Crestliner2008

You're definitely going to have to use a rod with some backbone. Also, when hooking the bend of the hook, make sure there is a tiny bit of slack in the body. If it's stretched tight between the eye bend and the bend of the hook, that could interfere with hook sets. Just a thought. I agree - GREAT bait!

This will my 3rd. season with the Garmin eTrex Legend Cx. Fabulous color GPS. Try to get one with tons of waypoint capacity. You're going to need it!

Try using these: http://www.johnnyspond.com/mister-twister-keeper-worm-hooks.html

I love them on the bigger 4.5" tubes for largemouth. A small 1/8 oz. insert with the rattle is great for early season use. Hard to get a good hook-set with them when using the smaller tubes. They tend to fill the gap too much.

Kalin's deserve anyone's attention. Great grubs. Been fishing them for years.

They work great for SM

Hard jerkbaits would be my first go-to. But this time of the year, the fish are moving, in preparation for the spawn. Just about anything can/does work. Don't over look spinnerbaits & Senkos either!

The reason you can "see 'em but can't catch 'em", is exactly that! You can see 'em. They, inturn, can see YOU. Shuts them right down. Mark their location and leave the area. Give 'em about an hour to settle down. Approach very stealthily and from a distance (keep your profile low and be VERY quiet). When you get to the position you want to be in, don't do anything for about 15 min. or so. Then make a long cast to where you're pretty sure they are. Use a Senko or soft jerk bait. You'll be putting the odds in your favor for sure. No guarantees this time of the year though, you just have to keep pluggin' away at 'em.

Here in MA, the water temps are still in the mid-upper 50's, so I'm still throwing hard (and soft) jerkbaits, Senkos and some drop shotting. I'm less of a power-fisherman however. Never enjoyed running & gunning sore of approach. However, I do enjoy sneaking up on them and finessing them into hitting.

BTW.....the problem with dynamite is what again?

They catch smallmouths almost as good as the X-Raps! And they are cheap.

This will be my 5th. season with 3 BPS Bionic Blade rods - 2 spinning and one baitcaster. Can't complain about a thing. I've caught a load of fish on these rods. They've certainly paid their dues! I'd recommend them to anyone.

I'd recommend going to a reputable marina and asking them what product they like to use. My marina recommended a product called "Slimy Grimy" believe it or not. And the darn stuff works! Takes a bit of elbow grease, but not too bad.

All great suggestions. Remember one thing though. If you can see the fish, they ARE aware of you. And consequently, will not normally bite! That being said, I'd go with the Senko route and focus on your approach. Stealth, quiet, calm and cast. You'll get bit!

Your line is way too big for smallmouth fishing. Get yourself a 6'6'' - 7' medium action spinning rod with matching 1500 series spinning reel. Load it with 6 - 8 lb. test monofilament. Buy a bunch of 1/8 and 1/4 oz. plain, ballhead jig heads and a selection of 3" and 4" curly tailed grubs (chartreuse, white, smoke/silver flake, green pumpkin, etc..). Rig the tails to follow the bend of the hook. Cast quartering upsteam and let your lure drift downsteam until about the time it starts to swing up. Then reel in slow. You will get bit! Next - same rig - 4" & 5" Senkos and some 1/0 Gamakatsu weedless finesse hooks. Wacky rig them (center hooked) and present in same fashion as above. Finally, when all else fails, get a dozen RoosterTail in-line spinners; 1/8 oz. - 1/4 oz. size. Present in similar fashion. One of these three techniques will put plenty of small mouth in your lap.

Instead, try to find the "In-line" circle hooks instead. Will lip hook 90+% of the time. The off-set circles have a negative effect on the entire circle hook design. I use the 1/0 size exclusively for wacky rigging with great success. I even crimp down the barb. Not needed in my opinion.

For my clear water fishing, for smallmouth or LM for instance, I wacky rig 5" watermelon Senkos. For more dingy water or when I'm specifically targeting largemouth, the green pumpkin usually does a tad better. If you asked me why? I'd say, I don't know....it just works that way for me! But I don't really weigh the color too heavily. As said previously, the Senko, regardless of what color you use, will catch fish!

No fish can resist a Senko. Especially if fished wacky. But, I find that usually when I'm not catching, it's because there aren't any fish at that particular spot. The next spot I try, it's a whole new ballgame!

I've got a couple of packages of Chomper's finesse worms, which I use sometimes for drop shotting. However, last year when I opened the first package, the garlic smell was SO intense that my partner said to let him know if I was going to use them the next time we go fishing - and he'd stay home! That's how bad they were! ;D

This is curious. I've got about 1/2 doz. brands right now and over the years, I've probably tried 2 - 3 times that many. I've never found that it matter one iota! When the tube bite is on, you can throw anything in your tackle box. It will produce. But that's probably just me!

Crestliner, that was my opinion also but this year's shows have improved. He recently did a couple of shows about fishing crankbaits and sight fishing for smallies during the spawn. Both of these shows provided some good information which had been lacking in earlier shows. I won't say this is the best fishing show but at times it has been worth watching. I agree; what really gets me is that this show could be a truly GREAT show! It has a tremendous amount of potential. I just think they are out of touch with what fishermen that watch NEED. Show us a drop shot in action on some good, deep water structure and how the bass react to that presentation! Show us fish reacting/not reacting to what we are doing while fishing - with various presentations. How do the lures we buy actually look down where the fish are? Show us the difference between monofilament line, fluorocarbon and braids - DOWN THERE! These are the things that are really needed. JMO!

What is the point of not using spinning equipment for finesse presentations? I know a lot of you folks just "like" baitcasting equipment - and I do too at times, but it just doesn't make any sense to me when finessing. JMO!

;D ;D ;D I've been using Vanish for 6 years now....this will be my 7th.. Never had a problem. Of course, I'm using spinning equipment, not casting, but I don't think I'd have a problem with that either.

Many years ago, I read one of Doug Hannon's books on bass presentations. His method of fishing the Texas rig was to let your bait hit bottom on free fall. Let it set for a time. Lift your rod to 12 noon and hold it there! Let the bait come to you in a slow, gliding motion. Keep the rod in this position for a few seconds before reeling back down. He theorized that this would give you a greater feel for the "take". Once you felt something....you just reel down fast and set the hook. I've been using this technique for many years since reading this; quite successfully I might add. Now this is for regular plastic worm fishing mind you. When it comes to Senkos, no need to try so hard to feel the take. They just never let go a Senko! ;D

46 degree water is still pretty cool. Have you tried hard jerkbaits? Fish these with long - 30 sec. or more - pauses inbetween twitches (not jerks!). You have to have patience to fish this way, but it will produce. You might also want to try a drop shot if you know where they are. Use a Senko on it. Have you seen any bait balls on your sonar? If so, the drop shot can be dynamite this time of the year, under those conditions!