PotatoLake

Yep, that's the one.

Daiwa on a Shimano rod? Blasphemy! I just got a Conquest 905 and I plan to pair it with a new 22 Bantam. Those things are tanks and are smooth casters. Super versatile too. I’ll report back after time on the water. They also make a Monster Gear version of the Antares DC. I didn’t go there, but it’s an option.

Ben at the Hookup Tackle really likes the Steez Utility Player and the Moving Versatile. Has them right up there with NRX, P5, Conquest. Lifetime warranty right? Pretty good company.

Ive always heard this is the Loomis chatter rod to own. IMX Pro Cast Rod 7'4" Med Hvy Bladed Jig 883C BJR

@TBAG Just curious if you did end up sending in your Poison Adrena and what happened there. I'm having the same decision to make, so it made me wonder what happened. Thx, sorry to resurrect an old thread.

I like rods in the 7’2” - 7’3”range, Nice forgiving tip but a powerful butt. SC Victory “The Marshall” is a bit over your budget, you could dig around for a used one or I’ve seen some pretty sick deals on SC’s lately. I’ve seen great reviews of the new Daiwa Tatula XTs. That’s in that range. That’s probably where I’d look.

X Bites.

Yeah, I don't get to fish Lake of the Ozarks much, but I do fish Truman and Pomme de Terre which are the next two closest lakes. So I don't have any specific places on the lake to direct you. Most of the lakes down here, football jigs are a player year round, and especially in the fall. Early in the mornings you'll see tons of blowups, so of course your walking the dog style of lures are good bets for picking up some fish. If you get overcast conditions, Ive done really well with spinnerbaits in the fall around stickups. I'd study the lake for flats midway to the back of the creeks. They'll push those baitballs into the flats and go into feeding cycles throughout the day. Had some 20 fish days in the fall on a DT4, which tells you how shallow they can get.

They will most likely be in the creeks hammering on gigantic schools of shad. Take a look at Fish30 on YouTube, that guy puts footage of tournaments he fishes in that area. He might have some from previous Octobers that you might be able to glean something.

This is true and a very popular technique in Japan called backsliding. You have to rig it "backwards" so the hook is through the skirted side, leaving the heavy bulbous nose pointing towards your target. Leave slack in your line to allow the bait to travel forwards. I also suggest a Deps Bullflat, 4.8 or 5.8. Put it on a large weighted swimbait hook. Looks just like a struggling bluegill. I've had a couple nice ones munch those around docks.

I’ve had some success with a Megabass PopMax in this scenario. I like the transparent shad colors like GP sexy shad.

All of us on shad lakes have seen the giant schools of 1” or so immature shad getting corralled into shallow flats this time of year. What’s your plan of attack with this situation? Favorite lures to throw? It seems tough to compete with all that bait. Thoughts?

Same here. I’ve had my best luck targeting vertical cover like stick ups or docks.

We are about to hit crankbait prime time in my neck of the woods. I’ve always had them chew when they start corralling shad in the flats. I’ll usually throw reaction on windier or cloudier days in the summer. If it’s postfrontal bluebird stuff I’ll slow down with the free rig. Always make sure you’re hitting cover, fishing a start/stop/sweep retrieve or digging the bottom. That helps.

Grab the 12 inch version, stick a nail weight in the nose and neko rig it. Especially in the summer months, this has caught a number of quality fish for me.

That Nanahan has been ?. Works well with tiny schools of shad of everywhere this time of year.

Perch colored shad rap. That catches everything in the lake. Maybe go with a number 7 for largemouth.

I'm fairly certain that's a no on elaztech style plastic. I haven't had time to use them yet, but I can report back on durability and effectiveness when I do.

Got a couple of goodies from japan. Hairy dice and MMZ deka 13 inch worm. They both look fun as heck to fish.

Pretty sure that would be illegal in Missouri too.

Boil the frog in hot water. It'll soften it up quite a bit. When I got mine at first I was having that issue, the plastic they use is pretty stiff. I've done better with landing them since, still not great.

I agree with this idea as well. If your pond is grassy, you could try a bladed jig too.

Silent: Evergreen Justine 115 ( No wind, super shallow) Not silent, but subtle: Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 (Good all around) Loud and obnoxious: Evergreen Shower Blows 105 (Chop, Calling up from deeper water)

I'm going to try out the Tackle HD Ned Mites here in a few days. I'll ned rig them and mojo rig them. I'll report back on how I do with them.

@Bluebasser86 I like your Rozante approach to matching the tiny shad. I wonder if that X-Nanahan from Megabass would also work under the same idea. @gimruis Great topic, Ive had bites during post spawn/ summer, throwing a Jackal Rerange and a Lucky Craft Flash Pointer when I see schoolers slashing at bait balls. I wouldn’t say I’ve lit them up, but they’ve worked decently.