A Little Late But Here It Is

[Bill Babler]

T. I lost at least 18 jigs and trailers this last week or in about a 9 day period. Even with my discounts that is way to many, as I still have to go get them, and the trailers, and have them on hand. Can't run out of the favorite colors. It hurts even worse if I am using the Yamamoto trailers or gula grubs, cause I don 't get a very good discount on that stuff.

Every jig broke on the, XPS not a single break on the seaugar. I personally lost my share of them and I was making it a point not to try and snap the rod on the hookset, just lift, and they still broke off.

I won't make this mistake again.

[jeb]

Wow, thanks for the heads up on the BPS line. I've started trying some Cabela's brand flurocarbon a month or so ago, and have not broken any of it yet. I have some P-Line "co-poly" in 8lb that does like to break, though.

[Flippin]

Techo,

Thanks for the info on the jig technique. I started out doing the vertical lift with the jig and changed over to the slow reel (feeling everything on the bottom). I would occasioally pull the rod horizonal by turning in my seat, but no luck. I may have not had the right location or the bass may been tight lipped that day.

I will probably try to slip out again early on Saturday and play some more mind games.

[Bill Babler]

The slow drag method that Tim described is without a doubt a super way to fish the football. You stay in contact with everything. I call it being the crawdad.

This is my usual presentation, very similar to a splitshot or carolina drag, with the rod low to the water.

Just a complete turn around for me on this though, and I am sure it is location. I have had the best results lately either hopping the jig or just shaking it a bit.

Another great tecnique, is to all of a sudden reel it as fast as the handle will turn for about a dozen cranks, and then let it settle back. I believe this is a real attention getter, and will sometime, get you a quick nip.

Also pay particular attention, if you are fishing shallow, to follow the jig on the initial cast, as a very large percentage of the time it is getting hit on the fall. I believe Phil had this happen a couple of times yesterday when he was out.

Another thing right now, is I believe we are all getting jig bites we are not setting on. Maybe just a shutter, that we think is a perch or all of a sudden the line is tight, or a more prevelant problem all of a sudden the line is very, very loose. The majority of these are solid bites, and without a doubt you should be reacting instead of saying to yourself, "Was that a Bite?' Pull the trigger first and ask questions later, setting the hook is free.

That is unless you are using XPS Fluracarcon.

I cannot tell you how much easier it makes it for my clients when I put a splitshot rig in their hands. They get as many bites and without a doubt, catch more fish. The main problem, and it to me is a huge problem, is that the fish a very large percentage of the time swallow the soft-plastic drag baits. Fish for the most part will just spit out the jig, when they feel prussure or realize that it is a fake. On the split shot rig, they have usually gulped it down before the client even knows they are getting a bite.

To fish a jig properly is without a doubt not as easy as throwing it out and winding it in.

Good Luck

[rps]

Techo, with his Maxima mantra, and I, with my Yozuri rants, must seem singleminded. However, we are not idiots. Flouro, even the best, has break off issues. Low knot strength and once it is streched, it is done.

Go back to the best mono - Maxima - or switch to a flouro coated polymer -Yozuri. Way less money, way better quality.

Drag baits, hmmmm, wasn't that what I wrote about last year? (Yeah, I do sometimes hop or lift.)

[Sam]

The main problem, and it to me is a huge problem, is that the fish a very large percentage of the time swallow the soft-plastic drag baits.

Bill - I know they're not really shaped right for a through-the-nose and bury-the-point presentation in a soft bait, but is there any way you could make a Kahle-style circle hook work for that splitshot rig?

The reason I ask - you know I'm not much of a bass fisherman, but every year I like to fish post-spawn in the spring with Senko worms. I hook those wacky-style with a Kahle hook, use no weight and a medium-heavy spinning rig, and cast and let 'em drop down beside stick-ups near spawning areas. I catch and release some big bass that way, around the last couple of weeks of May.

With that presentation you're just watching for the slack line to twitch, then set the hook with a big sideways sweep of the rod. Bass swallow the worm every time that way, and if it wasn't for the circle hook they'd get gut-hooked. With circle hooks, though, it pulls the worm right out of their stomachs and you get a solid hookset through the hard part of the lip every time.

If the circle hooks could be used, somehow, with the splitshot rig - maybe that'd solve the problem?

[James Robertson]

Bill - I know they're not really shaped right for a through-the-nose and bury-the-point presentation in a soft bait, but is there any way you could make a Kahle-style circle hook work for that splitshot

If the circle hooks could be used, somehow, with the splitshot rig - maybe that'd solve the problem?

Yamaoto has a split shot hook they say does that very thing. There is a video somewhere on you tube about it. I think they mention pilling bait out of the throat and getting corner of the mouth 99% of the time. It just might work. James

[Sam]

Sure enough. I found the video here.

What I learned from the video is that I don't have to bury the point of the hook in the bait for lures that are dragged, like splitshot and Carolina rigs. The point of the hook doesn't stick out, so it's pretty much weedless as-is. I'll be trying that.

Circle hooks work real well because bass clamp their jaws tight once they've got a lure. Trying to pull a circle hook out through the closed mouth rotates the hook, and it sticks 'em right in the corner of the jaw. Like with the Senko, I think a big sweeping sideways hookset would be called for, rather than "crossin' their eyes".

[techo]

Man oh Man! This post has a great number of topics, my two favorites are the way to jig fish and the fishing line.

RPS, I would be willing to try the Yozuri. I wonder of the flourocarbon breaking off has a great deal to do with the knot type. So to add another topic to this already numerous topic discussion...knots?

I ususally used what I think is the improved clinch knot, except I go through tht eye twice first. Do you have to use a special knot with the Yozuri?

[rps]

I believe the Yozuri holds a standard Palomar very well. I can't tie the twice through the eye improved clinch very well. Something about it (the way I do it) creates too much friction and weakens the knot even when I wet it. If you believe the Palomar is too weak, try it with a double pass through of the loop before you put the hook/bait through and pull tight. The double palomar tests the strongest for an unglued braid to bait knot.

Anyone tempted to try the Yozuri should be sure to get the older Hybrid, not the Hybrid Ultra Soft. I have fished both, and the new "improved" Ultra Soft isn't as good as the original. You'll find the memory and coil of regular Hybrid somewhat better than Maxima, but the wear against sunlight and water absorbtion superior. At $7.99 for 275 yards of 10 pound, it is not expensive.

Everyone should check Tackle Tours' articles on flouros and on knots. It will probably change your assumptions. Interestingly, they use either Maxima or Trilene XL as their base lines for comparing all other lines.