Gulps!

[Bobby Bass]

The last few weeks I fishin has been slow so of course it is time to try new things out. I have been using the big 4" pearl white Gulps as trailers on my buzz baits and on my spinnerbaits. I have noticed that the bass that I am catching even those little 6" dudes are eating the gulp completly. Have even pulled a few in the boat who were not even hooked just hanging on to the Gulp. All out of white ones and this week I will be using orange. Am becoming a fan of the Gulps. Also have been using the Gulp crayfish on a orange jig head around docks they to are working. Can't wait to see what happens when fishing starts to pick up when the water cools. Anyone else have any luck with the Gulps? colors?

[zepman]

Have also just recently started using some of the gulp products with good success. Mainly on jigheads. Been using the 3" jerkshad type baits in colors of blue, black and white. Catching all species of fish from sunnies to walleyes. Bass are just killing this stuff. Actually went out tonight and bought 20 bucks worth new gulp products to try since I was having so much luck with the other.

[CrappieJohn]

Matt Johnson and I fished a Mississippi River backwaters yesterday and did it almost entirely on plastic. Eurolarva was tried on a hair jig but caught only four fish. Likewise with a couple Gulp products. All other fish came to the Exude Microshad....and we caught over two hundred pannies, bass, and perch.

[NELS-BELLS]

I've also had great luck using the Gulp crawlers on a crawler harness for walleyes. The best part is that you can usually catch 4 or 5 fish on the same worm.

I have also had good luck with the 3" black minnow tail, (looks like a twister tail with a minnow body) on a jig for walleyes.

The only down side is that you cant leave the stuff on your hook, out of the water for very long or it dries out and make sure you keep the bag closed.

Nels

[anchor man]

I wonder how long gulps would last if used ones were kept in a jar of lake water between outings. That is one downside of them. It says not to return used portions back to the bag, so if you are doing some experimenting with a variety of baits, you don't want to use one unless you're going to try it for a while

[Bobby Bass]

Just came back from Gander and bought what I hope will be enough of the pearl white gulps to end the season for me. They have become my go to trailer for this year. Have been out 6 of last 8 nights bite is picking up and lures with the gulps as trailers have been just getting slammed. My fishing partner has switched over, can't stand watching me catch fish ! hahah Have been using the gulp worms in the green and the jury is out on them, seem more gill pickups then when I am using the power worms. Am now using a short rod and just rigging a 4" gulp on a 2/0 hook and skipping under the docks, need a little pratice on this to long a rod first night that I was using it. I have put used gulps back in the bag with no problem but since I am using the same color I just switch from rod to rod, this way I keep them damp and toss them when they are of no use anymore. Also have found out that if you put them off center on your buzzbait your bait will move left or right a nice little trick when buzzzing docks. I have been doing the left side and my partner the right side of docks and we can run them right underneath. I do have the bad habit of putting lures in my mouth when I retie and you don't want to do that with the gulps....

[zepman]

Crappie Tom,

Sounds like quite a day you had out on the river. Have tried the micro shads and caught some fish with them but have had way better success with the Powerbait Trout Worms. I believe Exude has a line of these out too. Was wondering if you've tried them out and had any luck with them at all. Seems like we have caught larger fish with these when a school has been found. Also, would like to get your opinions on your favorite color patttern with the micro shads. Seems like where I live the only ones available are the "hot" colors like pink and so forth. Maybe the natural colors are the ticket. Thanks for your thoughts.

[CrappieJohn]

Zep....Over time I have tried all of this stuff. Some of it has worked for me, some so-so, some not at all. But that is how this game is played. Some products have worked well for one group of fish (walleye//sauger for instance) and not so well for another group( say, crappie and panfish). The important thing to instill on people here is to be sure to try whatever on fish outside of the intended target fish, say if the bait is a bass bait, try it on walleye/sauger. I have taken many a winter crappie on a scented marshmellow type bait intended for trout! Far too many people buy these scented products only to see a label that says bass or trout and assume that the use of it stops when those species are not the target.

The worms are available from Exude as well, but I find the smaller products to be more to my liking. I am going to get some for ice fishing though and do some creative surgery on them: by cutting the last 3/8 inch off the tail end and then cutting that piece into useable sized slivers lengthwise, one can get a quality scented winter plastic. A tapered sliver of this is all that is needed and we all know that pannies and plastic are a wonderful combo thru the ice.

As for the MicroShads....I have all of the colors with me as a rule. They have all produced numbers of fish. You ask about color. I fish stained water as a rule because that is about all we have in this area. Some of the reservoirs are a bit clearer. Light conditions as dictated by the weather, wind, time of day and water color come into play. Right now time of year is also an issue.

August will see the young-of-the-year forage fry come into the shallow water to on the abundant plankton and insect larva. These are very small and basically are a head and what we call a "bloodline", actually the very visible internal organs and lateral line. When fishing in colored water, I try to stay with the more natural colored Micros hoping to mimic these fry. When Matt and I fished we were using only the white pearl MicroShads. I think the clear/silver would have been a good color, but we were in no need of looking to find a "better" color.

The rootbeer and pink are good cleaner-water colors. The chartreuse shad, black/white shad,and the silver flake/black shad all have their places, but again, many outside influences are at play when it comes to finding "just the right color. This is a thing tht changes with each day and often times by the minute, so going prepared is to your benefit.

The one thing I have noticed regardless of body color is that head color has to be a stand-out color. Fishing with Matt the other day, he was using a fire red/orange head and I started with my pet black. He was into a solid bite right off. I took a few fish, but until I switched head colors he was towing the boat in numbers. When fishing these "pin" minnows gatherings" it is key to use a head that gets immediate attention since the head is huge on these tiny minnows. Don't be afraid to throw on a hyper bright head color. The attention of the fish will go to that but quickly to the body in their seemingly instant regonition process. The water was dirty while we fished and black got lost in it while chartreuse did not contrast enough with it. High up where the baits were fished the red-orange color still was bright and very visible to the fish. We were able to track it when it hit the water and see hits!

Like I said earlier, I have had the occasion to try just about everything. I have a hald dozen packages of the Exude Nymphs too, but have only tried them one day when nothing was biting in the pannie world. These are bulkier and shorter with lots of moving parts. I think when we get deeper into the fall bite these will be a dandy fished off wood and will certainly let all of you know how they perform then. Right now though, the MicroShads are turning in fish, so thats what I will lean on.

[zepman]

That's an excellent post Crappie Tom--thank's for the time and insights to your experiences.