Have a question? Email Mike and have it answered: mbucca@comcast.net

Q  Mike, I read alot of your reports and you talk about the Lucky Craft Flashminnow 95MR quite a bit. I am rather new to jerkbaits, can you tell me why you feel this shallow running jerkbait is a better bait for Allatoona than other jerkbaits on the market and where can I purchase them locally or online? A  Very good question! As you know from reading my reports I am a big believer in the Lucky Craft Flashminnow Series of jerkbaits, namely the 95MR and the 110SP. Both of these baits are spot killers for me on Allatoona and Lanier. I have actually written reviews on both of these baits on probass.net. Instead of re-writing the review here are the links to those reviews. ENJOY http://www.probass.net/protips/MBucca/mbucca10.php http://www.probass.net/protips/MBucca/mbucca9.php As far as purchasing these baits I actually get mine directly from Lucky Craft, but if you are not on the prostaff thats not an option for you. Best place to buy the Flashminnow series 95MR and 110 has to be http://www.tacklewarehouse.com. Just be sure that you are ordering the 95MR series and not the 95TR. There is a big difference between the two. Read the review above and it will tell you everything you need to know about both baits and then some. ___________________________________________________July 13th 2006   Q What advice do you have for someone looking to be more consistant on Allatoona. I have fished Allatoona hard for the past 4 years and I seem to have some decent days but most of my days are pretty bad. Do you have any pointers you can share with me to help me be more consistant. A  This is a question that I get quite a bit, but before I answer the question I want to say something. Don't beat yourself up on Allatoona. It's a TOUGH lake to fish and it's not an easy lake to learn but, the best advice I can give you if you want to become more consistant is to put in alot of Time On the Water (TOW). There is abtolutely no substitue for TOW. I routinely average over 180+ days a year on the water and I know of some Allatoona guys that put in more time than I do and they take their fishing very seriously. The second most important advice I can give you is to learn about the habits of Spots and Largemouth. Even though these fish live in the same body of water they are completely the opposite as far as aggressiveness, structure orientation and locations. Here is a great article that I wrote for the Inside Line on this very subject. http://www.geocities.com/spotcountry/power.html Thirdly, is to learn the lake. We are very fortunate to have a drawdown every year on Allatoona in the winter time. When the water is 20ft low it uncovers ALOT of cover that you probably didn't realize was there. Take pictures, video's and GPS coordinates by all means. Walk the very backs of these creeks that are completely dry during low pool. You just might be surprised what you might find. Lots of sunken bridges, some road beds and tons of brushpiles, rockpiles that are hidden when the water rises up to full pool. Finally, I would strongly recommend taking ALOT of notes of not only your successful trips on the lake, but also the not so successful trips and try not to repeat the same mistake year after year. For example, If you aren't catching fish on crankbaits in 88 degree water on bluff walls in July, come next July and 88 degree water try something different to figure out those fish in that time period. I have 5ea 3 ring binders full of notes on Allatoona alone and I refer to those notes as my bible. They tell me exactly what I did that worked or didn't work in those previous years and they also teach me not to make the same mistakes twice. Just remember that patterns repeat themselves every year and it is based primarily on water temperature alone. It is really neat to see those patterns come and go by reading your notes. One key thing to learn about analyzing your notes is to match up water temperatures from previous years and NOT month/day. Lots of things like weather patterns (floods, cold front, warm front etc) can change during a year to cause a delay or to be ahead of schedule pattern wise. I am in the process of writing a article for the Inside Line about this very subject but, I promise you if you take good notes it will make you more consistant on any lake and not just Allatoona. __________________________________________________September 28 2005 p>  Q Mike, In your reports you mention the Mini Me Spinnerbait quite often, which to my understanding is a hidden weight spinnerbait? What makes this spinnerbait better than a non hidden weight spinnerbait? A  Jamie, You are correct the Mini Me is a hidden weight spinnerbait. To my knowledge there are only a handful of manufacturers that make a "hidden weight" spinnerbait. VPR makes the Little Big Man, Revenge Baits makes their deepwater series and I believe War Eagle makes one as well, Kanji also makes one in addition to SOB lures which was the last company to come out with a hidden weight spinnerbait. They can all be seen at this link USACPROSHOP Spinnerbaits But to answer your question about why I feel a hidden weight spinnerbait is a better spotted bass bait lies in the ability to burn the bait at very high speeds without blowing it out. 99% of the time, I like to use a 3/4 oz spinnerbait, but once you add all the components (blades, swivels, beads, spacers, skirts etc) the bait probably weighs in closer to an ounce than it does to 3/4's of an ounce. You would think I am slow rolling a bait that heavy when actually I am speed burning it at the sub-surface. A hidden weight spinnerbait with downsized blades allows me to retrieve a bait very fast without it blowing out at the surface and it also gives off a smaller profile which also makes it easier to burn at the sub-suface. Why is a fast retrieve important? Whenever you are fishing baits in clear water especially baits like Spinnerbaits and Jerkbaits I find that a fast presentation will out produce a slower one on most occasions (but not all). Here is why I feel that way. The first reason why a fast retrieve is important lies in the species of fish. Spotted Bass are an twice as aggressive and twice as curious as their cousin the Largemouth. So a fast retrieve does a great job in generating interest from a Wolfpack of spots due to the fast presentation. Have you ever noticed that you get many more Spotted Bass "window shop" your baits than largemouth? Also notice how an entire wolfpack (school) of big spots rise on your bait? This helps prove the theory that Spotted Bass are more aggresive and curious than largemouths. Alot of times, when you have called up a Wolfpack of spots and not get bit you can probably catch those fish by simply using a faster retrieve. Second reason I like a fast retrieve is due to water clarity. If your reeling your bait slow the fish will have plenty of time to look it over and see if it's real or not. So with a spinnerbait being burned your not giving the fish a chance to look it over. The fact that the "bait" is moving at great speeds tells the fish that it is real and escaping danger and will increase the chances of making that fish commit to your spinnerbait. Right now I am using a 6.3.1 ratio reel for spinnerbaits. As soon as I can get my hands on a 7.1 ratio Curado I am going to switch. I honestly feel that the speed of the bait is the difference between catching a few fish and catching a bunch of fish especially when it comes to the bigger spots on Allatoona. Here is a link to an article that I wrote that can answer your question in more detail. Power Fishing for Wolfpacks