WaskaCrank12

It has been hot/humid/wild fire smoke here - to beat the heat I went out earlier on Saturday - no luck at first - then I threw this Baum BOFU 55 (bait in the picture) around some isolated reeds - I caught several nice LMB but the most fun one was when I threw the bait a bit too far and it got hung up on one of the reeds, so only the back appendages were in the water - WHAM ! this LMB came right up out of the water to grab it off the reed - an exciting catch !!

As mentioned it has been hot/humid and hazy with the smoke from the wild fires - I was able to get out in the evening on Friday and the morning on Saturday to try and beat the heat - I tried a few different lures/baits without any success - I tried this Baum BUFO 55 (a spider type bait, EWG hook and 1/16th oz weight) - it worked well along the isolated reed lines and even better when I put it a bit into the reeds - on one cast it got hung up on a reed and dangled and a LMB came right up out of the water to grab it ! an exciting catch !!

I am in year three of bass/boat fishing here in MN (but a peer in age with @FryDog62 ) - and I see all of these long/heavy bass in pictures (here and on social media) and think - What am I doing wrong ? - I have caught a 19.5inch LMB and a 19.25inch SMB (My PB's so far) but have not been able to land the coveted 20 inch/5lb trophy bass yet Your post and info. gives me good info. and perspective - that the larger fish I have landed were close to 2 decades old - the biggest small mouth I have landed had many battle scars and is the hardest fighting fish I have landed, that fighting spirit has served that bass well for almost 2 decades ! I might have to travel a bit (to different lakes here in MN or to a southern state) to find the trophy fish I am seeking - thank you for the info/perspective/humor !

Went out for a short period of time today (Monday) - wind was blowing hard (which keeps the humidity down, but makes for a rough ride and tricky casting) - I caught two LMB, one 14.5 in. , one 15 in. - but not even a nibble outside of those two bass - it was hot, I finished the gallon of water I brought with me - I might try going out again on Tuesday or Wednesday if the wind settles down a bit and the temps are not too crazy - My guess is the bass will be deep as the DNR intern at the dock today said the Walleye guys were complaining that they were catching more bass than Walleyes because the bass are so deep - I don't have fancy electronics so it will basically be casting and hoping, probably throwing heavier jigs or worms with a heavier weight - any suggestions ?

It seems many companies are suddenly pumping out the urchin-style baits (or at least putting their brand name inside the box they come in - many seem to be the same bait coming from the same manufacturing plant) - Are there specific urchin-style baits that people have found work well/do not work well ? -Has anyone tried the G-Ratt - Webber or Pop-A-Web ? (they list it as a "dice-style bait" but no sizes listed) -Has anyone tried the 6th Sense Abstract ?

-Learn when to hold them (keep using the same lure/bait) and when to fold them (switch to a different lure/bait) -Even if there is only a 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% chance that a treble hook will snag something other than a fish - it will do so -Check your line, snaps, split rings, knots after each catch -You will destroy more soft plastics trying to get the bait/hook out of the fishes' mouth than the fish will from just biting it -Being on the water, sitting in silence, watching the eagles-osprey-pelicans and taking it all in is a worthwhile endeavor (and it's a bonus if you catch a bass or two)

Heavy rain, wind, storms have blown thru in the past week - lots of gunk in the water - along with the July 4th wake boat/PWC/recreational traffic the lakes are churned up - normally clear water has been coffee brown for a few days - hoping it clears up before the heat wave - Have you experienced this as well ?

@Jerkbait22 @Tackleholic I ordered the Teckle LilTanker in Blue Gill and in Matte Black - from *** - on sale for $16 each I felt it was worth it to give them a try since this is a technique I enjoy - and I found a video on YT from the owner/designer from Teckle talking about his design process, how an old (discontinued) wake bait he loved to use was the inspiration for building this one - I found it interesting - many of the Japanese lure makers are true craftsmen, artists, take tremendous pride in their work - not out to make the most $$ but to truly create/design/manufacture a high quality/fish catching lure (as an FYI, the video is in Japanese, with subtitles and is a bit long)

@Dooger and @Big Swimbait - not a great pic, but the best I could do - this is the CORE Tackle Hover Rig with the 17mm urchin on it - it has worked very well for me but YMMV I have only had 13mm/17mm urchins so I cannot speak to how it would work with bigger urchins

@Tackleholic - I purchased the Megabass Over Rev Crank - Burning Shad (the Burning Shad is smaller than the regular Over Rev Crank) from 7Palms lure shop (Japan) - as @BassinBrett has posted it looks like the regular Over Rev Crank is at Three Rivers Tackle - the only place I have seen the ORC-Burning Shad is thru Japanese shops

@Dooger - I have been using a CORE Tackle Hover Rig for the 13mm/17mm size urchin - it is simple to use and has worked well - just slide the urchin on to the hook (thru the existing hole in the urchin) and push it up on to the weight (the Hover Rig has a build in weight) - I then slide a silicone stopper (I use an earring stopper) over the hook and against the weight (I will look to take some pictures and post them) - similar to @Big Swimbait I had fish inhaling the treble hooks very deep and did not want that happening so I switched to the single hook Hover Rig and it has worked great

@Jerkbait22 - For the Buzz Jet Jr. I just use a slow steady retrieve the majority of the time or every now and then with an occasional pause in the retrieve, but when I begin the retrieve again I do it slowly so it is not a hard jerk/fast start, just slow/steady/pause/slow/steady/pause - my best success with it has come from casting it parallel to an above water grass/weed line or casting it to the above water grass/reeds and slowly retrieving it away from that grass/weed line - I have gotten some really explosive bites using the Buzz Jet Jr. in that manner **I also just ordered two of the new Teckle LilTanker and look forward to trying them out

I was able to get out on Friday - I did that because holiday weekends here in lakes country get overwhelmingly busy/chaotic, so I will not go out on Saturday/Sunday - it started out with big winds/gusts/white caps but then settled down a bit, cloudy and about 78 - I did not have much luck until I got around some isolated grass/reed areas - I then caught 10 bass, all 15 plus inches, with two of them being 18 inches - one was caught on a Senko, the other 9 on a D-Style Geelacanth - not sure why they were so attracted to that today, but it worked well - Happy and Safe 4th of July to everyone !

The DEPS Buzz Jet Jr. is the wake bait that has caught the biggest fish for me - I like the OSP Buzzin and CO-Buzzin, they are fun to use - I recently purchased a Megabass ORC Burning Shad but have not used it yet

I wear a pair of KEEN SOLR water sandals - they offer good grip (I had used Crocs but I slipped and went a** over tea kettle at the ramp, so I switched to the KEEN and have had no problems with slipping) but they do take a bit of time to dry once dunked in the water, overall comfortable to wear (I bought them on Amazon for significantly less than they cost if ordered directly from the KEEN website, YMMV)

Daiwa Samurai 8 is very good, but pricey, so I only have it on a few of my reels -- I also like Daiwa J-Braid Grand but only purchase it if I can find it at a discounted price Sufix 832 is good and on the majority of my reels, durable I just purchased some X-Braid (X8) to try but cannot give feedback on it yet

I started fishing just about 3 years ago (I am not young, just started later in life) - I initially bought yard sale rods/reels - one BC and several spinning set-ups - due to the ever present strong, gusty winds we have here I found myself endlessly having line issues with the BC and virtually no issues with the spinning gear - so now, similar to @Swamp Girl , I have 99% spinning gear and 1 BC rig - I have Ultra-Light thru Heavy spinning rods (the Heavy rods are inshore rods) - I have spinning reels from 1000 size to 4000 size - I use the MH and H rods to deep crank, power fish and when encountering cover (we certainly do not have "heavy" cover/vegetation like they do in FL/TX/other areas and no alligators that I know of ) - I recently landed a 36 inch Northern Pike on spinning gear and that fish had to be in the 13 to 15 pound range, tangled itself in the reeds and fought like crazy - I hear what @gim and others are saying and understand that having a variety of tools in the toolbox is best and makes sense - yet I, like @SJS , have found spinning gear to be effective and my majority tool of choice for now PS: @Swamp Girl is living the life with that beautiful lake, a canoe and plentiful big bass

Got out yesterday (Wednesday) - big winds/gust and some pop-up rain - the weather was not nice, but the fishing was good - caught 16 bass, including a two 18 inch smallies - my overall catch numbers are up this year, but I am still searching for my first 5lb bass

Why did I wait so long to start using the trolling motor remote ? Because when I bought the boat three years ago (used, 93' LUND Tyee ll) the battery in the remote was dead, so I just didn't use it for 2 years ----- but now that I have started using it I cannot believe how much of a knucklehead I was ---- no more fishing out of the back of the boat, then having to go to the front of the boat to change course/speed, then go back to the back of the boat, repeat/repeat/repeat - now I can fish from anywhere on the boat AND control the trolling motor !!!

I was able to get out yesterday (Tuesday) - it started out with low wind (17mph) but a few hours in the gusts really kicked up, it has been a very windy spring/summer so far - due to the recent high winds and not getting out on the water I have been watching some Tactical Bassin' videos - in a recent one Matt encouraged people to use the June Bug color in June - I didn't have anything in June Bug so I travelled to my most local tackle shop and bought a few packs (they had some June Bug soft plastics at 3 packs for $10), so I bought some - There might be something to it as I caught 19 LMB on those June Bug colored baits ! I caught 14 of those 19 on a June Bug colored Boss Grub

Still pretty windy here today (Saturday) - the wind has been strong all week (30 mph gusts) so I have not gone out - I will look to go to a smaller lake tomorrow to try and avoid the wind - on the plus side I have done some overdue maintenance on the truck and boat (oil/filter change, greased trailer axle bearings, replaced spark plugs, replaced tilt/trim relays, ect...) and organizing/cleaning gear

@Bazoo - I just started using the super glue more often this year - it certainly helps the baits stay on and catch more fish ! I have also started using "ear-ring stops" (small plastic pieces that can help keep the bait in place on the hook) - I was using some fishing specific ones (Harmony ?) yet I have found I can purchase 600 of the "ear-ring stops" (a variety pack so they can fit different hook sizes/baits) for about $6 Amazon.com: 6 Styles Silicone Earring Backs for Studs/Droopy Ears/Heavy Earring, 600 Pcs Clear Soft Hypoallergenic Plastic Rubber Backs Replacements Backings Clutch Stoppers Kits

@gim - as @Kev-mo stated, basically throat teeth - near the entrance to the esophagus - I stated it as "crushers" as I have heard it described this way by marine biologists - in several videos and articles on "deeply hooked fish" and "fish mortality rates" that I have watched/read a deeply hooked fish was referenced to as "having the hooks in it's crusher" or "the hook was imbedded in the fishes crusher area" - I have read/watched a lot of information on fish mortality/delayed mortality due to deep hooking - what the data shows in regard to LMB vs. SMB who have been deeply hooked is interesting - I have not seen/read about Northern Pike in this regard (deeply hooked) - as stated I got to a point where I had to make a choice to either keep the fish and cut it open to get the bait back or go in thru the gill plate and cut the steel leader as close as possible to the hook eye as I could get and then let the fish go (because the treble hooks pointed up towards the fishes mouth so even when I pushed the treble hook away from the mouth, because the hooks were in the "crusher", when I went to move the hook back towards the fishes mouth to remove it the hooks just became imbedded again, the only way I could have gotten it out would have been to invert the treble hook so the points of the hook were facing down away from the fishes mouth, but that was not possible due to the fact they were attached to the bait and the "crusher" area was small relative to the hooks/bait, and I don't have X-ray vision :) - I chose to cut the steel leader - you are correct that leaving the treble hook/bait in the fish could result in delayed mortality -- or, as has been shown in some long term research by marine biologists, fish have been known to expel the hook/bait as it degrades over time (a complicating factor in this case is the Coike is made of elastomer material that does not break down easily) - I spoke with one of the local DNR marine biologists stationed here and he said a Northern of that size in this lake was "in the top tier percentile of pike in the lake and the growth rate data would suggest that it is over 10 years old" - I did my best, my sincere hope is the Coike Thief lives on @gim *****Using a treble hook was suggested as "the best hook up ratio" rig - as you can put one of the hooks into the bait and have two hooks available to pin the fish - but due to this experience I will go with a single hook rig in the future if I use a bait like this again (specifically with Coike's in the 17mm/13mm/10mm sizes)

@Columbia Craw - I also had purchased a few reels from Tom - he put a nice handwritten note in the box - I have kept that note and each time I catch a fish with one of those reels I point to the sky and say "Thank you Tom" - he shared his expertise and love of fishing with all of us

One of my neighbors does some tournament fishing (regional level) and he has some of the Coike urchin baits - he mostly uses the larger ones so he was willing to sell me a 17mm version - the first time I threw it - bang, a nice 17 inch LMB - I thought, wow, this thing works great, first cast and an immediate catch - so I cast it out again - bang, then zip, the line was screaming off of the reel - I was using a ML spinning rod with 20lb/6lb braid as the Coike is a light bait (I had a 1/16 weight in the bait and a treble hook) - I could not see what I had on the line as it had dove and darted in to the reeds - I slowly tightened the drag, but whatever was on the line was fighting hard and kept darting and diving - as I got it closer to the boat the rod was really bending - so it became a long battle - well, it was a big Northern Pike (thankfully I had a steel leader on the line) - big enough that it was a task to lift it into the boat (I kept it in the net as it was angry and slashing around) - I did my best to place the net onto my 32 inch measuring board (see picture) - it was clearly longer than the board, my best guess is it was 35/36 inches long and it was healthy/strong/heavy - he had inhaled the Coike - as in it was so deep in his crusher that I could barely see any of the tentacles from the bait and I could not see the treble hook (I could see where the treble hook was by following the steel leader, but I could not see the treble hook itself) - I used my 10 inch hemostats but just could not get the treble to come back up/come out of his crusher - I dunked the net back in the water a few times to keep him alive as I tried to get the treble hook out - but in the end I felt I had two choices - either cut the pike open and get the bait/treble out or use my wire cutters to cut the steel leader and let the pike go - my thought was that this pike is an absolute giant size for this lake, it has to be over 10 years old, it looks really healthy - but I want my Coike back !!! - in the end I cut the steel leader as close to the treble as I could, put the net back in the water and watched as he slowly moved away - then he turned towards me and darted in to the depths, with my Coike......