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For my money, a swim jig and a spinner bait are fairly interchangeable as far as where, when & how they are fished. But a Swim jig, a Lipless bait and a Crank bait, to me are three totally different tools. Clearly an angler can chose to fish any bait any where but to get the most out of it's potential, choosing the right one for the job makes sense. To me, a swim jig is a fairly subtle presentation. Even with a beefy trailer and through some decent cover, a swim jigs ability to roll and glide as it swims is what makes the bait work. On the other end of the bait spectrum is a lipless or Rattle bait - loud and fairly obnoxious, this bait doesn't ever sneak up on any bass. It screams "here I am - Bite me". As for a crank bait, depending on the model and it's features, it can fall any where in between those just mentioned. Can be loud, can be silent, can be subtle (as in balsa wood baits) and can have a wide wobble or a tight wiggle. But the best feature and most attractive quality of the bait, is it's ability to draw strikes by deflecting off something; whether is loud or not may play a secondary role here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. A-Jay

Why on earth would I even think of calling you when I can show up and ball-tap you in person? Cool sale Bobby, hope all is well for you and the fam.

The following is a post made by Dwight Hottle a while back. In it he shares what is essentially "The System" Lucky Craft Man describes above. A-Jay Alright Shimmy I'll share a little bit about jerkbaits. First of all my jerkbait fishing evolved around pike fishing. Big predators. My favorite jerkbaits were made out of wood or plastic & weighed about an ounce to 2.5 oz. . I would practice jerk bait strokes along side the boat to see what kind of action I could delvelop with each bait. Some baits would dart 90 degrees to either side like a walk the dog motion but under water. Other baits would glide forward or sideways & some rare baits would almost turn around like in your face mr pike. Hard violent jerks or strokes would elevate the motions. Then you have to incorporate a pause period or let the bait rest. Usually the baits will get eaten while your pausing or just as you start your next movement. Remember jerk baits work on all species. Now to jerkbaits for smallies. Typically when you first start fishing you use a search bait until you find fish unless you know exactly where they are. Then once you find fish you switch to your favorite presentation. I fish big water with lots of suspended fish spread over lots of rock structure. I seldom find lots of big fish in a small area. So my approach is to cover water with a jerkbait as my search bait until I find some big girls. Once we find them we work over the area. We put in waypoints when we get bit so we can revist each spot. When drifting on lake erie the waves cause the boat to surge & pause just like a jerked bait does when you are working it. Boat motion adds motion to your baits. I always prefer to drift downwind with the wind hitting my stern. I work one rod while i dead stick a second rod in a rod holder. When my forward progress is between .3 to 1.0 mile an hour drifting with the wind at my back it all works. Most of the time my worked rod out fishes the dead stick 3 to 1. But sometimes the dead stick rod is extremely effective all by its self because the boat is working the bait. This tells me to slow down the worked rod. This approach also allows you to run a deep diver suspending jerkbait while you are running a shallow suspending bait. Then you can decide to use all deep or all shallow baits depending upon the conditions. My prespawn smallie fishing is between upper 30 degrees to 65 degrrees surface temps. The colder the water the more subtle the action. As the water warms I use more erratic movements. I also select baits with more subtle action for cold water & more erratic action for warming water. You have to learn the action of each style bait you use and develop an understanding of what works best for the conditions you are facing. Colder water with poor visibility finds me using loud colors with subtle action & loud rattles. Warmer water with good visibility finds me using subtle natural colors with more erratic action and softer rattles. Smallmouth bass are extremely curious about noise & erratic action. Remember that statement. Your jerkbait represents a dying bait fish to a smallie if properly worked. Smallies will come up thru the water column to hit a jerkbait. How far they will travel depends upon water visibility & sound. When I can see the bottom in 15 feet of water I will not hesitate to work jerkbaits out to 30 feet. I try to use a bait that will get down to the depth I want to fish based on overall water depth & visibility. If your marking fish or marking bait you can key into that depth. My jerkbait inventory covers baits that run from 2 feet down to baits that run 20-22 feet down. Now I can fish jerkbaits effectively in forty feet of water with good visibility. Since i'm fishing relatively open waters I use ten pound braid with a leader on spinning tackle. And I use ten or twenty pound braid with a leader on casting tackle. The thin braid adds up to five feet of extra depth on the baits. Now when casting jerkbaits your depth is based on the bait, line diameter & the length of your cast. Maximum depth on most baits is increased by letting out more line up to around 200 some feet with diving bills. So I run my baits back from the boat about two to three cast lengths to achieve more depth when needed. This also allows you a more stealthy approach. I find that smallies move during the day between deeper water to shallower water based upon changing conditions. So I try to target different depths until I can observe a pattern of where they will be. I do not limit myself to just one manufacture of jerkbaits. I find that on some days a particular bait from one manufcture will out preform all others. Especially on a tough bite day. So I carry about four different manufactures jerkbaits. Now within just one manufactures line of jerkbaits there can be five or six completely different baits by action, size, depth, sound, suspending, floating or slow sink & tilt. They can all shine based on changing conditions. Generally I prefer suspending jerkbaits with rattles. Then I look for level suspenders, nose down or tail down attitudes. Lucky craft probably covers the most diverse offerings of all jerkbaits manufactures in my experience. Just remember when fishing a jerkbait that you are trying to excite a neutral fish into striking it because it mimics a dying baitfish. The more action you can impart to the bait the more fired up that big smallie gets. It is very similar to teasing a cat with a mouse on a string. Some times they want it barely moving and other times they want it fast and erratic.

If you want to loose money, and not have time to fish, have at it, otherwise no way...

Sir Nicholas Winton who organized the rescue and passage to Britain of about 669 mostly Jewish Czechoslovakian children destined for the Nazi death camps before World War II in an operation known as the Czech Kindertransport, finds himself In an audience comprised entirely by those he saved.. This video is the BBC Programm "That's Life" aired in 1988. A-Jay http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIiBTP0spEA

Although I am a Die Hard Boston Sports fan and lately they've had a pretty good run, I am and will forever be a faithful supporter of this team . . . A-Jay

There's a rumor running around that The Scrounga Club recently secured flight reservations for March 2014 on board Aeomexico ~ What's that all about ? A-Jay

No, Saturday I had to help my dad, yesterday was the wifes friend and boyfriend, which I went to school with, came down for the day. Him and I went out on the boat while the girls did crafts and stuff. Whys it got to be me? Maybe its you? I guess you just don't "float my boat" anymore.

A-Jay, I have studied that post by Dwight many times. There is so much "gold" in just that middle paragraph. The day I caught my PB, the fish weren't aggressive at all. I slowed my drift down and got my jerkbaits just grinding on the bottom. That fish must have lightly mouthed the lure, because I caught her with the rear hook just on the tip of her mouth. All those variables mentioned in Dwight's post need deliberate consideration and an effective means with which to cover them (this is part of the system I still need work on). I have found that these big fish are big for a reason and the attention to these details seem to be the difference between netting those bigger fish or ending another day wishing for a 5 pounder.

no matter what the business, you need to have enough money saved or alternative income coming in to sustain being in the red for SEVERAL years till you can finally break even or possibly turn a profit. if you roll ur eye's when you read that and think business plans are something for un-passionate people then you better run the other way. retail is extremely hard b/c you have the same bills to pay every month, rain or shine, profit or loss, holiday season or summer slump. testing the water with a 'garage' business is always a good way of knowing what ur getting into. if you feel like there is a need for certain products it would be much easier to start a lure company and get the existing tackle shops to carry ur product and sell it online.

the 9 inch is goldie locks 7in too small.....12in too big....9 is jussssssst right. (insert that's what she said joke here)

I went with my brother in law, to his favorite fishing hole in West Miami. We got there a little before 4pm and stayed til about 515pm. Wind was ENE, 15-20 mph, and cloudy. I was using my big Koppers frog, aka: Bubba. I was able to land a 19.5" within the first 10 min of getting there and shortly after an 18". The wind picked up and the temps dropped a little, so any bite we did have shut down. 18" 19.5" This places me at 94.5" for the month. It's going to be tough to try to hit 100". My time is very limited unfortunately.

I got a new boat and the next day the weather turned cold and it may not warm up till spring. 2005 186 Triton 150hp and a I pilot Lme

Was this really necessary man? The guy asked about Tatsu and what people's opinion on it was. Not a suggestion to use another type of line. Not all fluoro lines are the same.

Goodnight! I didn't realize that the winners and the actual weights were lost during outage. VolFan was the winner, the one I'm holding was 5lb 4oz, the one on the ground was 7lb 6 oz, NEjitterbugger's guess was closest for the fish on the ground when contest ended. Again congrats to VolFan. This was to show how deceiving pictures can be. Although hard to see I'm doing a little stretch with the one I'm holding. The one on the ground is a terrible angle and lighting. You see the side of my foot more than the top. That fish was almost 24" long.

6" 3pc, 3oz. Owner ST-56 Stinger Trebles 6" Roboworm Tail Its getting a swim test in the morning.

The only "swim jig" I fish is a Scrounger or a Mattie. Crankbaits are a different type of lure, you can very the speed and depth, stop and they float, etc. A Mattie is a standard skirt type jig with a swivel and Colorado size 1 blade in place of a trailer like a tail spinner. Tom

Well played my friend.

The pain meds have worn off & you have become clairvoyant.

Just pulling your chain. That does look like a lefty reel to me since the handle is on the left.

Mutt you have 2 18" fish to cull. Best of luck. You have to replace them with 20" fish to maybe secure. AK, has some big fish holes, he will go to to secure the win.

Love my 9" in black i bought an extr pack of tails in yellow(chartreuse) and can't keep fish off it also put the yellow tail on my white 7" slammer and they've been absolute killers for me this year

Been doing great with these Baker Shads. They suspend so you can move it very slowly in cold water and stay in the zone. Nice seducing wobble. I caught two bass on one bait recently. Great colors too. http://bakerlures.com/suspending-shad-lures/

Well said!

d**n i always seem to catch fish right after lou posts standings. Went out with AK and czar this afternoon for a bit. Managed to pull in 2 on a kvd 1.5 crankbait orange and brown color (craw i think is the name). One 16" and one 17". Missed a fish that was easily in the 5/6 pound range, looked just like the my pb i posted earlier this month, bumped my crank then swiped it right in front of me and im pretty sure i jumped the gun bc i saw the whole thing and how big he was. Havent caught any post worth fish in awhile so im not sure where im at hopefully this puts me in the top 10.

I personally thing the swim jig is more subtle, sometimes they want that wobble and how the crank deflects off cover I have debated this very topic with myself many times and have yet to come to a strong answer other than the ole cliche "let the fish tell you" watch the classic next year...... all those guys will be chunking a lipless, compare to how many guy say they were throwing a swim jig.

Getting my second baitcaster setup tomorrow - Lews Tournament SS and a 7'3 M/F ***. Going to spool it with 12# Yo-Zuri and use it for small cranks, lipless, dropshot, anything finesse, etc. I've been reading a bunch and it seems like L&L conditioner is universally recommended to help with line memory. What are your tips on using KVD L&L?

I spoke to the owner this am and he put me in touch with the bps he bought it from and they confirmed that exact statement you just made and more so they confirmed it for that boat for me so it is good to go

It's a fallfish. Creek chubs have a distinctive mouth and are never all silver. Fallfish: Chub:

Academy H2O! Because they catch bass

If it's not chipped, you can temporarily fix it by gluing it back in with super glue. The proper fix is having the whole guide replaced. It's not too pricey. I have a local guy (his wife, actually) that rewraps new guides for the few I break every season.

I think this is sound advice. The only other thing I could add is don't take advantage of your customers lack of knowledge for your monetary gain. Be honest. I've traveled quite a lot to fish around the southeast.at different "premier" bass lakes. I have gotten honest advice from shops and advice I know was BS to try and push stuff. We had a local bait shop that was around for many many years. The owner had lost his legs from diabetes and was fishing vicariously thru his customers. Made everyone feel like they were his best fishing buddy. He gave honest advice and had real good minnow counts. He really catered to the ice fishermen, and guys would hang out and bs when hard water fishing was slow. His shop burned down and with some unsolicited assistance from his customers he was able to rebuild. Unfortunately he passed away last year from the diabetes. I don't know whether or not, his shop was profitable. I do know that all the seasoned fishermen in the area knew him.

Mike is such a nice guy he might just do that.

I call 'em musky snacks. Fallfish for sure.

A good minnow count. The only reason I hit the local shop is for bait. For emergency situations , I have a Cabelas 10 minutes away. Otherwise I make all my purchases online. My online purchases are made because of pricing, not specifics. If you were located on the water and had a ramp, offered bait, ice, and fuel, and free coffee then I would be more inclined to stop.

I used a cherrywood/abu combo that's around 5' fast action UL that held it's own with 14in trout, haven't tried any bass with it. I use all croix UL's and have no problem with bringing in fish in the 4lb range. I prefer 7' for a better fight. Reels in the 100/1000 size with 4-6lb line should be fine, the use of the drag is important.

Rage Tail ReCon Worm! Falcon Lake Craw Black Neon Red Bug The question is which color will produce the first DD! FLC is in the lead with a 7.8

oh i see how it is. you told me you had family in town and no time for whiskey, but you have time to cheat on me again!!! we're so done!!!

As a former employee at a couple of difference small tackle shops, I believe that the concept of a friendly, knowledgeable human behind the counter goes a long way. Having an idea of what the current techniques, baits and places to go can be one thing that brings people in. And if the advice proves successful, may just keep them coming back. Word of month regarding an establishments reputation both good and bad is something that will affect your success. Reasonable prices and "local Specials" have their place. Additionally, there is a fine line between spot burning and friendly advice. This is something you have to feel out and it might be different in different areas of the country. Another area that should be handled carefully is being a Salesman". Recommending gear, and baits, depending on your approach can be received as welcome advice or "a push to sell your products". Something that I've seen in many local shops that seems to be a very positive and well received idea is to hang photo's of fish that your patrons bring in. I'd recommend making plenty of room in the shop in a place where your customers can get a good look at them, up close and personal. And hang ANYTHING & Everything they bring in, but try to keep it current. Shots of young anglers are particularly good. Photo's that are yellowed and faded from age may not have the same effect as shots of anglers with fish recently caught in places that any angler might go and hope to have the same results. You might consider removing and returning the pictures to the owners at the end of each season. Just have them available to pick through when a customer comes in. People like to see themselves and their fish up on the wall. I often would use these pictures in my "sales Pitch" to anglers when recommending, baits and tackle and even mentioning where, when and how the fish were caught. Shots of you and your friends with fish you've landed from local places the people will recognize may be a good way to get the program started. Hope this helps. A-Jay

Favorites for me would be the the shimano crucial, cumara, and cumulus line. For a smaller budget, cant go wrong with the fenwick elite tech smallmouth rod.

A 17ft with a 135 is not underpowered

I've actually found a new contender lol 2008 nitro z6 w/ 135hp optimax w/ 55 hrs 24v 74lb Minnkota Maxum trollin motor that was just purchased 3 months ago 2 humminbird 898csi fish finders. 1 at console and 1 at bow Humbly keel protector Nitro ratchet style cover All new batteries purchased 3 months ago as well $12,500

Personally, I would start with cheap mono in case you need to cut our a backlash. I would save my money now and figure out how to cast first, just to be sure you want to continue with baitcasters

I'll recap: You will not be able to compete with the major players making a small investment of tools and materials. The right understanding going in is that you enjoy detail work as a separate but obviously related hobby. Expect to spend around $200.00 for start up supplies. And yeah, it makes for a bigger smile when you bust a bass on a jig you designed and made.

Same day a big cat.

Here is a spoonbill swimming under my boat.

Ardent built it's reputation on high quality US made products, this reel isn't made in the US. Can't imagine the reel isn't good quality for the price point. Will check around to see if any of the local guys are using them. Tom

The latest installment of Bass Resource members DD bass: Dwight Hottle:(Welcome to the club sir) A-Jay: (with his second Baccarac DD, and the biggest of BR members so far 11lb 11oz)) And myself: (5th) I certainly look forward to updating this list at the end of March next year! Jeff

I don't service my reels all at the same time. I don't want to have all of my reels out if the temp warms up enough to go fishing.

I've never used one, but the Rapala Scatter Rap Minnow may be what you are looking for. Long thin balsa body with a more erratic wobble