HesterIsGod

Smalies in shallow rivers tend to be spookier so i'd go with lighter line and finesse baits. But if they dont get any fishing pressure ignore that and go with more aggresive baits. Just remember, fish in small shallow rivers take a long time to grow, so handle them carefully and always catch and release. Good luck

I have caught a few with storm swimbaits and dont forget Steve Kennedy caught some 20+ inch smallies using a basstrix swimbait on lake Oneida this year during one of the majors.

Search lures: 1. 3 inch grub with red flake on a jighead swam very slowly with many twitches. 2. Shad rap on rocks or a lipless crank over grass. slow moving lures: 1. Drop shot and a finesse minnow or worm 2. Tube bait under docks, in heavy cover, scooted like a crawfish, etc...

I call em what shaw grigsby calls em YOU LITTLE BUTTERBALL PIG YOU

But with braid you got the easy possibility of pulling the lure out of the fishes mouth too soon, which I think would be a pretty big problem. Also you are now using a highly visible line that may dissuade some bigger fish.

Youre very right. When i fish swimbaits fish to small often follow it in near the boat or shore, and strike the swimming tail almost at my feet. So the fish could be small ones.

No offense or anything, but I'm gonna have to disagree. I do not think a 1/2 ounce trap is perfect to learn how to cast with. I read that when Roberto Clemente was a kid he used to practice hitting soda caps from plastic bottles. Then, when a game would come around, the baseball looked like a watermelon in comparison. It was much easier to hit. I believe this to be true in this case for practicing casting with a baitcaster. If you practice using a light pop-r, a weightless tube, a mini-crankbait, etc.. Then throwing almost any other lure will be a breeze, kinda like hittin watermelons. Just my opinion though, we all have different ways of learning

A shallow aluminum boat doesnt have the features. A jet boat is perfect here because it has the features of a bass boat, but it runs much more shallower than a bass boat.

I want to get a jet boat for a small shallow river I will be fishing often in Missouri. Problem is, I dont know where to start. I looked it up and all I found was a river pro boat. It was pretty nice, and had the length (18,5 feet) and all the features right, but it was very expensive and had a big motor (175 hp). I only need about a 40 hp motor. Any suggestions?

This is something i do that not many people do. When Im drop shotting I sometime use a jighead/crawdad or spidergrub instead of the weight. This way I can mimic a minnow or a worm in the normal spot, as well as a crawdad on the bottom. It is also great if you hit an aggressive school. One time I a hit a big prespawn school and they hit the worm and then they would crush the spidergrub as i was reeling it in! I had like 4 doubles.

Congrats on your switch to baitcasters!!! A couple words of warning about baitcasters though, 1. 1/2 ounce rattle traps are REALLY easy to cast. It is heavy and is designed to cast like a bullet through the air. I suggest practicing with lighter, less aerodynamic lures too, like small topwaters and weightless soft plastics. Once you master those you will be able to throw practically anything. 2. The wind is really frustrating with baitcasters, especially with lighter lures. I suggest practicing in the wind too. 3. Dont throw away your fiberglass rods just yet. They are great for crankbaits, or any other lure with treble hooks. Their less responsive nature is perfectly offsets an anglers quick hook set, and this allows the lure to not pull out of a fishes mouth too soon. Good luck.

I could be wrong on this one but I could of sworn that participation in fishing was declining.

my fav. search bait in winter is a simple 3 or 4 inch grub swam slowly. I also love to really saturate a good area with a drop shot/finesse worm.

I read Fishing on the Edge a couple months ago, loved it. I also read Sowbelly a couple months back and enjoyed it too. They both show the amount of sacrafice and dedication you need to excel in bass fishing.

I would look for areas of very slow moving water, like deep pools off the main river. Also look for the clearest water you can find during winter. I like to use slow moving lures and really saturate an area during winter. My favorite lures are a drop shot with a finesse minnow or worm, hair jig, or a small tube bait.

I'd imagine you have to pretty long pliers to cut a hook all the way deep in a basses throat.

Try to find any incoming streams, even if theyre extremely small. Use electronics to find any deep humps or deep brushpiles. Also idle around on deep flats and look for slight drop offs, as little as 5 or 6 inches even. Also, I love points in the summer. When you get a nice sloping point dropping into deep water bass will trap big shad and panfish in the shallow water of the point. Try to find the "sweet spot" of any points and be sure not to block access to deeper water with your boat.

If a bass swallows the hook I cant remove, I would just cut it. Ive caught bass with plastic worms half out of their throat and with a hook and a worm lodged in its jaw. They're survivors.

Thats how most people get hooked, it just takes ONE fish

For starting off bass fishing I would use just a few simple lures. I would start with a few packs of senkos. The senko is a cigar shaped plastic worm, usually 4 or 5 inches long. They also go by other names from other bait companies, such as the Yum Dinger, which are sold at any Wal-Mart or tackle store. All you need is a 1/0 wide gap hook to fish it, also sold at any wal-mart or tackle store. Texas rig it (type that into a search engine and you will get detailed pictures on how to rig plastic worms Texas style) and all you have to do it cast it near shoreline cover (Fallen trees, docks, brushpiles, rip rap, etc...) and you will get bites by just letting it sink and slowly dragging it back. Senkos catch fish for everyone from seasoned bass pros to weekend fisherman to complete beginners who fish only a couple of times a year.

Hello, I am a serious bass fisherman but a total newbie to tackle making. I think I have stumbled upon a great new soft plastic. I made it by taking a cigarette lighter and attaching different parts of mass produced soft plastics together to get this unique shape. Unfortunatly I do not know the first thing about how to pour soft plastic molds or make customized soft plastic molds. Also I do not know how to get an idea out there to bait companies if this idea actually materializes. I need HELP.

I love fishing swimbaits, and have caught fish on virtually every swimbait on the market except one, storm. The only fish I ever caught on a storm swimbait was an 8 inch dink that hit the 3 inch shad colored model. As for tubes they are one of the most versatile baits out there. I have caught a crapload of bass on them in all seasons. You may not be fishing them correctly. You can fish them to act like a dying shad, or a crawfish (drag it along the bottom). You can work them fast or slow, at any depth, on a T-rig, C-rig, and on a drop shot. They will catch hefty bass in dense cover or fat bronzebacks it sparse cover. Last november I was fishing a 3 and 1/2 inch green tube in a laydown and caught a nine incher. 3 casts later I caught a five pounder. That shows you it catches all sizes of fish. Also about the bladedancer, I recieved one as a gift through a magazine subscription. I gave it to my younger cousin and he caught three average sized smallmouth with it. That doesn't mean it is effective though, because my dad and I caught 30 average sized smallmouth that same day with tubes and spider grubs. Lastly, we can't have a topic about horrible lures without mentioning the helicopter lure, better luck next time Roland.