HesterIsGod

Crankhead, Im just south of Chicago. Start fishing at ice out. Contrary to popular belief as soon as the ice completely thaws in febuary or march can be some of the best fishing. Pay absolutely no attention to water temps until you think its getting around 50. One of the reasons the fishing is so good after ice out is because the only lure the bass have seen in the last 3 or 4 months was a minnow or a swedish pimple dangled from a guy sitting on a bucket in the middle of the lake. Get out there and go fishin!!!!!!

Get and fish man! Your lucky you live in Georgia. Spend three months up here and you wont even get the option of bass fishing. You'll be begging to go back to Georgia.

Welcome. BR is awesome

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Personally, I really dont like the new biosonix stuff. The biosonix is the gadget that is supposed to emulate the sounds made by baitfish and it will actually either draw the fish closer to your boat or make them bite better. Cmon, this is pretty darn close to cheating in my opinion. Its one thing to look at the fish through GPS, but to actually make the fish bite better or lure them to you using an expensive gadget, I just dont like it. Why not just throw out a 20 foot net on that reef or next to that laydown. Just my opinion. Anyone else Got an opinion on biosonix?

Just remember to fish a little slower most of the time and fish the baits/techniques in areas that hold fish this time of year and pretty much any technique will work.

I am a bass angler who doesnt have as much money to play around with as most, so I like the cheaper crankbaits. I do go extremely cheap but you will certainly find me digging around the bargin bins often. Yes, I know the cheaper crankbaits need more tuning, have crappier hooks, and may be less durable. But, I can buy 10 cheapies for the price of one lucky craft. That means I can be a lot riskier with my cranks. By the time ive lost ten its like i lost one lucky craft. Would I use cheap cranks in a tournament situation? No. But they are good for the angler on the budget.

Yeah these baits could not be further from secret. You can rig them with a special weighted hook, or you can rig them the way I call the redneck rig. Just take any old wide gap hook that is not too big or small for the bait, and one or two split shot. Then just crimp the split shot on the shank of the hook.

I go out in the back yard every winter and walk around my property and flip/pitch to random objects, like a big leaf or a small clump of snow. My family things i am crazy but it really is good practice.

cranks and plastic worms catch a ton of fish but i bet i know a few of the things you are doing wrong. CRANKBAITS: With lipped crankbaits you always want the lure to deflect off of something. That usually means having it "dig" on the bottom. You do not want it to dig so much so choose a crankbait that dives to or near the same depth that you are fishing. WORMS: You dont want to overfish plastic worms. just cast them to areas that hold bass and drag or jig the worm back very slowly. You will definitally catch fish eventually.

I dont use little topwaters meant for panfish, although they do work. Instead when i want a finesse topwater lure I take a soft plastic lure without and weight and twitch it near the top. My favorite technique is to take a 3.5 inch floating tube and twitch it on the top just like a spook.

Extra fast action rods do pose some advantages. they are great for a delayed and weak hook set. When would you want that? When fishing lures with treble hooks like jerkbaits cranks or topwater. You do not want to take the lure away from the fish when you set the hook, you want the bass to have time to inhale the lure.

Hey thanks for all the replies guys!!! I kinda expected to see rat-l-traps dominate. I just ordered three sebile possessed series lipless cranks. Looking forward to fishing them come ice out. Do you have any tips for where to fish them, like do they do best in weeds or muddy water, etc...

bass spawning has a lot less to do with water temp and more to do with moon phase. Bass will spawn anywhere from the mid fifties to the 70's, its mainly dependent on the prescence of a full moon. Also remember, the further south you go the more drawn out the spawn is. In the deep south different waves of spawners keep coming in, and can be drawn out to as long as 4 months. In the north, like here in Chicago, the bass start bedding and one week later they are done.

Finally! I cant believe thats been the only tube post. Their definately my favorite for flipping. I like dark colors, and i always put it rattles and scent.

Anyone heard of them? Do they work good?

Getting great deals are one of the great parts of fishing.

I know, I only had ten options and i considered taking out berkely frenzy for yo zuri.

I love lipless cranks and I'm curious to see what lipless cranks most people throw. I know rat-l-traps are extremely popular. Personally, I would be under the throw many different brands option. I counted 17 different brands of lipless cranks in my tackle box. I have read that each different brand of lipless crank produces a different vibration, so you should carry many different brands and keep throwing different ones until one brand works. I have also gone done a bank and caught fish on one brand, then when the action stopped I used another brand and caught a few more. Curious to see what brand people stick to or if you guys are more like me

prespawn- soft jerkbaits, lipless cranks, spinnerbaits/chatterbaits spawn- jig, senko, swimbait postspawn- lipless crank, sweet beaver, swimmin grubs summer- big worms on drop shot, bomber cranks for any depth,frogs fall- lipless and lipped cranks, floating tube bait on the surface, jerkbaits, jigs winter- drop shot finesse worm, jigs, tube baits

I cant believe the trap didnt even crack the top ten! Storm swimbait was before it. Who reading this honestly has caught more fish using a storm wildeye swimbait than a trap? Probably VERY few.

you could still catch fish on a slug-o but i would advise buy a newer brand. They are more realistic with their movements and colors and more durable. They will catch more fish than a traditional slug-o. My favorite is z too's on a lightly weighted hook, but a lot of people use zoom flukes, and they work well. Twitch them gently and let them sink on slack line, they work great during the prespawn.

Get a map and look for places that are similiar to the places you are familiar with, but closer to takeoff. If you find them, go and check them out to see if they fish the same as your old spots

Anyone try them??? their supposed to be good in timber and brush. Just wondering if their not some crappy cheap-o

I only kept bass 2 times last year and they were because 1.A small private pond I fish had way too many small fish and all the fish were skinny and long, and the owner knew I was decent at bass fishing and asked me to remove some smaller 1/2 to 2 pounders. 2. I hooked a bass deep down in the throat and a little in the gills and there was no way of him surviving so I kept him and a few bluegill for dinner.