Cgolf

I keep thinking I take too many and then I see that folks like Ajay an others carry more of one style than I do altogether ? I am glad I have a 16 foot aluminum boat and not a 20 foot tackle box, I couldn’t imagine filling one of those;)

I had a couple of soft sided 3700 bags laying around that I wasn’t using, so I gave one to my father in law. I started looking at the tackle mate tackle box for my yearly week long trip to the Northwoods. I was going to use a work anniversary bonus from work, but likely won’t get it in time, so I needed a new plan. Well I remembered I made a 3600 hanging crank bait box to use on my local lakes, but knew it wouldn’t hold enough for a week. So I picked up some more 2” PVC to have enough to fill a 3700 size bag. The smaller PVC is a thin walled high pressure PVC. The standard small PVC is too thin and won’t hold any baits. The thin walled stuff will hold a 1.5 SK square bill. Right now the tubes are 7” tall, but I may shorten them to 6” if that allows me to get my falcon lipless box on top. Mini rant, I wish Plano would make a 3700 size lipless Edge box, since they bought the falcon line, this seems like a no brainer. @Glenn if you ever have a chat with them, throw this idea at them. I have like 8 of the falcon lipless boxes and the only bummer is they are odd sized, which is why I don’t think they ever became a big thing. Rant over front pocket has a 3600 box for topwaters and on the top of the tubes is a 3700 box for the rest of the non lipless baits. Will see how this works this summer. The 3600 sized bag has worked really well for me for a few years.

Your right I mistyped and meant the S crank, the scatter rap comparisons should have given it away;) I did fix it above. Not sure how I used the R2S swimbait name since I don’t even own one lol.

As TNRiver said, it’s the fact that possibly you and others assume based on cost something is better. That isn’t true many times and not just with fishing lures. If you like Megabass buy all you want, just know you have some really nice gear, but all of it isn’t the best for every situation. No company has produced a bass lure that guarantees fish caught yet;) I briefly thought dynamite, but if your in the wrong location you won’t get any bass.

Well I guess according to the OP I should just quit fishing because I don’t own any Megabass baits! Yeh No! This thread reminds me of some posters on the old river smallies, that if you weren’t fishing lucky craft baits and Shimano reels you didn’t know what you are doing. Well now that I can afford those Lucky Craft baits, my good old Bandit 100 just destroys the LC SB in productivity, go figure;) I don’t doubt a 110 will rule on some days, but a provoke, shadow rap, husky jerk, etc will have their days too depending on what the fish want that day. The Megabass bait I laugh at is the S crank that has the same retrieve pattern as the scatter rap series. Some trash those and of course love the Megabass. I have fished the scatter crank on rivers across current with success. Only critique I will agree with is that you can’t burn it because it washes out.

You are right, Delafield. I look at the whole thing as Milwaukee now apparently lol. As a kid I used to drive in all the time from the south side to shop, race RC cars, or go to Kopps but now rarely go in now and come from the north which takes me a bit to know where I am.

Stopped at Dick Smith’s in Milwaukee for the first time and was impressed. Had a very good selection of bass tackle and the prices were decent enough. Got to hold a St Croix Victory and was really impressed. Unfortunately all the actions out right now I already have solid rods in the lineup. Once they release a medium action moderate rod I am all over it! The big bite smallie smashers are a bait I have passed up on TW orders for a couple of years and decided to give them a try on a Ned rig. Similar to, but a little wider, than the MB bomb shot that has been a good Ned bait for me. Likewise this year I had passed on the new plopper, but once I saw it I realized it would be perfect for my smaller river system. Then a couple of Musky baits and my wife picked out the jitterbug. Next time we are in Milwaukee I would definitely stop there again.

I have a few Bandit 100s that caught a bunch of fish on a very rocky river I fish. I pull them out of service when I feel they earned there spot in the retired box. Most fish caught before losing one is 50, but second most is 25. The river eats cranks for lunch lol. The coolest one is a Bandit 100 that during the cast slapped a railing hard and was very cracked. I fished with it like that and caught 3-4 more fish before it was so cracked I thought it might break apart in the fishes mouth. Other than that my lake baits, a few have a bunch of fish, but I just have too many lol. Some SK Red Eye shads have caught me some nice numbers of fish though.

Not a great picture but the red is an old bottle of Shad, and the Brown is the Anise Craw. I go back and forth on the red being removed. Sometimes I thought a spot of red was nice to have, but it is messy if you get it on you. Didn't impact the catch rate though, the Anise craw has been my lake go to fishing around reed beds.

One thing I don't recommend is the spike it color dips with scent. The scent was so strong that I pitched the bottles and the baits. I practically gagged on the scent. Who knows it might have worked, but I wouldn't have stored the baits in the house lol. Maybe JJ's is like that.

Interesting that Pro Cure was a huge fail for me fishing for river smallies. Atlas Mikes and Liquid Mayhem worked very well and it seemed that Pro Cure repelled the fish lol. So Pro Cure is one I wouldn't recommend, but Atlas Mikes is one I used for years as well, especially the Gel Craw scent. Liquid Mayhem also works just fine with Zman baits. They also removed the red from the formula so the only color is the natural stuff they put in it. I know many didn't like the red because it stained stuff it came in contact with. Only stores with old stock should have the tubes with the red.

All I can say is I have seen a couple of instances where I caught fish and co angler didn't till I had them put scent on. Hour without fish, add scent to their bait, hits almost instantly and first fish within 5 minutes. When the bite is tough it can really make a difference. If they are hitting anything within 5 feet of them you really don't need it. I fish a lot of clear water and the fish are always in a mood, so it definitely helps there. I do realize that not everyone will be convinced so I gave up trying a long time ago. To answer the OP, I really like Liquid Mayhem and have used it for years, but both being gels you really can't go wrong. I haven't used megastrike, so I can't say for sure LM works better, but I know it works very well for me.

That is just supplementing what I already have. Was able to replicate War eagles purple Shad color really well, so I needed some backup to make more lol.

Easter bunny came early at our house because someone gets the second shot next Saturday and is expecting to be down and out on Easter. Got some stuff that was out on Black Friday. Both the suspending lipless and hyper jerks should be great fishing the shallower Reed beds. Haven’t heard anything on the hyper jerk, curious if anyone has tried it and liked it? Just added the Yum 3.25” craw chunks. Trying these as a replacement for the Menace. They will take my 3/0 pro slider hook. Since all new Rage baits are being sold at 6.99 I expect the Menace to get there too. I already only bought them on sale so the price bump for me would be a no buy.

Just picked up these slow rise suspend Walleye Nation jerkbaits from outlet bait. Most were wild walleye colors, but the Shad and perch should be good for bass. The bubbleyum reminds me of the bandit mad cow pattern that has done really well for me with smallies. Still really like the handwritten thank you.

Do you do this most days or only when the bite is tough? If the fish are chasing or actively hitting a heavier drop bait, seems like a lot of time is wasted. I have finesse presentations, but the waters I fish and cover/structure I target, without dropping an actual anchor, no shallow water anchors for me, I would be blown off the spot before the bait could properly be retrieved. That would explain why I don't catch them on senkos. As for scents I believe in gel scents, apparently the second time I disagree with the Berkley guy, because they flat out work. I use Liquid Mayhem now, atlas mikes before, and they really make a difference during a tough bite. You can see that they do slowly come off based on how the water looks when you pull them out, it just comes off slower than say a spray like bang. I have had people in the boat that caught zip while I was catching them with scent, and once I got them to add scent to the bait they were throwing they started catching them too.

For me I have a few. The old school tube and 5" Kalins grub flat out catch fish anywhere I have been. If I could only fish two styles of soft plastics for the rest of my life these would be it. Brand doesn't matter for the tube, but the grub must be Kalins. Bandit 100 has caught bass for me for years and I expect them to continue to do so for a long time. Yum Craw bug is hands down the best plastic I have fished for river smallies over the years, simple and cheap makes it a win win bait. Rage Menace I initially thought everyone on here said good things about them because they were a site sponsor, but this thing lived up to the hype. I don't use it as much now, but it is still very much in the rotation. Slider spider heads I have used these for 20+ years and in that time I haven't used a worm sinker or split shot at all. These have done everything I needed.

I have had really good luck with the Menace on a swing head. I have had some success as well with the Rage bug on a slider head, just never tried it on a swinghead. Two other baits that have been very good to me, never tried on a swing head either, are the Arsenal Assault bug and Gambler ugly otter. The ugly otter has produced on days when the menace wasn't getting a lot of looks, so it must be different enough, maybe more subtle since it doesn't have the flange on the tails for more kick like the menace, structure bug, and assault bug..

You are talking two different things. To me Ned isn't imitating a craw, too skinny. I take issue with Dr Jones research based on data I have collected in the field. I too have caught numbers and large fish on both the Ned and the crawbug, but a standard Ned bait has a different profile than a craw with or without pinchers. I think of a tube as more of a craw imitation than a Ned. We agree a Ned is a good effective bait, I never said it was a bad bait. Craw baits missing appendages I change out because they don't get bites, not sure what you do with craw baits when they lose an appendage. The only thing I have changed with the Ned and Rage menace too, was I got to a point I only tossed one or the other and if the bite wasn't there I left. Eventually I got myself to switch baits at some point and realized that under certain conditions previous go to baits were that for a reason, they caught fish too. Right now my go to trout and creek chub bait is a mini ned. A half chunk of non elaztech TRD look alike that will fit in the fish's mouth and get me a hookup. A solid trout is 10" on this system, but have caught some over 20. Generally a small hook is needed with no plastic beyond the hook or you won't hook them because they just grab the plastic.

If that is what you want to believe, sure. I will take my 16 years of evidence and work with that. The Ned rig works, but it is not magic. I have used it on the same river with less success than the crawbug. I think people become too dependent on the Ned rig, I did for a while too, and forget that like other baits it has its time and place. If the Ned works for you keep at it, but try some other stuff too.

While Dr Jones and Berkley did a lot of research that I agree with, this one doesn't match reality. The yum 2.5" crawbug is far and away my best river bait. I can tell you I have not caught one smallie when one pincher was lost off the bait. I tried for a while, but now junk the bait once this happens. That crawbug with a little gel scent in the hollow body is smallmouth candy.

Back when I was looking for Ned heads I was told to check out eBay. Found Jade’s Jigs and was impressed enough with the Christmas haul to check out their website. Got these for 28 shipped and the kicker is they are lead free. If these work as good as I think they will, may try a bulk order later this year and see if will get a better price. Even if I don’t the price is good enough for me.

I vote for gel scents. Used atlas mikes before I switched to liquid Mayhem and the gels far out produced liquid based scents I tried. I never did try Bang scents though. The first scent I probably tried was crappie nibbles twenty years ago. Liquid mayhem has a lot of different scents to choose from, not sure how much variety megastrike has. I know a lot of folks on here like it.

I have used a ziploc bag at times. I use Liquid Mayhem gel that has a snap cap like megastrike and generally throw it unbagged in the front pocket of my shore bag. In the boat I keep a few different tubes in a Rubbermaid shoebox and the one I am using in a cup holder off the floor so I don’t step on it and make a mess.

Never used a trailer on a spinnerbait. That said I did pick up some yum pulse jrs during the off season to use on swim jigs and I may try it on a spinnerbait. The main reason I don’t want to try is when I have had spinnerbaits with the extra long tails I found I got a lot of tugs but not hookups. Once I Cut the long tails off the skirts I caught more fish. Guessing I may run into the same issue with a trailer where they strike the tail of the trailer and not the hook.