Munkin

They are like a senko in that there is no real wrong way to fish them. Most of the time I am fishing them in shallow clear water so I can watch the bait. Honestly I just swim them around in a manner that replicates the prey I am trying to emulate. Just think of a swim jig as a bladeless spinnerbait. Allen

Generally Memorial Day weekend is the start of topwater season for me. It will vary year to tear but in general that is a good milestone of when you can start using topwaters. Allen

With all the talk about trying to save money on fishing lures I thought I would post of my experience from last year. Like a lot of people on here I am willing to spend large sums of money on bass fishing that I love but am always on the lookout for deals as it makes me feel good. On to my point of this story; for several years in a row I was just wrecking fish on a flick shake but with the Jackall worms being so expensive and more fragile than a senko I was looking for an alternative for non-tournament days. Having tried a bunch of different worms nothing was working half as good as the Jackall ones. One day I was in a liquidation store that had Zoom swamp crawlers on sale for $2 a pack. I thought to myself what do I have to lose as I can just melt them down if I don't like them? What I found is a swamp crawler is softer than any other Zoom bait I have used but did not work well as a flick shake bait for me. With that said I completely wrecked fish on it as a shakeyhead worm, slider worm, and as a drop shot worm! That $2 pack of worms helped me win two club tournaments, accounted for 3 out of 4 of my best days numbers wise and the kicker is I still have 11 of the 25 worms left in the pack. In short this bait has made it into the permanent rotation with me and if you are looking for a low cost worm to cover a lot of different situations look into it. Allen

With all the talk about trying to save money on fishing lures I thought I would post of my experience from last year. Like a lot of people on here I am willing to spend large sums of money on bass fishing that I love but am always on the lookout for deals as it makes me feel good. On to my point of this story; for several years in a row I was just wrecking fish on a flick shake but with the Jackall worms being so expensive and more fragile than a senko I was looking for an alternative for non-tournament days. Having tried a bunch of different worms nothing was working half as good as the Jackall ones. One day I was in a liquidation store that had Zoom swamp crawlers on sale for $2 a pack. I thought to myself what do I have to lose as I can just melt them down if I don't like them? What I found is a swamp crawler is softer than any other Zoom bait I have used but did not work well as a flick shake bait for me. With that said I completely wrecked fish on it as a shakeyhead worm, slider worm, and as a drop shot worm! That $2 pack of worms helped me win two club tournaments, accounted for 3 out of 4 of my best days numbers wise and the kicker is I still have 11 of the 25 worms left in the pack. In short this bait has made it into the permanent rotation with me and if you are looking for a low cost worm to cover a lot of different situations look into it. Allen

Depends on the water temp and whether it has been warming or not? For river fishing it is all about wintering holes and their transition from them. Try to find the wintering holes then concentrate on the areas the fish could move to without expending much energy. An example would be a bass is not going to swim from a 15' hole a 1/4 mile up a flat but will rise into the shallow water of the bank beside its hole. And as for lures 33-39 degree water I would use hair jigs and 2.5" tubes in natural colors. For 39-45 degree water I have had luck with; finesse jigs, shad raps, slow rolled spinnerbaits, suspending crankbaits, and subtle creature baits. Once the water hits 45 degrees I have caught them on everything including topwaters so have at it. Another thing I have noticed is a shorter bulkier bait works better earlier in the year than a longer skinnier one which is the exact opposite of the summer. Allen

One thing I am going to throw out there when it comes to pre-rigged soft plastics. If there is salt in the bait it will rust the hook especially if it is one of the matte black owner hooks. I lost about a dozen good jigs with Owner Deep Throat hooks thinking I was going to save TOW by pre-rigging them. Allen

That will work as a crayfish as well around here. Allen

Looks great! I thought I was the only guy using Indiana blades. Have you tried the clear plastic willows yet? I was planning on making a bait in about the same color as yours to try for gin clear water. Allen

The 3.8" Fat Impact is my favorite swim jig trailer. Allen

So am I but without any luck but I have a plan. Working with a company that spincasts heads to make one based on my spinnerbait head (See avatar). Allen

Green Pumkin I don't know how they came up with the name but the actual color was made by mistake by Zoom. Allen

MinnKota makes a portable temp gauge that is about the size a playing card by 3/4" thick. Allen

That vise is a lot nicer than the $12 one I picked up at Gander Mountain to tie hair jigs on. Allen

I have some black bear hair to trade if you are interested? Allen

I am not sure where in MO you are fishing but for spinnerbaits I would recommend Booyah Pond Magic in white, SK midnight special with a black blade, War Eagle 3/8oz in Mouse, and any 3/8oz Chart/white with one gold and one silver blade. I spent 5 months in MO and the chart/white worked best in the Meramac but the solid white worked better in the Big Piney. As for fluke colors pearl would be my first choice followed by albino for clear water. This will change based on where you are fishing but it is a good start. What I noticed when I was there was the LM in the lakes and SM in the streams seamed to like natural colors. The spots however liked the wild colors and I just wrecked them on a tequila sunrise lizard for some reason? Allen

I do not personally but let the fish tell you what they want. Allen

I remember when Rick Clunn won on the James river using this bait! I must have bought and lost 20 of them as a teenager. Allen

Owner twist lock. Allen

As fast as a crankbait is moving I doubt that they get a good enough look at it to guess which way the color pattern is swimming? The Rebel craw along with the Luhr Jensen Klawdad have caught me a lot of fish but I would guess it has more to do with the color and general shape than the realistic appearance of the bait. Allen That crayfish pattern is great but I would go with solid black eyes and ditch the red hooks. Allen

Lead is good to start with. Allen

You have a good plan: Start with things you use a lot of. This is how I got started and if you stick with it you will save money. As for the confidence jighead look into the mold I posted below, Mustad 91768 2/0 hooks, and a Dremel. http://store.do-itmolds.com/SWM-JigbrSz-18-14-38brHk-2190BbrCollar-None_p_1022.html Allen

Try a finesse style jig that matches the color of your local crayfish. Below I have posted a link showing the crayfish species that are distributed throughout the US. I am a shallow river SM fisherman at heart myself and can tell you that my most effective jigs for river SM are 5/16oz ball head brown/green finesse style. If finding the jigs you need is overwhelming contact Siebert Outdoors and he can fix you up with whatever jigs you need. I have no affiliation with his business but have had contact with him for years and can say without a doubt he can help. As far as trailers you basically need 3; subtle = Super chunks, aggressive = chigger craw, rage, twin tailed grub= Zoom creepy crawler or whatever else you want to use. Trailers that work depend on the day and fish activity level so I suggest you carry all 3 in colors that correspond to your jigs. http://iz.carnegiemnh.org/crayfish/country_pages/species_by_state.htm Allen

P-Line Kick-R minnow RI Little Dipper Zoom Swimming fluke Keitech (Any) I like to fish these as a swim jig trailer or on a Owner light twist lock head http://www.ownerhooks.com/basshooks.htm#5167W 4/0 for smaller baits and 5/0 for larger. Allen

So I am pretty good with spinnerbaits as they are my favorite bait and I have been fishing with them since 1988. What I suggest is you buy one of the BPS KVD spinnerbait videos for $10. I have no affiliation with KVD or BPS but what took my 20+ years to figure out he goes over in the videos. Normally these videos you just watch someone fish without learning much be he goes into detail. The second one he pimps SK more than I would like but watching those videos will definitely help with your learning curve. Allen

Shad raps for a tight wiggle is the norm but I have caught fish on a RC 1.5 square bill in 39 degree water in February. Try different baits until you find what works as bass do not read advice posted in fishing forums. Allen