papajoe222

Done. Hope you reach your goal ?

Been there, done that. One of my first baitcasters. I was fishing from a tube, went to cast to some emergent weeds about 40yrds. away. The combo actually made it to the weed edge! I paddled over and searched for an hour, but never found it. Every outing, I'd go back to that spot looking for it. I did find another combo; a spin caster that looked like it'd been in the water for a few years.

Not only do SM fight harder, I feel that their strike is more aggressive. I'm not talking about a subtle inhale of a tube or jig, but hammering a spinnerbait or crank. Similar to comparing a Northern and a musky, although most would agree that the pike is much more aggressive in these two comparisons.

Use anything for backing/main line as long as the 12lb. Tatsu is at the business end.

Take pics with your phone of each step of your takedown process. Lay the parts down as stated above. If a spring or clip were to fly off, you'll be able to see where and how it goes back.Now you can clean the parts that need cleaning and put them back on the layout. Once you have everything on the layout, look at the pic you took of it before and compare it to what you now have in front of you. Then just reverse the order as you put it back together.

I'm in the same group as these guys. However, depending on the level of suspension before weighting, adding heavier split rings/hooks, or both will get the desired result. With regards to attitude of the final product, I also go for a horizontal rest.

On my first boat, I had two plastic labels on the screen of my Humminbird 60 flasher, so that every time I looked down at it I was reminded to SLOW DOWN and BUMP IT. Those little reminders helped me become a better angler.

I switched from an eight passenger SUV to a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It pulls my Tracker with no problem. I have switched from a system that hung from the ceiling in the old SUV, to either storing my rods in the rod locker, or putting the rear seat down and laying them flat in the Jeep. I live in Illinois, so my fuel mileage is what I consider an improvement at 19 mpg. In hill country, that will drop a couple mpg.

For some reason, a fast cadence doesn't work for me. In fact, the opposite is true more times than not. The retrieve A-Jay was using at the start of his video is about the fastest I get results with and during the early spring, just after ice-out, I may let the bait sit for 20-30sec. between pulls. I've seen many videos of pros working a jerkbait super fast. I just haven't gotten that retrieve to work for me.

Yo-Zuri 3DB Series Jerkbait. That and a Smithwick Perfect 10 Rogue when I want something that runs deeper.

Up here, where there's COLD water, a Zoom Super Chunk with a little Spike-It gets the call for me. I loved pork and still do, but I hate the hassle of taking it off and having to rinse the jig.

There are three that I rely on; Traps, RES and Hot Spots. Each has their unique sound and come through the water differently. For a straight retrieve, the Trap is hard to beat. For a lift drop retrieve, the RES shines and for brush and rock a Spot maybe won't catch as many, but if you loose one to a snag, it won't hurt your wallet as much. I wish SK still offered the Diamond Shad, a chrome one was a killer for me for years.

Same here. If I'm using a yo yo retrieve, or stroking a lipless, I want one that has action on the fall. Here's a tip for the OP: After the fall, let your lipless sit motionless on the bottom for a while. Often times as you lift it up afterword, a bass will either already have it, or one will hit it as it rises. I've had them pick up a blade bait just sitting on the bottom in super cold water.

Just wondering about your thoughts on using living rubber skirted jigs for cold water. Do they have an advantage over other skirt materials? It's not that I haven't caught bass using silicone skirted jigs, or hair jigs, those are all I've ever used. I tried some rubber skirted jigs for the first time this season and was pleasantly rewarded when I soaked them. I figured that maybe the super slow presentation in cold water would do the same. Also, I tend to tone down the action of jig trailers in cold water where chunks get the nod over action trailers like craws and creature baits. I even throw bare jigs (no skirt) with 'do nothing' trailers. What's your approach?

I'm looking forward to doing more topwater fishing next season. For some reason, I did very little this year and considering how much I love to work a Spook, I was surprised. I normally break them out around the spawn and don't put them down until the lakes are closed. I'll be doing just that next season.

My #1 punch bait.

With most topwaters, I pause once the lure touches down. Sometimes it's only five seconds or so, but other times, especially with floating Rapalas in the spring, I'll let it sit 30 seconds or more before moving it. I'll also pause once or twice during the retrieve. I'd say, for me, 50% of strikes come either while the bait is sitting still, or just as I start working it. For some reason, I just can't get a buzzbait to sit on top without it sinking and forget pausing one mid-retrieve. Those are the only topwater I use as a search bait. My follow up for missed fish is almost always a Spook. One of these years I may give one of them plopper thingies a try.

One of my better producing Spooks is their Black Shore Minnow. Other black hard baits that work well for me are a black Jitterbug and Colorado bladed spinnerbait. To be honest, I never thought about throwing a jerkbait in a low visibility situation, let alone a black one. It's always been a clear water presentation for me, although I could see where it'd be something productive in clear water under low light conditions.

A 3/8oz. blade bait (not bladed jig) yielded a bunch of quality bass from ice-out until after the spawn. It was my go to lure for numbers after post-spawn all the way to the end of the season. I doubt I threw a lipless crank more than 4 or 5 times, which was my confidence bait prior to last year. I think the similar vibration without rattles made the difference.

That would depend on how you intend to work the bait. The belly weighted version I would use more for a swimming retrieve and the head weighted one for a lift and drop retrieve, but that's just what I would do. Both models could be used for either retrieve.

Smallmouth fry will exhibit stripes, so they aren't specific to larger fish. As Scott F mentioned, their coloration changes based on their environment. However, that change takes time and is the reason that you may catch fish from one spot with completely different coloration. Largemouth go through basically the same thing, sometimes exhibiting very distinct markings and other times not. The difference being with LM, that change is related more to the exposure to sunlight than to it's surroundings. A birthmark, which is a rare occurance, will remain throughout it's life, but the shading will change.

Sorry I can't help you ID this one, but I like the oversized eyes. If the belly is wider than the back, which it appears to be, it should be a good one for a yo yo retrieve as well as just chuckin' and windin'. I'm guessing you've fished this bait and are looking to get a few more. Good Luck