BrianMDTX

No doubt in my mind. It’s a Texas-rigged worm. Sometimes I may TR other baits (craws, Neko Machos, Fat IKA’s) but if I had to pick one method and one bait, it would be a Texas-rigged Zoom Trick. As much as I love Senkos, my biggest bass have come on a Zoom Trick. To me, there’s nothing like working that bait and then feeling that “tick”, and knowing a bass is inhaling that worm. It may run off with it, it may run towards the boat in deeper water, it may simply stay put and not move at all. But when the hook drives home and the fight is on, it’s magic.

As mentioned, you can order them online. In this case, I picked it up at their shop in Magnolia, TX. It’s about 20 minutes or so from my home.

I remember when I killed my first buck. A legal 4” spike. 235 yards with a .30-06. It changed me from a casual upland game and sometimes big game hunter into a dedicated deer hunter. Especially with a muzzleloader and more so a bowhunter. That one buck changed my life. Bass? I liked fishing when I was younger but never really was dedicated. I’ve stated before that I thought lures were a scam as I never caught anything on lures. When I moved to Texas in 2019, I found I had access to numerous local ponds to fish. I did what I always did- I fished with live bait. In particular, nightcrawlers. Until…that one day I saw my bobber get pulled down, and I set that #6 Eagle Claw snelled hook, and was in for the fight of my life. An old Shakespeare 2052 spinning reel with 8 lb. Stren, an UL Cabela’s graphite spinning rod, and a 6-7 lb. bass on the end of the line. When I got that bass on the shore and in my hands, that old “light switch” went from Off to On like it did with that buck. I still have that old spinning rig, but it’s been overshadowed by many new baitcasting and spinning rigs, tons of lures (I think that bass was in cahoots with the BM), a boat and a heckuva lot of fun. Yeah, one bass completely changed my (fishing) life. I went from a casual worm dunker to a dedicated bass angler. Anyone else had one bass that changed your life?

I have a Helium TCJ. It’s easily my favorite rod for Texas rigs.

I fished a new pond this morning. I drove past it last weekend and took a quick look and it looked good. Saw plenty of small, medium and large bluegills, a lot of bass fry and some 10”-12”. Stained but clearer than my usual pond. Also had grass. It turned out to be much larger than the other ponds I’ve fished. It wrapped around like a horseshoe with a small island on the hidden side. It’s surrounded on three sides by private property and fronts a main thoroughfare so it likely gets limited pressure (I saw no one else fishing). I started with a Whopper Plopper. Had one hit but missed it. I switched to a jerkbait, then a jig-n-craw, then a Texas rig. There is a lot of grass. It’s thin like vermicelli and IMO, it stinks. Like the smell of it literally stinks. In some spots it was so thick it created floated mats. With no catches I switched to an old standby- a #956 Senko wacky rig. Bam! The bass really liked that as I caught 8 out of 12 on that one bait (I eventually lost it and caught another on a #297 Senko WR. Also caught one each on a 7” Speed Senko Texas rig (first time trying that bait) in green pumpkin/watermelon, a weightless TR with a watermelon red Zoom Trick and a weightless TR with a Zoom Magnum Trick in watermelon red. The numbers were good. Sizes were on the small side. I took pics of the biggest two bass (and they were definitely bigger than the rest- two were 6” long). Might go back and try it again but that grass was terrible. I thought algae was bad. This was worse IMO. I also tried for the first time a new shirt with hoodie and new pants. The pants were great. That hoodie was hot!

Welcome to BR! Man, I had no idea bass could swim to Europe!

This just happened the past weekend. I was fishing my local pond and was working a Texas rig. I felt something and set the hook. It felt heavy, but no fight, but did reel in steadily. I saw my leader and then saw a bumpy green snout. Holy crap! I caught a 4’-5’ gator! Now, I’ve never seen nor heard of gators in this pond, but they’re around, so it’s possible. The head was about 10’ from my inflatable boat. All kinds of not-so-good scenarios started playing in my head as it got closer. it was an old, algae-covered dark green trash bag. Not gonna lie. That bag looked just like a gator’s head when it broke the surface. I almost fell overboard laughing when I discovered that my alligator was a @$%# trash bag!

I have no clue what the game was like or about lol. In the comic, Turok was a warrior who, while hunting with a young brave (can’t recall his name, but Intjink it was Andar?), went through some cave or pass through a mountain and ended up in a prehistoric world populated by dinosaurs (“honkers”) and cavemen. Using poisoned arrows, they could kill the dinosaurs if they needed to. They always looked for a way to return home. I have no clue if they ever did. 🤣

@islandbass Turok, Son of Stone was one of my favorite comic books as a kid. But that was WAY before the video game lol. I still have some original Star Trek comic books from the late 60s and some Classics Illustrated from the 40s that belonged to my mom.

I was turkey hunting once in Western Maryland in the Appalachians. I was cutting through an opening through some brush into a small open field when a timber rattler started rattling just by my foot. Man, did I jump! I looked down at a 5’ long black snake that was vibrating its tail so fast in the dried leaves it sounded just like a rattlesnake. I had to laugh at that.

Well, I certainly wasn’t going to start a separate thread after reading @ol'crickety exploits with 47 bass caught. I pale in comparison. But I caught 6 or 7 (lost count) and missed three. One was decent but it took me around some limbs and broke the knot at the hook. Still had a fun day!

For me, it’s the incessant slimy algae. “Weedless” is not “algaeless”. Weeds are fine. But it’s difficult to fish Texas rigs and especially jigs when every cast ends up with a softball-sized blob of algae. It’s why I fish weightless soft plastics and topwaters so often.

This is 110% true. It is the best-run forum that I’ve ever posted on. By far.

In a 7’ inflatable, I have no room for electronics. Have to find fish the old fashioned way. As far as depth, I’m good in 3” of water lol. @WRB Tom, I so remember fishing 40+ years ago and utilizing topo maps. For hunting as well. You can learn a lot quickly with a good map. Find points, flats, sharp drop-offs, even the location of old buildings in reservoirs. It’s a skill long-forgotten or never learned by many today. Thanks for the reminder!

The bass are great. The scenery is gorgeous. That’s a great day right there!

So, my question is, as a treble bait, don’t you lose the ability to keep bass hooked with an XF action? I ask as one time, I tied a jerkbait onto my Procyon MXF accidentally (I was in a rush and thought I was tying it onto my MF) and I lost the first two bass that hit it. This comes with the realization that not all XF are the same. But as a general rule, do you consider an XF to be a good action for jerkbaits?

Only one thing. Not having more available time to fish. I can get around idiots, litter, traffic, rising costs, etc. Time is something you can’t buy or ignore.

@rangerjockey I normally run about 8’ of leader on my spinning rigs. I don’t like a lot of leader on the spool. But I always carry a spool of leader if I need to replace it. I use 8 lb. mono for leaders on my wacky and weightless TR. I normally fish shallow waters (8’ depth max) so that’s a good length for me. Mono seems to sink fast enough and the leaders last a long time unless damaged.

@ol'crickety I agree. My boat’s advantages outweigh the bank. It’s simply hilarious to me that my biggest bass have come from the bank. But there’s no doubt that 95% of the time, I’ll be on the water vs the shore.

@Fried Lemons I was going to post something similar. I love going out in my boat. It’s small and slow but it gives me access to places shore anglers can’t fish. And yet…all my biggest bass have come from fishing off the bank. And all but one have been fishing either a Texas or wacky rig. Line movement is not happening off the bank unless it’s a fish (not counting high winds). A drifting boat sometimes entices strikes, but it can also appear to be a bass that isn’t. I see line moving from the bank, it’s a bass. I fished four days this week. Three from my boat and once from the shore. Caught my first 4 lb’er of the year…from the bank. On a Texas rig. Besides all that, sometimes it’s just nice to grab a couple rods and some tackle and just fish. No pressure. No maneuvering the boat. Just casting and (hopefully) catching some bass!

Strange day. Boated 5; missed 5. No bass on anything but soft plastics. Struck out on frogs, chatterbaits and squarebills. Caught two on a WR and the rest on a weightless TR. Three on a 5” green pumpkin Senko and two on a black Zoom Magnum Trick. The five I lost hit the TR. But they never got hooked so they still must be picking up baits and moving them off beds. I can blow a hookset like anyone at times, but not five in a day. All the bass were about 1.5 lbs. except the last one of the day which was about 2.5 lbs. Really put up a good fight!

I have a 2000 and a 2500 Daiwa Revros. Also have a Shimano Sienna. I like and fish all three, but prefer the Revros.

If I had to pick only three soft plastics to fish for the rest of my life and never fish any others, my choice would be simple. 1- 5” Senko 2- Zoom Trick 3- Neko Macho I can fish all three as a Texas Rig, weightless TR, Carolina Rig, wacky rig and a Neko rig. All three catch bass consistently.

Ok, not great but not bad. Went out this morning and caught six. All were 1 to 1-1/2 lbs. Did have something occur I’ve always wondered about and it finally happened. I was working a weightless Senko TR and was casting under the low limbs of a hemlock that juts out over the water. One cast was a bit high and the line went over a limb and the Senko dropped down into the water. As I started to reel it in slowly to see it I could ease it over the limb without snagging, a bass took the bait. So it was fish on! and the line was over a limb. To make matters worse, the branch was covered in someone’s old line. What a mess! I had to cut the old line to get my line loose, but in the end, I freed my line, removed the old line…and boated the bass! Thank God it wasn’t a 5 lb’er or I would have lost it for sure. It’s the bass in the second pic.

It was a good bass. But not THAT good! 😂