heavyduty

Your concerns were mine until I used the Ned Rig in April on the Susky. Me and a friend had an 86 fish day on the Ned Rig. I was using Dave Reeves wire weed guard jig heads with #2 hook. Didn't get a hookset on less than five and I blame that on me, not the hook, simply because I have fished braid the past 2 yrs but have mono on my ned rig. I didn't set the hook properly with the stretch of mono. Go for it, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Loctite gel for glueing baits to jig heads and Mend It for soft plastic repairs. "Super glue" tends to leave a hard spot where it is applied to the plastic where Mend It does not.

I use duo lock snaps size 2 (no swivel) on all my setups and I catch as many if not more than folks I fish with. Plastics, cranks, jerks, etc.

Mann's baby minus 1

4.2 lbs on zoom super speed craw

What size hook would you recommend for a 2 3/4" tube in this Trokar Tnmt Tube Hook? Do you use an egg sinker inside the tube?

Nabs, trail mix, jerky. Usually eat a breakfast sandwich on the way. A good pick me up during hot days is a frozen 8-10oz cran grape bottle, they come in a six pack. Freeze them, keep in cooler, and by midday they are slushy and hit the spot!

For me it's like night and day. I use 4" for river smallies. 5" are a few cents cheaper so I figured I'd buy 5" and pinch off an inch or so. Didn't work. Why, I don't know. The profile is just a little different, a tad bit slimmer in the 4". That's all I can figure. The few packs of 5" I have are going into my Ned Rig pile. I'll see how they do cut in half for this application. 5" for largemouth, I can't say as 95% of my fishing is for smallies. Since 4" is was I keep on hand, that's what I use for LM.

You got to love this brutal honesty!!! Go get'em man!!!!

Hard bottom for me on rivers includes ledges and rocky bottoms. Ledges allow the smallies to get out of the current. Rocky bottoms allow crawdads and other food to hide so smallies feed there. Grass and weed lines are also good as they are ambush points. Straight sandy bottoms with no cover or structure is generally a wasteland in my experience.

Just sharing my experience......yes and no. Some applications you can; take the ned rig for example. Buy 7" baits and cut them in half. For you old timers, Brother Dave Gardner used to say, "Pall Mall cigarettes, light'em on both ends, break'em in the middle, got 2 cigarettes!" Senkos for me, no. For smallies I've tried both 4" and 5". 4" are proven for my flows. 5" are cheaper so I'd buy them and bite off an inch. No where near the catch rate on the same brand, same color.

1.5's in 4'-6' for me. Baby minus 1 if a little shallower, especially over grass!

Video on how they are made. Never had one but that may change shortly!

*** crappie jig in 1/8 oz for river smallies, ShroomZ in 1/16 oz or less if no current.

A few tips for the buzzbait: If throwing towards the bank, hit the bank or right at it. I've seen folks throw towards the bank and are 2-3' short, no hits. It makes a difference! Throwing to logs, etc- throw well beyond and bring it to the log. Once at the log, kill it for a second or do a quick half spin of the reel to make the blade lift/kick water. Will usually cause the reaction strike with the change in cadence. Cadence- don't just throw and reel the same speed, Change it up, fast, slow, stop and let it sink a few inches. The change in retrieve drives them crazy. I try to think of a buzzbait as a creature that fell in the water, can't swim well, and is trying to get away from a predator.

To me there is nothing like a smallie crushing a spinnerbait or exploding on buzzbait!

Roughly 5yrs ago I also found some interesting soft plastics by Yum in their "sale" box. Honestly can't remember what it was but I do remember that it quickly became my go-to soft plastic. Tried to find more with no luck. I went as far as calling Yum customer service, gave the lady all the info on the package, and she found them. Catch was that it was not a mass produced bait, only produced for the Walmart "sale" bin. Never have seen them again.......

I have the Saros and Sedona in 2500. Use them for all techniques you mentioned as well as skipping docks with a senko. Never had an issue with either, both smooth, and been using them for 3+ yrs. In my opinion, you can't go wrong. If or when I need to replace them, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase either again. HD

Bubblegum is a confidence color for me! Like some, I can't think of a color that I haven't caught at least one on....

I ordered the 3/8 red blade/black skirt and the 3/8 gold blade/white skirt from Megastrike. Should be here by end of the week!

Thanks guys for all of the replies. Will definitely add a couple to the boat!

Lots of folks promoting cavitrons. Would like to get into more buzzbait fishing this year. What blade color-skirt color pairings do you recommend? I'm sure your choice depends on water clarity, time of day, etc. Let me know your experiences. Thanks, HD

I looked thru every soft baits page on TW but didn't see them.....

another site carries the Erie Darters.... http://www.another site.com/showcase.cfm?PID=2579 What are the baits called in the pictures above?