reellittlephish

Have the 17 ft. Skeeter now and really like it. If upgrade might look at newer Skeeter maybe SX or TZX series. Need new towing vehicle before that can happen. Also looking at Legend - apparently they go fast and light for the size and handle/perform well. Maybe I could afford a used Legend or Skeeter in year or so. Would not buy a new boat in any case.

Lure making sites out here in the www. try tackleunderground. Sounds like your basic approach is sound with the epoxy and screw eyes. Only improvement i can suggest is reference to West Systems epoxy http://www.gougeon.com/ for the properties of various filler additives. This is expensive way to go and may not be justified. I never used balsa wood, some makers use basswood, cedar, or straight grained pine. They use a wire harness system which is glued into a split blank. One idea - which is used on some Japanese trout swimbaits I have - is to use heavy braid (Spectra or PowerPro) as the harness and connect your hooks with split rings.

In California, biggest fish caught from late January to end of April. Since moving to Las Vegas, I haven't even caught any bass I would consider "big". Caught one about 18" in November on a spoon and another tournament fisherman thought it was "good bass for Mead". Cloudy with threatening rain, calm, water about 68 I think. Posted on Fall Patterns for Mead on forum. For past couple weeks and probably right now numbers of large bass(double didgit) are being caught at Lake Casitas, CA. It is really storming there.

You gotta be getting pounded! Maybe snow..IMO Don't bother very much with the muddy water, fish the edges where clear water meets muddy. The reeds act as filter. I'd be out there every moment you can stand it in next 10 days. Psyche up, you are fishing for maybe 2-3 bites/day. But BIG ones! Let us know how you did. Jigs are good. Real basic and Yummy! Brown or black Hair Jig can be extra good. Don't fret if you don't have one - silicone or rubber is fine. Start with black/ blue and brown jigs at 3/8 oz. Step up to 1/2 oz or down to 1/4 oz. for variety. Arkie head style for starters. Make sure when jig is in your hand and you close to a tight fist, the hook ****** you - or adjust with pliers. Nice big trailer - dark colors. Someone on forum mentioned SuperPork; I remember that's good stuff. If you can find them, try a 3"YUM craw as trailer. Real bulky. Got em in Swell Mart here. Use paste scent often Soon as the slick disappers reapply. I kept a ziplock baggy with jigs+trailer rigged soaking in it somewhere against my body to keep warm. Watch those leaks! Don't do that with natural rubber skirts and Hot Sauce - eats the rubber. Try a rattle in the jig. For a fishing plan try setting a "coverage area". For instance, I am going to fish from here to the end of this cattail line ( 200 ft.) and I will spend 4 hours doing it, so I plan a pitch density of 16". When you figure out where they are holding, develop/modify your pattern and 'coverage area" will change also. Very quiet and stealthy. Pitch or flip and let it sit maybe up to 60 seconds. Shake it a little and let it sit again. Maybe pull it once or twice. Try fishing with a very relaxed grip. Gripping and relaxing the rod hand flares the jig skirt without moving the jig. This can be the ticket. Sometimes you can see those big bass shouldering through the reeds! If they are tight and sluggish then maybe strike radius of 2 ft.; thats why you gotta be quiet including ripples. You tried; reel in and next pitch. Look for greener reeds for starters and some wood/brush nearby. Cattails are third choice on my list. Don't pass them up however. Sometimes those bass are deep in the cattails looking for clearer water and warmth ( uh warm springs). Like in 6" of water! With that float tube you can get way back. Reeds near steeper contours are my first focus or edges of reeded flats that fall into the deeper water on main lake. Southern or eastern exposure and out of the wind. Don't forget the docks! Open water you are on rubble rock - size up to grapefruit or muddy conglomerate. Just drag it - no hops - keeping your rod at 10:00 to 12:00. Slightly slack line - will have a little belly in it. Line feel with your free hand. Line feel in the reeds also. Usually you will feel no tap. Think Crawdad..think Sculpin...think cold and nothin is moving fast. Plan 2: Get some 3 1/2" Sweepers or Reapers (Western Plastics or Iovino) in crawdad colors and texas center rig - maybe a skin hook with EWG - on 1/0 offset hook - doesn't have to be EWG. Rig reapers at home and importantly make sure the hook comes through the reaper dead center and the plastic hangs straight. Keep couple of those reapers in the scent bag. Then when you tie on in the water the hook hole is already made correctly. Rubber peg 1/8 oz. bullet weight tight to reaper and flip or pitch. Step up to 5/32 or 3/16 if need faster fall. Tungsten if you want nice thump sound. Reaper should hinge. I'll mono peg the reaper and the worm if they start sliding down the hook. Will twist your line, but fish don't see reapers like this often. You can split the tail on a reaper and use a soldering tool to weld the two segments apart - killer crawadad imitation. Alternately, peg a brass and glass about 1/4" free of the plastic for a subtle click sound. Peg the sinker and leave the bead free. Then when you pitch it let it lay there and lightly and slowly click it. Lightweight reaper has a slow fall with good reed penetration. Reapers, they will hit on the fall and you will feel nothing. With scent on it they will hold on. Lower your rod to 8 or 9, reel in a little (a little tension will cause them to close their jaws) and bang em hard as you dare! Oh don't fish light line - you are fishing for double didgit pig here. at least 10 lb test please. Plan 3: Rig a 1/4 oz mojo tube weight pegged as a drop shot and fish a drop shot bait about 6 to 12" above the weight. If 1/4 oz. is not enough weight to get to bottom of the reeds upsize to 3/8 oz. Once the weight hits bottom just reel up slack and wait. Sometimes I squeeze and relax grip on the rodhandle; this subtle action good when water is cold. Plan 4: Get some internal tube weights. I prefer snagfree weights. link: http://www.baits.com/cgi-bin/order/35S and pitch and flip bigger tubes. If you have 2 rods, tube would be my starting back-up for the jig. Once again lots of scent and you can jig the tube up and down to take advantage of the distinctive fall charactersitics. Once again think Crawdad or disoriented baitfish. Plan 5: Kreatures, lizards and Ikas - figure you know about that. Salamanders could be washed into the lake by these storm cycles. Peg a lizard and flip that. Plan 6: try pegging 1/8 oz. bullet weight to a straight tail worm or senko and flip that. You can swim these around a little. Curl tail gets hung up in reeds.

Closed eye spinnerbaits; Accuracy and splash control seems fine. I always get the line wrapped around that closed eye. Using 8 lb line. Is line the problem? Always fishing a trailer. Chartreuse in the Colorado River in Spring - Kalins 3 inch grub. White spinerbait - clear salt and pepper or white grub trailer - for early season stripers when the shad just start surfacing around May. Sometimes catch a bass under the feeding stripers. Anyone using a tube on a spinnerbait? First tried removing skirt and adding tube - that failed to work acceptably. Then I tried one 3 1/2 inch tube behind skirt and it overpowered the bait. Haven't got around to tring smaller tube. all this talk of spinnerbaits - maybe I should go buy some?

My situation might be a little distinctive. Have 4 screws in left ankle from rockclimbing accident years ago. As result, I am in precarious balance standing on left leg and I like to drive the foot control on the Motorguide Trolling Motor with right foot. And I prefer to drive the TM with no shoes or sandals on. Much better sensitivity on the on/off switch. That's fine when weather permits, but during rain gets mighty cold. - like it did yesterday! Maybe some kind of boating or kayaking footcover which breathes so I won't get athletes foot? Suggestions?

Stitching refers to hand controlled method of retrieval. I believe originally a fly fishing technique. Grasp line between first finger and thumb. Roll hand up so you see the top of hand. grasp line between 4th and 5th fingers and release grip of first finger and thumb. Roll hand down so palm is facing you and re-grasp line between first finger and thumb to re- initate cycle. Go practice this till you are smooth - I had to fish for the cat to write this description. Now the cat wants to play. When you have a quanitiy of unwound line that begins to concern you, grasp line and wind onto reel. begin stitching again. "In Pursuit of Giant Bass"; Bill Murphy; ISBN 0-96-33120-0-6 May be out of print. check Amazon or others Bill Murphy recently died having lost his fight with melanoma. Can be very effective for tough bite.

Fatdaddy, you've been awful quiet about the new boat. Any progress yet or just hunkered down for winter?

Not painted lead, but powdercoated brass for brass and glass. If I figure I am on a tough bite I will choose a color weight and bead to match the worm. Lead is unpainted for me.

Focusing on current season where you are; darthead is excellent idea. Have to do some searching online to find them. Rig the worm/grub open-hook like a 1/8oz to 1/4 oz. dart head or peahead jig. Spoons - same thing, Castmaster or Duh spoon in various weights is good start. Rattletrap also good. Dropshot is good. As Don Iovino says, "dropshot is so good you could catch fish in a toilet bowl". You will need some electronics and have understanding of what you are seeing on the sonar. That doesn't mean you can easily master the different techniques. I recommended lures I thought not everyone in VA is fishing to amp up your success quotient. If you have never fished these lure/techniques before, suggest limiting purchases and just go fish - till you start catching, Then, with some confidence branch out to other lures.

It has been shown that human hand scent is repelling to bass. Sweaty hands especially. I'll go with Chris on this. For plastics scent is good idea. Added bonus is the slickness lets the plastic lure slip through some reed/ cattails and weeds. Many, many times has been the only difference between fish in the boat and no fish. Get a paste type scent and keep a ziplock baggy with some in it. Put the lure, weight and all in before fishing to soak up some scent. Remember this bag is GOING TO LEAK; keep it warm but act appropriately. Spring and summer I keep a lidded plastic container with the baggy in it on the deck and the sun warms it for me. This site has some articles on attractants.

Yes. Burning a crankbait, stickbait, swimbait, and of course the few spinnerbaits I own, is one of the first things I try. More tempted to try it for a time once water reaches 60°.

You guys keep the comments coming! I am proud owner of (I think) 6 spinnerbaits and wouldn't be able to name the brand..Obviously I need help.

"Is it possible to look at a form of cover and determine exactly where the bigger fish are going to be?" I call structure geological features, for instance, breaklines, cliff faces, channels, islands or humps, cuts or arroyos. Cover for me is rock groupings, vegatation. brush, aquatic growth, stumps, salt cedars. Once I am on a pattern, I can sometimes zero in on the high percentage spot. I am best at this in Spring and Winter - of course those are the seasons I have fished most. Many times, in the west, these are not the primary "hotspot" that everyone fishes, but subtle locations off the side of a structure. One of my biggest problems which I work to overcome is a tendency to NOT fish the high percentage spot first, trying to sneak up on the cover. "How do you determine the high percentage places?" Frequently they are "ambush edges"; that is transition zones between 2 types of vegatation. Different sizes or types of rock; two different types of brush. Classic, where I am currently fishing is the slight depression - almost like a ring of rocks "fire circle' and a transition spot like hard sandstone to chunk rock with the fish in the chunk. "How do you eliminate cover? Wintertime - to Prespawn If I am fishing highland type lake then I will probably begin parallelling the shore or checking out primary and secondary points. After trying to make an educated guess about what the underwater structure might look like, I will begin graphing and casting diagonally in front of the boat, searching shallow to deep. Usually that will reveal some structure I did not know was there and frequently reveal some suble cover feature(s) and many times spook the fish. If I don't get bit, but think there are bass present, I will leave and come back maybe 30 minutes to hour later, position and fish precisely. Summertime - Post spawn I will be looking at offshore structure and walls. However I will using the same investigative techniques, factoring in aquatic weed cover. Colorado River Lakes Usually, I begin based on past season's experiences. For instance a prespawn pattern would be fishing wood over reeds. I would discriminate between brush and brush near emergent weeds for instance. Types of brush and reeds indicate bottom type. I would begin looking for harder bottoms. Proximity to a channel and a channel bend (inside or outside for current) are also factors. Presence or lack of current is a primary factor as to where fish will be on the cover. I would probably begin looking for cover on structure which falls quickly to depth. So most times I would start throwing a spinnerbait or a shadrap, then go to flipping and pitching to brush areas, but fishing deeper than everyone else. Then I might move shallower, or tighter depending on fishing pressure and weather conditions. Again the larger fish are usually at some subtler transition zone in the cover - whether the cover transition can be seen above water or not.

1997 17 ft. SS140 Skeeter stock setup with 115 hp Yamaha, 67 lb energy Motorguide, Pinpoint 7420 on bow, Lowrance 47 at console.

Bassin 101, Sure you can peg the bullet sinker. Insert the threader from the point side of the bullet weight. Use some rubber threaded from the cone side to the point. Once you can just get the treader off the looped rubber at the sinker tip, you are set. Pull excess from base of sinker and clip off. Cheap set-up is rubber bands (or rubber skirt material) and a piece of Guitar string as threader. Let the rubber extend to the back of sinker just enough to get tip of needlenose pliers on it, then you can remove the rubber later. Option 2 is buy a threading kit from Cabela's,BassPro, Don Iovino etc. Come with instructions usually. You control the friction. Practice will tell you how much rubber to insert. Question for me is why use this setup?. In a pinch maybe or if that is all you can buy locally - OK. But, for splitshotting I think you would get much better results with a Mojotype sinker or water gremlin setup. With a bullet weight you are going to get a different action than you will with a tubular mojo type, different if you use high density (tungsten) sinker also. About the only time I use this is flipping reeds, brush where the fish don't want the bullet sinker pegged tight to the plastic so I might move the weight up 1/2" or so. That's fishing vertically where splitshotting is usually horizontal approach. If you use a floating worm the rig will float. If you don't use a floating worm, them you somewhat control depth by hook weight and line distance behind the sinker. For instance rigging a lightweight hook at 3 ft behind the sinker might get you 16" off the bottom as you move the rig. Downside is maybe missed bites on a leader that long. Just try it in some clear water so you can see what it is doing. Black Weapon Hooks are the lightest weight I know of, downside is they are more brittle than most other hooks.

PishPosh, Reccomend you get some Pro's'soft bait glue. Put a little on the hookshank and slide the into place. link to Pro's: http://www.prosoftbaitglue.com/index.html otherwise crazy glue gell in a pinch.

Here's a little something along the lines of dropshot fishing that the guys in Cali are beginning to use for the Largemouth. http://www.tackle2000.com/pages/1/index.htm Wing It's are also used. Use one of these with the stopper configuration and a light pinch on split shot about 12" above the dropshot hook (now on the end of the line) . Add drop shot bait of your choice and you are downshotting at a controlled depth (set with the bobber stopper). Cast it towards your target and slowly work it in or sometimes more effective begin a drift upwind of the target about 20 to 30 yards. and just controlled drift using the trolling motor.

Nick, OK. Probably similar highland structure. Mead is 109 ft below normal pool and all the brush, trees and weeds are way up the bank. Got a mix of conglomerate rock, sandstone bluffs and basalt pillars and rockpiles. I use a 6 ft. Rapala Long Cast(1/16 oz to 1/4oz. rated) with a $45 Shimano spinning reel for drop shotting and tube fishing. Find the spinning outfit allows bait to drop straight down on a pitch. Good for stairstepping down rockpiles with a rockhopper or bakudan weight. Had to run the line out twice yesterday fishing for 6 hours. P Line's 8#'s been out fishing now maybe 12 times. Check out "Lake Police" worms. Hot on the left coast right now. The lake police were out Saturday running back and forth into the harbor while I was waiting to see if a striper surface bite would materialize - who knows what that was about?

Someone else asked about dropshotting on the forum and I posted some links there. I realize your using a baitcaster, if using a spinning outfit, close the bail with your hand - not the handle - this helps. Check the rod tip with a Q tip- make sure you have no sharp edges or grooves. I am using currently P Line Hybrid 8# and was using Spiderline Mono 8#. P line has more sensitiivity IMO. I would also use Yo-Zuri, Shugoi, or Berkely Vanish. I use those on the baitcasters for shaking and doodling. That also twists line. To get rid of twist run your line out (all lures and knots removed) behind the boat while you run to the next area. this helps..Might have to do it twice or 3 times in an 8 hour day. Re-spool the first 150-200 ft. when it gets unfixable - I know you didn't want to hear that. From Lake Mead where the dropshot bite is what gets bit - bite is at 25 to 50 ft on chunk rock currently. Where are you fishing?

Got stuck in traffic this afternoon on the freeway and had time to think about this To make yourself a better angler it helps to set some specific short term goals and then break that down into achievable portions incidentally I hate motivational speakers.. Say improve your boat control, increase your casting accuracy, increase hook ratio, learn everything about how the bait you are fishing performs in different circumstances, get better with your electronics, learn your water, etc. Confidence and observation with internal feedback is so much of the game.. Then, as a continuing process, learn more and more about your quarry and its environment. Work to become more sensitive to changes throughout the day as you are fishing. Keeping a log worked for me. I am not keeping one right now, but I am always trying to learn more about the environment I find myself in when fishing. For instance; if you find yourself in a boat group watch the fishermen around you. Before the internet, I learned a productive jig fishing technique just by watching a regionally famous jig fisherman do it in the boat right next to me. If you learn by reading get a couple fishing subscriptions, archive them and read the articles more than once. Written works by Bill Murphy, Chuck Brauer , Jay Yelas, Don Iovino, Ken Cook just to name a few. The internet has become an excellent source for techniques and products. Some of the forums discuss leading edge topics. Just hanging out here you are already getting better. If you learn by watching, then purchasing a couple instructional videos (for instance Yamamoto grub/senko secrets) may lead to a breakthrough in technique. Maybe you can rent them or your library or bass club has them to loan. Doesn't matter if you already watched it or read it. Something will be remembered or something new learned. If your bass fishing moves towards tournaments then you'll fish with a lot of different people some more knowledgeable and skilled than you. Everyone has something to teach you like Nick says. Practice on the water right from the moment you start your trip. The weather, the season; when you get to your water, how is it what you expected, how is it different? Bill Murphy said he likes to wake up with the lake he's going to fish. I like to fish in blocks. By that I mean fish maybe 2 or 3 consecutive days; or fish one day, rest one day, fish third day. Then like the people who play the stock market you can see trends easier. When you end the day, think back over what you did and what you could have done better. Like Chris says, gotta ask the hard questions. It is important you do this criticism promptly; your skill level will benefit and you will have the next days starting plan. I think it helps to compare notes as long as you stick to the facts and your companion does likewise. Chris is on target with the casting accuracy. It is key. I started seriously bass fishing in southern CA where the fishing pressure is intense and the lakes are crowded. We used to joke on opening day you could walk across Lake Hodges and never get wet just stepping from boat to boat. And Lake Perris, I caught a lot of bass with hook holes in their mouths. These boys and girls were educated! By making a presentation that no one else is doing you will catch fish. And you can do that because your casting skill is such that you can with dispatch and accuracy. When you can go behind a skilled angler and successfully fish the used water you are there in your thinking. Sometimes this really aggravates them. Discipline. Concentration. You've gone all day without a bite and you are still 100% confident that if you get bit he is in the boat. It happens and you do it. This performance level doesn't come as the result of reading, taking a seminar, or watching a video. Go fishing when it is poor fishing; go fishing at all kinds of times and seasons; go fishing in exactly the same spot you were in the previous day and try to approach everything about it differently; go fishing when the weather sucks long as it is not dangerous; go fishing when the bite window may be 30 minutes or less sometime during the day if you are in the right place when they go on feed. Go fishing knowing you are fishing all day for one bite. Do not go fishing with someone who will distract you. Once you attain this level, work to increase the time you can maintain it. Like learning a musical instrument the master makes it look easy. Be self taught and self guided. Takes a little longer but sticks well, you might fail often when starting, but with experience fail ratio will dwindle. Failing is learning. And you can do it by yourself which simplifies planning. I see this in the dock and club talk someone brings in a big bag on some lure at some depth and next day the group is fishing like that completely ignoring personal experience and their feedback. Be attentive and learn to listen. Years ago my regular partner was a master at getting info out of the locals. He'd just sit there and let them talk with occasional encouraging question; shortly they would be showing him their best spots. Then he'd take what they told him and apply it for himself. Apply it for himself that's very important..

Not really - try to keep an open mind and be early adapter. However, I've been using Yo-Zuri for about 3 years on baitcasters for bass fishing and like it. Using P-Line on Spinning outfit - first time this fall. Seems OK.

I'd love to sell my old car topped 12 ft. x 4' beam Sears Fiberglass boat (an original Sea Nymph pull). All re-inforced West Systems epoxy with casting deck, depth finder and bow mount trolling motor/ transducer with 15 HP Gamefisher Outboard to someone like you who is just getting started. I had it up for $750, now I'm asking $650 for the whole catastrophe including spare prop and so forth. A lot of big bass and big stripers have found themselves in this boat. Unfortunately since I am in Nevada we just live too distant. You ought to be able to find something comparable locally for about same money. Make sure you take the big motor to good marine shop and have it checked out before laying down $$. Tin boat, you might be looking at a lot of heliarc welding - check this out carefully. Old Trackers were notorious for popping rivets. I saw one this summer, 2 bubbas sitting in one with water at the gunwhales, bilge pump squirting a stream of water and that was just at the launch ramp. For tin boats heard some people coat them with Truck bed liner - supposed to make them quieter.

This might not be applicable, but there has been, on Lake Mead, an afternoon surface bite starting about 3:00 PM. Shallow sun warmed flats adjacent to deeper water. Throwing into skinny water.

Hey Chris, Thanks for the tips on Mead. Posted on that topic. Sometimes someone says something and it just clicks... Now that i've got an idea on the depth of larger fish, I'm gonna try some walls and a little doodling to go with the spoons and crankbaits tomorrow. Let you know how it turns out. Short answer to your question: no and almost no