WRB-2.0

To be honest I didn't read the reponese to this post! Wind has little to do with the answer to this question. The question should be related to when to use blades and when not to use blades on the spinner bait verses a swim jig. I think this is a good question! Wind.isn't the common denominator, the bass activity level has more to do with the answer. If the bass are active feeding on bait fish schools more flash is a good trigger, the spinner bait is then a a good choice, If the bass are less active and targeting individual bait fish, the swim jig becomes a good choice. Tom

Here is a trick that will help you; After spooling the braid on your reel, tie the end to something then pull off about 50 yards of line. Next wrap the remaining line on the spool with Teflon plumbers tape or masking tape a few wraps. Then wind the braid 50 yards of line back on the reel. This will hold the spooled line deeper in the reel from back lashing. Tom

I believe the question is about summer high pressure, not low pressure or cold front. Summer high pressure is normal weather, hot and dry with mld to high winds depending on high pressure dome. Bass are totally conditioned to this type of weather, so it doesn't affect them. Summer bass fishing ; lots of food sources available and places the bass can choose to be. This seasonal period is more about your ability to locate the bass, then figure out what they will respond to. Location varies from hour to hour, so plan to be versitle in lieu of force feeding the bass a lure they don't want. Also try to fish during low light periods or at night when summer bass tend to be more active. Tom

Elite tourneyment anglers get blanked! This happens because they are targeting a specific size bass and fishing during a controlled time period with other rules and regulations. If you are not fishing a tournament, no reason to handicap yourself to tournament restrictions, otherwise go to a high percentage presentation, fish optimum hours and move around to catch a few bass. Tom

The jig head, poision tail gets it's name from scorpion type tail the 91768 hook shape that stands above the jig head. By using a shorter round bend the hook point maybe to close to the jig, especeailly with all the plastic . The 32886 is a little longer round bend used for swim jigs. Cut off the weed gaurd, it's adding to the problem. If you need weed protection, add a denture type small rubber band from the hook eye to the under the barb: run the line through the rubber band, tie on the jig, rubber band goes under the front of the hook eye and stretched to go under the barb. You are actually fishing a small swimbait with a skirt, lots a soft plastic so the bass may hold it longer than a tradition jig bite. You might want to use a swimbait hook set, it is the same as the reel set except you give it a pause like a top water lure. This goes against everything a jig strike should be....fast, instead let the bass turn with the swimmer before hook setting. Tom

The difference between casting a jig horizontally verses vertically is night and day. The Mustad 91768 Np-BN size 4/0 wire D is .054, medium heavy wire and strong enough not ot flex. I didn't look closely at you photo for a weed gaurd, you don't need one for a swim jig. Here is the problem in a nut sell; the wide lap hook and weed guard combination get clamped. Sideways in the basses mouth, cams over flat due to the hook design. Your hook setting technique is; feel the strike, wind the kind while lowering the rod tip, this gives the bass time to try to split the jig but the line tension keeps the hook point against the inside lip cartilage. The bass start to fight and you rip the jig out of it's mouth with hard over hand good set. IF the bass was closer to the baot and deeper angle down, you may be successful, however the bass is out away from the baot nearly horizontal and the jig pops out of it's mouth. To resolve this problem; when you feel the strike immediately crank the reel faster keeping the rod tip pointed at the bass. As the rod loads up make a swift sweep set. The hook will imbed into the mouth cartilage or the bass will be catapulted out of the water if weighs less than a few lbs. Tom

Here is what you should do, contact the jig maker as he requested. When casting and retrieving a jig horizontal, the traditional hook set doesn't work well if the jig is over 30' away because the rod simply doesn't move enought line. Try reel setting with a rod sweep, works great. Next use 1/2 the amount of skirt material, 1/2 strips instead of whole strips, same colors. Set your reel drag at no more than 6 lbs, better at 4 lbs with a scale Good luck. Tom

No weed guard is more effective for high % hook sets! The debate on how to make a weed gaurd more effective at protecting the hook point from snagging cover without reducing hook setting into the basses mouth has long been a topic of designs of the weed guards. The NuTec double weed gaurd is a good design, eliminates the problem of the jig hook rolling sideways when a bass strikes, the biggest cuase of missed hook sets. Softer fiber strands like 20 count verses 15 count fibers helps. Modifying the fiber bunch by spreading it out into a V shape and trimming can help a little, but does not resolve the problem. I use jigs without a weed gaurd and add a 1 1/2" piece of finesse worm attached with a hitchhiker spring as mt weed guard. This only works in light cove, not heavy brush or weeds. Tom

The TW version of the Nu jig uses a Owner hook and living rubber hand tied skirt designed by Iovino, Don worked with Bo to perfect this jig. Bo's has put a of of time into perfecting the jig head shape and the unique weed gaurds. Bo recommends using a snap or whip hook set technique into controlled slack to drive the hook into the basses mouth. Tom

If there are big pike or musky in these lakes, then the bass tend to avoid the deeper weed beds as they belong to the faster bigger predators.The other reason is soft swimbaits like the $$ Hudds get shredded, you may need super glue gel to repair them. Put the soft plastic swimmer in a ziplock bag with gel type attractant to lubricate before you start out the day, this helps the swimmer to slide in the basses mouth during the hook set. Good luck! Tom

The Johnson minnow style weedless spoon is designed to run across weed beds with the hook upright. What I have never liked about the Johnson spoon is the hook, might be the dullest hook ever produced on a lure! You file the hook point sharp and doesn't hold it's sharpness. There is a very similar design weedless spoon that has an excellent hook and comes in fish scale patterns; Persuader lures. The trick with these spoons is to learn how to feather the spoons flight during of the cast so it lands softly and reel quickly at the start of the retrieve so the spoon doesn't puch trough the weeds, instead slides over them, then slow down. You can easily work the weed edges and over the top of mates. Tom

Try 4" in 301 Make some phone calls. Cooch (Andy Cuccia) is a sponsored by Yamamoto and uses that color in the CA Delta...go online and give him a call. Tom

Bumped this back up for those new worm/jig anglers. Tom

Modern bass reels have excellent drags, use them! I set my drags with a scale at 1/3rd the line strength up to 6 lbs of drag maximum. If for any reason I need more drag, my educated thumb applies the pressure need for that moment. Tom

The lake on the right the key feature would be the island that has 3 saddles connecting to shore with deeper water between each saddle...big bass like this type structure, so fish around the island and all sides of the saddles and up and over the saddles. The lake on the left has 1 small island or exposed rock pile. This tiny island is located on 1 of 3 points and is adjacent to a spawning bay. The 2nd point is located on the opposite shore about 1/2 up the lake and is a classic bass summer location. The 3rd point is near the inlet and has a nice deep water cut between a shallower flat, this also looks like a big bass location. Focus you time fishing those areas. You will need a weedless swimmer to skim along the top of the submerged weed beds or add a weed guard with the exposed hook models; a piece of finesse worm attached with a Hitchhiker or CPS spring works good. Are any toothy fish in these lakes? Tom PS; the saddles around the island are not as prominate as first look, so fish the 10' break line in tose areas and few cast out deeper.

Smallmouth and spotted bass may peck at crawdad claws, to declaw the crawdad, claws are dangerous. Largemouth rarely peck at anything, they engulf it and kill the crawdad or whatever in the back of the mouth, you get one short chance to set the hook with jigs. The bigger the bass the less time you have. This simple fact seems to be misunderstood with bass anglers; a jig bite is by far the most difficult to detect. CDMeyer knows what a T-rig bite feels like and bluegill or small bass also peck at worms. I suggested that you put the jig away and try a pegged weight with a jig trailer type soft plastic in lieu of a worm. The reason was so you could optimize what the correct weight should be and give you some feedback what the bass jig strike feels like. The is a thread at the top of this forum on jig fishing....Catt reposted a thread on worm/jig bite; fishing controlled slack line..read them. Tom

Welcome to the site. There is a search tool, however not familiar with it, try key word search "thermocline". A 7' thermal break isn't that unusual, however a 7' thermocline is! There difference is a 4 to 5 degrees water temperature change within 2to 3 feet depth change. Properly tuned sonar can easily display the water density change as a dark line or dark haze. The reason you need to know is low dissolved oxygen levels are usually below a thermocline in lakes without aeration or current. I would suggest doing a survey looking for suspended fish and determine at what depth you see the most activity. If you meter nothing below the 7' depth, then you know it's a thermocline, so don't fish any deeper. If you meter baitfish or larger fish deeper than 7', then down to whatever depth you have determined the life zone to be at. If the lake is highly pressured with bass anglers and the primary prey source is crawdads, then fish during low light periods or at night. Look for transition of soil types, clay and rocky areas give crawdads a place to hide in. Jigs, soft plastics and noisy top water lures like a buzzer are good night lures. Also fish the outside weed breaks and any open weed pockets. If the lake has a dam, fish there. Tom

The verticle descent with a lightweight shaky head jig is straight down with little worm action of it's own. The Berkley Havoc worm has some modifications that allow it to swiim with what I can describe as a Senko shuttle. Don Iovino's hand poured worms have a very similar action on the sink with this rig and whatever it is the bass react to it. Anytime a tournament angler is putting 6 to 7 lb average weight bass in the baot over 3 days with a finesse rig tells it all...big bass are eating this rig up and down the state. The hot worm has been Iovino's Honey worm with this rig, the Havoc worm is also working. Tom

Camp on Pickand Bar point across from Oakland beach. Spend some rme to determine where the deeper weed line breaks are and at what level the bass or baitfish are holgraphic, then consentratevat that depth, where the map labeled Pickland top bar. You maybe able to Lone Tree point point early and more over to the bar, that maybe risky however. Otherwise this lake doesn't have outside structure to fish and may not have pelagic baitfish that use outside water. Tom PS; can't read the names clearly so don't hold me to the spelling. Also read my thread regarding Berkley Bottom Hopper worms, nail weight rig.

I see Tackleware House stopped carring AllStar bass rods, you might want to call them and ask why? Powell offers entry level bass rods that have a good reputation and Cableas or BPS offer some decent rod/reel combos to get started. Tom

First try pegging your T-rig weight up against the hook, (Florida rig or punch rig) very similar to a grass style jig. Next use a craw type trailer or a single tail grub about 4" to 5" long, in lieu of a soft plastic worm. By doing this you can determine the proper weight and jig style that works where you fish, there is very little difference between a grass jig and a pegged weight, other than an exposed hook with some type of weed guard. A jig is more compact (shorter) than most T-rigged worms and the weight doesn't slide up the line. Therefore the bass feels the weight inside it's mouth when a jig strike occurs and they may split it very fast.....set the hook immediately if not sooner! Good luck. Tom

Weed beads edges or breaks, it's a weedless rig and can go into cover, but you are fishing light line.Rocky structure is very good. Tom

A Neko rig is a nail weight Senko, the nail weighted worm has been around over 30 years! The saddle helps to save worms when fighting the bass, saves the worm and weight. It also important to cut the worm nose flat, it helps the worm to stand up and lay on the bottom.Tom

You are better off using a lower ratio 5.3 to 1 or similar, otherwise it's like riding your bicycle uphill in high gear.Tom