My 2019 List of Productive Baits ~

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, Hillbilly Bennett said:

This is the smaller of the two and it measured 30 inches. The larger of the two was 38 inches long and we were unable to get a picture. I measured it on the back deck and it started flopping. Nearly knocked a rod in the water and when I put my foot on it to try to stop the flopping it nearly put me in too. Lol It rolled off of the boat before I could ever regain a good  grip on it to get a pic. Whole lot of fun though!  

Nice Musky ~

By catch can really be a Blast

A-Jay

[afree]

I fished Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin a ton this Spring/Summer and had a decent year.

 

My top 5 baits of the summer were:

 

1. Z-Man Elaztech Finesse TRD (Ned Rig.) 1/15th oz in shallow water, 1/10 oz in deeper. Green Pumpkin and Hot Snakes were the colors typically but caught more on a lot. 
2. Booyah Baits Pond Magic Buzz-Bait. Red Blade, Black Skirt.
3. Whopper Plopper 110 - Black Loon Color
4. T-Rig- BioSpawn ExoRibbon
5. Strike King Red Eyed Shad - Delta Craw color

 

Biggest this summer was 6.81 LMB on the Chippewa Flowage with a Finesse TRD in mid-August. 

[A-Jay]

On 11/8/2019 at 9:48 PM, A-Jay said:

   With what can only be described as a surprisingly early end to this year’s late open water season, it’s time once again to look back at the baits that were most productive.  As my quest for bigger brown bass rarely changes, how & where I did it this year, certainly did.  While I did fish many of my ‘old favorites’, there were a few very notable additions that bare mentioning. 

Please feel free to share your own list of baits to this thread as the mood strikes you.

(and I like pictures)

 

 

  This time around I’m going to go through them in the order that I fished them throughout the season. 

Open water was available for me the third week of April this year and as usual, I was on the water the afternoon the ice went out. Baits that produced for me were:  3.8”, 4.3” and 4.8" Keitech Swing Impact Fat Swimbait in Ayu and Perch as well as the 3.75” and the 4.75” SK Rage Swimmer also in AYU and KVD Magic.  As sort of a mid-line finesse deal, I presented these on or near the bottom with medium spinning gear 10lb braid and an 8lb or 10lb FC leader.  My jighead of choice here was the Keitech Tungsten Super Round Jighead ¼ oz that sports a quality 3/0 hook. 

 

    My Jerkbait addiction hasn’t waned and while I threw a few different makes & models, the Megabass Vision 110 and the 110 plus 1 both in GP Pro Perch as well as the SK KVD 300 and 300 Deep also Ayu & Perch did quite a bit of damage for me again this season; both early & later in the year.   Honorable mention goes to the LUCKY CRAFT Slender Pointer 127MR; an older model ‘real skin’ brown trout pattern.

 

    The Hair jig is usually a deadly early season approach.  For me this do-nothing presentation seems to produce best in calmer conditions with super clear shallower to mid-depth waters. I only fish one, the Outkast Tackle Feider Fly Marabou Jig in 1/8 oz ~ black or brown.  

 

    Then there’s the Ned Rig.  This one has almost replaced my hair jig fishing – almost.  I’ve only been fishing it a couple of seasons, but there’s no denying it effectiveness.  Last year I fished the 2.75” Z-Man Finesse TRD almost exclusively.  And while I got bit, there were a ton of smaller fish included with a few of what I was looking to target.  So this season I fished the 4” Z-Man Big TRD exclusively.   The first Brown bass with this one in May was a goby turd shy of 7lbs.  So it was hard to put down after that. Green Pumpkin only and on a 1/8 oz Owner Block Head Jig Head that has a solid 1/0 hook.

    Did some early & mid-season cranking this time around most of which happens in the 7-12 ft zone.  The Spro Mike McClelland Rock Crawler 55 Crankbait in Red Crawfish & Phantom Brown were once again getting choked.  Honorable mention must also go to the 6th Sense Crush Flat X75 in Baby Bluegill; solid producer in areas of less than 7-8 feet for me.

    The vibrating jig ~ I employed this one early & often.  And although the late season bite I got on in 2018 never really materialized, the April & May bite was on fire !  A 3/8 oz & a ½ oz Z-Man Evergreen Jackhammer in green pumpkin and B-Hite Delight patterns were making it happen.  I use the Yamamoto Zako trailer in green pumpkin and green pumpkin pearl mostly.  A SK Rage Bug gets rotated in here routinely as well.  This is one of my favorite bites any time & every time I can get on it.

    And how about the swinghead ?  I have this one rigged & ready every trip it seems.  ½ & ¾ oz covers it all for me.  There’s a ton of them out there but I’ve narrowed my preference down to two basic deals.  A tungsten football style that I use for deeper area and a Lead head model for just about everything else.    I like to be able to choose & change my hook as needed and both of these accommodate that ability.

 The deeper bait starts with the RPE Tackle Tungsten Swinging Football Jig which is sold in bulk and comes without a hook. This one features a rather unique rigging deal that takes a little getting used to but offers everything I need.  Note: I do add a #2 Owner Oval Split Ring to the front (line tie) of this rig to prevent the tungsten head from moving forward and wearing away at the knot (a simple & effective fix).

     The other head I really like starts with the Freedom Tackle Stealth Swim Jig – I am just using the head here.  With the line tie on the front this one slides nicely along the bottom and fairly easily through whatever medium to light cover may be there.

 I will fish three trailers: a SK Rage Bug (Green Pumpkin), a 4.75” SK Rage Swimmer (Ayu) and the newest deal, the Rage Tail Eeliminator (also Green Pumpkin).  These are Texas rigged onto one of two 4/0 hooks.  The regular wire Gamakatsu EWG or the Owner Wide Gap Plus Black Chrome. 

 

    As the waters warmed and post spawn moved into more of a summer deal the drop shot rig made its annual appearance.  I fish this more out of necessity than desire or favor.  Truth be told – I’m not a big fan.  They are about the only way to get bit sometimes so  . . . .

 I don’t do anything special or even interesting here – I’m usually drop shot fishing in at least 20 ft (often much deeper) with 3/8 to ½ oz tungsten D/S weight, a 1/0 or 2/0 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens TGW Drop Shot hook or a Gamakatsu G-Finesse Worm Light Hook w/ Tin with one several D/S baits; - 4” or 5” Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Caffeine Shad, A custom hand poured goby bait by Paul Krew, or a 5” Reins Bubbling Shaker Worm.  Plan on doing more with a Neko rig next year.

    And then we moved into topwater time, all of which for me is done in totally open water over shallow to mid depth flats.  I fish two styles mostly; a walker & a popper.   My walking bait needs were covered by a few baits.  As I prefer the larger sizes here, the 4.5” 7/8 oz SK Sexy Dawg, the 5” ¾ oz River2Sea Rover and the 4.75” ¾ oz Reaction Innovations Vixen.  In each I lean toward more of the shad or natural patterns.  With each of these I am hoping to reproduce the wild success I had with The Repoman, before a Pike stole it.  Results have been close but not complete.  Honorable mention here goes to the Megabass Dog-X Diamante which has several awesome patterns but the sound seems a bit ‘off’.

    My Popper needs are amply filled by one bait and one bait only. The Megabass Pop Max in Perch has been flat out killer for me accounting for several very memorable smallmouth catches.  Love this one. 

 

    Did some say Umbrella Rig ?  While I’ve had some fantastic catches with it, over this past season I’ve developed a bit of a love / hate relationship with the thing.  Does it catch fatties ?  It certainly does but I’ve also fallen victim to losing big bass as a result of the bait ‘failing’. Until recently my rig of choice has been the short arm Strike King Tour Grade Titanium Umbrella Rig.  However this summer I lost ‘several’ would be picture fish, when the titanium arms broke off during the fight – grrrrr.  Not a fan.  So I tried the Strike King Tour Grade Bladed Titanium Umbrella Rig with the blades – seems a bit heavier – NOPE.  Same deal – big bass busting that stuff all over the lake.  So I’m currently looking for a viable replacement.  Like the rig to be able to ‘flex’ during the retrieve – but not when it cost me fish.  Been trying an offering by Hog Farmer – no doubt stout but might be too much so – more to follow on this one.

 BTW – I use VMC Boxer heads – 1/8 & ¼ oz with 3.8 or 4.3 Impact Fat swimbaits.   Similar sized SK Rage swimmers work as well – AYU.

 

    Right about the same time the umbrella rig bite comes on, Spinnerbait action picks up. I am usually presenting these in light to moderate cover near the top of the water column over shallow to mid depth flats.  The ½ oz SK Burner and the ½ oz & ¾ oz Biovex Stangun single & Double Willow bladed baits are a staple for me here.  I like a SK Blade minnow trailer with no trailer hook as well.

 

   Interestingly enough, I didn’t do much shallow cranking through the summer and into the fall like I often do.  SK Red Eye Shad (2 Tap) is usually my bait as well as a 1.5 & a 2.5 SK Squarebill –  Brown Craw & Orange Bream are usually hot for me.

   

    As the air & water temps start to cool and head towards turnover and eventually go through it, my blade bait action begins to pick up. There’s a lot to choose from here but I try to keep it simple (relative term). A ½, 5/8 & ¾ oz Silver Buddy has been good for me – gold on cloudy days; but I like fishing in the sun better.  Something I’ve mentioned (perhaps ad nauseam, sorry) is fishing a rattle bait in cool to colder water deals like a blade bait, can be very effective. While many bait makes & models will and do work, I really like the ¾ oz Duo Realis G-Fix Vibration Tungsten Lipless Crankbait. The Ghost Gill and the newer Tule Perch ND are two fan favorite patterns. Think about it.

 

    Lastly – Treble hooks – I change them.  All my topwater, jerk, rattle, square & crankbaits, even blade baits & spybaits (not mentioned above) all get aftermarket trebles.  And topwater baits that have feathers, also get changed out, I just tie up my own.  (So easy, even an A-Jay can do it)

Mustad KVD 1x Strong 2x Short Triple Grip Treble Hook, Gamakatsu EWG Treble Short Shank Magic Eye and Owner Short Shank Treble Hook ST-35 all adorn my baits.  Especially like that Owner ST-35 (Not for a tail hook though) as it features 150-degree Premium Point Position design, which splits two hook points out 150-degrees versus the typical 120-degrees between all three points. This allows the hook points to be positioned slightly farther out from your bait and help increase your hook up percentage. Opening the gap to 150-degrees also minimizes damage to your bait from the hook points, while keeping the hook points sharper over time as well.

    Note: Owner Stinger ST-35 Short Shank Treble Hooks are designed to be used with baits that have the hook hanger in line with the length of the bait.  These will not hang correctly on lures that feature any hook hanger that is perpendicular to the length of the lure – some of the offerings from Megabass for instance.  Had to include that because as great as these trebles are – they do not work in the situation described.

 

Any & all questionable split rings are traded out for Owner Hyper wires. (including Line ties)

 

    In conclusion – I can openly admit that there are a few glaring omissions from this list ~ Namely, Jigs, Swim jigs, Stick baits, Tubes, Deep Cranks, Hard Swimbaits, Glide baits and any type of frog.  There’s probably a few more I’m missing too but I am pretty certain that I can count the number of times I threw any of these in 2019 on one hand – which is probably a mistake.  May need to address that in 2020.

 Either way, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

A-Jay

(below are previous editions of this same theme)

 

A-Jay

[softwateronly]

Is that an Andy’s hair jig?

 

scott

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, softwateronly said:

Is that an Andy’s hair jig?

 

scott

That's a Seth Fieder model from Outkast tackle.

A-Jay

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, A-Jay said:

That's a Seth Fieder model from Outkast tackle.

A-Jay

A Feider Fly?