Jeff H

I'm a Trilene guy too. XT on the baitcasters and XL on the spinning reels. I just love the toughness of the XT, that stuff can take a beating. Lots of people have complained about the new XT but I'm having no problems with it on my baitcasters.

1) MN 2) averaging about 20-25 each day fished 3 & 4) average size about 16.5-18" (2 1/2-3lbs). 4) biggest this summer so far has been 3lb 6 oz. largemouth and 4 1/2 lb smallie.

Black grape w/blue flake or Junebug. Tequila Sunrise and Red Shad are also good to me.

If you are talking spinning rod, I have one of those and I LOVE the thing for wading shorelines and finessing dinks etc.

LOL!! ;D Too funny! The subtleness used to explain your experience just makes it shine.

My collection is all Rapala and Bill Lewis. My best colors are chrome/blue back Rapala and Bill Lewis Junebug Spark L Trap. other notables are chrome/black and Shad Rapala's and Lewis Bleeding Shiner. I just have too many of these things I don't even use.

Well....I haven't ever done anything like THAT!! That is just plain funny!! ;D Humiliation for me was 1 fish in my first Pro tournament. After a somewhat stellar "amatuer" career and being one of the top hooks in my club I decided it was time to try my hand against the best local hotshots and all that money. It didn't go well. However, to my credit the conditions were extremely tough and nobody really produced anything the lake was really worthy of or noted for. There were lots of "zeroes" that day too. I don't know if I got the jitters and brain clog or what that day but it still haunts me. I always wished for a "do over" but the circuit never hit that lake again. I guess it wasn't complete humiliation but it felt awful close to me at the time. It did keep me from making the TOC that year though (I was 1st alternate) and THAT ticked me off.

Silstar makes Pinnacle don't they? Doesn't Marty Stone endorse Browning? I've been hemming and hawing on my next BC purchases. I have always stuck with Daiwa and Shimano but I've been considering the new Revo's. It might be a good idea if somebody here talked me out of that.

I thought Houston was the big bass kisser?? He sure talks sweet to them fish don't he?

From your description, the situation was absolutely bleak in my opinion. Oxygen depletion and suspending fish = Bleak. I'm thinking luck is gonna play more of a part then anyone wants it to in this kind of thing. So, I wouldn't beat yourself up to bad about over it. If the fish are suspended around a brushpile or tree, rock pile or SOMETHING....I might have a go at them, but if they are just suspended in open water and feeding at will I won't waste my time on them. I would have ended up just like you though because I probably would have went flipping heavy cover or something else like that rather then drive myself crazy on suspended fish. The ONLY time I have had any success with them was vertical jigging a Heddon Sonar blade blait and a Hopkins spoon and they were not big fish at all. They were suspended about 5 ft above a small rock pile off the end of a point in 20 ft of water I even took some perch from that same spot...LOL Mark Davis won the Classic one year fishing suspended bass, but they were around/above brushpiles and he took them on a Fat Free Shad if I recall.

So, what was the outcome of the tournament? Did the winners weigh a heavy bag? Were a lot of limits caught?

Over the years I've learned to be patient. I did pretty well during my tournament years but I know for a fact my fishing ability has improved 10 fold since then. Now that I no longer fish tournaments (but can't say I never will again) my main "style" has become deep water once summer patterns establish. When I fish deep, I am COMPLETELY dependant on my electonics and my lure to create the mental imaging I depend on as my focus. I am a wretch to fish with because I get so focused. I really enjoy letting my mind "go to the lake" but I would say I'm not the greatest host to my companions. Like some others, everything on that list will apply at some point. I can go either way, shallow or deep, and camp or run. I actually hate to "run and gun" as that approach has always been the least succesful for me. If I have to state "in general" then I am a deep water fisherman for most of our season here. It's just nice to fish stuff that the average guy won't even find in his travels along the banks.

I met some of the biggest names in this sport back in 1995 (lucky me). Basically just shook hands and short conversation with them on the final day weigh in of the 1995 BP Top 100 at Lake Minnetonka, MN. They were ALL great guys, except Fritts was kinda grumpy after coming up a couple pounds short to Jim Bitter. That was kind of understandable though. Every one of those guys was great people. The greatest of all??? Ray Scott! What an incredible personality. If you never saw Ray Scott emcee a tournament in his later years with all his stories, you really missed one of the best shows on earth!! Nothing that will ever happen to me from this day forward will surpass that experience. Not even winning the lottery could match it. I shook hands, talked with him for about 15 minutes and got his autograph on my hat before I left. That hat hasn't been worn since and hangs from a hook here in my home office.

They are absolutely deadly fished over the weed tops on the crown of main lake humps on those early mornings when you get a full migration. I tick the weeds and let them drop into holes or pockets if I can see them and then rip them out. Aside from jigs and worms, I've been fishing traps all summer on and around humps. Sometimes I even vertical jig them over isolated rocks or coontail patches around the base of the humps. If I can't score with the jig or worm the trap is the bait I turn to next. The versatility of these things is awesome! It's pretty much like George Welcome said....vary it up until you find what they want. They will let you know right away if they are willing to eat it.

Awhile back I posted in this forum asking if anyone here could make some jig heads for me. I got ONE response and it was the right one. After some discussion of what he had to offer I had him make me some and we had an exceptionally smooth transaction and he knocked them out real quick. Much quicker then I expected. The jigheads I recieved were top quality, excellent pours and paint work. This man's personal character, integrity and honesty is beyond exceptional. I've not been around here lately because I've had computer issues but I've also been out fishing A LOT and these jigs have performed beyond my expectations and are better than my old favorites in every way. I've caught probably 200 bass(or more) on his jigs now ranging between 2 and 4 1/2 lbs. 10 have been smallies (including a beautiful, very dark 4 1/2lb'er) Since I live in MN, where "gators" like to rob my jigs I've gone through most of them already and needed more "in stock". Thankfully, he has accepted my request to make me some more, and for that I'm very grateful. As far as I'm concerned, if he'll do it, he'll be pouring my jig heads for as long as he wants. I just wanted to say thanks to GMAN for stepping up and helping me out and in the process turning me on to the best all around jig head I've fished to date.

Mine was in a small reed patch in about 3' of water, taken on a 1/2 oz jig/craw pitching during "indian summer" conditions in mid Sept at about 8 am. 20' ft away the there was a small underwater gravel point that dropped abruptly into 44'. Most of the bigger fish I get come from weed/rock areas on deep humps (14'-24') in the summer.

Check with Canyon Plastics. I ordered some 3.75" original gitzits and actually got 2 different sizes. One is right exactly as you want and the other is just a bit longer on the body, maybe 1/8" or so. They are fatter then G4's and shorter but not as fat or long as a 4" "flippin" tube is.

I have on occasion "touched up" a needle point hook with a hook file on a jig but beyond that it isn't worth the trouble where worm hooks are concerned. Cutting point hooks you just can't sharpen and get them right again.

I like BANG Crawfish or Crawfish/Shad combo.

My biggest waste of money years ago was a Dancin' Eel. I still have it around here somewhere, I think my youngest son has it in his box. I never caught a fish on it, my oldest boy never caught a fish on it and now it is the box of my 5 yr old son who I'm sure will never catch a fish on it.

Does anybody else here actually crave fishing the first 2 days following a cold front (notoriously bad conditions) like I do? Sure, it is tough love out there but I just enjoy the challenge and to be honest I get some bigger fish on those days, although not the numbers. I particularly like hitting clear water on those days to make it tough as can be. I just love it when you can shake 'em up on a deep spot and get them excited for a few minutes after you nail that first tough biter. I also love the required pinpoint presentations. You get a good workout on boat control and presentation rolled into one. I would guess it is kind of odd (as I know most guys dread those days) but I just like the challenge of a post front bite. 20+ fish days are fun but I always feel pretty good just boating a limit on these tough days. I figure anybody can cash in on the "easy" days and I like the challenge that comes with a tough bite.

I like tubes, 4" worms and 4" Fin S Fish early in the season but when things shift to summer patterns jigs and T-rig worms are my favorites for the rest of the year (which basically ends in October here).

.410 shotgun with full choke barrel works really good on shallow carp, makes good turtle food out of them worthless bastages. Suckers don't bother me as much as carp do.

CXX must be pretty impressive stuff.

I would like to see a head to head fish-off between a 6" Senko, Trick Stick, Dinger or what have you and a 5 3/4" Fin S Fish.