Cgolf

Depends on conditions, XCal 200 for more active fish and a Bandit 100 for tough bite fish. Have to say the Bill Lewis echo had a good showing yesterday, but it had 1 trait I didn't like, it spun out on the retrieve once in a while. It may just need a slight tune, we shall see, but it caught fish for sure.

I always have my shore bag in the truck that has 2 double 3500 boxes, 1 for plastics and 1 for cranks and extra jigs etc. I have a 6 ft 2 piece ugly spin rod and a shorter one piece pinnacle bait casting rod that stay in the truck all summer. Mine isn't for emergencies though, I try to fish a local river most days for 20 minutes on my way to work.

Tube, last year on vacation 130 of 170 bass on the tube, crazy consistent bait.

For baits I would like to through out the Bandit 100. It is an excellent on the river and on the lake. For square bills I would say it has a more subtle action than than something like the Xcalibur square bills which are also great baits (200 size is my favorite) and can be found cheap right now. For deep water, Rapala DT's and norman dd22 and deep little n's Spinnerbaits, I have had a lot of luck with the Strike King bleeding bait series. They are cheap and I can get 50 to 100 fish on a bait, so pretty durable too.

Here are those two double Plano 3500 boxes sitting on top of a Plano 3600 box. Not sure how they would work in a kayak, but they work great in a shore pack.

The double sided 3500 box may fit what you are looking for with smaller compartments, although it is in a much smaller size. I have been using these boxes a lot lately though because they hold a bunch despite their small size.

Just watched the video, that thing swims similar to the scatter rap, without the goofy looking bill. Also a much heavier bait, interesting, may have to try one. What was the first color they showed in the video?

Got 4 and not sure will hit the water first on Saturday. The new Echo SB, Shadow Rap, Santone swim jig, and anglers choice killshot on a home brewed rig. May end up being the swim jig, since it is a new technique for me. First fish of the year would be a good way to get some confidence in something new.

I used a Strike King Baby King shad some last year and had some success. It doesn't require a heavy rod, and while I didn't hit any big bass, I did get a follow from a solid 40+ Muskie with it, so the big fish potential is their. it was a very user friendly bait to toss.

Bandit 100 - Mad cow looks cool and catches smallies Deep divers - fire tiger both clear and stained water and bluegill in clear water. Clear water shallow baits sexy shad variations

I may have made it all the way for my shore fishing setup. If I remember I will post pics. I only carry 2 double 3500 boxes. 1 with soft plastics, some prerigged and a few spares and the other for crankbaits and flies. The boat is an entirely different beast, pretty ugly there, so I am 50/50. To be fair on the boat I will chase Musky and troll for walleye too so that does cause some of the issue.

I just got the new plano hydro flow hanging box and I really like it, the only downside is its not small, but then again that is the upside is it holds a lot of baits or allows you to spread them out to make the easier to take out or put back in.

Always have a box with Kalins 5" grubs and some tubes with me. Feel like I can catch fish anywhere with those baits. Carry similar color selection in both.

So the ned rig is using the Elaztech baits, or any senko like bait cut in half? Assume different baits cut would give different actions and sink rates. Not trying to hijack, just trying to figure out the rig.

Wondered what you guys were talking about, finally figured it out. Always saw the rig in in fisherman and assumed it was their rig. I have 2 rigged up for the opener next Saturday with anglers choice wart Hawgs cut in half, but probably to heavy of a jig, will see how they work.

1 Bandit 2 Rapala 3 Use lot of other brands depending on conditions

I too have had luck with the same color. I see that color though as a walleye/carp imitator with the gold sides which my local lakes and river system have plenty of both so it is a great color. With the shadow rap, I picked up 5 colors that I thought would cover most situations, purpledescent, olive, carbon, yellow perch, and I believe moss back shiner. What is crazy about the bait though is if you look at the thumbnail pics on the TW site a lot of the colors are really similar, surprised that they didn't come out with some more of their brighter patterns like the have in the x rap.

The greens and yellows also have that pumpkinseed bluegill thing too. Not exact, but on a deep diver or square bill, those flashes could be enough to trigger bass and they don't get a lot of time to look at those either.

Completely agree, this is why I think a Senko works and is available in so many different colors. Basically it can be fished like a jerk bait giving fish plenty of time to inspect it. I also have seen color switches with bass in clear water depending on sun/no sun, waves/no waves etc. maybe there is a market for a Senko with a realistic finish. The nice thing with our WI lakes and their forage, fire tiger works in both clear and dingy water and is usually one of the best options.

Seeing all the threads about realistic baits and the expensive lured threads I got to thinking and realized about how those ultra realistic finishes are for us and not the fish. If you look at 2 lures, jigs and senkos, one has a reputation as a big bass bait and the other flat out catches fish, neither of the baits looks remotely realistic. Jig skirts are made with a mix of colors to give the illusion of of some type of prey and the senko has many color variations to do the same. These baits are also fished slow too giving bass plenty of time to inspect the baits. Lately I have been buying new cranks by looking at which colors generally match the forage on the lakes I fish instead of buying as many of the colors I could afford at the time thinking the slight differences between some of the colors may make a difference, which has allowed me to purchase a wider variety of tackle. What do you guys think?

Tubes and 5" kalins grubs. The kalins have the best tail action I have seen so specific brand there any tube brand works.

Thanks for the replies. Jerkbait fishing has never been a big priority for me until last fall/winter when an x rap was all I could land fish on. This told me I should start to utilize this more often, especially early and late season. I have a few xraps, shadow raps, husky jerks, rouges, and the KVD jerkbait I will mess around with here early season, and then maybe pick up one of these. Some comments do steer me away though just because I buy lures to fish, not collect. Same goes in my golf game, payed more for great import sticks because they were flat out better than the other available options. Not against paying more, the value just needs to be there to justify the purchase.

Been around a bit, guess it is time to get roasted for the first time. While I have an average fishing budget it isn't unlimited and I choose my purchases each year carefully. That being said if I plunk down the big bucks on one of these are they that much better than other baits, or not enough for someone with a more limited budget to justify.

When shore fishing a small amount of prerigged baits with some spares. Always carry the old stand byes and one or two new options. In the boat pick the tactics I want to fish and only carry baits for that. Then always carry a one panic box, soft plastics, with prerigged baits of all types and sizes. Also have one 3600 size box with an assortment of Crankbaits too. With a small boat this keeps ,me from tripping over stuff.

I have fished them a lot in reeds with a ton of success. In there I am fishing it in lanes because lures don't generally deflect off reeds they stick to them. Have also hand luck in between reed beds with them while fan casting over 5 fow water with a sandy bottom. Where I have had the best luck is shallow rocky stretches of river. They come through nicely and smallies love to whack em. Bandit 100 has been my best bait here.