primetime

I tend to like most offerings from Rapala (DT series probably my favorite), Strike King (tend to trust all of them) and Academy store brand for crankbaits that aren't crazy expensive. Luhr-Jensen Speed Traps Bomber Square A's are inexpensive and work great, i would suggest changing the trebles as the stock hooks are not the best lately. Berkely has some good ones as well....

I tend to simply work them slow on top instead of using other topwater lures. I have also had days where straight reeling them like a crankbait works. The Jointed Rapala is one of my favorite wake baits, same with the original, just wake it really slow on top and pause....I try to never tie a clinch knot to the lure, I either tie a loop knot or add a split ring or use a snap if water is dirty... The OG Rapala will catch fish in any water. Great bait. Overall, twitch, twitch and pause....I love long pauses and barely moving the bait most days but will let the fish tell me if they want it more aggressive...You have to play around with cadence but if fish are in the area, you will get bit.....

I never tried rubber banding the trebles to the body...Great idea...I am for sure going to do that on some of my floating minnows since I fish Florida also and one of my go to confidence techniques is throwing topwater floating minnows over weeds. I usually try to shorten treble hooks, smaller split rings, remove barbs to snap off weeds etc.... I like that concept....Thanks for posting.

Good post. I buy tons of lures because I enjoy "collecting". I do my best to try all the lures I buy, but it's hard to break habits of what you like to use in terms of color, size and brands. Out of all my lures in my boxes....I rarely reach for new stuff anymore so I am going to try to stop buying hardbaits. You can only use so many lures, especially when you graviate to the old scuffed up ones. I also love the F-13 Rapala and I throw it on heavier line here in Fl. often and I will report that it works awesome on straight braid 10-30llb test, 12lb mono etc....I love me all Rapala Floating Minnows, especially firetiger, perch, and silver/Blue. Just realized...I need to replace my gold one in the bigger size....Guess I need more hardbaits.....never ends

I almost always split the tails myself....I believe the reason you would leave the tail is for a more gliding action and less action when fish are sluggish....I find the tails break apart easily anyway when pitching which is the only time I really use them. Great creature bait either way. Love the colors they offer.

Good info. I carry small box full of all of the above mentioned. I also like the Joe's Flies spinners BPS sells. I grew up on Long Island where the company who makes Panther Martin is located, so they used to give them away as prizes in local tournaments when I was a kid. I really like the Panther Martin design. If you like Inline spinners, one of my favorite here in Florida is essentially a weedless version/Spinnerbait, Snagless Sally by Hilderbrandt. They make a great spinnerbait and buzzbait fish rarely see. I am a big believer in throwing stuff fish do not see since we all fish the same areas in lakes and ponds for most part and fish 100% get conditioned. I actually need to replenish a few of by blue fox spinners....Sometimes its easy to overcomplicate bass fishing and the stuff that always worked, still works....

Growing up in NY, I would throw an orange and red skirted spinnerbait all through the spring and kill em. At that time I had no idea why that color seemed to work so well in Spring and not as well in Summer since my main spinnerbait color has always been white. Not sure if it was water clarity or crawfish or confidence throwing that color etc. ...... I am not 100% certain though if Red baits catch more fish in the pre spawn because of matching forage or because everyone throws them more? If that makes sense...I fish a place loaded with Golden Shiners yet rarely get bit on anything gold.......I am not sure what fish see compared to what we see since so many variables. Here in Florida, I have yet to have the same success with red spinnerbaits or skirts. I have had days where a green/Orange laminate senko is a killer. I just think watermelon and orange is a good color all year. Color is a tricky one but if you think it will work, it likely will. I never throw Pink yet plenty of people do and catch a ton of fish.....

I like to throw spinners over weeds, open water, wake em etc....Especially on new water to find fish in my Kayak. If you catch a Crappie, Bluegill, Small bass, Shiner etc....You know you are in an area where there is fish.....I been getting into some of the bigger Mepps Aglia Salmon sized spinners and different colors like Black with yellow dots etc....Spinners flat out catch fish.

Jointed Red fin.....or standard......If you want something that can cast further and more aggressive, Strike Pro makes a really good wake bait. Super Loud. Forget the name but BPS still sells them. Think its the Humpback minnow? $15 maybe. The bigger size is a big bait. Probably weighs close to an ounce. I like the Red Fins the best. Or buy the biggest Rapala they make, Jointed J-13 or F-13 Minnow reeled slow. Hard to beat OG Balsa rapala for Floating Jerkbaits/Wakebaits.

I throw the Bagley prop topwater alot, same with the Long A floating jerkbait over weeds etc...All Mine have 3 treble hooks and I believe I fished all of them with stock hooks at first and never remember having landing issues. I never set the hook until I see that a fish has the lure, I really don't set it, I just apply some pressure so its not near as hard as what you would do with topwater plastics or pitching etc.... The balsa makes them light so I rarely throw the bang o lure on casting gear but I have thrown it on straight braid and a moderate rod..... I think the key is giving the fish time after they hit it to make sure you can drive a few hooks in good. I actually throw the Bomber Long A far at times so I add a bright pink stripe to the top so I can see when it moves or is underwater. It's easy to pull the lure away if you get excited and also can see subtle hits much better.

I like to toss a weightless senko or trick worm, wacky and texas rigged. Mepps Aglia or Rooster Tail on my light setup if worm doesn't work. I just recently started fishing spinners again after fishing them all the time as a kid. Kind of mad I have not used them much in bigger bodies of water....

some split shots & worm weights, tubes & worms and a few spinnerbaits....also some lipless cranks and you should be good. I throw the same bomber plug all the time but without the prop. Believe that is the 14 size? I throw the 14 and 15 the most. Love the Bomber floating minnows. I actually lost my last screw tail version years ago but still throw the Bagleys Bang O lure which is similar just balsa and lighter....I agree, Bass do not see topwater Floating Jerkbaits as much, tail spinner is great for waking.

Funny you mention the Rainbow trout color....I was just fishing the ponds in my neighborhood with same color in small 3" size Slug-go as I was walking my dog. For some reason the bass here in Florida seem to love that color. I still fish the Slug-go more than I do a fluke. It works great as a topwater walking bait over grass and gets bit just like a senko on the drop...Awesome versatile bait in all sizes and on the bigger ones I feel like I get better hooksets since less plastic than the big magnum flukes. They also make some awesome colors and you can sometimes find them for $1.99 on their website, around black Friday and sometimes this time of year. Lunker City makes great baits with nice selection.

I have "Tube" hooks that are made by Trokar and they are essentially Kahle hooks or shiner hooks. I mostly use a regular texas rig EWG and cut the side I insert the hook point to get better hooksets if I need to make it weedless. You can essentially texas rig a tube or rig it on almost any type of jig head. MR. Twister makes a weedless Kahle hook with a centering pin which is a good hook if you can find them still.

In my lifetime it has been the Sluggo and then senko. I would also say a bladed jig. The Rapala minnow and shad rap were already great when I started and Power worms.

Thanks for the info on the hook. I prefer the lighter guage most of the time, I tend to get better penetration.

You are correct. The girl at the counter told me one guy came in and purchased almost all of it. I went on Ebay and googled "Quake 70 6th sense" and boom...3 lots for $27 etc.....Then looked on Facebook market place and rods were $50.....They should put a limit on it. Everyone should have a shot to get some stuff at that price.

Crankbaits can be addicting with all the brands and colors for sure. Easy to lose it in the store and go overboard. Luckily, some of the ones you never throw will end up being discontinued and there is always someone on Ebay willing to pay good money for them.

I didn't see alot of the deep diving cranks except for the berkley flat side Fritts cranks and some Store brand....Maybe some Strike Kind 6xd...I went back yesterday to get more and it was basically empty. I grabbed a few more of those Spro Demon Cranks, store brand cranks and some Trilene....I cleaned up on a bunch of the other stuff the first time. That was my first time seeing 75% at academy, never knew they put clearance in the back of the store.....Was amazed how they put out what seems like everything. Found a nice Lews Mach casting rod and Shimano GLF medium light casting rod which was worth it. 50% still a great deal....

When you get bit.....Absolutely yes....I rarely get bit on the really big swimbaits but the few times I have I was glad I made the casts. My Nephew literally throws the really big 8-10" Huddlestons and other high quality huge swimbaits up north and it pays off over the year. He has plenty of days where he lands multiple 5-7lb fish.

2.5" bass assassin flukes and small grubs 2-3"....I like throwing them on my light spinning rod.

Academy clearance in store...75% off 6th sense lures (Good ones), Berkley, Spro frogs and cranks and tons of $100 rods marked down 75% but that was Saturday...Stuff goes quick...Invisx, Berkley, Fins braid, Gamakatsu, tons of owner and Buckeye shaky heads, Crappie lures, Academy lures.....Was a treasure trove......

I bet you can still find them.....yea, twist lock.....I just found this pic on google real quick. I am sure they still sell but the angle is perfect. https://sportsmanfrenzy.com/products/zoom-horny-toad-hooks

For spinnerbaits I use white, Chart, and Orange for skirts. blades I like silver and gold mixed. Jigs - Match forage but white and black and blue for swimming are my favorite and for pitching and dragging, brown and black with some yellow or orange. Chatterbaits - Stained water - gold blade and chart/white skirt, or black and blue, green pumpkin. I would try to match your forage, and also buy what you think would work best regardless of whatever anyone throws. Sometimes doing the opposite of what everyone says works can be the ticket. The bluegill near me are in tanic water so to match the color I simply need some silver, black and a touch of orange......I don't really get into fancy colors with skirts and jigheads and buy all kinds of different bluegill and shad patterns like I used to.....I try to only keep 3-4 colors of each with me at most and it helps to have less options.

I got lucky and purchased a ton of zoom Horny toad hooks (Zoom Branding) on clearance once in both red and standard. I think they are size 5/0 with a twist lock. All Above suggestions will work as well. I am not a fan of the double frog hooks that I think Stanley makes for the RIbbits. Just personal preference. The Zoom Hooks in Red are my go to soft body frog hook of any brand and also for big swimbaits. Not sure if Zoom still makes them, used to come in a 2 pack. I believe a 5/0 should be perfect with a twistlock, as mentioned, VMC, Owner etc. all make good hooks. I like them unweighted most of the time and if weighted I like to keep it as light as possible. Sometimes a 1/16 bullet weight in front can give it a different action instead of the weight in the back.