos you receive are from baitfish, look for deeper echos. Those are likely bass. If there are no deeper echos, treat what you see as being bass until proven wrong.

Get yourself a variety of Siebert jigs. He'll even make recommendations as to ones that would be best for how/where you fish. You have options beyond color and weight. You can't match the quality of his jigs with any mass produced ones. Check it out.

The Cutter, or Ultra-Vibe style worms I fish very similar to a paddle tail swimbait, or right on top like a buzzbait over the weeds letting it fall into pockets and bringing it back on top. The latter is a presentation I learned from a forum that is no longer around, and some of those members are here on BR.

When I need to slow down, I reach for a ribbon tail and I'll be working it on, or near the bottom. The Cutter, or Ultra-Vibe style worms I fish fast and weightless, normally well up in the water column.

The way I see it, hammered blades are better under tough conditions because they both break up the reflection off of them and that reflection is similar to a disco ball going out in multiple directions. They basically turn a spinnerbait from a reaction bait, to an attraction bait. After saying that, I don't use one to attract fish, therefore I don't have many hammered blades. I throw a Colorado/Willow combination the majority of time. The one exception for me, is pre-spawn when bass a cruising. Then, give me a double hammered Colorado blade. The next post should be about blade colors. When and why chrome works better than gold.

You, sir, have bought into the hype that fall bass feed heavily to put on weight for the winter months and, therefore, are easier to catch. That statement should end with a big BUT. but they are harder to locate. Locating where the fish are is the first in a number of things that successful anglers do that separates them from others. So, in the fall the one condition I prefer is finding fish quickly. A day where I spend hours searching can still end up a good day once I find them. A day where I'm lucky enough to find them early is a day I dream about the night before I go fishing in the fall. I prefer weather conditions that are comfortable for me and I can stay comfortable in most conditions if I dress accordingly. I have found that in the fall the worse the conditions are for me, the easier it is to locate Ms. Largemouth and catch her. The exact opposite seems to be true the majority of times for me.