KC Bass Fanatic

Spro popper in natural green, leopard, or black.

We fish Longview on Wed nights (6-9:30). The bite is tough but not terrible. This is a great group of guys, I highly recommend it.

Shallow - Norman Fat Boy Mid - Norman Deep Little N, Bandit 200 Deep - DD22

Buy a few different brands and try them out. You will find one you're comfortable with. As for hookup ratios, body softness, etc - man that is just fishermen's excuses. I've used every frog on the market ad nauseum and they all work pretty much the same. Some of my Spro's take on water after 2 fish, some last for 50 fish. Same with the other manufacturers. I don't see a decreased hookup ratio from one brand to another either. If you wait on them and put the hammer down with the right equipment, you will hook them most of the time. Good luck!

I stick with natural colors 95% of the time. Not sure on the braid color - all I use is green and it works great.

I've been all over the Havoc Pit Boss since day 1 and they are great. I like the RI Double Wide Beaver in thick stuff or at night.

I think some have spawned and some are yet to spawn. I would imagine the major push is over but there will be another surge this next full moon. There are fry up shallow so that indicates many have spawned already.

Was down this past weekend to put my boat on the water primarily. Threw some jerkbaits around on points with marginal success. Caught 2 small keepers on a secondary point. I was throwing the Luck E Strike RC STX. Other than the completely junk split rings and hooks, I'm impressed with these. So you're basically paying $8 for a darn good blank jerkbait and you'll need to put $1 worth of good hardware on it. Still $9 not bad and they catch. Water on the main lake 42-44 degrees and really clear (4+ ft visibility).

I have had good success with green, green/brown, green/black up through the spawn. The jerkbait bite is always really strong all Spring as well. Good luck.

Because of the number of pitches/flips you make in a day of fishing when the fish are tight to cover, the most important thing IMHO is one that is comfortable in your hands. My flipping setup might suck for you and vice versa. Go to the tackle shop and put the reels on the rods and handle them. It won't be the same but you'll know pretty fast if the balance is off, it's way too big/heavy, etc. I'm a shorter guy so I use a 6'10" MH action stick. I rarely use a heavy action stick because where I live it's unlikely you'll hook up w/ a fish over 6lb. MH does all I need it to do. I use high speed reels for wood cover and low speed for heavy grass in case I have 5lb of bass and 10lb of milfoil, I need the power to horse them out.

Zoom trick worm and baby brush hog for me here in the Ozarks.

So you know how each is put together? At this point, no one knows the difference in manufacturing. I have to assume that Rick 'borrowed' the 3D models and brought them w/ him to LS. If so then the construction is exactly the same and the cost savings would be from component selection or LESS MARK UP. Hooligan I'm not taking shots at MegaBass fishermen, I own some myself. My point is that every time I bought one I would cringe at how much profit they HAD to be making. And based one what? Superior construction? Or components? I'd venture to say the Rattlin Rogue catches just as good for $5 in the right setting. To me they all have their place; RC, McStick, Rogue. I just hope for the average fisherman that the LS baits turn out to be just as good so that the market price gets driven down. By dismissing LS wholesale as junk or unreliable we enable MegaBass et al to continue to take us behind the wood shed every time we buy a jerk bait. I'm not for Luck E Strike, I'm for keeping quality baits affordable for the ones who buy 95% of them - the average Joe weekend angler.

I fished the RC STX this past weekend and I see no difference. Both of mine suspend perfectly and I caught multiple fish with no issues w/ the rings or the finish coming off. Anyone who tells you they are not as good as the Megabass is just mad that they have a box full of $25 jerk baits that are now severely over priced. Most guys I know that fish the megabass (including me) order them blank and put the rings and hooks on them so replace the stock rings/hooks on the RC and it's the same bait. Haters will hate but I won't buy another $25 jerk bait.

I believe some part of the answer will be provided by each lake you fish i.e. time on the water. I fish Table Rock frequently and black/blue definitely does not work as well as natural colors during daylight hours. That said, on a cloudy/rainy day black/blue does well.

Like others here I carry 2. A BPS telescoping and the "hound dog" style. Between the 2, I get 99% of my lures back.