papajoe222

I've never done it with tungsten, but I have used a plastic bead with both lead and tungsten punch rigs. My thought process being similar to yours about drawing attention. You'll need a small amount of movement between the components, just enough so they can tap against each other and I add an extra bobber stopper to keep things from moving up the line. As for adding weight, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work.

I think it depends on the application. For Flukes and bigger worms, I prefer the round bend offset. I use the EWG style for fishing most any other soft plastic, punching not included. Most have lighter wire hooks than the EWGs, too.

Are you asking if they'll catch fish, or if there's something physically wrong about them? Like any lure, if you put it in the right place at the right time, yes they will catch fish. There isn't really wrong with the Arkie. The skirt is on the thin side and the hook is far from the best, but if you're tossing you jig into the rip-rap, or wood cover, you'll be loosing more than a few and the purchase price can make that pill a bit easier to swallow.

Curiosity. A bass can't pick something up, or grab something as it goes by, to figure out if it's food or not.. The only option they have is to suck it into their mouth and then decide. Protection/reaction. Often times your lure will come within their comfort zone and they will attack it especially if it's moving fast, or it will suddenly appear and they attack it to defend themselves.

Know the fish you are targeting. By that, I mean know what drives it, when and how it moves, how it's environment affects it, both positively and negatively from an anglers perspective, where to find it, what it's main forage is for the lake you'll be fishing and then learn about that forage, too. Learn to cast accurately, tie more than one good knot, more than one presentation, how to interpret what you see on your electronics. Lastlly, know that your wallet will be empty the majority of the time for the rest of your life, unless you are independently wealthy, in which case it may take you a season or to before the empty wallet shows up. Oh yea, what them other people said too.

No, just as a Ned is only a small fish bait. I've caught 12in. and 20in. on both. A ribbon tail is a little more subtle than a curly tail, but in the same ballpark. As you can see from some of the pics here a good old round bend, off-set worm hook is what I and others use for longer worms. I just seem to have a better hook up with them vs. EWGs.

The last couple of seasons, I'll call last cast when my bum shoulder goes from being sore to down right painful. Then it's time to head to the ramp, but it'll calm down some if the ride is long enough and I can get a few more casts in before it starts screaming at me. Of course, there's always drifting and trolling, so it could still be a while.

I know a lot of anglers that don't consider a ribbon tail a go to bait for summer, but I'm here to tell you that, like a jig, you should consider having one rigged on your deck. Big long ones to short 4in. ones are a good producer of fish, especially in the summer. Yes, creature baits, craws and beavers will produce, but that worm is just something those girls can't resist. They'll dart out from the weeds to open water to inhale one. I call them the Zara Spook of the bottom for that ability to draw fish to them. Big, long worms have been producing better than average fish during the summer since they were first introduced. Although the first oversized worm I threw was a Mann's Jelly Worm, I all but abandoned them when the ribbon tails hit the market. Like their big brothers, small ones produce and not just smaller fish. Texas Rig, Carolina Rig, split shot, or as a dressing for a bare jig, you may want to give them another look.

Different jig heads shine under certain conditions/circumstances. Pointy heads are great for swimming, a football is hard to beat for a bottom presentation, a shakey, stand up, head is perfect for enticing bottom dwelling fish that aren't active and an Arkie head is a good style for flipping/pitching and can double as a swim jig, or just dragging it along the bottom. Then there's tube jigs, ball head, dart head, underspins..........................

Mine rides up front with me and tells me where to cast. He's always right on for getting hung up and gets ticked off when I miss his target. He tried to throw my telescoping lure retriever overboard, but it was too big for him to handle otherwise I'd be out more than two or three cranks an outing.

The majority of the trailers I use are infused with salt. They come off when the jig comes off, or at the end of the day and I rinse the jig and let it dry before it gets stored. Wasted a bunch of jigs to rusted hooks, so I'm OCD about it.

My confidence baits vary some by season. Early in the year, I love my cranks. Once the weeds take hold, a lipless is the one that gets the most use. Summer, it's worms and jigs unless there is hard cover without a lot of weeds then it's jigs and tubes. Tubes are my 'finesse' go to, I'll even fish them weightless over the tops of weeds as they walk the dog fairly easy. Come fall it cranks and paddle tail swimbaits. One last thing; SPINNERBAITS. If you get the idea that I have confidence in more than one bait, yea, I worked at getting there with them.

I use two different retrieves with one. The most productive is sweeping the rod to the side and reeling the slack before repeating. The other is with a longer leader and it's a modified stroking one, but rather than jerking the rod tip up, I sweep it from pointing at the water to overhead. The start of the sweep lifts the bait off the bottom and because of the longer leader, when the weight falls, the bait follows much slower. Gut hooking was a bit of a problem at first, but once I figured out a good cadence I all but eliminated the problelm.

Normally, my choice of presentations/baits is the same for all the natural lakes I fish, but the wind affects them all the same, so the lake itself isn't considered in my decision making. Of course, I'm fishing from a boat, so wind isn't as big a factor for me. That being said, I'm sure your C-Rig would still catch some wherever you go.

the only time avoid fishing on a sunny day is if the barometer is high. That's usually when there isn't a cloud to be found, not even the wispy ones in MN Fisher's avitar. I just don't like putting a lot of effort into getting three or four bites a day. Sunny days don't put me off fishing, but the heat and humidity will get me off the water a lot quicker. My PB was caught around 1300 on a bright July day. Fish when you can, because there will come a time when you can't.

There are a number of presentations you can use for targeting submerged weed tops, but for windy conditions I'd be using a buzzbait, spinnerbait, lipless crank, or a topwater like a Lucky 13. A lipless that occasionally catches the tops of the weeds and ripped free can trigger some bone jarring strikes. With the likelyhood that once hooked, the fish will dive into the weeds, braid will help you get them up and out of it. If they won't come up, I'd go with a heavy jig or a punch rig, my choice, using something like a beaver for a trailer.

This is another one of those personal preference topics. What you have confidence in should be what influences your decision. I use straight braid for bottom presentations (no shell beds or zebra mussels to worry about), straight fluorocarbon for most treble hook lures and straight mono for the majority of topwaters.

I use a horsehead jig, think Roadrunner, when I want a small underspin for my smaller paddletails. The hooks are normally thin wire, so a reel-set is all that's needed. Anything over 1/4oz. I'm upsizing the bait/

When I began fishing jigs is when I really got serious about bassin. Most every tournament I cashed in, a jig/craw or chunk was my go to. I almost beat out one of our mods for big fish on the last official BR Road trip pitching a jig. Stick with learning different retrieves, a jig is a serious, big fish tool. You won't be disappointed.

Zoom Mag II and a Culprit, the longer one. I can't remember the name, but it's longer than the 7.5. I will say this; I throw an Ol Monster until it's the size of a standard ribbon tail after biting off the head a few times. The bass don't seem to mind.

I've been saying it for years; Golf is a waste of good fishing time. My biggest mistake starting out was not knowing about the seasonal movements of bass. I would fish the same spots where I'd caught fish in the spring all year. From June until ice over, I had the stink like you wouldn't believe.

I did just the opposite and started trying a left hand crank. My issue is that I'm unable to palm the reel and thumb the release bar. I end up having to either push it with my left thumb, or cast with my hand farther back on the reel which throws off the balance. I need to work on a solution as I really like the ability to instantly begin reeling as soon as my lure hits the water. BIG advantage for buzzin.

Welcome to BR Although I'm not familiar with Ugly Sticks, most Med. power Fast action spinning rods will handle a lot of bass presentations along with those for walleye, pike and some crappie. Oh yea, don't forget catfish. Your line choices are spot on, IMO, although sometimes a lighter or heavier leader is called for and don't forget that straight braid eliminates a knot and is a good option for stained or muddy water. Grab the combo of your choice and get out and get you some. One more thing while I have your attention; there are many different forums here that target specific subjects not only for asking questions, but for browsing through as the members here are both knowledgeable and willing to share.

If the fish are accustomed to clear(er) water, a sudden drop in visibility will put them on their guard. I'd treat it more like cold front conditions and go with smaller presentations with a lot of action. An UltraVibe Speed Worm or Craw on a light sinker in a bright or dark color over the tops of the weeds that are still green. A small, shallow running crank that will stay above the weed tops, one with a rattle should draw some attention also. If you can find a different form of cover, they'll be holding tight to it, so choose something that you can place close to it.