Airman4754

I have a 7' H, Micro Magic that I use for swim jigs and it would be a little too stiff. I also have a 7' M, Terex and it would be too light. I would recommend the MH.

Agreed. Our one really good smallie lake is almost thawed and we fish 3/8oz green pumpkin football jigs with Gitzits for a trailer and fish it like a Shakey Head.

Buy the cheapest double blade spinnerbaits you can, buy six pairs. One 3/8oz in white, black, and chart. One 1/2oz in white, black, and chart. Watch a video on YouTube on how to tune them. Buy trailer hooks for all of them. Get a pack of 4" Mister Twister chart w/silver flake grubs for trailers. You'll have every scenario covered.

I use a casting rod for my Senko setup, but my favorite spinning rig is a Phenix UMBX 7'6" M with a Pfluger Supreme (I'm a reel cheapskate). You will have $100 to spend on lures or get a more expensive reel.

When I'm not on the water I'm watching bass fishing, reading about bass fishing, or I'm talking about bass fishing. Personally I don't think it really makes me any better of an angler, but it keeps me motivated. Watching a guy drag a football jig across the bottom when I don't know the depth, bottom composition, water temp, etc. might be entertaining, but I doesn't teach you anything. To actually get better I make sure I fish at least 100 days a year and I stay in shape. I think being able to fish for 8 to 10 hours without stopping places you above the average Joe, because if you're not fishing you're not catching. By fishing a lot I see dead calm, windy, turbid, gin clear, post frontal, full moons, spawning phases, season changes, etc. I also think fishing and learning new water makes you a better fisherman because it adds new wrinkles to your technique. You can catch fish on the same lure everywhere, but the way you fish them to be successful can be much different between lakes.

I use the Big Bite Bait knock offs in the 25 pack. I throw them on a Lamiglas Senko Special casting rod which I believe is a 724 with zero problems. I haven't noticed any drop off in production with them either. T-rigged with a 5/0 hook they drop like a rock.

On my drop shot, shakey head, and Ned rig I'll usually tie a 10' leader at the start of the day so I don't have to tie more than once. For my baitcasters I do up to the line guide in the reel to about two feet from the end of the rod. Punch/pitch/flip is just straight braid.

I run braid on everything but my spinnerbait setup. I don't like throwing fluoro, but I use it as leader for almost everything. Use what you like.

I use PP Maxcuatro 50lb on most of my baitcasters. The Senko, Frog, and punch setup is 20, 65, and 80 respectively. Maxcuatro is 12lb diameter with 50lb strength, so it's extremely versatile. It's going to take something special to get me to change.

I think having the correct rod action for the hook size is as important as any other factor.

Absolutely. 1Rod is cool if you're 17, and Matt & Tim show you how to consistently get a 15lb bag. They're about the only ones I follow on YouTube.

I have a Plano 3700 box for every plastic technique that are always in the boat and full. I have two duffel bags. One has all the replacements for the techniques I'm going to fish, and the bag will all the ones I'm not is in my truck, because you never know. In all it has to be pretty close to 30lbs.

Agreed.

I have the 7'3" TFO drop shot rod and it's a very good rod. I guess you could say I upgraded to a Phenix UMBX for drop shotting but I still use the TFO for Ned and Mojo rigs. It's very well constructed and has quality parts. If you can catch a deal on one I would say go for it. For technique I use 20lb PP high-vis with an 8lb Flouro leader on all of my spinning setups.

You can win pretty much any tourney anywhere with those three lures.

This. Make sure the knot doesn't go into the reel, that's about the only rule you need to follow. I like a longer leader because it puts less pressure on the knot.

Any of the Kicker Fish Holeshot line and the Netbait Paca stuff all is buoyant.

That's a hell of an idea!

Same here. I also stared using two O-rings instead of one last year to stick the hook straight out and that made way more of a difference than type of hook.

For efficiency purposes I went with a 7'11" MH graphite crank bait rod. I throw from XD10's to A-rigs to 6" Hudds and all the way up to 8" glide baits on it. Unless you're a swimbait guy and throw them constantly it's good to have a big and little setup and kind of cover everything between 1-1/2 to 8oz.

The biggest problem with guys new to shakey head fishing is patience on the bite. You will feel the hit 90% of the time. First, use braid. Second point your rod down to the water, reel until you feel weight, and just give a firm pull back on the rod while you reel. If you are using good heads that actually standup the fish will be hooked dead center in the top of the mouth almost every time. That's where the Medium rod and your drag come in so they don't rip the hook out.

I have the 7'11" MH crank rod and it is anything but cheap. It's light for what it is, very well balanced and has a ton of power for XD10's and other oversized cranks. I'm kind of good on rods forever, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy another from this line. They actually look pretty good in person.

This will be a thing like T-rig vs. C-rig. Fish them both and see which one you like. I personally prefer a shakey head much more, but there will a legions of folks on here who feel the other way. The truth is they are both great techniques and they both work everywhere year round.

The dumbest thing I see and have to navigate around every year are fairly small lakes with a ton of ski boats on them with no enforced pattern. It's just a bunch of boats doing whatever they feel like at high speeds with people all over in the water. That is the fault of the enforcers as there should always be a very visible and posted ski route on every body of water. I do my best to keep to the outer edge and get through it and out of it as fast as possible. Everyone has to have a boater's license here, but you'd never be able to tell on lakes. Rivers and salt water are totally different though.

If we had pike I would bass fish a lot less. I've never caught or seen one but I would love to catch some.