Cgolf

A crazy colored husky jerk I got for Father's Day, should be great for smallies.

Question on the rules for lead free states. Reading some of the proposals, it sounds like over a 1/2 ounce or larger than an inch are exempt. So does that mean that most bass jigs are exempt because the hooks make them larger than 1"? I am guessing my slider hooks would be ok too.

Shore fishing on a shallow, 4 foot max depth where I fish, rocky river 3" grubs and a KVD 1.5 square bill have been working now that the weather it starting to stabilize towards warm now. When it was cooler it was the Ned rig that got it done, either the Zman TRD or and Anglers choice wart hawg cut in half, thinner profile than the TRD. Even got a bonus 35-40 Pike this morning, beautiful and wide fish that I never knew grew that big on this system.

Would really be curious to hear how the Bass in the reeds is. That is my favorite cover to fish for bass. PM me if it is a must have and I will do some searching to find a copy.

What you could do is make some of your own possibly cheaper. I fly fish some and you could pick up a jig hook of the proper size and put a tungsten or brass bead or cone head on it and for good measure add some non lead wire weight to push up against the bead or cone. To finish I would build up some thread behind the wire to keep it from slipping down the hook keeping the bead or cone in place. You can weigh them to decide the size of the beads, wire, and how many wraps of wire are needed. I can tie one up if you are interested to see, not anything I have tried, but it got the fly tier in me thinking.

Also to that I believe a Sauger lives in even muddier stretches of river, by choice, than its cousin the walleye. Curious about the differences between the eyes in those two.

Putting some thought into this, I have a theory as to why these color patterns show so prominently on this body of water. Since the Bass hold in gill rich water, I would guess under flat water sunny conditions the gills reflect brighter, possibly silverish with flashes of color but not prominent color which explains the smoke flake tubes. Overcast conditions or when the chop breaks up the light. I would guess the gills show off more green to Bass, because they aren't reflecting light as much. This would explain why water red works so well under these conditions. Tom probably has completely different scenario assuming bows are the main forage there. It is interesting that when I actually thought about it I was matching the hatch all along. So is the best plan to figure out how the main prey looks under different conditions and go with those colors? Cool thing about this thread is it got me thinking.

So reading this we can figure out what colors a fish should be able to see under certain light conditions based on the make up off their eyes, makes sense. We could definately use that as a starting point for color selection assuming that they will hit something they can see. where we probably need some test data is what colors do bass really prefer under the different conditions, the ones they can see the best or something different entirely. I cracked the code on one lake, if anyone wants to fund my study I am game to do lots more research on some big name lakes;)

I like you have seen this, while I have way less experience than you do, I have one clear water lake I have spent a week a year on and have finally pieced together the colors depending on the conditions. Sun up and calm to relatively calm, it is smoke colored baits, bluegill or baits with purple flake are the best producers, while water red, green pumpkin, etc blank. Overcast or chop on the water, water red, green pumpkin, etc work and smoke colored baits blank. Once I got this figured out my catch rate sky rocketed, and time of year doesn't seem to matter either. I was quite stunned to see how specific they were in their color preferences. People look at me like I am nuts when I try to explain this to them lol.

I am way less than 100% on this, but I thought it was Case. I remember this from another forum a long while back, but since that brand was popular on that site, that might be why it stuck with me.

What would be pretty cool is a storage box that would allow you to vary both the length and split a compartment width wise too into 2 or 3 slots. I could see this being handy for swimbaits or other baits where it is important to keep the tails straight. Personally I would do one up for Zman Ned rigged baits too. They also could just do a box with narrower slots too instead of making them adjustable.

While big lures do catch big fish, here on some highly pressured Musky lakes, we have seen them switch to smacking smaller lures instead of the larger musky baits. It sounded like the bass club tourney guys were catching more than the musky guys. I saw this too with a big fish on a swim jig. The moral to all that is if everyone is pounding big baits on the big fish holds, go in with a smaller bait, you may be surprised. It really is about location and using something different. I agree with Raul and Catt, my personal best Largie came on a 2" yellow grub out of a Florida pond, really wish I had a weight on that fish.

I have done that, but the shape isn't super consistent and it has one flat side. Currently I use an Anglers Choice Wart hawg as an alternative. Something that would be nice to see is a whopper plopper between the 90 which seems to small and the 130 that seems to big for WI bass. We need that just right size, maybe a 110.

I would like to see more brands at lower prices. Yum always has some cool stuff at a good price point. Berkley has thrown out some innovative styles in the havoc line at a great price, and I would guess the pit boss is one of their more popular baits. Hope other companies follow their lead. Would be awesome if Zman came out with a skinny Zinkerz. I have been doing really well with a skinny stick bait this year and would like a Zman version for a tail up presentation that the Zinkerz is famous for.

No longer listed on their site, I liked it rigged sideways on a swim jig to have the profile of and imitate a baitfish like a small gill. WW had them in the 2 buck box, but only water red. I have picked up a few other colors at other stores on clearance this year.

Yesterday at WW I picked up 3 bags of Pit bosses, a Yum Christie critter, and the now discontinued woolie bully out of the bargain bin that worked really well for me last year. Should be getting my TW order to unpack soon, can't wait for that one.

I need a strong braid knot that ties at a specific point on the line. For fishing I always use a Uni knot, but tightening it moves the tie point. My dad needs to tie pull pull lines for his rc planes and lengths are crucial so I am not sure the Uni knot is the best option for this.

I will second Bandits. I did crack one though on a railing while making a cast. It was a very hard hit, but I was able to catch 4 more fish on it before I retired it. Besides being tough baits they flat out catch fish.

I also know that you get to test some potential new gear that may or may not hit the market, and have some input on that product. Have seen in at least one case where pro staff guy had his bait brought to market by his sponsor.

That is so weird that you have to call them now. When I looked in December the prices were shown right on the site. Glad they still sell them that way, Kalins has the best action I have seen in a grub, and still manages to be very durable.

Sun perch all the way for me. I have fished it both in clear and green water with solid results. My favorite part of the jig is the flat bottom of the jig, I actually fished it off the bottom more than I swam it last year. I have also used the gold color on on the green lake to imitate carp and done well too. So far I have used omega and outkast swim jigs and the Santones were my favorite. I have other colors, but really haven't tried them since the other two worked so well for me.

Check out Kalin's/Uncle josh they sell 100 packs in a lot of their colors.

About all I can say is after the Senko came out and Lucky Craft baits too, companies saw that people were willing to pay more for gear. One company in particular, Rapala definitely appeared to raise their prices, unless it was all the bait shops trying to increase margins. Also if you look, the price per plastic has started to rise too. If I try Keitechs, I will get them on deal like you did, and like I did with the box of swim senkos that I have. But largely I have stayed out of this lure category because these generally are the pricier plastics out there. Call me cheap, but I already couldn't fish everything I have, so why buy more lol.

Curious how they worked out, I have a couple of bags ordered that I should get next week. I think everyone is excited about other swimbaits coming out, or they just don't like Yum baits.

I have had great luck with the Arkie Salty crawlin fry cut into 3 pieces, thinking it represents a helgie. Also use an anglers choice wart Hawg cut in 1/2. The true Ned to borrow a line from, @Team9nine, is the Ned is a sub 4" soft plastic on a 1/8 ounce or less small hooked jig. Zman baits work well for it, but they aren't the definition of the Ned Rig.