primetime

I also find salinity plays a major role, and different brands will suspend differently, I can never figure it out, that is why I love suspend dots, but great question. I have wondered the same thing. I also try to not modify suspending baits that I like since changing out a ring or hook can change it drastically.

Welcome to the Forum, you will get plenty of help on this site for any questions, and another cool feature is on the home page where you can search for articles on anything related to fishing and something helpful should pop up. I am sure the lake has a few tackle shops dedicated to local angler's and I would ask the owner's of the shop what the hot baits are for this time of year and spark up a conversation and take his or her advise and purchase what they suggest. I am sure they are going to show you some of the baits mentioned, but most importantly, they can help you with any hot colors, sizes, places to fish and target from the bank, what size weights guys are using, and once you build rapport with the local shop (I usually get line spooled up when fishing a new lake) you will get tips on spots and baits as well as meet other angler's heading out the same time you are. I am sure most guys from the bank are throwing weedless plastics on a texas or carolina rig, and in the cold I would fish slow, near the bottom, or use lighter line and maybe a split shot in front of a 4" straight finesse worm or fluke as an example....I would google the term-Rage Rig, it is a way to rig a weedless weighted hook to any soft bait, but a beaver style bait works really well, and for covering water it makes going weedless really easy and effective. You don't need to use Strike king baits obviously, but I am sure the local shop will have Strike king, Yum, Zoom, Yamamoto, and then some local companies that pour plastics for your local lake in colors to match forrage. Good Luck

Pradco and Yum purchased Riverside tackle years back, but I thought that Swurm looked familiar...I still use some Riverside baits that are in my box..They used to make a split tail beaver which had a ringed body that I really liked, and also had some flukes with crazy detail that worked well, but I hope they bring back a few more of the Riverside baits. I noticed on Ebay that 2 packs of Swim Dinger's are only $6 and will retail for $2.99 for 10 pack of 5" and 7 pk for 6", that should save me money since I hate paying $8 for swim senko's, but I do just fine with Dinger's, and they also made a few other modifications and seems like they are targeting the Big Bite market in terms of pricing..I am waiting for a local store to get the swimin dinger in, it has a long boot tail which looks awesome.

a 3" sassy shad is really 2.5" since they measure them with the ballhead jig so the shad bodies like the squirmin shads from bass pro would be another alternative to the Mr. Twister versions, but that is crappie fishing small. I use small sassy shads on spinning tackle in the 3" size when the shad are small since they are still the best artificial imitation even with all the newer baits. Problem is rigging them weedless,you almost need the exposed hook to act as a rudder to keep them swimming properly. I know GYB makes a swim shad that is small, but I would check out the Creme Lit'l Fishie pre rigged segmented swimbaits, the old school models, they make one that comes 3 per pack, one stand up jighead which lands the bait upright which is good during the spawn, and it is not the most sexy choice compared to the little creeper Trash fish, Skinny dipper and all the other excellent choices, but it is close if not better imo than the standard sassy shads. Keitech makes a 2.8" swimbait and the Havoc Beat shad would be examples of 2 small swimbaits I would maybe choose, but a sassy shad is a good bait for chucking and winding and covering water, I like the MR. Twister colors the best. The bass pro swim baits, the swim sally is a good bait that comes 3.5" and better imo that Reaction Innovations skinny dipper since they are softer, more buoyant, and not as stiff. Gambler makes the little Ez which is 3", and KVD elite shiners come in small sizes, really soft, and perfect for cold water as they are almost straight with a small boot tail, awesome colors, and overall a good swimbait with nice translucent color patterns....I would try swimming a 3-4" smoke grub if water is clear, or maybe a chart pepper if stained water if going that small.

I am not sure if it is the older versions or not, but sanding off the paint seems to give them a different action, and they used to make a color that was chartruese with green, and a bit of yellow under the chin. When you sand it down, the sides look like they have that 3d flash the newer lures have, and I love to modify lures & have found adding a bit of red to the sides gives it a glow that seems to work well especially in lakes where people throw alot of minnow baits which down here is most of them. When it comes to buying tackle, Florida and Orlando area is a really good place to be with all the flea markets and liquidators, and all the competition so you can find Long A's on clearance for a few bucks and even a new Pro Long A with gammy trebles, Timmy Horton colors, and 15a suspenders are often $3.99. Pound for pound, that is a tough price to beat for a proven lure, and one that comes with a tear dropped pull point and is 95% reliable to suspend perfectly right out of the box, and the new colors are as good as any. I own almost every brand of lures because I am a lure addict, like to collect stuff I guess, but I seem to do as well with the bombers as I do with any other minnow bait regardless of price. I always push in the barbs, 3 trebles is a great feature for hookups, but not good when a big fish inhales them, it also helps keep them from gathering weeds when fishing over or through weeds, a good snap of the rod and barbless trebles can shake most weeds.

A $500 Reel does not tell you where to cast, how fast to retrieve your $30 lure, what type and size line to use, how to set the drag (or maybe they do) but I have no problem if someone has all top quality equipment, good for them, I hope they enjoy it. I could get buy purchasing much cheaper equipment and lures, but I enjoy my new toys, I like to buy lures with my extra money since I do not have any other hobbies that require as much money as fishing. All that matters is that you buy quality line and hooks, things you will always need. If you are on a budget, my advise is not to spend money on reels or rods that are not proven, meaning do not spend $30 on a new reel that just came out, but rather spend it on say a Pfueger Trion, as that is a reel that is proven to be quality, and if it breaks, it is easily fixed...Buying the cheapest reels will only cost you more money, the plastic $10 reels break every few months, if you take care of a $100 casting reel you should get a minimum of 5 years even if you fish like me, meaning it will get sand in it, wet, and dropped....

I have noticed that the local Dick's here in Tampa Florida have just started carrying them the last 6 months, and they only carry the 3.8" and under, and some of the shiners. I sell soft baits at flea markets and I have a bunch of BPS speed shad and Kalin's sizmic shad in both the 3.8" and 4.8" and I can say that with 100% confidence that the 3.8" sells 20/1 better than the 4.8", I get stuck with the plain solid colors, and people request 3" all the time. The colors that match local forage are most requested, so down here in Florida, people grab the bluegill flash kalin's color and the green pumpkin golds, Rainbow trout is popular for saltwater and guys visiting, white ice and pearls move well, and so do the ayu, and male perch, and lastly the blue/silver laminates. The 4.8" are tough to move, not sure why but they are really big and I have not seen the Keitech's in that size either, so I guess people naturally are drawn tot he smaller sizes. I have a ton of colors and sizes for myself, but I still buy Keitechs for their soft texture since I do better with them in finesse situations or when I want to let them soak a bit and work slowly, they also are a great deal at 4.99 for 5 baits, the BPS and kalins versions are $7.99 for a 5 pack, and I always buy something in green pumpkin, or something with gold and purple in it...I have noticed that when selling soft baits, colors that the serious bass angler's throw are pretty consistent-Green Pumpkins, Black and blue, black and red, watermelons,or forage based patterns. You sell some of the best color patterns I have seen for Jigs, and your swim jigs are fantastic, so I would think carrying the Keitechs would be smart as i would grab them to go with your jig heads and Swiim Jigs for sure. I have heard the Stick baits are really good but I can't pay $7.99 for them, maybe they are worth it????? I do need to place a new order for your swim jigs and punch rigs again, the wire holds those skirts so well, I can catch fish in both fresh or Saltwater all day on the swim jig and they hold up. My only suggestion is to not buy more of the smaller sizes, the 3" seems to be the perfect size for everyone from my experiences with swimbaits, and the 3.8" in the keitechs are still small compared to other brands.

I have 2 lures that catch fish better than any other's in class and I don't know why. Both have absolutely zero paint left on them with the exception of some orange I put under the chin of the lures. -one is a Bomber long 15a Floater that I have for roughly 15 years and it used to catch striped bass of the beach better than any other plug including bombers. At that time it was the bengal tiger color. Now, it is my best Minnow bait and I am afraid to change out hooks so I am always sharpening and take hooks off old vintage bomber's to make sure it does not change anything. For some reason, it seems to be off balance just a bit, and it rises with a shaking action almost as if force was pushing it down but it rises differently for sure. I have shown friends and they see nothing different except they believe that the lure lacking paint is giving it some action that is better, so we have sanded down many Bomber Long A's, but I believe it is because it was an older version, so I buy all stock of Bomber Long A's made in the USA when I see them, I must have 100+ and I would not trade them for any other lure. -The other is a an old Bagley's Bang O lure which has the prop on the back, and it runs off to the side on a steady retrieve, but when you twitch it she turns on the side and tracks consistent, just not normal. I added silver and chartruese streaks to the side since I like to rip it 3 feet and pause, and they hit it when I am moving it every time, yet they hit all the other's most times while it is either resting or just starting or stopping. I actually do not care if my worm is bent, has dings in it, and I will try a swimbait when it is missing it's tail, it never hurts to take a cast with any bait and see what happens. I use the larger 4.8" Kalin's sizmic shad and BPS speed shad (Keitech Copies) without tails and they are now some of my best flukes and drop shot baits, Especially the kalins since fish love to short strike them and pull the tails off, the bait is gigantic for 4.8".

I would say some of the best angler's I have ever fished with used a very limited amount of tackle, usually lures that have been around forever and are classics for a reason, and one guy had all shakespeare reels, Ande line, $2 wallmart spinnerbaits, all house brand soft plastics and less expensive cranks like the cordell Big O, and Older rattle traps, and I doubt I could beat him no matter what I was using....Skill is skill, $50 lures can't make up for time and experience on the water.

I like to buy the Japanese lures simply because I feel all the places I fish get way to much pressure and I figure a different color, action, or anything slightly different may be better. With that said, The bulk of the fish I catch are on the "standard lures and baits" and I could go fishing for 12 hours with $50 worth of tackle and be 100% confident, but I feel better with a full bag of stuff. One thing I have been doing is using saltwater lures, or at least lures marketed to the saltwater croud like Mirrorlure, Unfair lures, Yo-zuri etc...The colors are different and some of the shapes look just like a large shiner or bluegill and produce well. I look for sales and when I find a good deal I buy them. Tackle warehouse recently had the Skimmer's for $10, and Ebay often has the Sebile lures (not the action series) for under $10 so you can buy plenty of quality tackle without breaking the bank...I also don't care if I have the nicest or fastest boat, I also have a cheap kayak that works fine, and I rarely spend more than $100 on a reel, or rod, I look for deals and sales, but I have no doubt some of the Japanese lures work better than the American stuff, but give me a few Rapala, Bomber, and Strike King hardbaits, big bite, Yum & Netbait plastics, and even regular Berkley Trilene and I am good to go if need be...I have a box full of expensive jerkbaits I have accumulated over the years, and the bomber long a, and Rapala Balsa Minnow hardbaits tend to see the most work, zara spooks will produce with the best of them as well for walkers, same with the Rebel Pop'r....I recently have gotten into the glide baits and bigger swimbaits, but you rarely lose them, and for me I buy the Savage, River2sea, and they seem to do the job..Same with the Spro and Sebile swimbaits which you can find deals on especially the versions from the year before.....

I had asked about feedback for this lure about a month ago and it seemed that it was a mystery, so I figured I would post my impressions.....For $10 at Tackle Warehouse, I say it's a good lure, can't say it's a producer yet, but after throwing 2 colors for about 1/2 hour,on a slow day, I did manage 1 fish barely 12". Lure is small, same size as smallest Chug Bug, Rebel Pop'r, but larger than a Tiny Torpedo since it 65mm. It doesn't have any internals, so it's silent. Based on the You Tube video I had to have this lure & the color patterns, big eyes & shape is unique & look promising. I have high hopes for this lure, especially in clear water/pressured fish situations. It is perfect for target casting without spooking fish on light line as it lands quietly & you can push a lot of water for such a small lure while barely moving it forward. I used an 8lb fluoro leader for one & 6lb mono on the other, and the fluoro gives it more pop, sits lower, and it still walks better than you would expect. Rings are good, has silver hooks that seem to be 1x strong but not the best quality imo, but I could be wrong. I changed them to VMC inline in front & ST-36 for rear in a larger size for the back. Overall, I would say it looks much prettier than the chug bug in color and shape,it makes a nice compliment to the bug as it is silent and the chug bug and most poppers have rattles or at least a 1 knocker inside. It looks wild with a straight retrieve or hard pull and pause, it makes a ton of commotion for such a small lure. Casting is not an issue or at least has not been so far as it is lighter than expected. The Yo-zuri Pencil 100mm sashimi series sits completely Horizontal with a dressed treble, walks with sharp cuts and is 1 of the easiest lures to walk even after a long cast & this thing can be thrown a mile on heavy casting gear, has a 1 knocker for sound, vibration ridges for more wake & color change seems to be legit as it has produced well a few times already. The saltwater version has 3x strong silver trebles which I changed on the darker colors, but Yo-zuri comes with legit components imo and for $8.99 this walker is really good & if you like alot of flash, this topwater is impressive & looks + fishes much better than the price tag. Another good lure if you like a slow rising minnow is the $2.99 Bass Pro version, it rises super slow, doesn't have the best colors, paint chips but it is a great lure for the $. Arched back gives it a wide wobble, 1 suspend strip and it suspends if you big up the hooks and rings....I think it is the older lew's minnow baits, but not 100% positive...

As to topwater being seasonal, I would say it is more of a weekly thing here in Florida as we will have a warming trend for a few days which will cause the bass to suspend in the upper half of the water, especially in skinny water or ponds. I have caught good sized bass while the air temps are in the high 30's in middle of Dec-Feb but it is not usually the best method. If fish are active I feel any bait or lure is game it all depends on placement and how much energy the fish is willing to expend to chase it down. A nice big 100mm zara spook sitting tail down even in the cold looks like an easy meal if the fish are suspending in 6' of water. Most suspending Jerkbaits only dive a few feet, so it is not uncommon to get a strike as soon as the jerkbait hits the water on days when you would never think topwater would work, but if it lands within a few feet of the fish and it looks like an easy meal they will hit it...Never say never, I have seen pictures of fish caught on buzzbaits in December at night as well. The key to topwater in the winter is making the lure look like an easy catch so it is important to use a steady slow retrieve alot of times and not the normal erratic pauses and speed changes, especially in low light. At night in winter I prefer jigs and bladed swm jigs, but I always will throw out a floating minnow like a bomber long a or bagleys bang o lure on every trip no matter the time of year or day, and more times than not they will hit it, the key is often having a teaser on the rear treble and also modifications to make the lure rise slowly, or only dive downward, not the side to side action alot of jerkbaits have. The timmy horton bomber long a will work great all winter as it suspends nose down and if you give it a jerk pause, jerk pause, it will stay nose down and not move forward when you stop, if you use the regular pro long a and fish are not active, they usually won't touch it as that lure is more of a flat suspender and will sometimes rise super slow, but it also moves side to side and not down like the timmy horton version and with jerkbaits every little change can make the difference of a good day or terrible day.

I use more hardbaits in the winter simply because I have less weeds to contend with, and I enjoy fishing with hardbaits, and I also feel that I get bigger fish to hit Jerkbaits both suspending, floating and sinking.

I love topwater fishing, I try to buy at least 1 of every kind as sort of a collection, but when it comes to walking an open faced popping lure, I would put the Sebile Splasher as the best imo. It come is a smaller sizes that cast a mile but they make a 90mm that is killer and it can walk like a champ, push a ton of water, and with the liquid filled glitter to imitate the scales of a baitfish falling off, I find the amber fashion gold and then the sun and salt colors to be some of the best designed topwater lures....For walking lures it is tough to beat the Bonga minnow which at only 95mm weighs an ounce, and at 72mm almost 3/4 and walks and glides at slow retrieves...I like the Megabass stuff, I am just afraid to throw it and lose em, but I love some of the innovation...nice collection, nice sharp walk....

I prefer the larger sizes when fish are active, and even at times when they are not since I can cast them further. The Japanese baits usually have really good long cast systems in them so on 10lb test you can cover more water and I look at it as a bait that is 110mm is a different look for pressured fish as most baits are 100mm standard size. I have never thrown a Duo Jerkbait but I have used their Topwater walking bait and it is awesome. They make quality stuff so I am sure you will be happy with the purchase. I actually find 125mm to be a good sized bait for Largmouth overall, so anything 100-130mm is good with me even for small ponds with mainly 2-4lb fish.

The only time I use a shaky head around grass is if I am using a bait that I plan to swim or work faster after casting to a piece of cover I want to work slowly. I find if the bottom is grassy your shaky head will just vanish, but if I want to cast toward a bunch of branches mixed into the weeds, I may try the shaky head rigged weedless with the screw, and usually use a swim senko or Ribbon tail, shake it a bit and lift and fall to hopefully get a fish to bite that is in that area, and if not, I can swim the bait out slowly and get a bite hopefully. I also consider a shaky rig to be a hard bottom lighter line 6-10lb test fluoro techinque, but I would think it would work well on heavy braid if you have hard bottom under a mat, some of the new shaky heads like the Megastrike version in light weight lands on top of the grass and will not vanish and it is a good design for hopping or dragging...The Megastrike Shaky heads are legit, I love em in the phoshpate pit ponds we have in Florida with hard bottom, I do well with them no matter what worm I put on them, or tube.

If you fish lakes with shad, chrome blue back or black back is a must have color and would be my first choice.... In early spring, crawfish pattern or a color like rayburn Red, and then a sexy shad with chartruese in it is a must have for stained water, during the bluegill spawn.... The only colors you need are really, something with some red and orange, chrome & blue, chartruese shad or sexy shad, and I like gold and firetiger at times as well. I rarely use any other colors except the live image series of lures which mimic tilapia, bluegill, etc.

I like the Markers, one side is chartruese, one side is red, and I also find that they are great for clear baits like salt and pepper. I can buy a salt and pepper senko and with some worm dye turn it into a bright red with black flake, or chart pepper if need be, but I used to dye tails alot with spike it, but now I rarely , bother....I would avoid the spike it bottles at all cost, they spill easy, stain carpet and everything else including counter tops, the garlic scent is really strong, and the Markers last forever and really easy to use....I actually use the marker on my hardbaits more than softbaits, a bit of chart or pink/red on a lipless crank adds flash in stained water.

Good question, I have not purchased one and thought they were designed to catch fisherman when I first laid eyes on one, but now I see they doubled down big time and created more versions, so I guess they must be selling and catching fish right? For the price of a bait ball lure, I can buy 2-3 lures that I know work great, but would buy one if I heard good stories since I love buying and testing out new products.

It all depends who I am fishing with...I have a few buddies who can flip a Jig or punch mats much more effective than I can, so I will let them work the mats to see if that is they way for us to go, and I will then work the edges or even turn around and work the deeper water with some type of faster presentation so I can cover water and hopefully find some active fish. I tend to throw chatterbaits, lipless cranks, topwaters, and soft swimbaits with a weighted hook and I will change between tubes, worms, swimbaits, creatures etc.. If we can't get a strike doing any of the above, we will usually find an area that we are confident holds fish and one of us will work the bottom with a split shot rig, or light texas rig and smaller bait, while the other works the different levels of the water column in case the fish are suspended, so depeding on depth it can be a supsending jerkbait to a light darter head with a grub. Many times I find that if i am fishing with a new person, and if we are both working topwaters in the morning or floating minnow baits over the grass, I will try a jointed version, silver instead of gold, or fish faster/slower with the goal being we both catch more fish...I never work against anyone I fish with, even in a tournament, If we both do well, it makes for a much better day for all. I also never throw the same type of bait as the boater if I am a co-angler and I am meeting the person for the first time even if he is using one of my favorite lures. Figure it is courtesy since his or her boat, and i am a guest, I usually spin around and not even fish the same shoreline just to avoid any hurt feelings because I may get one he missed.

I need to go check them out tomorrow, I like those rods, I actually almost picked one up about 6 months ago and I liked the way it felt when they were clearing out the ABU Garcia Vendettas for 75% off. I actually think the elites are a much better rod than the $69-$79 price tag would suggest. I have fished a few of my friend's Tech spec rods and the flippin sticks are actually a nice action and they have a nice soft tip yet plenty of back bone for what you need. I am hoping they have a 7'6" spinning rod left in heavy action for my soft bait fishing in grassy lakes, or a 6'-6-6' casting rod for my jerkbait fishing in Medium action which I have held in the store and they felt good. I have too many rods as it is, but for $20 they would upgrade a few set ups and I can sell the rods I am replacing on Ebay and make it at least a wash or even small profit... Thanks for the info...Xcalibur One Knockers and xr50-xr100 lipless cranks, 100-300 squarebills, evers jerkbaits, and zell pops have been $2.99 and buy one get one 1/2 for a long time now. I also found a ton of nice stuff on clearance from Rage, Mister Twister, Damiki, UV tightlines and all kinds of good stuff. Bomber Model A Wake baits were .99 which is a steal, that is a nice little crank for 0-3' and they had the Megastrike Shaky heads and Cavitron buzz baits in stock, I think I paid $6 for each pack of shaky heads, and $7.99 ea for 2 buzzbaits but they are must haves in the shaky head, buzzbait category. The Megastrike scent is a no-brainer, I have enough as it is so I refrained from buying more and instead invested in some power pro slick on sale.

I like their baits, they have a chemical smell to them so I soak them in scent, but I use the frogs in float and sinking models, and they make a tadpole that is really good, the detail and eyes make them great for clear water..I use one of their smaller 3.5" sinking frogs in a brown/yellow laminate and swim it slowly under the surface when faced with clear water as a wake bait and it works well. Plastic is hard but they include a hook in the bag which is cool, and mend it fixes them so they last forever and Bogs is legit for sure....Give the fish a new look, I like baits and lures that are not used by most. I have not used the snakes personally, but I know people who throw them, some are really big, but they look awesome, I am sure they work, I just stick to big 12" power worms when I want a long bait and I stick some D.O.A. Hot heads over the worm to give them eyes and it also pegs the hook and keeps bait from sliding. I also like to use different color eyes for different color worms, so I carry every color they make and they fit on senkos, ribbons, most baits except really thick swimbaits.

I am loving the Yo-zuri hardbaits lately, just got em and the sashimi topwaters are great, the walker sits flat and walks great, the small flat 3ds crank is small but casts a mile and you can burn em and they are flat sided ton of flash, sashimi is great for suspending and minnow baits, square bills, wakes, plus all have japanese quality hooks, long cast systems, and fish great out of box...I think fish are not used to them, I also love the spro squarebills, again, gammys and ready to go out of the box, also some sebile lures are a must.

TW has a feature where you can search "best sellers" and usually you will find that Keitechs, Strike king baits, and the most used stuff by the hardcore bass fisherman..However, buying baits is alot of fun, right now I can't believe how many quality baits are in clearance bins, I think their is too much good stuff on the market, I mean Rage Cut'r worms, Damiki products, Trigger x, RC square bills and damiki air frogs were just a few...and kvd terminal tackle was marked way down??

The Yum Mightee worm is 10" and will stand vertical, most worms do, recently i grabbed some mr. twister worms the bubble poc it paddle tails which are much different than I anticipated...translucent colors, great detail, unique action, buoyant and overall good baits, creatures are great on a shaky head, if you have a good shaky jig and it lands upright like the megastrike jig heads, I find even a ribbon tail or senko stands upright. I do like the squirell tail and also the bass pro magnum floating lizards just make sure you soak in scent. ELazach and zman, luck e strike makes a killer worm which is shape of a pro senko and has eyes...I do well with them they come 5 in a hard package and match up with their shaky heads but I don't do well with them, like megastrike, Yum Pumpkinhead, and alien heads by owner and some customs my buddy gave me, I like to use baits I can swim on a shaky head as well, so swim senkos and the big bite version or strike king zulu flukes are good