mnbassman23

1st tournament was probably your best chance at placing well, since he was around nicer fish at one point in day. Did you try drop shotting as well or maybe a shaky head when he caught those bigger fish? Or even try something bigger like a Jig to try and get those bigger fish to eat? The second one could go 50/50. Since both your weights were similar either you weren't around bigger fish OR neither of you were using the right technique to get those big fish to bite. Third one is tough to say. I know how hard it can be to fish slower presentations when someone is fishing fast with a crank. Unless you have a crank, spinnerbait, swimjig, chatter bait, or something that you can fish at a similar pace its almost impossible to fish it decent. What baits were you using when he was cranking, I'm guessing a slower moving bait since you said it was hard to fish it effectively. List the baits you used for each specific tournament to give us an idea of what your using. Personally if I'm looking for bigger fish I almost always pick up jigs, frog, buzzbaits, swimbaits, big worms, bigger sized cranks and the punching gear. A lot of this will depend on what your boater is doing but those are some ideas of what to have handy and utilize. Even when I'm not fishing a tournament I fish with the mentality of go big or go home. That doesn't always mean a big bait, but more times than not the lures i listed will get me a few 3-6lbs each time out. I'm sure others will add more advice.

6 turn uni knot

I agree with everyone above. All blue lures/baits are great and by far one of my confidence colors.

How deep was the fish caught? 3ft Did the lure contain rattles or have hinges? No (Jig) Was the lure a natural color (brown, green) or was it an unnatural color (chartreuse, orange)? Natural If possible, what moon phase was your PB caught during? Not sure, was caught on 8/10/12 if you want to check.

Tallen316, the football head is designed to excel in rocky/hard bottoms. If you know you are going to be fishing a lot of rock, gravel, and sand with little to no weeds then grab some football heads. If you fish a little bit of everything - rock, grass, cattails, pencil reeds, brush, etc you will want the alien head. The alien head also skips well.

As Mr swim jig said the Flip and Swim will be the most versatile. 3/8 or 1/2oz is what I'd get for weight. I've done everything from burning this jig on top, flippin it into heavy cover, to slow rolling it in 20ft of water. Some of my better colors are New Gill, alimony, frogger, flippin blue, alabama craw, insanity, and salsa. I've caught them on many more colors, but I stock up on these usually. Also the knockouts and blacks series are great for any bottom contact situations. The alien head is great in that it always keeps your trailer upright in a defense craw position.

let me know how you like the hydra trail after you've fished it. I almost got the same exact bait in my tw order yesterday but decided to wait. I'd like to get a few for this fall if their decent baits.

Both companies have a great product and therefor a great following. Personally I'd say try some of each. NorthStar is having their 20% off sale right now with promo code "July 4" so it's a good time to try some baits for a great price. I did the video on their site for the black series jig and can tell you first hand that they produce big time, my favorite big fish jig. For the black series jig I like Alimony (which is essentially a black/blue with some yellow mixed in), Frogger, Wrotten Banana, and PB and J. Like Skeletor6 said, if you want a great jig for pitching/flippin/swimming all in one make sure to grab some Flip and Swims. They are the most versatile jig in the whole line up and come through the weeds great. If you have any bream/sunfish in your area the New Gill is lights out! Whatever company you choose its hard to go wrong with natural colors like browns/greens or black/blue with jigs. Try to match the forage of what the fish are eating in your lake and you will do well. If you want a bit more info on the Northstar black series here is an updated vid I did on this particular series.

I use to trim a lot of my weed gaurds and skirts, but after thinking about it I haven't done much modifying in the past year or two. If you are using the Black Series and Flip and Swim i personally think the weedgaurd is good as is. If you think the skirt is to long trim it a bit as others have said, but personally I do not do much to them out of the package.

I made a TW order last night. NorthStar Custom Baits just started their 20% off sale this AM, good the 3rd-7th.

I want! That pattern is awesome, Chris I may shoot you a call tomorrow.

You won't have issues with the longer rod and being "short". I'm 5'7 and have a 7'9" and 7'10" rod and they are my favorite sticks. You'll appreciate the extra length for those techniques.

I have a mojo (crankbait) and really like it. I have abused the crap out of it for 4 years and it's never missed a beat. I have broke 2 Vendetta's both the old and new model and am done with them. Even though they are only 10$ to replace I hate breaking rods and I have heard a lot of breaking issues with both the vendettas and veritas.

Pretty similar view on it as you ec1. If i'm up shallow I want a silent entry, this is especially true for pitching and flipping. I have practiced over and over to make sure I can make a bait enter softly as I feel this can be the key to success at times. If I'm out deeper I could care less. There are times up shallow were it doesn't matter though and like you said your bait hits the water, makes a lot of noise, and fish jump all over it instantly. Really it comes down to the mood of the fish, like most things.

I started using the 1.5's this year and I have had 0 issues with stock hooks and keeping fish pegged. Maybe with more use the issues will come, but after catching 75-100 fish on one bait the hooks are still working great. I use a MHM action rod with 10lb mono and its worked great for all my squarebills.

Same here man, I'm about to get 45 jigs in the mail here in the next few days and I will most likely order again for the 4th lol.

Chris you know what I want (facebook). I may have to special order some regardless. If I can get a jig to match this trailer to a T, it's lights out.

As mentioned above Chigger craw, Paca craw, Rage craw, and Pit Boss are all great craw imitators. One other lure that is way under used imo is the Havoc Craw Fatty. That thing is a big fish slayer for me.

Good idea man! Stock up on some now and then go hog wild when the sale comes lol. Like others have said it will be some time before NorthStar has another sale, when exactly is unknown, but it won't be until orders are caught up. Sales are awesome and I like saving money as much as the next guy, but for a custom jig they are priced very reasonable.

It's a good bait. I mostly use it t-rigged to pitch/flip to cover. Depending on the amount of cover and type will dictate which setup i use. Anything from a 6'8" MXF baitcaster with 12lb fluoro and a 1/4 oz weight up to a 7'10"MHF rod with 60lb braid and a 1 1/2 oz.

Well you got the two best Flip and Swim colors, so fish with confidence bud

Ouch man that is rough! Last year I broke 4 rods which was pretty depressing. I had one day on the water were I broke a Recon 715c while setting the hook on a 2lber and not an hour later I broke a Recon 796c while boat flipping a 3lber. I was beyond mad and had a few choice words after the second one broke.

Well said man and great review! Like we talked about the past week this jig is a winner and if you have crappie in your area it's a great imitator.

Go for it they are relatively cheap in the plastic world and very effective bait. Like rockchalk, I use them for swim jigs a lot but you can also use them as a smaller swimbait, grub, spinnerbait trailer, or even weightless. I just bought 10 bags a few weeks ago, getting stocked up for swim jig season up here in MN!

Glad to hear Hooligan, I grabbed a couple of these at the last BTD sale and am really excited to use them this year. I went with the 128.