annexation

I tie braid direct to lure and it doesn't seem to cost me bites. I love braid's lack of stretch and generally dislike leaders. If I'm having a tough day, I've been known to tie on a fluorocarbon leader, but honestly I can't tell if it helps or not in the end.

If they won't come up top to hit a hollow-body frog, then consider throwing a jika rigged plastic creature of your choice into whatever holes you can find.

I got my first chatterbait bites a few days ago using a GYCB tube as a trailer. For me, the strikes came when I was burning it back; the smallmouth would just crush it.

Been there on the all palomar knot c-rig - been there, and felt like a total doof. I've learned my lesson.

Don't be afraid to jerk those things back on the retrieve after you've given it time to sink to the bottom; they have a really awesome darting action that triggers just as many strikes (if not more!) for me as the initial fall, assuming you've got it t-rigged. I like to give it a pair of walk-the-dog style twitches in between pauses, it always seems to work. It's true they shred up pretty quick, but in my experience they like 'em all mangled.

I'm still learning myself, honestly. I wasn't much of a soft plastics guy until last year when I first learned to texas rig a senko. As a bank fisherman myself, there doesn't feel like a wrong time, place, or way to fish those things. I've been experimenting with other plastics, but the 5" senko is still boss for me. I will say I've had good luck with Z-Man Crawdadz rigged texas on a 3/0 weighted EWG hook. They stick to the bottom well and the claws are really buoyant and wave around enticingly, even when deadsticked. Skin hook it and it's perfectly weedless (the weight might get hung up if there's lots of rocks, though). Drag 'em slow through fishy looking spots.

The only fish I've ever caught on a jig have been on the watermelon green Bitsy Bugs, so what's that tell ya? If you said "You need to fish jigs more often", then you might be right.

Thanks for the ideas, guys. Appreciate it. And yeah, it looks like they aren't as buoyant as I thought they'd be - the bellies are loaded with salt on the front half of the worms. The tails look a little more floaty, though, but the worms definitely sink.

On a whim I picked up a few bags of 4.5" straight tail Roboworms - I want to try dropshotting them next time I'm in a boat. I mostly fish from shore, though, and was wondering how you guys might consider rigging them in that kind of situation. I've never used them, or any small floating worm like them, so any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Banning A-rigs at this time seems like a knee-jerk to me - I think it deserves more years in the circuit before any serious consideration is warranted towards banning it.

I've been eyeballing some new topwaters and the Molex Proteus looked pretty unique for a walking bait. There doesn't seem to be much info online about people's experience with it, though, so I was wondering if you guys had anything to share on it. Doesn't seem terribly popular, but I'll likely pick one up out of curiosity regardless.

Lipless cranks and jigs. Going to figure them out, one way or another.

1) Super Spook Jr. 2) Z-Man Crawdadz 3) Z-Man Chatterbait Elite 4) Spro Bronzeye Poppin' Frogs 5) Rebel Deep Teeny Craw The Z-Man Crawdadz are awesome on a jika rig. They're ultra-buoyant and stand up when you stop the retrieve; just holding the pole gives those little legs so much life, it's crazy. Bass can't resist that stuff. Not to mention they last forever!