Del from philly

i gotta say, when i first came on here i had the same problem, but now this thing runs like speedy gonzalez...

whaTS IT like in pittsburg right now? id rather hit up a lake personally because i did fish a few times in the last fewq weeks in the schuykill without ANY action at all....none

Im thinking today may be the first day of the season for me where im not just casting aimlessly....i have been fiending out like a addict over here... its been 40-58 degrees the last 4-5 days, and i think the temps in the water may have finally warmed up....i live in the philly area... Here is the weather today: sunny 57 degrees....20 chance of precip now i AM FISHING TODAY NO MATTER WHAT... but what do you think would be the most productive for a shore fisherman??? 1) marsh creek- a large style lake with deep middle water 2) french creek- a medium size lake with shallow middle 3) schuykill river- fish for smallies i know my descriptions suck but im not really that kind of fisher (iim wokring on it) ANY HELP WOULD BE MORE THAN APPRECIATED, i have heard x-raps work well when the weather first breaks, but my confidence is in soft plastics and jigs THANKS SO MUCH

how do they line up with x-raps? is their no comparison? Is that even the same type of lure....I dont use hardbody lures, i just buy them.....

ok, all winter i stocked up and stocked up, and now i gotta say, my bag weighs like 60 lbs, and im a shore fisherman what the heck my gonna do...lug that duffle around every time..... i went OVERBOARD! anybody else go WAY overboard and not know what to do?

i just learned them last season, so i might be in a good position to teach a jig-newbie...Ill keep it simple... Important things: FALL RATE- this is key, try and find a good balance that falls slow, i recomend the GYCB fat baby craw and the bitsy bug. The best thing about that combo is it casts pretty far (all gy baits do), falls slow, and is smaller profile... TRAILOR CHOICES- if you want a lot of action, or none....figure it out. smaller profiles, larger profiles.....try unconventional stuff too JIGGING IT- I recomend learning the jig by dragging and pausing....VERY SLOWLY...after you get some fish like that, try lifting more and things like that.... SETTING HOOK- sometimes a much less agressive bite than your used to. I say set the hook even if you think your hung up.

i just bought the mcdaddy craws....looking for a smaller profile, more in-line "beaver" type lure.... the color looks great, and they are one lure that smells ok from the bag....

YES, i have lost some... before the season even started (3 months ago) i was throwing an x-rap, just practicing working it while the water vegitation is low.... anyway, the d**n thing split on the bottom coming off a hang-up and the wire came out. I tryed to keep using it but the boyancy was gone, and hooks were hanging from a wire...NO GOOD!

to the originator of this post: try and change your mindset. i used to think the same way.... Think about creature lures, nothing looks like them in the water, and they have been VERY productive for me....and everyone else. while its always good to try and match the lure with what the bass are eating, it is in no way neccessary...90% of my catches are off of lures that are not really imitating anything in specific... iv heard lizards really shine in the spawn like nothing else. For me, i just bought my first lizard plastics- the yamamoto, and cant wait to try it out!

always wanted tyo try a higher end Rabbit hair jig, something like this always looked good to me

this may have been mentioned, but the whole reaosn its a "bitsy bug" is because it has a thinned out skirt...in other words, thats the whole point...the finesseness of it...they are made that way from the factory i love bitsy bugs,. they are my favorite.... as for a higher end style jig, i bought a bunch of SKINNY BEAR Pro series signiture Jis and they look GREAT! like a mini KOOSH ball...and they need no trimming at all problem is, i havnt used them yet, but when i do, i hope they will be my new favorite... LOOK AT THESE THINGS....look cool as hell! sell them on TW.com...they look better in person,

If you are still trying to find a hook you like, still experimenting, check these out! I never really talked to anyone that loves them as much as i do, but who cares...these things have perfect balance for 5" senkos, and other larger style worms like the 6.5" cuttail, etc

im a guy that uses wide gap 99% of the time.... i always use either gamagatsu, or my personal favorite- Lunker City's Texposer hooks I dont like hooks that bend the worm or bait, or make them spin the water because they are off to a side...I like the hooks that line up perfectly straight (hard to explain) i always set my hooks to be perfectly symetrical, and they work great... i am gonna try to master using octopus hooks this year, THIS IS THE KIND I DONT LIKE: THIS IS THE KIND I DO LIKE: see the difference, anybody know what the different reasons you would go with the first kind?

hey, I got no prblems with the color Red....hell, iv had luck with red hooks too.... just seems like another way EVERY company markets the same old ideas towards catching fisherman and not fish.... a little red treble hook and 3 cartoon blood drippings is gonna simulate a wounded baitfish blood trail in water? you think?

Ok, i got 2 Shimano large size tackle binders....all loaded up 1-variety, 2-just yamamoto stuff My question is, Now what? anybody know a good bag that they keep their binders and planos in? that isnt reduculously huge....im a shore fisherman...

Personally, since iv seen them, i really dont care for the "bleeding bait" style of lure that is being embraced by fishing companys anywhere... This includes: cartoonish red paint markings and funny looking "drops" bright red hooks red tenticles on tubes Im sure that not everyone aggrees, but this looks to me like a fisherman trap, not a fish trap... Anyone who has seen a bleeding baitfish in the water knows that it looks NOTHING like the bleeding bait is trying to imitate. The blood disperses through the water, it does not drip like the cartoon paint they put on these lures... To me, it looks like a joke. Im not even doubting that it helps, maybe the color works....iv had some luck in the past with red hooks with certain color combos... but the fact that we are supposed to buy the fact that these baits look like a bleeding fish is a joke. Do they think we are stupid? How does a little red hook, or 3 cartoon drops of blood on a bait immitate a bleeding baitfish? Just doesnt work in my head....i could be wrong.. what about you guys? do you like the "bleeding baits" or do you share my opinion?

whats next? reeling in slowly so the fish doesnt have to swim at an uncomfotable speed??? Dont take the picture of the bass because we dont have its approval? maybe it beleives pictures steal your soul?

what about meeting halfway and bending them halfway back? honestly, thats about as much as i would do.... i do know it makes a difference, anyone who knows the "crunch" knows its different.....still not my thing

this may not be right, because maybe the fish was terminal by this point but the one fish i kept last season lasted a 20 min ride home....when i filled the sink it splashed around like a freshly caught fish....this was 15-20 mins outside of water....

what do they say about iconelli???

i dont usually fish open, do you mean no rocks or anyting? if your not imitating a crawfish you could go for a baitfish profile.. maybe swim it? if the water is cold i would grab a long tail-style hair jig (or buckeye jig) and fish it like a dying shad or minnow just going on what i heard, i wish i had open water during the summer when the weeds take over ALL of my lakes.....but hey, cover is good, right?

I find this very intersting. You are 17 and the contract for ebay says you must be 18 years old to buy,sell and bid. It is right there in the USER AGREEMENT PAGE (whats wrong with America) and i dont mean the fact that a 17 year old can order something on ebay

im with RW on this one... my opinion....i just dont think color is as important as people make it.... and if it is, i still think there are color combos that will work 95% of the time they are: Black-solid Black-with blue flake Black-with red flake Watermelon-with red/green flake watermelon- "faded" or solid pumkinseed-with black flake Pumkinseed-with red flake the 2 GY colors i throw 99% of the time are Black with blue flake, and watermelon with red/green flake those are my go to colors almost all the time!

favorite- fresh opened bag of Senkos....plasticy, fresh, perfect least favorite- Garlic scent from mallmart (think its shakespear)

It seems like that....i bought the december issue in a store about a week ago... usually, magazines are a month ahead..