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Now that I have a couple dozen rods; it's my 6" swimbait rod on a open hook jighead, a-rig, 5-7" heavy hook scrounger, and deep cranks 15+. I also back up other combos throwing heavy football jigs out deep, carolina rigs, heavy swim jigs, heavy chatterbaits, preacher hair jigs, and pitching creatures into cover. The only thing that doesn't work the well for me is horizontally retrieving jigs in cover. The mod/fast action that makes it so versatile, loads too deep for me to work the jig free of cover without losing control as it pops free and unloads the rod, jumping the bait farther than I want. scott

Mexican bait monkey was hounding me bit this week. So I picked up a few magnum underspins & swimbait trailers just to get him off my back. While hammering 4-6 lbers around some trees with a Fluke/scrounger combo, the DD pictured joined the party. I have a good supply of this bait combo at the lodge. 275 Days and a Wake Up ~ A-Jay

Probably, haven't done it. A top heavy bait rolls easiest on a jighead, if any of your paddletails have flatter sides and a wide back making a triangular shape when viewing from head on, you'll probably have success getting the roll right away. I'm thinking of a xzone swammer, but I really can't see how any of them would be bad. I'm sure you have a fluke somewhere right? They work too. Basically, anything that behaves on a scrounger head seems to stroll well. For most 3.5-5" baits, I find 3/16oz and 5/32oz to be easiest to cast and retrieve properly. scott

@Koz I'm right there with you. I don't have electronics, but throwing them where I would swim a jig or paddle tail or even drag a jig is exactly where I get bites when those other techniques might be ignored. I like to think of it as a slow motion finesse scrounger or a horizontal damiki rig. I can't see this ever leaving my arsenal just like a jig and a worm, it seems like it'll always have a place. Big fish will always eat small fish. scott

Water temp on my water was 50 degrees on tuesday, and the bite was much more open than just dragging. My fish were on shad, and mostly moving on schools in 20-30' fow, and I was catching them working a tailspinner from the bottom to about 10' off of it, hopping a walk the dog retrieve of a duo Bayruf jig, and shaking a jig and minnow. That said it's been real cold the last few days, and I certainly expect a big drop in water temp the next time I'm out there. The slow stuff might be what i need. I lean toward a compact jig w/ a no action trailer, shaking a minnow right off the bottom, slow swimming a tiny underspin w/ a 2-3" swimbait as glued to the bottom as possible, a suspending jerk bait tuned to ever so slowly sink, dragging a little tube, and my best producer, lifting and dropping a blade bait. But this sudden drop in temp can really stun the gizzard and make them dumb easy meals if they get shocked. This might fire up the bass for short periods, beginning/end of day always seem best on my water. Tightlining a small flutter spoon, jigging spoon or tailspinner, and/or then reel ripping 2-4" jigging/flutter spoons a few feet off the bottom, deep cranking w/ short bursts and pauses, hopping a lv500 instead of a blade bait, and working an erratic finesse scrounger or chatterbait might all get a chance. I stick to jigs and tubes as craw imitators and drag and shake at glacial paces when signs of life are absent, but mostly lean toward mimicking struggling shad with vertically fast and erratic but horizontally slow(ish) presentations and have been rewarded frequently with plus sized bass and decent bags. The last few years have taught me to not overlook some of this faster stuff in the cold, the bass do get active in the cold water, it's just rare that the window is there for long. scott

FYI it worked fairly well on Lake Cooley the other day until I got the Scrounger head snagged. I somehow got the rig back without the Scrounger… and decided I better order another umbrella before I lose it entirely the next time 👍

I believe this mini finesse style umbrella rig came out maybe 7-10 years ago. NOTE that it has only ONE wire to accommodate a hook (it’s a Minnesota thing lol). The rig measures only 6 inches long, and came with 2 options - willow blades or dummy rigs. I thought it was a Yum product, but can’t find it. Maybe discontinued. Would be too bad - with a Scrounger head on the back it did serious damage back in the day.

Water was at 56 and found a willing school 2 mornings in a row on a hard bottom channel that swings by a point that moves from 18-25 fow. Had one smash a 7" armor shad on a scrounger in the predawn, but didn't hook up. Followed up with shaking a crush city minnow just off the bottom and practically caught all my fish this way. There were 3 total well over 5lbs and all them were landed on a BFS ish set up, very addictive. scott

The bass haven't been fired up when I'm there, but they're still around and somewhat willing. A few highlights; City bass Country bass 2.75" tube; 1/2oz jig, and 1/2oz finesse scrounger did the work. scott

@RHuff I recently had three mornings of catching on every other cast, roughly 90-100 bass in 9-10 hrs. But I also put in another 9-10 hrs in the afternoon and only boated 6 or 7 over 2 of the days. Like @A-Jaysaid timing can be everything for me this time of year. I also needed to change tactics between mornings 2 and 3. Moved from slow rolling 6-8 feet above their heads w/ an underspin to reel ripping a scrounger and spoon from the bottom w/ speed and pace mixed in with pauses. I know this isn't directly helpful, but hopefully you can keep at it till you discover when and what they want. scott

Fortunate to have the time and lake, had 3 epic mornings in a row. Almost like @Swamp Girl's legendary Maine bog bass mornings, like 35-40 bass in 3 hrs with bigguns mixed in. My bass have fully embraced a shad diet this week, and they are set up to massacre them every morning as they exit a narrow channel/choke point to a large 25' deep flat. It was interesting to see the bite evolve, days 1 & 2 a small under spin or scrounger counted down and slow rolled 8-10' off the bottom got the bites, day 3 the bait needed to reach the bottom, followed by a few fast reel turns ripped from the bottom to medium speed retrieve. Got hammered with lots of slashing at the baits that required reel rips and kills to actually hook up. So much fun! Scrounger and a little salt spoon did the work. Here's too many pics, without enough visual context, but it was 9-10 hours of fishing that's absolutely perfect and I need to return to the buffet asap. scott

I don’t like jigs on flat bottom area, needs a structure break. Difficult to get deep diving crank baits to stay down 30’. 3” to 5” flutter spoons like Blade Runner work good by ripping and let fall back, 3/4 oz Scrounger jig with 6” Sluggo in Shad color can cover deep depths very effectively at various speeds. That would my 1st choices. Tom

The original Scrounger jig has been copied and redesigned by a dozen companies trying solve the bill material and hook sizes. Scrounger are excellent mid water column slower retrieve lure if you find a mfr with the proper bill size and material plus premium sharp hook & size for the trailer. Looked at Scottsboro finesse soft bill and they appear to be a good design but haven’t fished them. The trailer I prefer is a Sluggo because it works. Tom

I was looking at this Luck-E-Strike Scrounger Jig, specifically on a 1/8oz 1/0# size. After looking at some underwater footage for scrounger jig, the way the bait moves looks very similar to strolling baits when you shake it. I.e., side rolling motion when the tail is waggling. So it got me wondering if there is a subtle difference that makes strolling make much more momentum. Is the lack of the lip that make it less intrusive hence more bite (because how the head moves similar to chatterbait blade) and more realism? Why would I not use scrounger jig and eliminate the need of shaking (possible making it more viable to use baitcaster setup)? Thanks!

Sluggo makes an excellent Scrounger trailer. Make sure you rig the Sluggo straight on the hook shank with fully exposed hook. Properly rigged the Scrounger/Sluggo should run with a tight wiggle not a whobble. Tom

I did a couple of larger jdm orders this winter/spring with lots of new to me baits. Jig heads for rolling - owner range roller, gammy horizon, and horizon lg All 3 of these heads do exactly what I had hoped, the hooks are perfect, though I think the range roller has the better keeper set up for bait longevity. minnows for rolling - Raid fish roller 3-6.5", 7" sakamata shad, deathadders 3", 5", and 6", 5" yamamoto d shad, signal multi shad pvc, jackall bassenemy stick 4"&5", and duo pintail shad. Raid fish roller - currently my favorite for actually rolling. Great roll, incredible look, very durable and even re-rigable without damaging the bait. Head weight and placement is crucial for the best action, but after many fish beating up the bait, I'll rerig in the less optimal spot and still have success with a more subdued roll. I've caught fish on all 4 sizes, but 4" and 6.5" have been most successful. Sakamata shad 7" - I threw these mostly weightless and on a free rig in the post spawn. Absolutely crushed. They also catch on a jighead, bottom rolling, but I don't have many left and have been substituting w/ 6.5" spunk shads and jerky j's. Wish I had a full range of sizes in champagne pepper/neon pearl. Deathadders - These things finally made me understand why the Japanese anglers refer to the whole category as worms. Just universal fish catching baits. Ballheads, t-rig, trailers, free rig, weightless, dead sticked, swimming, they can do it all pretty dang good. It'll be hard to never keep a supply on hand, a definite winner for me, especially the 5". Yamamoto d shad - These did pretty good rolled, need to spend more time with it. Where they crushed was weightless fluke style and on a 1/2oz 2/0 scrounger head. It has a beautiful snake like swim at any speed on the scrounger, making it super versatile. I'd be 10-20 seconds late on schoolers blowing up the surface, and I could bomb it past and count it down to 10' run it through and get bit. If I was on time to 5 seconds late, I'd just burn it the second it hit the water and get bit. Loads of fun and the longest lasting use of a yamamoto bait I've ever experienced. Signal multi shad - Haven't tried it yet, hopefully soon Bassenemy stick - I've only used these in Lake MI, shore fishing. Rolling these along the boulders and walls on bfs has caught dozens of smb. Lots of fun and very effective, but fragile. Duo pintail shad - I think I haven't put these in the best position yet. They roll a bit, relatively subtle. They shimmy on the fall when weightless, but sink very slowly. They twitch well and stay high in the water column. They look great as a trailer or on a scrounger. I've caught fish, just haven't gotten on them it. Next group of new to me is baits I could work weightless and on a free rig. Deps Bullflat, OSP dolive stick fat, dolive beaver, dolive gill, and Norries flip gill. Deps, OSP, and Norries gill baits - All of them are very effective and very similar to me so far. Early in the season I was pitching them weightless to the outside weedlines in 6-10 fow and they almost never make it to the bottom. Now that the weed growth is topping out, I'm pitching it as a free rig, usually 3/8oz to help separate the weight and bait. All of them in the larger sizes attract bigger bites. The smaller sizes just get bit by everything. An offset worm hook, hybrid hook, ewg hook, and cps swimbait hook all work and connect well, but I find these super fragile. One or two fish per bait. At these prices, I'll probably only get the large versions and pitch them at high percentage spots and times looking for bigger fish. OSP dolive beavers - 3.5" on a 1/4oz free rig is perfect for shorebound lake michigan smb fishing. The swim on the initial fall seems to really call them in. Worth the money to me because I am limited in finding active bass when walking the shore. OSP dolive fat stick - This has been one of the biggest surprises. At least 3 different times, I worked over an area from an anchored position and then threw this weightless at my historical spot on the spot only to catch the biggest fish in that area that day. The initial fall/shimmy/swim down is so good that I almost use it as a long range pitch. If it makes it to the bottom, I'm 2-3 twitches/lifts, then reel in and cast again. They haven't been super durable for me, almost fragile, but they get big bites in pressured situations. If you made it this far, I commend your ability to tolerate my ramblings. Most of these were bought with a digitaka reel order or the sales over at the the hookup tackle over the last 6 months. scott

A little pricy, but a great bait that has a lot of roll. I really like them on a scrounger head. They don't stay in stock very long for a reason.

This might be true, but the 734 is worth trying in my opinion. @Turtle Angler Some outlying winners for me in very similar water; Heavy swim jig (1/2-1oz) w/ a 4-5" paddle tail. I set up in the deep water, cast 5-10yds into the weeds preferably the bottom is the depth they are suspending at on the outside edge. I swim it with reel bumps when it can get through. When I hang it, I shake it with increasing force till it pops free. Do this till the boat, I'm after the fish that are eating panfish, and they tend to be the big girls up north. 5 power Dobyns is one of my faves. 5/8oz preacher jig. Set up in deep water, and in my mind's eye, I'm trying to pendulum/tight line/ surf it down thru the weed tops as they descend down the break. When it lands, it's probably still in some weeds, I quickly lift up and reel as fast as possible 2-3 turns and repeat the glide. Usually, this breaks free of the weeds, but @WRB told me about a cps spring and piece of trick worm over the hook point to help stay weedless. This gets hammered with weight, the most tell tale tick, or there's just weight when you go to reel. 4 power loomis mbr action is my fave. I've also had good luck late summer doing this with a 7" flutter spoon though I tend to work it faster to stay higher in the column. 1/2oz jig. Fish it downhill as well, and I usually forgo my dragging and work it with double pops upward. Things are best when I hang up in the weeds often. I shake and shake till I can pop it. Basically, stroking a jig in the cover instead of open water. 1/8oz 4-5" jig worm. This is more finesse and needs a small hook to be able to pop free of the weeds, a #1 or #2 works best for me. It's basically a slightly larger ned presentation. I'm usually more of a 45 degree or parallel to the deep edge. This year I've moved away from this technique toward the next one... jighead minnow, mid strolling shake retrieve that is also downhill. 4-5" straight tail fluke style bait. Two tone colors seem to be best; ie top green bottom clear, etc. Owner range rollers and Gammy horizon heads have been my favorites. Something in the 1.8g-3.5g, #2-1/0 open hook. Between the small hook, light weight, and constant shaking this is surprisingly weedless. With a slow retrieve but vigorous shaking it will dance over their heads, slowly descending, rolling back and forth, like a scrounger in suspended slow motion. I've also been playing around with a large version, mostly retrieving uphill, though both work. This is a 6-7" jerky J or spunk shad on a 5.2g horizon 2/0 LG head. I cast 15-20yds past the weedline, give it about half the slack it needs to hit bottom, then start shaking after 5-8 seconds. Once on bottom, I continuously shake as I slowly reel in. If I hang, I keep shaking and pull hard thru, it's better than 50/50 that I'm still weed free. If the shake weight feels different a couple hard snaps can free it and or trigger a bite. A 6'9 M/F, 6'10 M/RF, and a 7'8 M/RF have been my best 4-5" combos, and a 6'6 MH/F has been the best with the 6-7". You want a tip that can reverberate enough to not tire you out on the shaking. I'm basically fishing electronically blind, so I can't say how they're positioned prior to my casts. But I catch a lot of decent fish like this. I really need precision and feel, so I do best when anchored. Often I cycle through the techniques in one spot. The swim jig and hair jig will attract the active feeders, and the jighead minnow seems to entice the lazier ones. Good luck! scott

Yes, low 20’s. I was back seating with a friend using a modified Scrounger jig w/ trout color Sluggo. We were fishing a well known area called trout point on lake Castiac May 1993. We were near the base of the point and made a long cast parallel to a steep wall, let the lure sink to about 20’ and had a solid strike. I told Gary “big fish” and fought it about a minute when the bass started up. The boat. Was in very deep water when the strike occurred and expected Gary to move the boat deeper to fight this fish. I was focused on the fight not watching where we were. The big bass came up about 5’ away from the boat and Gary yells OMG standing next to me and not up front controlling the boat. At the moment I see the side of the point the time the bass see’s it. We were next to the point at a saddle area, the bass made a run up and over the saddle, the line skipping across the rocks and broke off. This was the biggest bass I have ever hooked, when she turned her width and length was breath taking. The image still haunts me to this day. Tom

Bass don’t change their behavior because you put FFS/Live Scope on your boat. The suspended bass have always been there and ignored by most anglers. Back in the day trollers would blindly run across suspended bass in no man’s land. Dick Trask dominated western bass tournaments using dart jigs w/ 4” to 5” curl tail worms targeting suspended bass off shore… way ahead of his time. FFS requires skilled boat control to stay casting distance off the bass using finesse small plastics. Forgotten is the Scrounger jig with Sluggo trailer that has the same roll/wiggle the FFS anglers are using now with 90 degree hook eye ball heads with minnow soft plastics. FFS is tool to locate bass it’s up to you to use lures the bass will strike where they are located. Tom

1. 5” Senko wacky rigged, spinning tackle. 2. Santone Swimjig-4” Single tail grub trailer, casting tackle. 3. Scrounger jig-Sluggo trailer,casting tackle. 4.Hollowbody frog, casting tackle 5. Dock edges, spinner bait, casting tackle. Tom

Scrounger or Chatter baits. Tom

I'm trying Japanese this year; Deps Bull flat: 3-3.8" on free rig, 4.8" swimbait hook and free rig Dolive beaver: 3.5" free rig/jig trailer Specific gravity/poop baits: Cover scat and Spinuts 1/2oz finesse scrounger head/ 1/4oz midst head - 3" jerky j and armour shad Rapala snap rap/jigging rap Jackall metal master Little Jack - metal addict 01 I love trying new lures, but really I'm trying to crack the mid day late summer bite. I'm hoping those free rigs/poop baits can add in to shakeyheads and jigs for the 12-18' breaks and that spoons and scroungers can help dial in the open water shad chasers. scott

I think it’s good idea to have a lure that sinks then swims back up. Actually a Scrounger jig can do this but doesn’t look like a jerk bait but don’t tell the bass! Tom

Yamamoto makes a smaller swimbait in a couple of sizes and in both paddle tail and straight fork tail. The Zako. I use it alone and as a trailer on various baits. Jigs, chatterbaits, scrounger heads, underspins, etc. If you want to stay small and throw them something different that works very well, try the 2.5 inch Yamatanuki.