Long Weekend of Fishing

[whj812]

I went out this weekend for some fishing on my local lake here in Tennessee. Man it was tough fishing....the weather has turned off cold and the winds were kicking really hard blowing my little aluminum boat all over. I was however able to land some pretty good fish yesterday.

I had a 4 to 5 lb smallmouth get off of the hook right at the boat.....

Here is probably the best fish from the weekend not much to brag about but Im just happy to overcome the adverse conditions and still land some nice fish. :lol:

 

[Waterwings]

Nice catch! Glad to see someone is catching some

 

[Captain Ahab]

very nice - good job

 

[whj812]

Any tips on how to deal with fronts and fish that just wont seem to bite??? Other than going home and popping open a Guinness!!

 

[Waterwings]

Any tips on how to deal with fronts and fish that just wont seem to bite??? Other than going home and popping open a Guinness!!

I do just about what you do, only I usually open a Miller of some type, MGD or Lite

 

[SMDave]

Downsize, both tackle and line. I use my spinning reel almost exclusively, using finesse applications such as dropshots and shakey head worms. Weightless t-rigged and wacky rigged senkos will catch them. Use 8-10lb. fluorocarbon line, and a 4-5" worm or senko and you're good to go!

But my all time favorite lure for coldfronts and just all around cold water is... the suspending jerkbait! Lucky Craft Pointers 78SP and 100SP in chartreuse shad and american ms shad are my go to's now, before that, was the Strike King Bleeding Wild shiner which is also very good, but it is slightly larger than my taste (although it is the same size as the 100SP, it doesn't have the same fish catching wiggle and action). Also, the Strike King's really float slowly when on the box it says suspending, but at the rate it climbs, it is basically suspending, but if you are looking for a jerkbait that really suspends, and runs true and tuned out of the box, Lucky Craft is definitely worth the extra cash! Plus the paint jobs are incredibly natural, and some are very flashy to get the attention of fish that are in lockjaw mode. I prefer using dull colors like chartruese shad for muddier water (muddier, not muddy), and using MS American shad for clearer water. I don't use jigs too often in muddy water, usually I will switch to the 3/8oz. jig on my baitcaster for this application. If you are jig fishing, buy some trailers from Basssnacks.com. I have bought two different trailers from there before, both 2", one black, the other green pumpkin. These are INCREDIBLE!!!! Super soft and have a unique scent to them. Also, the FinesseIts and the ShakIt's are my go to's for finesse wormin, like dropshots and shakeyhead rigs, sometimes even a C-rig. The ShakIt's are slightly larger than the FinesseIts but both are great for finesse applications since in both, the tail floats very high, perfect for shakey head rigs. I AM NOT ENDORSING THIS PRODUCT! I AM JUST SAYING THIS OUT OF MY OWN EXPERIENCES, I have 3 colors of beavits, 2 colors of ShakIts, 2 colors of 2" jig trailers, and 1 color of FinessIts. I highly recommend all these baits for their different application! They are unreal, just wait until you feel one!

Also, dampeoples, I hope I am not offending you by suggesting these baits. I have never used your baits, but am just speaking out of great experience with these baits. I look forward to ordering some of your baits after the winter!

 

[Jim]

SMDAVE,
I think I can speak for Dampeoples. Trust me when I say he will not be offended. If you ever gather up some $ and get a chance to try one of his custom painted lures you will see that they are really nice lures.

LC's are nice too, but catching fish on a one of a kind (no two are alike) is kind of cool too.

 

[SMDave]

I was referring to the soft plastic baits but those custom-painted hardbaits look AWESOME!!!! Unfortunately, I have presents to buy this year for Christmas since I actually have money this year...

 

[dampeoples]

No problem! And Jimmy is right on

There are thousands of folks out there selling baits, some good, some not. I want folks to recommend what works for them, not what they feel is popular, or is the 'in' thing for a particular area or forum. If mine do not live up to someone's expectations, I'd like to know about that as well, and more importantly, the opportunity to make it right, cause i'm human too

What I don't like is arrogance and crap tossed out there, you recommended something based on experience, it's the only way to fly

Reminds me of a forum post I read, a guy, on his own, I didn't ask him to, I never do, but a guy bought some baits from me, and was showing them off on a forum, didn't say where he got them, just that he liked them. Someone else asked, and he told them, then another bait maker came along and started blasting my products, telling everyone my prices were too high, and making assumptions He's never seen them for one, assumed I had misinformed my customer for two, then proceeded to show off some of his baits that. well, they spoke for themselves! That's where the price difference came in. I got a pretty good laugh out of it, and he got what he deserved, which was ignored.

 

[redbug]

I saw that post your stuff was much nicer. and well worth the price.

catching fish on a custom bait is a thrill.
I cant wait until i can get a few of your baits

Wayne

 

[whj812]

I like PC Baits stuff....... I caught the bass above on a Skirted Shaky Head, tipped with one of the finesse worms that I bought from him in the finesse kit.

I used to not really care for custom baits but after fishing PC Baits's stuff, im open to try lots of new custom baits.

Im going to check out Basssnacks and see what all they have.

Thanks for the advice.

This past weekend was driving me crazy. On Saturday we had trouble even finding fish, but on Sunday it was like someone flipped a switch that turned on the wind and the Bass! LOL

 

[Jim]

wind and the Bass

:wink: A secret of the pros! The wind pushes the bait food and the big bass follow.

 

[Waterwings]

Im going to check out Basssnacks and see what all they have.

Try their "Shakit" worms! I caught quite a few Spots this past Spring using the Black w/Blue Flake color, t-rigged with an 1/8oz bullet weight.

 

[mr.fish]

Wow, I still can't get over how drought stricken you guys are down there. That pic of the 10ft water drop from the bank says it all.

Nice catch, keep em comin.

 

[dampeoples]

I just realized that the guy you are referring to is Joe's Jig Trailers and Worms, he's been around a while, and while I don't know him, I've never heard anything but good stuff about him


Yeah, the water is pretty low all around, makes it tough if you don't know the water, every few days, back in Jetski season, they would have a picture of some moron that ran their boat on a shoal, and couldn't get it off It always amazes me how shallow they pull skiiers sometimes, and they don't even know it.

 

[SMDave]

I just realized that the guy you are referring to is Joe's Jig Trailers and Worms, he's been around a while, and while I don't know him, I've never heard anything but good stuff about him


Yeah, the water is pretty low all around, makes it tough if you don't know the water, every few days, back in Jetski season, they would have a picture of some moron that ran their boat on a shoal, and couldn't get it off It always amazes me how shallow they pull skiiers sometimes, and they don't even know it.

Yeah that's Joe's stuff. He told the basspro forum he recently switched domain names to basssnacks.com because of the uprise in new products he's selling, not just jig trailers. I have 4/5 of his baits! Not really interested in those zipper worms though...

 

[Jim]

I ordered some jig trailers from him a couple years back when he was starting out. I still have them actually. Joe is a good guy.