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Weapons of Bass destruction.

58K views 47 replies 27 participants last post by  Striperjim 
#1 ·
This will be a multipost, how to series thread.If your looking for my honey holes or exact locations, stop reading now, this thread is not for you, if your interested in one mans perspective on everything bass...ENJOY!
This thread will cover many how to's and answer many questions that are commonly asked , in this thread, I will attempt to cover all I know about Lures, baits and rigs, I will cover fishing from a boat and from the surf, I will cover (with pictures) Plug, lure ( including making your own tubes) and jig(lead heads) making, some Items I will link to past posts of how to's I have posted, others will be new, I plan on covering live well systems ,including building a 30 gallon portable live well ....
I will go through using wire line for trolling plugs and jigs, the use of lead core for trolling the tube and worm.

I will follow the seasons, from the spring run, to the summer doldrums to the fall run, this will be a sort of .log of my fishing so to teach how I adapt to each condition and season, I will cover and illistrate the trapping and capture of live bait, including mackerel and eels, I will show livelining methods I use to use these baits, I will go over the set up of my boat and explain (with pictures) exactly why I have things like I do, when my season ends I will go through the winterizing of the boat, step by step, I will show how to clean and re-lube a Penn 750 SS ,Shimano Bait runner 4500 as well as a Penn 49L mariner series...
I will illustrate (with pictures) how to repair a broken guide and tip..

So put on your reading glasses pay attention and visit the thread often, tomorrow will be the first part of the series, I will Identify various plugs, provide a brief history of some of them, paying homage to the great men that created them, I will then explain their intended use and explain what conditions I use them for.... this should be fun.
 
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#27 ·
This is a great overview that everyone can learn from!

I've been having a lot of luck using smaller crippled herring jigs for bass this spring in the Boston Harbor. It makes sense since they are feeding on the herring right now. I like them because they get deep and don't use a trebble hook. Just thought I'd throw that out there as another potenial weapon for people.
 
#28 ·
This is a great overview that everyone can learn from!

I've been having a lot of luck using smaller crippled herring jigs for bass this spring in the Boston Harbor. It makes sense since they are feeding on the herring right now. I like them because they get deep and don't use a trebble hook. Just thought I'd throw that out there as another potenial weapon for people.
Crippled herring is a great lure, I'll cover them when I post on spoons and jigs...
 
#29 ·
Well the first plug that I saw on the top left was, and still is my favorite. Blue and white Atoms Popper 1 1/4 oz. by Bob Pond. I can't go out without one. I also love the 7/8 oz. and also love the yellow and red combo in both sizes. Bob Pond gave me my first one in the tri-state years ago to try.

Rocco The one thing I saw in the photo was the old plug with the brand new hooks. I hope they saw them, brand new hooks.
 
#33 ·
Your right 4290... I've been slacking.... too busy fishing.....and working... I'll see what i got in the old 'puter, I've caught up on my work load a little, got fogged out last night ( actualy had a good nights sleep for the first time in like 10 days, 6 hours!) In reality, the fog was more of an excuse to get some sleep than a hinderance.....
 
#35 ·
I've been shirking this thread, too much fishing... things slowed down last night so I had time to think...

Todays topic.. Battle eel at fishing stadium....

I've said before, and it bears repeating, eels are probaly the most versatile bait on the planet....Fished from a boat or the beach, live lined, cast and retrieved, slow trolled or 3 wayed eels will do buisness day or night....

Keeping eels: if your only concern is keeping them alive for a short outing, a few (12-15) can be kept in a bucket with NO WATER for the lenth of the trip, either mist them or dunk them in water to keep them from drying out too much...

If the weather is hot, a bag of ice or a few ice packs in with the eels will keep them from over heating( if you use ice be sure the melted water and slime can drain out or the eels will drown in their own slime), it also has the added bonus of slowing them down for hooking.... I keep mine in a "double" bucket, it consists of a bucket, witha cut off bucket liner, the liner has 1/4" holes in the bottom to drain out the slime or allow me to take out the insert, dunk in water and return to the bucket...

A small quantity of eels can be held over for a few weeks in a large cooler withan aquarium pump and air stone, 10% of the water should be changed daily and the air stones should be scraped witha dull knife to clean the pores, eels tend to ball up on the stone thus reducing it's effectivness.

I keep my eels under the dock in an old olive jar "keeper" with a screw top, it is weighted with a flat rock to keep it down in the cooler water and out of the eyes of thieves... yes people steal eels when they know you have a supply.

Trapping:
Eels can be trapped (check your local laws) using minnow traps or eel traps, clams and horseshoe crabs are a favored bait ( again check your local laws before using horshoe crabs) but any fish bait will catch eels, but the fish deteriotes rapidly...
Look for eels in deep water holes close to shore, around pilings and docks, holes next to rock piles seem to hold a special attractant...

Fishing the fun part....

In water less than 25-30' that is not a raging torrent, I dont use any weight, a lively fresh eel will head for the bottom.. after all, the bottom is their home.
deeper than that and the need for weight comes into play, if the water is running hard, a weight may also be needed here, dont be afraid to experiment... you might teach me something!

When I fish the "offshore" rips or the river mouth during a hard run, I employ a fishfinder with a twist, I tie a 18" lenght of light mono to the fish finder and attach the needed size bell sinker to that, the leader holding the bait is short12" max, this keeps the eel away from the line with the sinker... if the tide is running hard, there are usaly no problem...Egg sinkers and rubber cores can be used but they tend to cause problems, the biggest one being line fray....Sand often clogs the holes in the egg sinker, thus allowing the bass to feel the extra weight and drop the bait... sometimes they will carry off a sash weight and could care less...I prefer to be prepared for the pickey eater.

Shallow water... this is where IMHO, eels are at their deadliest, they can be slowtrolled withan electric motor or cast while you drift....

For trolling, I use a pair of 7' Shimano beastmasters paired with Penn GTI 320 lever drags, I love this combo, they are leval wind so anyone on board can use them, the lever drag keep would be tinkerers from screwing with my preset drag..set it and forget it...These are spooled with 60lb Power pro, I run a 10' lenghts of #40 mono shock leader, this keeps the braid away from the mussel beds and rocks as most of my fish come from less than 3' of water, the bottom constanly changes where I fish and at the start of each day, it's cheaper and alot more practical to change 10' of frayed mono than cut off 10 or 15' of braid... to the shock leader, I tie 18" of 20 or 25lb mono, it all depends on how nasty the bottom is... to the buisness end I tie a 4/0 Gamagatsu Octopuss style hook, these hooks are sharp and strong... I always snell the hook, it is my belief that it makes for a truer running more naturaly presented bait...For swivel, which serves three funtions,I use the smallest that is practical, seeing as each manufacturer has different size for thier own breaking srtrength, It is hard to recomend an exact size, the spro HD 220lb swivels are small, stainless but are a little pricey..The first funtion is of coarse, the connection from leader to shock or main line,the second is to help eliminate any possible twists, but the most important funtion is to keep the ell from sliding up the line and wrapping around the rod tip as you try to land a large fish, any one who has been "there" know exactly what I mean.

My casting outfit is light by most standards and I woudnt recomend this outfit for beginners,it consist of a custom 6.5' lamiglass blank and a Quantum Cabo PT 40 reel loaded with 15lb Ande Tournoment line, it is light and I can cast it all night with minumum fatigue,yet it cas the backbone to put a hurting on the biggest bass i can find, the Cabo is an exellent reel witha first class drag, set at 4lb of drag, I've taken fish to 49lbs and everything in between, so far.... no contest.

I would normaly recoment a 6'5-7' rod with a medium- soft tip but a strong back bone, the rod needs to flex evenly from tip to butt, having a soft tip and strong range on the rod will keep you from launching too many eels seward, sans the hook...

When casting and retrieving,keep the rod at the 1:00 (or 11:00) position, reel slowly, with an ocasional stop, give the bait a twitch every so often and then let the bait rest...it's amazing how many hits occur right at the rest/twitch... and for heavans sakes, fish the dam thing all the way to your feet or to the boat..... If I had a dollar for every fish I've hooked up at my boot tops or as the eel was being lifted into the boat...I'd retire today and go fishing...when you feel the tell tale tap, drop the rod tip and wait for the line to come tight, then hit 'em hard! Treat every tap, no matter how faint like it's a monster, often times(big) bass will barely nudge the eel. even though they are 30lb class fish (last night was one of those nights) Big bass normaly ( not always) stun the eels and swallow it head first, small bass usualy ( not always) peck at the eels and try and swallow it tail first... they aint learned yet.. that's why their in schools ( OK bad joke, lack of sleep)

Hooking live eels...This is the hard part for most people.... most people use a rag, grab a bait and the fight begins.... I use a different approach although I sometimes use a rag, most of the time I grab them with my bare hands... here;s the trick, I apply the "Roc" stunner, I seek out my bait (usaly the largest serpant in the bucket) I then scoop it up and posistion it in my hand, to get the belly up,if you handle them gently, they dont seem to go ballistic,once I get my eels posistioned, belly up, I jam my thumb into the base of the skull HARD,this makes them go limp, the tail may twitch a little, but 99 out of 100 will allow you to hook them without a fight... In my picture the eel you see is very much alive... and as the picture shows... no rag...once hooked( ever try and hold an eel and operate a camera, I may be the first on earth to do it), toss the eel over the side, because once you release the "stunner" it will be some pissed off!
Hook placement, it's a matter of prefferance, I like to hook up through both jaws, dead center, it goes along with my belief that a straight swimming bait is a natural looking bait... it also keeps the eel from spinnig when retrieved or trolled... some prefer to hook through the lower jaw and out the eye socket...
Eel Stunner

Leader

Eel Bucket








 
#36 ·
Can't remember if I've already posted this, but great thread Roc!

Great to see guys showing the tips and tricks they've learned over many years on the water with everyone. It really helps cut down on the learning curve for guys just getting started.

-- Tom
 
#41 ·
My first ever post,

Let me begin by saying this is the BEST site I've ever seen, hands down!!!!! Everyone here is a dedicated fishing nut like myself, lol. I have spent the last 4.5 hours reading, and still can learn new tricks. I've been fishing from shore for 10 years now in a quest to catch that elusive monster. I"ll take any offers from you good captains out there for a boat trip, lol :) I take my son all the time, he's 11, and is addicted to it as I am.
My hats off to all the administrators, and people like Roc for making this site so GREAT


TIGHT LINES and KEEEEPAAHS
 
#42 ·
sorry i am missing everything (been away from the board ) stun them and eat em head first. love it. you sleep? c;mon. :whistle: in november i just love fishin the piers as it is challenging to land them but they hit the eels like a freight train there and i always thought how much they hate eels and wanna kill em all as they eat all the bass eggs . i notice the bites in the skinny water are when the bass know the eel has not too much of an escape route ie: rocks and piling structure and it is subtle but by pilings and rocks they hammer em as to not let em get away. how true is this iyo or is it the same up there as in any structure. when there is no bait i am goin into the pilings to horse one out (if i ever got the time any more)



 
#43 ·
i'v got some real good advise off of this web site so, thank you.. i recently got a small boat i'm used to surfcasting so, when i went to my bait guy to buy a rig for trolling he set my reel up with led line.(i told him i was trolling mostly tube and worm combo) but should i still b putting out 10' per 100' of water should i let it hit bottom and reel in a few times? and what is the ideal depth for trolling?? thnks sam. quincy,ma
 
#44 ·
Sammy,
Trolling like any form of fishing takes time to master and get good at, like any type of fishing, there are factors that dictate what works, things like one color of lead for every 10', or 100' of wire for every 10' of of water are general terms to start with, when ever I'm trolling wire or lead, I use the general measurement to get close to the target zone, from that point, I "feel" the lure or bait contact the bottom, from that point, I am constantly working the lead or wire,I change boat speeds, I slip the boat in or out of gear, I may work the boat sideways to the current, I may take in or let out line, never, ever do I just let out a measured shot of line and just troll.... keep at it, fish hard, sucess will come thumbsup.gif
 
#45 ·
Figured I would try to add (hopefully) something to the site as my first post. This info is based on my whopping two years of fishing for striper, mostly off my yak.

I fish with eels, both alive and dead, more times than not. I have never had a weight on the line, mostly due to not being in very strong current and shallow water (20' or less). The deeper water I will use a tube and worm in. I troll very slowly sometimes not even paddling if the eel is big and lively. One thing with this type of fishing is that I have rarely had a striper slurp an eel, it is usually a big hit. I will occasionally see the rod shake if the striper tail slaps the eel to stun it first, and then hold on for the slam and tow.

In terms of keeping the eel, I ice them and that keeps them calm until the hook is in. I have never had one ball up as they are immediately in the water and free spooled to 25-30' behind the yak.

Hope this helps.

tim
 
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