merc1997 Bo

there is pic of what i have been using in the thread "12-13 WOW". that particular one is made by lake fork trophy lures. bo

just about anything that would resemble a small shad. bo

nope. one thing is not fight them up and not just winch them, and next, is to get them right back in, and they will swim right back down. by the way, i saw you today. bo

you had a very good day. the hard overcast we have had should be putting at least some of them up shallower. bo

played hooky today and went fishing again. this bonanza will not last forever. we caught over 50 big whites today and 8 nice lmg in the mix. also, a bonus of two monster crappie that came 56 ft. deep. i am sure that some of what were were looking at up on the flats were big schools of crappie in the 60 ft. range. both of the crappie came on spoons right where i was sure that what was marking on the graph was crappie. the fish were deeper for the most part today. most bites were 50 to 60 ft. here is something of interest, and that is all of the lmg including the shorts were all at the 60 ft. range. we did catch a few k's, but they were all on the small side. lures were the same, spoons and the 1/8 jig with a doodle. had to add another split shot today to be able to get it down and keep up with the boat. bo

yep, there were some shad in the area. bo

see you there. bo

got to get out today and do some fishing. took one of my retired buddies from emerald beach. we had a great day. 30 big whites and 10 lmg keepers to go along with all the big whites. still deep water fishing, and today we were fishing out over 75 feet of water, and the strike zone was from 40 to 55 feet deep. still catching them on the same things. we kept the whites and made some of the emerald beach residents happy with fresh fish to enjoy. now would be a great time to go fishing every decent day. bo

sore thumbs jerk baits are an entire science to themselves. can not really say that i have experienced the k's preferring any certain retrieve. what i will say though is that you need to discover each time whether they want a sinking bait, one the sits perfects still, or one that will slowly float up. next, is what cadence, meaning what length of time between jerks, and how much energy to actually put into the jerk. sometimes they just want the bait to be barely touched, and other times the living daylights jerked out of it. you jut have to experiment each time out. bo

that is a very special gift. as someone mentioned, there are many high school fishing teams being formed, and i am sure that any of them would appreciate your gift. bo

champ there is a trick to the spoon right now. you have to just hang it, and just bump it every now and then. i went again today and caught some on spoon, but did better with the 1/8 head with a shad doodle. i had a couple of big split shot on to be able to keep the bait under the boat, and caught them just hanging it. ended up with 7 keeps and they were all lmg with three in the 3lb. range. most bites were 40 to 45ft. bo

champ, did you try fishing more parallel with the depth the strikes were coming from. sometimes doing that will work, but just as bass sometimes feed down or up, there are times bait retrieve direction is very important. very interesting that all the bites came out over quite a bit of water. that lends a lot to what i was saying that on certain days the deep bass and the food chain also are coming up. just seems that those darn green critters change everyday and you have to be flexible to keep up with them. since you started out over at baxter and did not do much, sure makes me wonder what those bass are doing in that area. bo

that would depend on what lake, and on table rock, that is not the case unless you are strictly talking spring fishing. bo

good report! i know there are quite a few waiting for the jerk bait bite to kick in. i really believe that many of the deeper bass being caught are not there on the right type of day and are up shallower with the bait. the wind was howling at my house all day. must have been one of those days where the real wind stays up at higher elevation and not down at water level. was there any type of pattern on depth of water the bites were coming over?? and one other question - did it make a difference if you threw parallel or throw in and come out?? direction of retrieve can really make a difference with a jerk bait. kind of like looking up or looking down but different. bo

you make a true statement about traditional center based weed guards missing and hooking fish poorly. but, the separated guide arms put in the correct place, will hook better and more accurately than a bare hook will. bo

right now, we are planning on starting with a 1/8, and that is if i can get the manufacturing process figured out. i think we are very close if i can find a coating for some pins that molten lead will not stick to. a company told me that they have something like aluminum nitrite that will work. trying to get a sample pin to try. getting smaller will depend on clearance of the hook for guide arms. that will be something to be worked on once we get this first size into production. the material for the guide arms took a while to come up with. now, it is being able to mass produce it. we crappie fish most days with one jig. what is that worth?? bo

here is a head that would make your "nedding" end up with better hook ups, and very few hang ups. bo

here are some pics of our weapons of choice. the spoon is a chime spoon that was patterned off of the 3j spoon, but is made out of zinc instead of brass, and is the first spoon to use powder coat painting. the jig head may be of some interest for the "nedders". better hookups and more weedless. using it for the whites, i added two big splits shots to be able to get it down to the fish and keep it under the boat for depth control. the blacks seemed to like it also. bo

never did it in a tournament, but never did see any tournament with a rule that specifically covered that tactic. mainly just used that tactic eons ago to learn about catching deep water bass. bo

here are a couple of pics. bo

it looked like a freeway out there today!! the good news is that the fish were biting and most everyone was over on the banks. my wife took a couple of pics and sent them to my e-mail, but however she is sending them, it is a whole file and not just the pic. if she can figure out how to just send the pic, i will tack them onto this post. we had a super day. around 20 big whites and a dozen keeper bass. best depth was from 40 to 50ft. caught most on spoons, but also caught quite a few on a proto type 1/8 crappie jig with some type of shad doodle on it. i added a couple of big split shots on the line above the jig to get it down to the fish. fished it on 15 lb. florescent braid. caught lots of smaller ones too. bo

if you put the fish immediately back in the water, it will swim right back down and will be fine. the reason i know this is because we used to pin bass and let them go. makes it much easier to keep up with a school. we have done with lots of bass that we caught 70' plus. went and fished elsewhere came back, caught more bass around the pinned one. pulled up the pinned bass, and they will be just as good as the first time you caught them. you do have to let them go immediately. bo

hydraulic steering is nice, and for those that can not tell that hydraulic is any better, that is probably a true statement to some extent. when you are dealing with a 200 hp+ motor, and running 70+, this is where hydraulic steering systems have a big advantage. for the boat in question, i would probably just opt for a new helm and cables. as fishinwrench state, the areas of problems with cables is where the cable make a sharp bend. the more sweeping type bends cables make, the better they last. moisture corrosion is another deteriorating factor that gets cables. bo

should i tell where your are at?? . bo

that is a very good trip for two hours of fishing. bo