Jig Man

Many times a spinnerbait thrown back where the blow up happened with get you a fish. We normally fish both when I have another guy in the boat, blow up on buzz, toss spinner a couple of feet past blow up and lots of times you get a fish.

Do you fish in the rain a lot or just leave her outside?

If you were here at the main store in Springfield, they'd take it back. Last year they exchanged a fly rod/reel that had been severly damaged in a house fire.

I use all the way from 1/8 oz to 1 oz. I normally have 2 or 3 different weights tied on and alternate them until I find the one that works.

I never bother with the bottom. I silicone the top part to wherever I want and go on.

The thing about wind is it moves the algae through the water toward a specific spot or bank. The zooplankton which live on the algae move with it. The baitfish which eat the zooplankton move along also. The predatory fish which feed on the baitfish get there and have a feast. If you want some really good fall fishing, go on the third day after the wind has been in a consistent direction. When it blows first one way then another the fish tend to scatter all over the place. Spinnerbaits, slider grubs, swim jigs are my choices for this type of fishing. I'll go as long as I can keep my tmotor prop in the water with 2 guys on the bow holding it down.

For water that shallow I use 1/4 and 3/8 oz jigs. If you have grass you may want heavier. Get some basic colors (brown, black/blue, green pumpkin).

In all of my plastics I make sure I have: green pumpkin pumpkin seed smoke black/neon some shade of blue

Green pumpkin, black neon, smoke, pumpkin seed are all of the colors I ever need.

I am on #3. I rarely go over 15 miles round trip unless I go to Table Rock or Bull Shoals and my Opti gets good ghp when I keep the throttle back.

It wouldn't hurt to call and ask if they have any upgrade programs. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't but the call is free. 1-800-324-1356

I really like to have a wacky rigged senko or a trigged craw to toss on a missed fish (jig or spinner bait). If they have been hooked and lost sometimes yes sometimes no. However with smallmouth you never know. I lost a jumping smallie on a jig and beaver. I only got the jig back. My partner was fishing a tube in the same area and caught a fish almost immediately. It was also a smallmouth and when he boated it, that fish spit my beaver out on the deck.

Jitterbugs work around here on ponds but I have never caught a bass in a lake at night on one of them or a buzzbait. I use jigs, craws, tubes and worms at night.

It would be Stradic for me as I own 21 Shimanos and no other brand.

Take a look at www.fishingskirts.com. They have all kinds of skirts, bands and a $4 tool. Be careful about getting carried away. After I chose mine and my wife chose hers we had 1400 come to the house.

You can add a charger and charge the two seperately or you can get a bigger charger and charge both at the same time.

I probably have been fishing jigs longer than you have been alive. It still comes down to sometimes, "when in doubt set the hook" as they don't always take the jig with a tap. My recommendation to you is to not try to master 3 very effective techniques at the same time. Pick one that you like best and use it till you get decent with it then move to another.

If you haven't changed line in several years, it is time to do it. I have used yellow, blue, green, clear, etc colors of line and haven't found much difference. You probably will need a light line like 4# for those trout but 10-12 should work for bass unless you have lots of weeds or brush in the ponds.

I haven't made any of them but it takes 1/2 oz to make a 5" senko type worm.

Fletching cement from the archery section. It can be melted with a candle and allows for easy removal if you need to but holds on for ever. I replaced one 5 years ago and it is still holding strong.

When I can't keep the tmotor prop in the water.

You can make a cable luber if none of the shops do it where you live. If you want info, send me a pm. I have a couple of friends with 16 year old units who lube the cables every other year and they just keep on keeping on.

You may have your boat trailer too shallow and the engine is having to push hard against the bunks. I notice that on my Opti sometimes if the trailer is not deep enough. Also trim it up a ways to give it some bow lift and take more boat off the trailer.

Do an internet search for boat seats. Lots of places carry them. You can spend as little as $40 or as much as $500 for a seat.

Rebuilt motors are only as good as the parts put in and the guy putting them in. If you don't have a good tech who can look at the motor, BEWARE!! On the otherhand a good rebuild can last as long as or longer than the original motor depending on care.