Time to get that tackle box in-order!!

[Navigator]

If you are like me?? You have toooo many tackle boxes, filled with everything imaginable for catching fish. lol And believe me, everything gets used.

Also, if you are like me, I order based on successes from the previous season. So what worked last year...hmmm....plastics!! All shapes and sizes for bass & walleyes. I fish/guide on water that sees an awful lot of traffic so I am dealing with pressured fish and I am always looking for "new" stuff to try. Last year I used some products from a new player in the plastics game...catch-n tackle company. They make some unique profiles that are hard to find...names such as ring n grubs, super doos, monster doos with spiders and kick n craws.

I'm always in the mood to hear of other peoples successes and presentations and since I'm in the mood for ordering tackle, the timing is right. So let's hear it? What worked in 2003? Nav

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Jon Navratil
Navigator Guide Service
www.naviguides.com
Central MN rivers & lakes

[Guest]

Well, Ialready got my walleye & panfish gear ready this past weekend. The musky gaer is ALWAYS ready!!!

I have three panfish rods ready to go for the spring bite:
1: with a tube
1: with an "ant"
1: with a red hook

Walleye rods:
2: 3-way rods for pulling minnow baits
2: crank trolling rods for pulling shad-raps
2: jig pitching rods for working the river banks with ringworms and supperdoos
2: vertical jigging rods
2: dead stick rods
2: slip float rods
2: Bottom Bouncer rods
2: Rigging rods

Same stuff as last year........crawlers, leaches, fatheads, rainbow chubs, redtail chubs..........

plus plastics, cranks, & spinners.........

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Let 'em go so they can grow!!!

[Paul Rohweller]

Oh man, not ready to go there yet altho I'm in pretty good shape. Took the boat out yesterday getting that into the shop for a tune up and waterpump, get those out of the way early so I dont have problems in the middle of busy season. Muskie box, bass/northern box and my everything else always with me box definately need a go thru.do I rteally need to carry 20 pounds of lead? Jigs every color, every size, many different styles, sinkers of every shape and size. Next weekend..or two, or three..lolol Have a great open water season all!! Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[2dalake]

I finished out the 2002 season by playing around with longer, thinner plastics than I had used in the past and I did pretty well.

I started 2003 deciding I could mimic natural bait with plastics. I fish with my boys so most of the lakes I fish are small weedy lakes mostly known for panfish, and I wanted to find a way to cast and jig for walleye and bass while they soaked livebait under bobbers.

I used a 1/8 to 1/4 oz round jighead with 6" Mister Twister grubs. Pumpkin Pepper most of the time, but sometimes white or black. When we were near a thick stand of weeds I'd cast it to the clear areas near the weeds, close the bail and let it fall on a tight line. Once in a while a fish would grab it as it fell, but usually it would hit bottom. Then I just retieve it slow and steady. It worked very well. I caught mostly walleye with that presentation, with a bass or northern now and then. I have a personal slot limit so that I only keep the 15-18"ers and I would guess I threw back 80% of my fish last season because they were too BIG.

It worked day or night, sunny or overcast, and did not work as well by late July and August, but picked up again in September.

One problem I had was that I was getting bit off alot early on. At first I thought they were northerns but then I watched a walleye nip my jig as I was lifting it at the boat.

I switched from 6lb Trilene XL to 8lb Fireline but I was still getting bit off, so I went back to 6lb mono but I tied on a leader of 10lb Spectra braid with a double uni knot and tied my jig with that. Within a few casts I had a 24" walleye in the boat with the jig hooked way in the back of her throat. They were inhaling them that far. I caught alot of them hooked like that. I keep bags of those pumpkin pepper 6" grubs because everyone I fish with ends up using them. Even my eight year old caught walleyes with them. This year I want play around with the 6" Gulp Minnow Worms.

One thing though, I tried this tactic on bigger water and it did not work as well. Better off trolling there.

[soldoncass]

What about your experiences with plastics? What colors are best- Natural or bright colors? jig heads that match or attracters (opposites)? tiny, medium ,or large sizes? scented or unscented? I want to try some this year, but there are WAY too many choices by too many companies. What do you recommend as a minimum? I've used some twistertails, etc. with spinners with success, but not on plain rigs in place of livebait. What has worked for you? Thanx

[2dalake]

Use big natural colors fished on as small a jig head as you can, they don't have to be scented but it probably helps. I fish clear water though, if you're in stained water you might want to brighten things up and add a spinner or rattle. No matter how aggressive they are, keep your presentation slow. They'll hammer them.

You can't find six inch grubs in local shops so I buy them from Cabelas online. Their freshwater pages have 6" Mister Twisters but they have good choices of other brands on their saltwater page. If you're after walleyes don't bother getting anything bigger than 6".

Just typing this is getting me wound! I'm going out to the garage to sit in my boat.

[soldoncass]

Thanx for the info. I stopped at Cabella's yesterday for the first time and found a few items I "had to have". Nice place, for a guy, anyway. My wife wasn't as impressed though. "The walleyes just hammer em"? Does that mean you don't have to wait a couple counts to set the hook? I'm definitely ready for open water ,too. Gotta get things ready to go. Thanx again.

[2dalake]

Don't wait to set the hook when jigging. They'll take the whole thing into their mouth. You got me thinking about this year so I ordered a pack of 8" Action Plastics last night. They have more bulk in the body and if they are too long I can trim them.