Dumb Questions

[BlueWave]

From a lifelong flyfisherman, just getting back into Bass fishing. When I read about taking fish on a jig, are these skirted jigs with some type of plastic trailer?? What the heck is a PBJ?? When I hear you are taking fish on a grub, Is this fishing a soft plastic grub on a plain jig head? Fishing these in deep water (25'-30') are you vertical jigging or casting and bumping the bottom on the way in?? Does anyone fish a pork frog behind a jig anymore?? I am also surprised I never hear about spinner baits/ will a buzz bait work this time of year? Sorry for the laundry list. I love this board!!!!!

[motoman]

From a lifelong flyfisherman, just getting back into Bass fishing. When I read about taking fish on a jig, are these skirted jigs with some type of plastic trailer?? What the heck is a PBJ?? When I hear you are taking fish on a grub, Is this fishing a soft plastic grub on a plain jig head? Fishing these in deep water (25'-30') are you vertical jigging or casting and bumping the bottom on the way in?? Does anyone fish a pork frog behind a jig anymore?? I am also surprised I never hear about spinner baits/ will a buzz bait work this time of year? Sorry for the laundry list. I love this board!!!!!

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Welcome back to Bass fishing! I'll try and answer what I can.

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Yup, skirted jigs with soft plastic trailer.

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PBJ is the color -- Peanut Butter and Jelly (brown and purplish)

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Soft plastic grub on a jighead is just that. (darter style jigheads seem a bit more popular, I'm not sure exactl;y what the reason is)

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Fishing the grubs in deep water, when I get down there; we always count them down to the depth we're after, then slowly reel it back. Very effective!

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I think they're probably are people that fish with a pork trailer. Isee them for sale, but soft plastic seems to be more common. I'm not sure if it's because of the variety of sizes/colors/styles etc. But that's just my observation.

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As for the buzzbait/spinnerbait, someone else will have to chime in. I rarely use them.

[rps]

Start with this: No dumb questions. When I came here in 2002, I had to modify what I knew. Few buzz bait opportunities here in the Ozarks - but when they do, by golly, they really happen. Wait for a shallow season, Spring or Fall, and cloud cover.

Some fish dressed jigs with a trailer, others fish a bare jig head with a soft plastic body. I am in the later group, but many good fishermen are in the former.

Colors that work: watermelon with black or red flecks; blue with purple, black, red or everything flecks, brown with purple or black flecks

Have fun learning..

[techo]

Your post made me smile. When I first started fishing we had dark colored, white, craw dad colored, or shiner colored. Then they started adding chartreuse, and fire tiger and it became crazy from there. They have candy colored jig skirts now. Looks black with a strand of purplish glitter. I saw a pewter colored car the other day. Who came up with that? Looked gray/tan to me.

I do know that the color is important in Table Rock. If you catch a bass and it spits up a crawdad, then a crawdad colored rig is what I use. If it spits out a shad, then I use something else. I do have to confess I like the green color best though. I think it is also known as watermelon with red specks or some sort of name.

If you are hunting vegetarians don't offer them steak! It does seem I practice catch and release on people too.

[BlueWave]

Your post made me smile. When I first started fishing we had dark colored, white, craw dad colored, or shiner colored. Then they started adding chartreuse, and fire tiger and it became crazy from there. They have candy colored jig skirts now. Looks black with a strand of purplish glitter. I saw a pewter colored car the other day. Who came up with that? Looked gray/tan to me.

I do know that the color is important in Table Rock. If you catch a bass and it spits up a crawdad, then a crawdad colored rig is what I use. If it spits out a shad, then I use something else. I do have to confess I like the green color best though. I think it is also known as watermelon with red specks or some sort of name.

If you are hunting vegetarians don't offer them steak! It does seem I practice catch and release on people too.

Thanks folks for helping getting me up to speed!!!!

[Whack'emGood]

I'm not convinced that color makes that much difference most of the time. They way I look at colors is this: there are dark colors/shades and there are lighter colors/shades. Depending on the clarity of the water you're fishing-- choose between the two. Other guys might believe different, but I don't.

Also, the report of what they're catching them on just happens to be what they happen to be fishing with... Think about that for awhile, and see if you get my point..................... Could they be catching them on something else, or some other color? Probably-- they're just not fishing something else or another color.

The point is... Bluewave-- if you are comfortable fishing with some "obsolete" lure or method, don't be afraid to give it a try. Just because "Nobody catches fish on those anymore..." doesn't mean they don't work. If nobody fishes them, of course they aren't gonna catch fish with them.

Good luck!

Whack'em

[Predator1]

You got that right Lance.

I still have an old Rebel Crandbait"medium runner" Red w/tiger stripe. Had it since I was 14 years old. Bought it at the old TG&Y in Shreveport, La.

I have even gone under water to retrieve in lakes in Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia and Texas. Even had to get off a submerged log on the James River here.

Just cant let some things go.

Every now and then I pull it out and to my surprise she still catches fish.

That bait is now older than my kids.

Even pulled out some old plugs from the 50's that my Grandfather gave me.

You just never know.

[rps]

I have an obsolete method/lure I use all the time. Forgive me, it requires a story.

When I was a boy, I was lucky and my father took me fishing. He even took me to Canada's Lake of the Woods. There I caught my first large smallmouth. It must have weighed a gazillion pounds! Well, maybe four. Anyway, I caught it on a black twin spin with a green spot pork frog. I think maybe the brand was Shannon or Bushwacker. Does that sound right? He had the bait in his box next to the Hawaiian Wiggler. He never got that one back and when I lost it, he got me a new one. I continued to buy and use them when I started buying my own tackle. Eventually, twin spins disappeared from shelves. I went without for a while. Then I found some in Okiebug and started fishing them again. Okiebug eventually went out of business. I gave up and ordered a Do It mold and make my own.

The point of this long anecdote is that old lures worked well then, and, if given a chance, work well now. I have fished a twin spin for over 50 years. It catches fish, including big fish. Black is still the best color, although I also make white and chartreuse/blue. Once you fish one in heavy cover or as a drop bait down a point, you will wonder why the single arm safety pin spinner wound up as everyone's go to bait.

[BlueWave]

Speaking of Ol' favorites, the best fish I have caught on Beaver is a 3-4 lb smallmouth I caught off my dock last fall before I bought my boat. I caught it on a #3 squirrel tale mepps. The same thing we threw as kids wading creeks in Ks. I went to Gander mtn today and filled a few sacks with jigs etc. .............I may not catch any fish but at least I will be able to talk a good game. Thanks folks!!

[techo]

I love those Mepps lures. We used them on Rainy Lake all of the time. I haven't been able to fool a Table Rock bass with one though.

We went fishing in Canada one time and an older feller put some minnow bits on the treble hooks of a jointed rapala. I explained to him how the rapala worked by mimicking the bait fish and he was messing up the action of the lure by tipping it with pieces of dead shiner. We made a small wager. He caught a huge walleye right off the dock with it. Turned out I didn't know what I was talking about. Guess who got to pull dish duty the first night!