catching was better today

[merc1997 Bo]

found a few.  bites were 15 to 25,  had 6 keeper brownies from 16" to 3 lbs.  over a dozen shorts.  caught most on a doodle.  a couple on a tube on a 1/4 GrassJig head, and a couple on a 5" zinker on a 1/4 GrassJig head.  caught the bulk of them on one spot.  talked to several boats that were jerk baiting, but no bites.  my sonar looks like the goby desert.  why would one think that a jerk bait would be good to throw??  just throwing that out there for discussion.

 

bo

[Jerry Rapp]

7 hours ago, merc1997 Bo said:

found a few.  bites were 15 to 25,  had 6 keeper brownies from 16" to 3 lbs.  over a dozen shorts.  caught most on a doodle.  a couple on a tube on a 1/4 GrassJig head, and a couple on a 5" zinker on a 1/4 GrassJig head.  caught the bulk of them on one spot.  talked to several boats that were jerk baiting, but no bites.  my sonar looks like the goby desert.  why would one think that a jerk bait would be good to throw??  just throwing that out there for discussion.

 

bo

because they are told to always fish a jerk bait in cold water.  Obviously they aren't using the "secret" color. 

[Quillback]

Tube on a Grass Jig head, I like that idea, ought to make fishing one pretty snag free.  Do you just thread them on?

[magicwormman]

10 hours ago, merc1997 Bo said:

found a few.  bites were 15 to 25,  had 6 keeper brownies from 16" to 3 lbs.  over a dozen shorts.  caught most on a doodle.  a couple on a tube on a 1/4 GrassJig head, and a couple on a 5" zinker on a 1/4 GrassJig head.  caught the bulk of them on one spot.  talked to several boats that were jerk baiting, but no bites.  my sonar looks like the goby desert.  why would one think that a jerk bait would be good to throw??  just throwing that out there for discussion.

 

bo

Some people just have to be casting and winding! I always thought the jerker worked best around 50 degrees. I was out the other day and only caught one short dead sticking the little guy. With 40 degree WT I would guess they are still in shock. It's the same as some who fish shallow (under 20 ft) most of the year even when the shallows are a desert! No offense Champ! I know a few guys who have won boats fishing shallow! If there is one testimony for fishing deep, I remember in the OLD days Charlie Davis and his partner won a boat on Bull Shoals jerking a spoon! I struggle enough fishing where they are!

[Champ188]

On 2/27/2021 at 6:10 AM, magicwormman said:

Some people just have to be casting and winding! I always thought the jerker worked best around 50 degrees. I was out the other day and only caught one short dead sticking the little guy. With 40 degree WT I would guess they are still in shock. It's the same as some who fish shallow (under 20 ft) most of the year even when the shallows are a desert! No offense Champ! I know a few guys who have won boats fishing shallow! If there is one testimony for fishing deep, I remember in the OLD days Charlie Davis and his partner won a boat on Bull Shoals jerking a spoon! I struggle enough fishing where they are!

Not all shallow water is created equal. It has taken me 20 years of fishing TR to learn enough spots with enough variety to consistently catch fish shallow. Deep water is the same .... can't just stop in the middle of the lake and expect to catch anything. It's all relative. 

[merc1997 Bo]

On 2/27/2021 at 4:33 AM, Quillback said:

Tube on a Grass Jig head, I like that idea, ought to make fishing one pretty snag free.  Do you just thread them on?

they will work two ways.  you can either glue it up behind the head, or for those that believe bass would shy away, you can cut a slit where the guide arms would come out, feed the hook through the slit and on down through the tube, then pull the head up over the hook eyelet.  push the eyelet through the end of the tube, put some glue inside the slit to glue tube to the head.  i most often just use the first method.  

one trick i use especially in pre-spawn is to use a piece of guide arm material and bend it in half and push it up inside the tube.  this flattens the side of the tube, and makes it fall somewhat like a shingle instead of a spiral.  believe me, it makes a big difference.  you will be many bites before the tube ever gets to the bottom.  i use 3/16 and 1/4 ounce GrassJig heads on 20Lb. test braid for this method.  if i still fished tournaments, i would not tell about the trick of flattening the sides of the tube.  that little trick has won a lot of money during the pre-spawn, especially when bass are roaming looking.

i have just using them without flattening the sides, but when the bass move up shallower, i will flatten the sides.

 

bo

[merc1997 Bo]

went back saturday to see if my theory of them biting first light was right, and they were right back on the same spot chomping for about two hours.  caught 9 keepers, all brownies.  and a bunch of shorts.  all on doodles.  had to sneek along the bank idling for quite a while to get there because of the fog.

 

bo

[frankie2969]

Bo, What are you referring to when you say" a piece of guide arm material"?

[Quillback]

1 hour ago, merc1997 Bo said:

they will work two ways.  you can either glue it up behind the head, or for those that believe bass would shy away, you can cut a slit where the guide arms would come out, feed the hook through the slit and on down through the tube, then pull the head up over the hook eyelet.  push the eyelet through the end of the tube, put some glue inside the slit to glue tube to the head.  i most often just use the first method.  

one trick i use especially in pre-spawn is to use a piece of guide arm material and bend it in half and push it up inside the tube.  this flattens the side of the tube, and makes it fall somewhat like a shingle instead of a spiral.  believe me, it makes a big difference.  you will be many bites before the tube ever gets to the bottom.  i use 3/16 and 1/4 ounce GrassJig heads on 20Lb. test braid for this method.  if i still fished tournaments, i would not tell about the trick of flattening the sides of the tube.  that little trick has won a lot of money during the pre-spawn, especially when bass are roaming looking.

i have just using them without flattening the sides, but when the bass move up shallower, i will flatten the sides.

 

bo

Thanks for the tips.  Not sure what you mean by guide arm material?

[merc1997 Bo]

1 hour ago, Quillback said:

Thanks for the tips.  Not sure what you mean by guide arm material?

material we make for the jig guide arms.

 

bo