LrgmouthShad

So usually I drop stuff in here whenever I think it doesn’t belong in an actual thread but I just have to share something with the world. Occasionally it’s pretty strange stuff but I appreciate the outlet. Here’s my next entry You know how people talk about enjoying rigging because it builds the anticipation of a fishing trip? I don’t. I don’t like it at all. Every minute I spend rigging, I’m thinking that it's time I could already be fishing. Unfortunately I’m so particular about my line and knots that I re-tie every knot and leader on my setups before a new fishing trip, unless the setup was barely used. I’m over rigging. I wish I didn’t have to do it.

On my home lake Stillhouse Hollow I am comfortable fishing down to 40ft. I have caught a largemouth that deep on the bottom. I don’t think fishing on other Texas lakes at 40ft would frighten me either. I’ve fished a good bit in North Carolina, also. I don’t spend much time beyond 20-25ft on lakes I have fished there. My last trip on Stillhouse, I was probing stuff in 33-35ft.

This guy and a really tiny bass saved me from skunking today. I caught them in the very early AM on a shad spawn bite chucking a spinnerbait. After that, boy was it tough. I talked with a former guide after I helped him out with his truck and heard some neat things. But even he said it was a tough day, and he has FFS on his boat. Should get better soon!

Big game or power pro. In the case of topwaters with lighter treble hooks, I like to do power pro to a big game leader on a medium spinning rod

I caught a few today. One flopped out of the kayak because he was camera shy. I continue to struggle to get some of these bass out of their underwater tree hidey holes. Or, occassionally, I find a tree that I didn’t know was there and a bass completely embarrasses me by catching me off guard with a ML spinning rod in hand. I think I have homework to do. Having fun out here… crazy weather today though.

On a small pond I like to work all parts of the column. Top, somewhere in the middle, and bottom

Zako is a pretty thick and durable trailer. I will certainly admit that I haven’t tried just putting a trailer up on there regardless, but I suspect a zoom split tail will have a harder time staying up there. Maybe some superglue. It’s far from a bad spinnerbait, though. It’s well-built with good components.

Does yours have a keeper? Or you just threading it up on there regardless?

I bought one recently with the painted blades. My only complaints are that it doesn’t come with a keeper and the angle of the wire coming off the head is strange. I bent the wire the way I want it, but no keeper makes me a little sad. If you don’t ever fish trailers with your spinnerbaits, it’s a solid option.

It just does

Why do you hate bed fishing? I don’t. next question

I do. Keeping soft plastics in their original packaging allows for one less tackle craziness that I have to worry about. I sleep very well at night knowing that I don’t ever have to take baits out of their clamshells and I don’t ever have to fish a ned rig. So peaceful

Nice FishingMickey!!! Congrats on that win

One man’s opinion I don’t see a reason to use a Ned rig over a shaky head. I don’t see a reason to use a free rig over a Texas rig. Tried it and didn’t like it. Wacky, Neko, Shaky head, and dropshot are all highly effective and have slightly different applications.

I’ve pretty much come to accept that most my winter fish are probably going to come on a crankbait of some kind. A lipless really shines in the winter. I like the 1/4oz red eye shad. The Rapala DT series and Shad Rap series are also excellent.

Got a couple suspending fish this evening in the rain

I like iRod for baitcasting and St Croix for spinning

My area yesterday. Not exactly a secret area on Stillhouse

Thank you for that tip!

Boated 8 this morning, 6 of which were keepers. Storms blasted us through the middle and end of the week and brought enough rainfall to raise the lake a foot. Now today we were post frontal conditions. So, I channeled my inner Greg Hackney and picked up a nice heavy rod and started putting a bait into shallower heavy cover. At one point it took me 10-15 minutes to get a bass out of a tree. My bite to land ratio was atrociously bad due to the difficulty of removing these bass from their hidey holes but I got some so that’s all the matters 👍🏻

2:00 is an awfully early morning… I guess the body can get used to anything

JDM. No comments I can make are of much help to you until I have more years of use on the reel, so I can’t comment right now.

No to little wind is usually a bad thing around here. In the winter, a calm day can be productive. In clear water or when fishing deeper, wind can really help you.

I run a 5 speed zillion for midrange cranks and agree it is a fine choice for cranking. A reel that lends itself to long casting with a smooth drag is going to be an effective option for cranking. Another good option is the REVO Winch. I use that for deep crankbaits.

I don't use a lot of chunks as jig trailers. Personal preference. The biggest considerations for me in selecting a jig trailer are desired rate of fall and water clarity. Water temperature and what I am doing with the jig (swimming, dragging, hopping, skipping, or any combination of the above) are additional considerations. In general, I may prefer a higher action trailer like a rage craw or zoom z craw in dirtier water or when I want the same size jig to fall slower. I may choose a trailer with less action in cleaner water or when I want the same size jig to fall faster. A lot of the time, I simply try both. A trailer with little action and a trailer with more action. The fish may have a preference on a given day.