ElGuapo928

A friend of mine that does a lot of crappie guiding uses a 5 gallon Igloo water jug with one of those Frabill portable aerators rigged up through a hole in the side. Keeps them in good shape in the heat.

The greatest Mojo rig bait has been discontinued (though I still have a large stash), this being the single tail Hula Grub. Second greatest is a 4” Kalin’s grub.

I agree completely, there are too many guys now literally buying their way in. I am thankful to be out here where the water conditions are the great equalizer - electronics aren’t quite as much advantage when the fish can see you just as well as you can see them. And I’ll be honest - there are few things I enjoy more than taking a few bucks from those guys.

Nice haul! I haven’t fished a proper plastic craw in a long time, I may need to procure some!

I’d actually love to see a lot of them up there in the current AOY standings come out and fish a local jackpot tournament on pretty much any lake in the country and just see how the leaderboards work out.

That would be an interesting wager actually. There’s a lot of “Tuesday Night” guys that clean the “big” pros’ clocks at the US Open every year, but don’t have the resources or desire to go touring. Hell, Aaron Martens came from backseating with his mom and questioning Dick Trask.

After seeing the 16.5 that came out of here on a DS a couple weeks ago, I’m carrying a 3rd dropshot rod!

That’s pretty much what has been decided by everyone experiencing this - check it real close while spooling, and watch for discolored spots to show up.

Out here in the land of heatstroke, night fishing is a way of life. We dropshot at night all the time. The last 2 night tournaments here were won on dropshots as a matter of fact. Big worms, hula grubs on 1 oz football heads, black spinnerbaits (single blue Colorado blade FTW), 4 and 5 inch grubs on darter heads…..my partner does a lot of damage in the shallows with a black Cane Toad. Black/Yellow and Purple Westy Worms have made guys a whole lot of money on night tournaments out here. There was a big trend for a while of cranking #9 Perch Shad Raps around the marina. The closest thing to a sure thing out here next to the dropshot is a 12” Power Worm in either Red Shad or Black Grape Texas rigged with a light sinker and dropped vertical down the steep banks.

I go by the memory on my digital scale, and write it down when I get home.

Other winter classics: Shad Rap - if they won’t chase other cranks, they’ll chase a #7 Shad Rap Little George (or similar tailspin) - casts 2.3 miles, let it hit bottom and bring it in like a jig. Heddon Sonar or Silver Buddy (blade baits in general) - see above.

It’s been seemingly random - apparently it has been worse in the smaller (10lb and less) weight lines, but there’s been weird failures all around.

Costa sells a leash that looks kind of like a piece of blue 60lb mono - much less irritating than most with a buff.

Really the technology angle shouldn’t come into play until much later in the conversation. I’ve got a friend that usually doesn’t even turn his graphs on, unless he’s way up in the river channel. He says the sonar signals spook the fish too much, and I’ve lost to him enough times to not question his theories. This guy also spends so much time on the water that he’s on a first name basis with the fish, which helps tremendously.

Your pictures are amazing, don’t ever worry about flaws! Embrace the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi….true beauty is in natural authenticity, not perfection. Or, as I learned from a Navajo artist, art without imperfections is dishonest - only God is perfect.

An old guy I backseated with in a tournament taught me this: Once you get frustrated, you start losing feel, fishing too fast and making mistakes - the. You get more frustrated, and the mistakes get worse. Once you break the cycle, your catch rate goes up and everything goes smoother.

Good deal on having the spare!! I also tend to backlash and just cast horribly when I start getting frustrated. You always need to have a routine/ritual to get yourself re-centered, otherwise it can ruin your whole day. I have learned my method is to set everything down, get a drink and just let my mind go blank for a couple minutes to reboot.

My top 5 winter baits around the banks are: Suspending lipless cranks 1/4 oz spinnerbaits (white/chartreuse excels in cold water for some reason) Hula grub on a standup jighead 4” worm on a 1/16 oz darter head 6” floating worm on a splitshot rig The name of the game in winter is slow, and make it easy for them.

The most important things are to be able to locate the fish, and to be able to confidently adapt to conditions. Everyone has their own pet techniques that they can adapt to work just about anywhere.

I find it best to just play deaf, and not engage.

In this situation, I immediately think “dropshot”. I really like an Evergreen Bow Worm Noodle nose hooked on a tiny, like #4 hook. Just deadstick it and let the worm do its thing, drives inactive fish nuts. Next thing I’d do is a 4” curl tail worm on a splitshot rig. For this my favorite is a salt and pepper or similar really transparent color.

I feel your pain. I just go with it on any normal fish, but if it’s a “special” fish (bigger/smaller than normal, different markings, etc), then I will try to get something in the shot for perspective. Like these monsters:

I would run #4 for that length of a run. Whatever you decide to get, make sure it is copper wire, and not CCA (copper clad aluminum). The CCA stuff has a tendency to expand and contract under load, and starts breaking conductors, which in turn start arcing. For flexibility and overall quality, the best I have found is high end car stereo cable. Usually oxygen free copper and the tightest sealed insulation. Stereo shops will also have quality brass set screw type connectors.

I’d definitely try a 3-5’ crank from the bank out, and just back off the retrieve if you feel it getting into the salad.

It’s been a pretty recent thing, and has only shown up in Sniper. Random breakage without damage, burned feeling spots in the coating on new line. It doesn’t appear to be tied to any individual run or size. The Hookup Tackle even did a video on it a week or so ago. Something changed in either the extrusion or coating process, and the JDM Sniper hasn’t been immune to it either. Vanish is in its own league - the line that never fails to fail.