Conference wahoo::fishing

    Les,
    I've fished the gitzit for the last two years and love it.  It's
    a good alternative to the pig and jig.  As for another way to fish
    it I like to take a four inch worm, bite off about one inch and
    add it to the gitzit and swim it over rip-rap, I also use a 1/4oz.
    jig head so I can keep the line tight. FYI Bass Pro Shops sell the
    same thing under the name Tender-Tube..
    
    Good fish'n
    Ron
    

    
    
    
                Big article in this months IN-Fisherman about Gitzit
                baits.Well worth the reading for first timers.
    
    
    
                                           the Keg

    
    I like dem tube worms.  I believe that they were originally intended
    as a salt water bait. (squid)
    
    Has anyone figured a way to rig one weedless?  or even shopping
    cartless? That's a Quinsigamund joke hey Bob?
    
    
    TBDW

    TBDW, BassPro shops sells weedless setups for them.  Leadheaded
    jig that slides inside, with a wire weed guard... they work well...
    donmac

    fat man baits who made the original gitzit have a texas style lead
    head hook for them.  In the Northborgh you can get them at
    Forest Orchard sporting goods on rt 20.
    
     Bassin bob
    

    	The weed guard type hooks can be used and rigged in much the
    way the jig heads are used. If you need more weight you can add
    a split shot or two.
    
    RAYJ

    Have had a lot of luck this year with smoke, smoke/blue and smoke/red
    colors. Anybody have any other colors that seem to work well in
    Massachusetts or New Hampshire area. Also would be interested in
    what colors people have used for smallmouth. Same colors or different
    ones.
    
    Ed   

    
    In my "new to bassin'" opinion you only need two colors, black with
    chartruese tail [night fishing] and "craw" colored with pepper.
    They were jumping in the boat after those....everytime out.
    
    Caught both large and small on those.....used them 90% of my time
    out.
    
    That's why they call me...
    
    Gitzit'

    re. .8
    
    	Hey Gitzit'  Those sound like great colors were did you ever
    get the idea to try them?
    
    
    ME

    
    re. -1   Well, as in all "success" stories, there is usually that
    one person who changes a waywards attitude and sets him on the straight
    and narrow.  The person, [who is probably too modest to be mentioned]
    found me one day trying to relive my youth's experiences from Minnesota
    by fishing for Northern Pike in Quabog.  He said son....have  you
    ever thought of fishing for bass?  I said no kind sir...what do
    you use to fish for those.  He produced a gitzit' and said...."throw
    this baby...alot and you'll catch a few".  Well even though he was
    kind....he was also cheap and gave me just two colors, those have
    been the ones I've tossed all summer.   Worked well and I will always
    be thankful for that strangers kindness.
    
    There Les are you happy :-}
    
    Gitzit'  
    

    Hmmmmm  Very interesting conversation.  When I heard of the "Wonder"
    lure known as the Gitzit, All I ever heard was Smallmouth, now,
    just as I have my boat winterized, I hear that Gitzit's work well
    for good ole bucket mouth??  I actually have to wait til sping to
    try them out again ?? 
    
    Seriously,  I always assumed (probably a BIG mistake for ME to make
    any assumptions) that the Gitzits worked best in Clear rocky/sandy
    bottomed Smallmouth waters.  I do a LOT of fishing on the Concord
    river where the water is dark and the bottom weedy, or muddy and
    have the most success with purple or "Tequila Sunrise" Mannipulator
    worms.  Maybe these little gitzits will really git'em.  
    Any thoughts ??
    
    				GUS
    
    P.S.  Last trip out on the Concord on Saturday was CHILLY, but
    	  produced a decent 3+ lber.  Seems things have pretty much
    	  slowed down.
    
    

    I have used GITZITs in all water conditions this year, clear, muddy,
    weedy, rocky, deep, shollow, and even tossing them on lilly pads
    and pulling them off letting them drop (1/16 oz weight)  and they
    all produced fish both large and small mouth.   The only thing is
    they appeared to stop producing in the late fall (NOW), but they
    worked the rest of the season.
    
    Les

Les,

As water conditions get colder and the lakes and ponds start turning, bass 
also start getting somewhat lethargic.  I've found that that the "dead 
worming" technique works best, ie. s-l-o-w.  Let the worm or gitzit fall to 
the bottom and just sit there ... then move it a couple of inches and let it 
sit again.  Similar to the topwater technique where you just let the plug 
sit on the surface ... and sit ... and sit....

It takes a lot of patience but it may pay off.

Goodluck!

-Joe-

Thanks Joe I'll try it!!
    
    Les

    Just to prove that what works in one place doesn't necessarily work
    in another, I tried both black/chart tail and craw colored gitzits
    in Paugus Bay (Winnipesaukee), and never caught a one. On the other
    hand, good ol' black rubber worms and grubs have worked pretty well
    for me. I have caught a few Pickerel on gitzits, though.
    
    Ed
    

    re> Paugus Bay
    
    try chartruse!!
    
    I must have about 20 colors of gitzits,  I buy 3 colors in 100 bulk,
    
    clear pepper flake
    brown crawdad
    and white (great color looks just like a river minnow)
    
    Green, brown, purple, chartruse (many versions of), black and smoke
    have all work well in different water conditions.  
    Good Bait but don't get so caught up in them that you don't use
    other lures... 
    
    Bassin Bob.

    Thanks for the input on color. I think I will add a few more colors
    to my box next year. 
    
    RE: .13   Joe, are you still fishing GITZIT's? Curious if you mean
    	      to fish slow at this time of the year.  
                 
    RE: .16   Bob, I agree they do not always work. I think at times
     	      tried them for to long. 
    	
    Gitzit, I can't believe these guys let you get by with that story.
    The cold weather must have them slowed down.
    
    For the most part, I have used a 1/16 oz. leadhead. It drops slow and
    I seem to get most hits on drop after lifting rod tip. Anyone else
    have success with other tatics? Weedless, different weight leadhead, 
    retrieve etc.
    
    Been thinking of adding a rod to my collection for light lure fishing.
    I use a 5'3" light action Shimano now. No backbone naturally, I have
    had fish take me into cover. Thinking about All-Star MS1 or MS2.
    When fishing cover or structure are you guys fishing light or medium 
    spinning tackle.
                   
    final note:
    I was in a tackle store in June and heard a guy talk about some tournment
    he had just come from on Winne. He was looking for Gitzit's. Said
    the smallmouth were tearing them up in any color. When he got down
    to his last few he held them together with mono, and still caught
    fish. 
    
     

    Hey Joe,
    
        I took your advice and tried it this weekend.  The Gitzit' and
    I tried our luck on my favorite Mud Hole.  Since it was fall we
    were using Crank Baits, with out any luck.  So I decided to tie on
    a Gitzit (not the guy sitting next to me, but the kind with a hook)
    The next three cast I pull in THREE BASS, all cases I just let it
    fall and sit on the bottom I twitched it every 30 seconds or so,
    when it stopped they hit, REAL LIGHT I must add.  Well faster than
    I could release the third bass Gitzit' (not the tube lure) ties
    his namesake on.  We ended up catching 3 more, all were keepers
    and one was about 2 lb.   Boy did it feel good breaking my fall
    curse. 
    Thanks again for the advice HSJ.
    
    Les
                                    
    BTW the color was Pepper Craw/with a clear tale
      

    Les, that is great news and helps convience me that extending the
    season around here is worthwhile. I went out this weekend and threw
    crankbaits, spinnerbaits and pig-n-jig with no luck. I went without
    my regular tackle box and only took a few items. On the way home
    I was thinking I should have taken the GitZit gear and gave it a
    try. I hope to get one or two more shots before I pack it in. After
    reading this note I will definitely try a few "tubes". 
    
    Thanks for the input. Love them GitZit's(not the human kind though).
    
    					Ed

Les,

Glad to hear that "dead worming" ... ah ... er ... "dead gitziting" worked 
for you.  I wish I could find the time to get out on the water to take my 
own advice.  Oh well....

BTW... if anyone wants to by my book, "HoleShot's Secrets of Bassin", the 
dead worming method is detailed in chapter 8.

-HSJ-

	I finally got tired of losing multiple Gitzits on every rockpile that I 
fish so I decided to make my own weedless outfit.  I don't like those jig heads 
with the wire gaurd becuase I believe the fish can feel that wire decreasing the
amount of time they will keep the Gitzit in thier mouth.
	My method has its advantages and disadvantages but it is definately 
weedless (ie. one Gitzit lasted me a whole day.)
	Here goes:

1)  Poke a small hole in the front of the Gitzit and run the line through the 
    middle of the gitzit pulling it out through the open back hole.

2)  Slide a worm weight on the line (reverse direction from a rubber worm) and 
    push it up into the head of the gitzit.  The reason that you put the weight 
    on big diamater first is so that the pointed end won't pull through the 
    front of the Gitzit on casts.

3)  Tie a #8 or #10 treble hook onto the line and pull it snug against the back
    of the Gitzit.  The #10 is totally weedless because the hooks will fit snug
    on the outside rubber of the Gitzit.  The #8 is a little bigger, not as 
    weedless (haven't yet got snagged with it but picks up some weeds)but 
    nonetheless a larger hook to work with.

4)  Adjust little rubber trailers so they are strait out and not stuck under the
    hook.

When done this procedure you will have a Gitzit that is on the end of your line 
and looks like it does when you take it out of the bag.

Advantages:

	Lure no longer gets snagged all of the time even in thick weeds.

	Fish will hold Gitzit in mouth longer, does not fell nothing but rubber.

        High hook setting percentage, three hooks instead of one.

	Once fish is hooked the Gitzit the worm weight will slide up the line
	giving the fish less leverage to throw lure when jumping.

	Lure will last longer, no need to change Gitzits which are ripped apart
	from the giant jighead or catching a big fish.

	Worm weights and treble hooks cost a lot less than Gitzit jigheads.

Disadvantages:

	Lot of potential for line twist, about the same as rubber worm.
    
	As of yet I have not had this happen but if a bass swallows this 
	setup he is going to have a nasty (probably deadly) stomach ache for a 
        long time.

Any critisism or improvement ideas welcomed.

Steve

    Steve, that sounds like it'd work pretty good...  I just may give that
    a shot.  
    
    good tip, donmac

    one of the major reasons that the tube lures are so productive is the 
    falling motion they have when falling from the horizontal plane , with
    the line forward they seem to loose some of that especially if you fish
    a tight line on the fall( I do) . that's my opinion ( big deal).
    
    al
    

    Al,
    	You make a good point.  Maybe it would be better to insert the line
    closer to the top of the gitzit than in the direct center like I have
    been doing?  Would this accomplish the same thing?  It might also
    prevent the line from twisting.
    	Maybe someone should invent a jighead that has a treble hook strait
    off the back but that green moss on rocks would still get caught on the
    eye of the jig head.
    
    I saw a dragonfly land on the water the other day and a bass came and
    swooped it up without any cautiousness.  Is there a lure that can
    closely emulate the virbrations that a dragonfly emits on the surface?
    The closest thing I can think of is the Throbber (the one with a weight
    on a spring inside).  There are lots of big dragonflys around this time
    of year and I bet some which could imitate them would be killer.
    
    Steve

    	Off the base note topic but.....    	
    
    	I don't know about the buzzing but you could probably tie up
    a dragonfly for a fly rod. One of these days I'm going to catch
    a bass on a flyrod just for ha ha's. I even have the flyrod now,
    just have trouble finding the time though since the last bambino
    (about a month ago).
   
    	RAYJ
    	

    congrats on the new addition rayj!