Loading up for Spring
12-15-2010, 07:26 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,525
Loading up for Spring
In the winter months, I start loading up on tackle that I need, want, or simply find interesting. I also review what has been successful for me the past year and try to load back up on those. The following is what I have recently gotten for the upcoming season, what has worked well for me in the past season, and what I will be looking for. Hopefully this might help some other people out as well.
Reels:
One of the things I have been looking at lately is a low profile bait casting reel. I have always used the Abu round bait casters because my hands are so large they are one of the few reels that allows my thumb to fit between the frame. While in Cabelas a few weeks ago, I found myself gravitating to the bait casters and came across a Shimano Curado 200 E7 and instantly fell in love with it. It has a wider spool than most and fit my hand marvelously, so needless to say I had to get one. After that purchase, my wife would kill me if I even looked at another reel. It might be zebcos for me from here on out guys.
Rods:
I wanted a decent rod to go with my new reel and tried out a few, but decided on a 7' Falcon Bucoo M rod for some of my topwater lures and my lighter fine wire hook finesse jigs. I love the combo, it feels a little end heavy but it otherwise balances well and really throws the lures out there. I am very pleased with it.
I am also looking for a 7' medium heavy rod with a moderate action for open water jigging. I know people prefer fast action tips for jigging, but I dont have a whole heck of a lot of brush in the waters I fish and so the stiff backbone isnt neccessary for jigging here.
What are some of ya'lls suggestions for a 7' medium /heavy moderate action rod?
Jigs:
I have gotten into the hair jig scene and have loaded up on hair jigs. Northstar Custom baits makes an awesome silicone and hair jig that has worked well for me lately. They also make a Hippy Jig which is basically a mop jig with silicon, flash tensle, and hair. I picked up a few, but havent tried them out but I am going to here pretty soon.
Worms:
I have been trying several new worms lately, and one that I have been having good sucess with is the Lake Fork Tackle Hyper Worm. Its a wide paddle-tail worm that has slots cut out of the body for increased action. I bought them to use in the colder months because I thought the paddle tail would have less action, but these worms have some CRAZY action to them. If i do a moderately quick tug on the line with them, I can feel the worm going crazy on the other end. I have had decent success with them lately. You can also cut them down and use them as a jig trailer. When lifting the jig off of the bottom, the paddle tail thumps and kicks up the dirt pretty good.
Poppers:
I know they are expensive, but the largest, or second to largest fish that I have caught this year has come off of a Yellow Magic popper. It's made in Japan, and is pretty darn expensive, but the results speak for themselves, it's an incredible early morning, late evening lure in the fall. Can also be used if you see schooling bass busting shad. I know its a popper, but you can walk it like a spook, and if you do that right over the school of shad that the bass are busting, you have a good chance of getting a bite.
Spinners:
I have started using spinner baits more recently, and have had good success with Northstar Custom baits. they make 3 different size spinner baits and you can customize each to your specific needs: blade size, type, number of blades, color, etc. The H20 spinners have worked well for me as well. I generally don't use a trailer on the spinners, but when I do, the YUM Money Minnow and the LFT Live Magic Shad have both worked very well. I dont thread them on the hook, i just hook the lip of both trailers and go. They seem to have a lot better action when they aren't pushed up on the trailer keeper.
Crankbaits:
I suck with them. The only luck I have is with a Rapala minnow and a Strike King Bitsy Minnow that I caught a lot of crappie on in the early spring. Other than that, I havent done well with crankbaits at all
Swimbaits:
Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad and YUM Money Minnow. I have caught a lot of fish with both swimming them on a jig head, weighted hook, and as trailers. I have also had great luck with the new ZOOM Swimming fluke which is basically a paddle tail fluke. I have had great success casting it out on a 3/16 weigted hook and letting it fall to the bottom. Most of the bites occur on the fall and when I reel in the slack, I feel the weight of the fish and set the hook. Probably the simplest fishing I have ever done next to trot line fishing.
Frogs:
The ZOOM Horny Toad....Nuff Said. I have tried others and I don't get the same results. I am going to spend a good portion of the spring trying to learn new frogs techniques simply because I have so many different kinds that I havent been able to produce with, specifically the SPRO Frog, SCUM Frog, and RAGE Frog.
What are some of the lures that you all have had success with and which ones have you not had success with? What are your upcoming purchases to satisfy your cabin fever?
Hopefully Santa brings you what you are wanting!
Reels:
One of the things I have been looking at lately is a low profile bait casting reel. I have always used the Abu round bait casters because my hands are so large they are one of the few reels that allows my thumb to fit between the frame. While in Cabelas a few weeks ago, I found myself gravitating to the bait casters and came across a Shimano Curado 200 E7 and instantly fell in love with it. It has a wider spool than most and fit my hand marvelously, so needless to say I had to get one. After that purchase, my wife would kill me if I even looked at another reel. It might be zebcos for me from here on out guys.
Rods:
I wanted a decent rod to go with my new reel and tried out a few, but decided on a 7' Falcon Bucoo M rod for some of my topwater lures and my lighter fine wire hook finesse jigs. I love the combo, it feels a little end heavy but it otherwise balances well and really throws the lures out there. I am very pleased with it.
I am also looking for a 7' medium heavy rod with a moderate action for open water jigging. I know people prefer fast action tips for jigging, but I dont have a whole heck of a lot of brush in the waters I fish and so the stiff backbone isnt neccessary for jigging here.
What are some of ya'lls suggestions for a 7' medium /heavy moderate action rod?
Jigs:
I have gotten into the hair jig scene and have loaded up on hair jigs. Northstar Custom baits makes an awesome silicone and hair jig that has worked well for me lately. They also make a Hippy Jig which is basically a mop jig with silicon, flash tensle, and hair. I picked up a few, but havent tried them out but I am going to here pretty soon.
Worms:
I have been trying several new worms lately, and one that I have been having good sucess with is the Lake Fork Tackle Hyper Worm. Its a wide paddle-tail worm that has slots cut out of the body for increased action. I bought them to use in the colder months because I thought the paddle tail would have less action, but these worms have some CRAZY action to them. If i do a moderately quick tug on the line with them, I can feel the worm going crazy on the other end. I have had decent success with them lately. You can also cut them down and use them as a jig trailer. When lifting the jig off of the bottom, the paddle tail thumps and kicks up the dirt pretty good.
Poppers:
I know they are expensive, but the largest, or second to largest fish that I have caught this year has come off of a Yellow Magic popper. It's made in Japan, and is pretty darn expensive, but the results speak for themselves, it's an incredible early morning, late evening lure in the fall. Can also be used if you see schooling bass busting shad. I know its a popper, but you can walk it like a spook, and if you do that right over the school of shad that the bass are busting, you have a good chance of getting a bite.
Spinners:
I have started using spinner baits more recently, and have had good success with Northstar Custom baits. they make 3 different size spinner baits and you can customize each to your specific needs: blade size, type, number of blades, color, etc. The H20 spinners have worked well for me as well. I generally don't use a trailer on the spinners, but when I do, the YUM Money Minnow and the LFT Live Magic Shad have both worked very well. I dont thread them on the hook, i just hook the lip of both trailers and go. They seem to have a lot better action when they aren't pushed up on the trailer keeper.
Crankbaits:
I suck with them. The only luck I have is with a Rapala minnow and a Strike King Bitsy Minnow that I caught a lot of crappie on in the early spring. Other than that, I havent done well with crankbaits at all
Swimbaits:
Lake Fork Tackle Live Magic Shad and YUM Money Minnow. I have caught a lot of fish with both swimming them on a jig head, weighted hook, and as trailers. I have also had great luck with the new ZOOM Swimming fluke which is basically a paddle tail fluke. I have had great success casting it out on a 3/16 weigted hook and letting it fall to the bottom. Most of the bites occur on the fall and when I reel in the slack, I feel the weight of the fish and set the hook. Probably the simplest fishing I have ever done next to trot line fishing.
Frogs:
The ZOOM Horny Toad....Nuff Said. I have tried others and I don't get the same results. I am going to spend a good portion of the spring trying to learn new frogs techniques simply because I have so many different kinds that I havent been able to produce with, specifically the SPRO Frog, SCUM Frog, and RAGE Frog.
What are some of the lures that you all have had success with and which ones have you not had success with? What are your upcoming purchases to satisfy your cabin fever?
Hopefully Santa brings you what you are wanting!
Last edited by Gangly; 12-15-2010 at 07:28 AM.
12-16-2010, 03:12 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Maine
Posts: 12,564
Actually I can not even think about fishing right now.. I do plan on tieing up some streamers and poppers for the fly rod once the holidays are over though.. I have also found that sometimes what worked great one year wouldn't produce hardly a hit the next year.. Fish can be strange like that at times.. Good Luck on stocking everything back up..
12-16-2010, 09:47 AM
#3
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
I aint got nothing new in store.. LOL..
We had 3 local tackle shops sell out marking everything way down..so I'm fixed pretty set much for life.
as far as new lures?? why fix what already works..{ -;
We had 3 local tackle shops sell out marking everything way down..so I'm fixed pretty set much for life.
as far as new lures?? why fix what already works..{ -;
12-22-2010, 04:41 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,525
I still have those lizards sitting in my tackle box waiting for spring to come around. I tried them a while back on an ill fated fishing trip during the late summer, early fall. Hopefully they do well here in the upcoming months.
12-30-2010, 12:36 PM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
In Florida Aaron..it's the same old same old..that still works..FLIP the cat tails..take your time and hit every little spot..
if no cat tails...cast long { Rubber worms ..light sinker } into hydrilla patches letting it swim into the dark holes..
All of this for prespawners..beginning with 1 st fill moon of jan.
if no cat tails...cast long { Rubber worms ..light sinker } into hydrilla patches letting it swim into the dark holes..
All of this for prespawners..beginning with 1 st fill moon of jan.
01-01-2011, 07:42 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,525
Man, im itching for februrary, I have been catching a few, most recently on a paddle tail swimming fluke by zoom. Cast it out, let it fall to the bottom, jiggle it in place a bit, then rip it off the bottom and let it sink again...repeat. Has worked well. Had a nice one break off a hairy mop jig recently on fresh 12 lb mono. It went straight to a sunken tree after thehook set and my line was cut clean in half.....sure felt like a big fish too.
01-12-2011, 04:57 PM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: ne bama
Posts: 6,340
added a few rods, home-made....with micro guides we'll see how we like them soon
as far as reels, i bought the wife a couple of the curado's if i were buying one for myself i'd opt for the 5.1:1 ratio but thats just me, i'll be sticking with my trusty 4500 and 4600's
baits, will be trying some new stuff but by no means abandon tried and true baits
as far as reels, i bought the wife a couple of the curado's if i were buying one for myself i'd opt for the 5.1:1 ratio but thats just me, i'll be sticking with my trusty 4500 and 4600's
baits, will be trying some new stuff but by no means abandon tried and true baits
01-12-2011, 05:16 PM
#9
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
MTHands ..I figured with our present troubled country this tourney would put a little joy and Sat. fun in a few of our lives..
I plan to leave the little bass alone this year..SOme old timers have taught me a few things..and with a prayer and patience I hope this is my 10 pound year...and you too [-;
I plan to leave the little bass alone this year..SOme old timers have taught me a few things..and with a prayer and patience I hope this is my 10 pound year...and you too [-;
01-16-2011, 07:03 AM
#10
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 1,926
Remembering the old days
well its only been fifteen to twenty years ago. But for youngins it's the old days.
It was the days of the K-Marts in our area. I hung around a bunch of trout fishermen. We had two stores in our county, and they had to have a buyer who fished. Because for a small department, he certainly knew how to stock items. We had a good assortment of hooks, lead weights, line and other items. One store really specialized. I can still remember seeing Joe with his brand new float tube. I was still wade fishing at the time and I admired his purchase. It knocked me over where he got it and at more than half the price. Went directly to the store, after fishing, and bought my first float tube.
It was imported but perfectly good. In fact, it had an inner tube that indicated the size of the truck tube. To this day, I never bought a new float tube. I just bought inner tubes from companies that sold truck tires and tubes.
lordy, did those stores save me money, while they still existed.
It was the days of the K-Marts in our area. I hung around a bunch of trout fishermen. We had two stores in our county, and they had to have a buyer who fished. Because for a small department, he certainly knew how to stock items. We had a good assortment of hooks, lead weights, line and other items. One store really specialized. I can still remember seeing Joe with his brand new float tube. I was still wade fishing at the time and I admired his purchase. It knocked me over where he got it and at more than half the price. Went directly to the store, after fishing, and bought my first float tube.
It was imported but perfectly good. In fact, it had an inner tube that indicated the size of the truck tube. To this day, I never bought a new float tube. I just bought inner tubes from companies that sold truck tires and tubes.
lordy, did those stores save me money, while they still existed.