gilkeybr

Thank you all for the tips. I should have noted before the lake seems to exclusively be LMB, no reported catches of SMB. Baitfish are various panfish species. My guess at primary forage is crayfish, based on the numbers you see around shore. I may have underestimated the water temps. Could be closer to mid-60s based on the temps of my local waters. My logic on the jig was that there are a vast amount of crayfish in and around this lake, but I do believe some of these tips could be right that a reaction bait could be a better bet (lipless crank, spinnerbait, etc). I guess this is why they call it fishing, and not catching. Hopefully there will be fish to be caught this weekend.

We are going to my in-laws cottage for the upcoming holiday weekend and I am looking for some advice or suggestions on what other people would do with this type of lake. For background, we have been going here for the last several years and I have had essentially no luck fishing catching only one spot with a top water last year. This year I am convinced to make it a successful trip. Information on the lake: -Clarity is very low, 4-6" at most -Average depth is ~20ft. On the SW corner of the lake is a dam with a rip-rap shore. The rest of the lake seems to primarily be soft bottom. -Creek arms feed the lake on the north end. -Expected water temps are probably in the mid- to high-50s. My uncle has said in the past that they've caught "a ton" of fish on wacky rigged senkos. I have tried that some in the past as well, but haven't had any success. My default would be to fish the dam, based on the structure available. Considering the time of year I plan to start with a wiggle wart for grinding the bank, a black/blue chatter bait, a black/blue jig and reluctantly, a black/blue senko. My thinking is they will be "tight to cover"? So if I can find any lay downs (difficult with the poor clarity), I should be throwing into them as much as possible? Is there a better suggestion? Should I be looked for bass off shore based on water temps? Should I be venturing up into the creek arms on the north end? Other lures i've considered are spinnerbaits, jerkbaits (probably not good based on clarity), shad raps, ned rigs, etc

Ok, now i'm looking for advice: Went out at lunch today to prove to myself that Saturday wasn't a fluke. I tied on my recovered jig, this time on a separate combo which has straight 40lb braid (Power Pro) with a palomar knot. I caught a few fish, so it was proven to not be a fluke. However on the fourth bite I set the hook and the jig broke off yet again!!! Is it possible there was some flaw in the line-tie or head of this particular jig leading to these line failures? Or do I need to loosen my drag for less severe hook sets? I have a feeling the advice I get will be "you must have tied a bad knot..." but I don't think that was the issue. In the case of the FC line break the first time, the knot was still intact on the line tie, with the leader broken ~1/4" above the line tie.

Turns out, you just have to throw a jig at a time and place where the fish want to eat a jig! I had one of my more miraculous moments fishing this past weekend. I tossed a jig near a weed line and felt a bite right away so I reeled down and set the hook. Broke off immediately. Sat down, grumbling "jig fishing is going to get expensive at this rate...", and started tying on the other jig I brought with me that day. Once I was tied back on I cast to the same spot knowing that it was a shot in the dark to catch the same fish again. Sure enough I got bit on the initial fall so I set the hook. Reeled the fish in to find that there was only one jig in its lip: Bummer. Feeling slightly dejected I removed the lure and just before throwing him back I looked into his mouth more closely. Low and behold, I see some skirt material in the back of his throat. I figured it was useless, as he SURELY must be gut hooked with the jig way down inside of his stomach. So I grabbed my forceps and started steadily pulling on the skirt/brush guard that I could see. The fish gods were smiling down upon me, since against all odds the hook was not embedded in the stomach at all and the jig popped right out!!! I'm shocked that I broke off on this little 2lber (20lb leader material on 40lb main line, it broke just above the jig head). But all I can conclude is I broke off in/around his mouth and then he proceeded to try to actually eat it during the time I was tying on the new jig? I've never had much luck with jigs, but I also haven't put much time into fishing them. I told myself this year would be the year where I try to work on it and develop some confidence. This weekend I had an incredible day at my local pond, catching 20+ fish in under about an hour and a half. Water temps on this pond have been pretty cold up until 2-3 weeks ago when the weather warmed up in Michigan and now they have gone from 50F to 75F in a short span of time. I think this has put the bass into full blown spawning mode.

I saw a Bama Bass video and bought one to give it a shot. I tried it a couple times and put in my "lures i'll never use" box. Things I didn't like: -Casting distance was very poor, like casting a balsa bait -Very sensitive to rod angle and retrieve speed -Prone to getting hog tied in my experience, which would lead to it running poorly and most importantly -No strikes, even on a pond where I can count the number of times i've been skunked on one hand. Saddest part was I paid full price for it!

Were these from Ollies? I have been to both my local Ollies in SE MI (Hall Road and Little Mack) and didn't see any. Any tips on where to go?

It wouldn't surprise me to find out all those line recycling tubes all end up getting dumped in a land fill anyway...

Thanks for all the tips. I have considered the superglue method myself in the past, but was worried about how it would impact the strength of the braid, especially in applications with really thin braid. I tied my first rizzuto finish yesterday. Its not all too difficult to tie, and does give a nice clean ending to the knot. I'll have to fish it a little to see how it sticks! Thanks again

For about the last year I have been using an FG knot for my leader line. The issue I am running into is with the tag end of the main line. When I end the knot, I understand you have to do some half-hitch knots with the main line both on top of and "after" the leader line. What I don't like is that occasionally one or two of these knots comes undone, resulting in a long flier piece, like shown in the picture below. Any tips for how to avoid this happening?

Yes, there is. But in short, I would throw it anywhere that doesn't have heavy cover. It is fairly weedless, even with the exposed hook, so you don't have to sweat too much throwing it near grass. But I wouldn't be chucking it into the heart of some pads or a big laydown. I've heard a lot of people talking about bouncing them along the bottom. My best success comes while swimming them just above the grass. PS, I fell for the Hogz. I wouldn't buy those again if I knew any better. Casting distance is quite poor compared to the regular TRD and I don't think they're any more effective at catching fish.

I really like my Oakley Flak 2.0s with prizm lenses. The lenses make everything look extremely vivid, almost surreal. In comparison to my polarized raybans, the amount of color/detail that I can see I think is significantly higher with the Oakleys. I also like that the frames are light/comfortable/flexible. Good for fishing glasses that may get some wear and tear. Always afraid to beat up the RBs.

Ned rig for me. If I can't get bit tossing a ned rig around, then I start to assume the bite is off. I wasn't a believer last year, but at this point i'm totally sold. Was bummed last night when I broke off on a fish (should have re-tied) and didn't have any TRDs in my bag.

The Jackall Riser Bait is eyeing me from my TW wish list. I think that could be a real smallie killer in the late summer/early fall...

I have 3 boxes for cranks: 1) Lipless, Shad imitators, and magnum cranks. In this the lipless are separated by colors (reds, shad colors and bluegill colors). The shad imitators are divided by Shad Raps, Glass Shad Raps and then "others" from non-rapala brands. I only have a few magnums (10XD, LC Magnum). 2) Squarebills, Medium Divers, miscellaneous. The squarebills are seperated by rattling and silent. The medium divers are separated by general depth (6-9ish, 10-13ish). The miscellaneous includes a section for jigs, spybaits, and some no-named floating cranks. 3) Jerkbaits. These are separated by size (<100mm and >100mm). Those are then divided into groups of Floaters vs Suspending. And those are then finally sorted by running depth (<4ft and >4ft). Its worth noting my boxes are of the "deep" variety, which helps to store more baits in each box. I then have a smaller box which i'll load up with what I think i'll use for the day and put in my backpack. All the baits have bonnets on them, which is a huge convenience. Although I haven't adopted a good strategy for re-installing the bonnets after using a bait. I want to wait to put them back on to let the hooks dry, but then I just leave the bonnets in my pockets and ultimately my wife finds a bunch in the wash!

I too was recently shopping for a cheaper alternative to Keitechs. I picked up some Eco Pro Tungsten Swing Shads the last time I was at Cabelas, so i'm excited to try those. The seem to be at least nearly as soft as the comparable Swing Impacts and Rage Swimmers that I have. The big thing I expect to miss is that "strong squid scent"! However, when comparing "like for like", there isn't really a significantly cheaper option out there. If you're talking about the difference of $1.00 or $1.25 per bait, whats the difference? I think that quarter is a good use of resources to have a bait that seems to be one of the best on the market and, more importantly, you have confidence in!

I'm not enthusiastic about the action of my Vision 110 FX lures. I found they would Porpoise out of the water when worked quickly. I find myself typically reaching for the traditional 110s and 110+ and leaving my FXs in the box

As long as there isn't a ton of obstacles, and the water isn't chocolate milk in color, I find myself starting with a Ned rig most frequently. However if its top water season, i'll often start there. Something moving to see if they are active

Well this is one of those things I wish I had never known about and I could continue to live in blissful ignorance. Looked through some of my jerkbaits and cranks to find this issue. You'll see a recurring theme that its MB baits showing the expansion. I measured some lures compared to their counter parts and you can see in some cases, like the 110 +1 shown below, there was an expansion of 2mm! Thats pretty surprising. Some of the lures that show expansion have never been fished, like the Shading and the bait I forgot its origin with adjustable weight system (MTB box origins). The Flap Slaps have never been fished and were in fact purchased only 8 months ago! I don't own a boat, so my lure don't get left in hot storage lockers in the sun all the time. Most of the time my lures are in planos in the garage. Pretty frustrated and confused as to what can be done to avoid this happening in the future??

For me they work as another application when you could also fish top water or a shallow running crank. I have had success on both a steady retrieve as well as when I worked them like a walking bait. I was nervous of my 168 when I bought it. When I tied it on for the first time, I pitched it out 15ft to see what the action and swim cadence looked like. Believe it or not, I got hit by a fish on that first retrieve! I've never hesitated to throw the 168 since then!

I have a 168 and a 200. Like previously stated I have caught bass in the 1.5lb range on the 168. Mine is in the I Know It color, which I think is a good compromise of a color for various bait fish. I did a couple "mods" that I read about: Filing the trailing edge of the front half of the hinge to allow for increased range of motion and added a split ring to the front. I don't have other glide baits to compare to, but it seems to make nice wide turns The 200 feels gigantic. I have only fished it a couple hours so far and haven't had any luck yet. Hoping to get lucky this spring!

Stopped at F&S and DSG on the way home. F&S had the Duel baits on sale for $7.99 each which was cheap enough to want to try a couple. I’m a sucker for JDM stuff... DSG had the 3 for 20 special on Brats/Ripstop/Shadow Raps. The monkey is satisfied...for now

Not murky water related, but I have fished the Finesse TRD at night with lots of success. I was pretty shocked that something so subtle could still get bit with in no-light conditions

I haven't fished my Clackin' Raps or Clackin' Cranks a ton, but when I have it hasn't been anything to write home about. The one I can't walk away from when I see them in the store, especially on discount, is the Clackin' Minnow. That could be partially to do with my jerkbait obsession though

Good grief that NZ Crawler is giant. I think its a cool bait, but I wish it came in something 50-60% as big!

I was nervous to use the Vision 110s that are in my tackle box. Now I use them and will even let other people use them (and other "expensive" stuff like Duos, LC, etc) as long as they let me tie their knots! If i'm really nervous about it i'll fish them on straight braid, at least 30lb test. When I do have a leader it'll usually be way overkill for what i'm fishing for (17-20lb). I know its ironic: Fish an expensive "ultra realistic" bait and then tie it straight to braided line...we all have our rules and quirks I guess. I also avoid brush piles and stumps like the plague while fishing expensive baits (further irony). If I get hung up once, i'm likely to change to a lure I love less just to be safe. And if I ever lose a lure in less than 15ft of water, you best believe i'm going in after it!