papajoe222

On a side note: Musky are the only other fish I target regularly and from experience, I can tell you that repeated casts to a spot are often needed to get their interest. Chances are good that another cast or two by you would have resulted in a reaction. Your buddy just let you do the prep work.

I have two, medium diving cranks with coffin bills that have an awesome, tight wiggle (IMO). Yea, look good to me, but fish don’t seem to like a tight wiggle I guess.

You’ll get a lot more action on the fall if you don’t insert the jig all the way to the nose. I order my jigs from a guy that pours his own using a stronger, longer hook with a 60 degree horizontal line tie. He doesn’t, however, offer anything heavier than 5/16oz. Don’t know if I’d go the tungsten route when not rigging ‘stupid’ style because I hang up tube jigs a lot.

I had a way to keep the monkey occupied while I surfed through my favorite fishing sites. I found a site showing monkey porn 24/7. I'd put it up on the tube, grab my laptop and I could browse for hours without interruption. It worked for all of two seasons when a new monkey arrived. You guessed it, he's gay and they don't have a site showing gay monkey porn, so I just cut up my charge cards and the dang thing can only get me to spend cash.

Another thing that will help narrow lure selection down before you get on the water is to check the weather for a few days prior to your hitting the lake. Stable weather for a couple of days prior, or a front approaching should indicate a positive activity level while unstable weather prior to, or a front that passed a day or so ago, will likely see fish in a neutral mood, holding close to cover and unwilling to chase.

Sad to say, but the only time I tied on a spinnerbait last year was for slow rolling. I’d rather throw a swim jig, or swimbait. I haven’t, however, replaced them when it comes to deeper presentations, like Helicoptering a short arm single willow down a steep bluff, or slow rolling. Question: Have spinnerbaits gone by the wayside for you? If you still use them regularly, have you cut back their usage?

No, you can use it for attaching any leader to any mainline.

HookRz posted about this knot a couple of years ago and I was recently reintroduced to it. It's a very simple and fast knot to tie, plus I don't need to put my reading glasses on to see what the heck I'm doing. You can check it out here;

It all boils down to the individual. One has a right to do as they please whether or not I disagree with them. Fact of the matter is, if I ever caught the state record bass, I'd have a very difficult time deciding whether or not to get it mounted and I've been a catch and release guy for close to 50yrs. I have a mount my father had done when I was in my teens and I can say, with all honesty, that looking at that mount stirs more in me than viewing the picture I took of him holding the fish when he caught it.

That was the plan. Is there a reason why I shouldn’t? Curious as this will be my first side imaging unit.

My Humminbird DI unit took a crap not long after it was returned to me and I'm looking for a new unit that fits my budget. I'm leaning toward the Lowrance Hook2 TrippleShot. The main reason is that I'll be mounting the transducer to my TM and I've been told that it's a breeze to install for this unit. Any input would be appreciated as I plan on pulling the trigger within a week or so as I'm getting the boat prepped for the power plant lakes to open here, soon. I'm open to suggestions on other brands. I had looked at a similar unit that Humminbird offers, but I haven't had the best luck with Humminbird, other than my Super 60 from decades ago. My counsel mounted Lowrance is 12 years old and still serves me well.

I have more of these and Smithwick Rogues in my jerkbait box and was curious if you guys down south rely on either of them? The reason I'm asking those residing down south is because I know a lot of guys in the upper mid-west carry a good assortment of these and Rapalas.

In Boston, Truck Day is a Pre-Season ritual for baseball fans. For me, that day stirs more than just thoughts of baseball. I get worked up some by the The 'truck day' thing, but more so because it's also the day I start getting my fishing equipment in order. As I've been doing for many, many years, I have a progression of tasks I do prior to launching the boat for the first outing of the season. For me, that's the first week-end in March and pairing up my reels and rods is my first project. It's the first time I've held a rod since I put them up at the end of October and it really pumps up my anticipation a notch or two. For you guys and gals that deal with an off season, do you have a ritual that you follow that not only gets everything ready to go, but has you totally worked by the time when you can finally get out?

Two of my favorites are no longer in production; the Two-Fer, which has a buzzbait prop and the WoodChopper. Boy Howdy and the full size Torpedo are close seconds.

The other benefit is not having to concern yourself with your knot working its way into the split ring. I prefer oval split rings for crankbaits, but have gone the route of using snaps the last few seasons. I prefer duolock snaps. A number of companies offer them. As with any terminal connection, be sure that the snap is up to the force it may be placed under. A small, thin wire snap doesn't match up to a big, deep diving crank. The other option you don't hear a lot about is tying directly with a loop, or double loop knot. They're easy and quick to tie and allow the bait plenty of free movement. The only downside to them is you'll want to retie more often, especially when using big cranks.

I was paired with 'Frank' on more than a few tournaments. He only used ribbon tailed worms, but he could cover the entire water column from top to bottom and from fast to dead sticking it. He was in the same boat as I was when it came to first place finishes,0, but I lost count of the times he or I finished 2nd or 3rd. Sadly he passed a few years ago, but I learned a lot from him.

The biggest difference, IMO, is that they just aren't used as much as they were. Bladed jigs and swim jigs have turned away a big chunk of spinner bait anglers and the companies target the remaining diehards with adds and marketing ploys aimed at justifying their higher price tag.

A lot depends on what you're looking for in a tube. Some guys want one with a solid head and thick 'skin' while others prefer using them with internal jigs and like a thin skin. Then there's the salt debate; more, less, or none. How about color options. I only use three colors, but some companies offer as many as 20. If you're looking for a recommendation, give us an idea of how you plan on fishing a tube and what gear you'll be using. I use casting gear for a lot of my tube fishing and prefer 4in. and 5in.. tubes. That limits the number of offerings. See where I'm coming from?

The Fuego is my workhorse reel. I have three, one of which is the new (to me) CT. I don't own a Tatula, so I can't comment, though I am looking seriously at the 150

With buzzers, you can use whatever type of line you prefer as long as there's some flex or give in your equipment. I like mono for all topwater applications, but I go heavy (for up here), 17lb. or 20lb. which doesn't have much give, but it's paired to a MH Mod/Fast rod. There's more than enough give there to allow a fish to get it into its mouth, but not so much that I can't bury that hook. The reason a lot of guys using braid with a MH/F rod like a trailer hook is because, unless the fish crushes that bait, that front hook never gets into their mouth.

Actually, I’m an avid Muskie angler, but I only target them during the colder water periods and never fight them anywhere close to exhaustion. Same goes for bass.

I will admit that the challenge of catching bass is a big reason why I’m obsessed with fishing. I like bench rest shooting, but once I’m dialed in, the challenge it offers is minimal because the variables are minimal. Finding new loads keep my interest peaked. Fishing is similar for me. What I really love about fishing is the fight. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sunny, or a Muskie my total enjoyment comes from the time I set the hook, until the moment I’ve won the fight. This is one of the reasons I no longer compete. That ‘get her in the boat and go get another’ mentality started to creep into my every day fishing. My focus began to turn to my tournament goal and I began loosing interest. I began fishing ultra light to put the fun back into the fight and I realized I was also leveling the playing field with the fish. Now, even though I use braided line, heavy power rods and reels that can winch a 30lb. flathead out of the muck, I’m in no hurry to get it to the boat. My enjoyment of the fight has returned and although a much higher percentage of the fish I hook never make it to the net, I acknowledge that the better of us won the fight. Put the odds in your favor with the equipment you have, but don’t forget to enjoy the fight. That rod tip dancing under the weight of a head shaking 2lb. bass is true enjoyment and a trophy given a fighting chance and brought to the net is a true measure of sportsman ship. If you loose the fight, you can try for a rematch, but you will have the memory of the enjoyment of the fight and that rollercoaster of excitement.

6lb.9oz. on an 8in. hollow body. I think it was a Basstrix, but don't hold me to that.

I know the answer, but I don't have the awesome relationship with Him that you do, so I understand.

My combos are different, because I fish different cover. For what you describe, 30lb is plenty strong enough unless the weeds, or your jig hook are super thick. If you'll be using that combo for punching those weeds, I'd go with 50lb and forget the fluoro leader.