walt-14

There's a brand new bridge being built on a local small river that I have targeted smallies, walleye, and sauger on. I've done well around bridges in the past due to them having some of the deeper water on the river but is a brand new bridge going to be something that fish relate to right away or will it take some time for them to be there? Wondering how everyone on here would approach this, is it going to take a few seasons for the fish to be there or do you think fishing it right away is worth my time?

I grew up playing a ton of sports and always loved challenging myself to be the best at whatever I did. When I was young, I fished here and there with my old man or my grandpa but it was typically river fishing for catfish but nothing religious about it. As I continued to get older, I had a pretty good amount of success with my athletics but I worked my tail off to get to that point. I always loved the "games within the games" aspect of sports. I was lucky enough to go play college basketball at a small university in Sioux City, IA. After I was done, my time playing organized sports was over. I switched that love of a challenge over to bass fishing. It's those little challenges that keep me coming back, regardless of how successful/unsuccessful I am each outing. Trying to figure out what bait works that day, trying to make the perfect cast to an area, trying to always catch a bigger fish than the last one, etc. always keeps me wanting more.

Had my buddy @DitchPanda refer me to some of the Z man sling bladez double willow in spot remover and chartreuse pearl in 3/8th oz. Got them in the mail yesterday and am excited to give them a try. I’m typically a strike king spinnerbait guy and usually in a 1/2 oz. I trust my buddy quite a bit so I’m guessing these won’t disappoint me at all.

I have the 130, 110, and 75. 130 and 75 in Loon and the 110 in Powder. The 130 has outperformed the other two by a LONG ways. I love throwing the plopper in my area almost to a fault. I pretty much have the 130 tied on at all times. The bites that it has produced for me have been some of the bigger bass ive caught. Nothing more exciting than seeing a hog blow up on a plopper.

I'm a fan of the 6th sense divine swimbait. Have used them as a swimbait trailer a handful of times and have done well. Havent used the 6th sense "whale" swimbait at all but would imagine that they would be pretty solid as well.

Swimjig! Swimjig! Swimjig! The fact that I can throw that thing in and around any sort of cover is huge in me getting bites! Currently throwing a 3/8 oz 6th sense divine swimjig with a menace grub trailer. Went out last saturday and the fish were in 6-8 inches of water. Threw that swimjig in the thickest of brush piles right at shore. The bass were way up in there. Couldnt get bit 2-3 feet off the pile, but right smack dab in the middle, would get hammered.

5th Grade Teacher, HS Basketball coach, and JH baseball coach.

Swim jig skirt- Blue Gill Magic from 6th sense Most other jigs skirt- Boss’s army blue bars

Planning on trying an old gravel pit in the coming days that I’ve never fished before. I’m told there aren’t a lot of brush piles, rocks, or trees anywhere in the water. Sounds like it’s mainly semi-steep drops off from the shallow areas. Im not overly experienced in fishing these drop offs (I assume this is where the fish will be if they aren’t up shallow). I usually target fish around some sort of structure. Any suggestions on what to target these fish with as far as lures go? And is there any thing else that I should be looking for that may hold fish? Last thing to keep in mind, I’m fishing from shore so obviously that will have quite an impact.

First beer that pops in my head when i think cheap is Natty Light. That was our go-to in college and it will always hold a place near and dear to my heart. I honestly prefer a Natty Light over most other beers. If i'm lucky enough to find a bar that serves bottles of Natty Light, you can bet a lot of money thats what i'll be drinking all night.

I plead the 5th....

Pumpkin black & green flake and pumpkin black flake. No idea why these have been the best color for me over the years but this color has caught more fish for me than a black/blue senko or green pumpkin senko. What the orange color would represent to a bass is beyond me but i've had a good amount of success on these two colors.

Man, haven’t checked on my thread for a few days and this kinda blew up! In my OP, like @DitchPanda said, I just assumed most would know i would throw straight braid when fishing frogs and that the leader question was geared towards the use of the glides/swimbaits. I also now realize that I probably didn’t need to include the info on the use of of frogs with the set up in the OP. So let’s all go back to being friends. Anyway, I ended up going with Big Game due to a good amount of recommendations on it and it was easy for me to get a hold of. Hoping it gets some good tests coming up in the next few weeks as the weather looks like it’s gonna get the fish putting in the feed bag before the spawn here in Iowa. Thanks for all the recommendations everyone, I really appreciate all the help!

Just picked up a new heavy daiwa aird and paired it with a Daiwa Tatula. Planning on throwing swimbaits/glidebaits and frogs on this thing. Wondering what everyones suggestions would be for using a mono leader. Going to spool it up with 50-65 lb power pro braid with the leader. Have had a couple suggestions from a buddy, who i trust pretty well, but wanted to see what everyone else thought. Thanks!

Highly recommend the Bomber Square A. Started throwing them last spring and did well with them. They are inexpensive as well which in turn doesn't make me as nervous throwing it around wood or rip rap. Apple Red Craw, Oxbow, and Baby Bass are great colors to have. Stock hooks are garbage so I would definitely change those out if you happen to pick some up.