Nick

Let's not leave out the Chomnpers twin tail either. You'll smell like a happy Italian after you open that bag. As to which is more effective, grub vs. jig, that's a good one. If I am fishing in clearer waters with a high sky, I like the translucent nature of the watermelon grub (hula). For negative (passive) fish, I like it more. It's often a little more "twiddly" in the water, and the sink rate is often slower. Rigged with a flat mushroom jighead, they seem to stand up better as well. The weedguard on the Chompers, though is about worthless, so I make new ones to put in place. Often the hula grub's/Chomper's slow fall is a great trigger for many on chunk rock around these parts in early spring. (Ozarks). As we downsize jigs we can get about the same effect as a finesse type presentation, though. Last, when I have fished for smallies on the Shield Lakes up North, I caught a whole lot more of them on soft plastics than on any silicone or rubber skirted jig. Never did figure that out.

ja, Agreed on the drop shot. It can be deadly often with a shorter dropper line and a heavier sinker.

Not all bass on beds are created equal. I imagine in NY you are catching more smallies off beds and they are quite a bit easier than LM or even spots. You ought to come to the Ozarks and try to catch some of these bedding fish. Better bring your A game.

Wait til you hit middle age. Then they will both be invisible to you. I'm liking that "yellow rope" hi-vis stuff more and more. Back to your question. The only reason any fishing product stays around is that it sells. Some buy clear, some buy green, and few even buy brown, blue, red, and yellow.

Yep, both the Redfin and the Bagley's have been around for years. A tweaked model A Bomber is another old school producer. I paid $15 for a waking LC and I don't think much of it. The Baby Mann's 1- is great cost effective bait but it runs a few inches deep.

What I liked about the get 5 worm was the crawdad tail silhouette. Wish the worm had two such appendages.

Hey Mr. Farmer...Try putting some merthiolate on that bandaid. Killer color!

Post on Craig's List Free and be vigilant who you give them to. OR hould be a local Boy Scout post in your area as well. Bet they would pick up at your home. Contact nearest elementary school in your area. Scouts often meet there.

The only real difference between the Zoom Finesse and the Zoom Trick Worm is that the trick is about 1 1/2 in. longer. Both catch them and are widely available down your way. Start wuith a green pumpkin for your first color to try.

I don't think floating worms are the key to a Shakey. I like the old standby Zoom Trick worms often with a 3/16 football or ball head head and a decent spring keeper and hook fished on 8lb. flouro. You can keep shortening the Trick worm after catching fish, so they do last a long time and catch heck out of bass even though they don't have much movement. Often the Trick worms are priced cheaper than the Zoom Finesse worm. I think the general hopping or gliding and fallback movement of the shakey is the determining factor along with the general small profile that makes these rascals "perty deadly". You'll notice most of your strikes come on the fall back, not when they are lying on the bottom for extended periods. If you want more worm movement in one area, it's time to change approaches to a drop shot.

Good thought on the Pacas. I appreciate their reasonable costs as well. Now for trailers: the major difference in trailers is some have virtually no movement while others flap and twiddle and swim. Don't just assume that the more lively ones catch the better fish. Some days the ones with little or no apparent movement catch more fish esp. in colder water situations. The Zoom Critter Craw comes to mind. Slice off half of the tail section of a green pumpkin one, then worm it one your favoritie finesse jig in cold water making sure the hook pentrates the craw right between it's tiny craw eyes, and look out. Make sure that jig skirt is trimmed back a tad so the craws can be seen. We're talking about an old Ozarks standby here responsible for outstanding catches and money won this time of the year.

Every year FLW changes the format. Now no bonus points for top ten unless you pick the winner. That 500 extra points for the winner minimizes the other top ten finishes which get no bonus points. Takes lots of the fun and skill out of the game. Not much of a chance to win unless you pick the winner. The rest of the top ten finishers should get at least 100 points bonus IMHO. Your thoughts?

The perfect combo is the irreplacable one(s) that gets broken. The rod that is. I really liked the old Daiwa powermesh rods from the 80's and the old Shimano magnumlite 6'6" rods. They just fit my hands well, and once I caught so many good fish with them, they became sorely missed crankin rods. It's never the least favorite ones that get broken.

Not fishing much this year so about $2,300-3,000. Double that for the other expenses.

For extra distance, I like the 6'9" in a baitcaster. You can overspeed a jerkbait in cooler winter water with a 7:1 so be careful not to, if you like the extra speed. I tend to favor a 6:1. I really take issue with the post that talked about leaving slack in the line. Lot's of time one is fishing these baits in the wind, and feeling exactly what is going on is critically important. I've told many of my fishing partners that I could feel a bass moving in on my paused jerkbait, actually pushing it forward, or swiping at it becasue I had direct feel of the lure. This is often a clue to change cadence or color. I can also feel when I approach a brushpile or log with a tight line and try to slither past it instead of setting a hook. At times I do want a tad of slack in the line to make my lure do some particular underwater acrobatics, but be careful about having slack in the line as a rule.

Agree w/Franco. Whatever you like best. Neat lightweight baits go better with the spinning tackle while the 100's and above suit me better on baitcasting. I'd recommend flouro or braid + flouro in 8-10 lb, a 6"6" medium action rod with a decent amount of feel (graphite). One knock against spinning tackle with just flouro is line twist which just happen on a baitcaster.

I fish the smallie streams in Mo esp. in winter. I have done it for 30 years. I catch them good at times. Stay home if the water is below 40. The thermometer is the most important piece of fishing equipment you can have in the boat. Unfortunately, 4 people drowned last week on the Niangua in the cold water. Take every precaution and prepare well for a winter outing. PM me for more info on winter smallie fishing.

At least you had a choice. My subdivision jacked the assessment $400 last year to fight a retail development up the street, and of course, we lost.

Okuma Cayenne. Try one!

Adding too much weight to a fluke tends to kill some of the action, although they may eat that some days, they don't much for me. Try adding a medium split shot about 6-10 inches ahead of it. Use a little rod tip manipulation, and you;ve made a dancing fluke.

More than a maybe. Even Roand M. caught one on his show yesterday on TR with a Spro model. (what else!)

Camdenton got 21 inches. Hate to think about all the docks that could have collapsed again. Safe to say the bass are seeing many jerkbaits this week!

Since both of these reel makes don't have that many adherents, this is going to be tough to get comparisons. Never fished a Pinnacle, but I'd put my Okuma Cayenne against every Shimano I've owned (about a dozen). This is the first season with it, so I have to see if it lasts several years. Light and smooth with a very free spool,

Jig bite will also work if that's your cup of tea so to speak. There was no predominant color or model jerkbait for us. We used char. shad, ayu, and milky white sided baits mostly in the clear water. All successful to a degree. We had sun and light winds. I don't think I would want to try upstream too much. The upper Gravois is iced, and I think the same is true for the Niangua. Got a reliable report that on Saturday, the channel in the lower lake had a thin film of ice on it. Probabloy because the winds were calm. After this blizzard, it may take awhile for the lake to warm a little.

Three years ago on Norfork Lake AR at the Stren (Everstart) our water temps plumetted from near 50 to 38 degrees in three days in March(?). First day of tourney was actually cancelled because of snow. My roomie, co-angler and I were scraping just to get a bite late in the practice. On a shallow timbered flat with 40 degree water, he put on a spinnerbait and got bit. I then slow rolled one for another strike. Just two bites, but the only 2 bites we got all day. During the first day of the tournament he kept his spinnerbait tied on and thought he saw a fish make a disturbance in shallow water. Tossed out his spinnerbait and caught one nearly 3 pounds! His only fish of the event. The bite was so poor that I think he ended up in the top ten after day 1 with that fish! So a spinnerbait can catch them when cold. but the tournament was definitely not won with one.