Chris

Another good option that works for me around beds is a Zetabait's stick lizard.

Bass assassin 3 inch shad assassin letting it fall after a few jerks. Carlson tackle Mr.Wiggly Jr. swimming it a few feet then jerk it and let it fall then repeat.(I do the same thing with a 6" creme worm) Spiraling a tube or skipping it. (sorry couldn't choose just one)

Bill Norman's Deep Tiny N (crappie lure) modified with a larger back hook to help with casting and it also changes the vibration pattern of the bait (puts out more vibration than normal) is another excellent option early in the year. I like the gel finish blue back chartreuse sides, chart/green, and the shad colors.

Early in the year you want to find the clearest water available because bass will be more opt to bite. What I look for is baitfish that have moved up usually you will see a bluegill or two to give you an indication that the fish have moved up. I try to target the shallow fish with a red rattletrap 1/4 oz on heavy braid to help me slow the bait down. I try to parallel the shore and slow roll it just off the bottom. If the fish have not moved up yet I tend to yoyo it out from shore. I also yo yo a spinnerbait the same way with success. I scale down the blades some to keep it deep. Sometimes I take a single colo bladed spinnerbait and hop it off the bottom like a worm which also works. Swimming a jig can be killer this time of year so don't over look it. For both the jig and the spinnerbait I tend to use a pork trailer. Casting a jig and pig and fishing it on the bottom still produces also in these conditions. Balsa lures slow rolled is another option. I choose balsa because you can slow it way down and still have a lot of action. The is going to be a soft bite so you need to pay attention otherwise you will miss it but they are still catchable.

Bandit: pearl splatterback black, khaki, parrot, baby bass Rapala DT:shad, blue shad In heavy stained to muddy water I choose other crankbaits.

Anybody ever think of building an aluminum mold of a bulk bought balsa lure body and tooling in the mold the gills, mouth, scale pattern and eye placement. When you screw the mold together it places the imprint cut into the lure of the baitfish features? Think it would work? :-?

It is and works well on a Carolina rig and punching cover with it.

That is because watermelon red is a better color. But I am sure there is a time and place for the other color combination. I stick with watermellon red and greenpumpkin or roadkill myself.

If the river has pads on it target the sparse ones on the edge with a redshad, redbug, or junebug worm either a ribbontail or paddle tail. If the river has an area that has a span of back water target the mouth or edge with a crankbait or spinnerbait. Work your way into the back water area with a jig or tube. If the river has a feeder creek fish the points or a hump in front of it if available with a carolina rig. Target the shallow side of the bends in the river if you find floating mat or cover flip a tube. What does the river look like what is in it?? :-/

One time I was fishing an patch of flooded timber pitching a jig and noticed I had a backlash. I reeled it in and made a pitch behind the boat in about 30ft of water and cleared it out. When I reeled it up I had a bass swimming off with it. I figured out that because of the boat traffic and fishing pressure that the bass where suspended about 8ft deep in that 30 ft water. I finished out my limit swimming a spider grub jig. I know another guy who bought up tons of the single tail spider jigs just for fishing suspending fish.

Usually when I am flipping or pitching a jig and when it isn't working out I start swimming it. I was fishing a river one time and the shad was thick. I was catching fish but not the bites I should have and I started quick pitching and burning the jig back to make another pitch. I did it one time to many and a bass hammered it. Bass tend to either want either a vertical or horizontal presentation depending on mood or what they are feeding on or where they are positioned on cover. In this case they where keyed into shad and a flipping or pitched jig didn't look or act like a shad and the bass rejected it. Swimming a jig is also a good choice on weed flats or edges. Many anglers choose a spinnerbait when a crankbaits get fouled up but in some cases a jig is a better choice especially in clear water or areas that get alot of spinnerbait pressure. Points are also a good place to swim a jig or anywhere else that you can stick a spinnerbait or crankbait for that matter. It also works equally well in stained and muddy water conditions depending on how you configure the bait. For a number of years in early season swimming a jig was my #1 technique that I use after ice out when bass tend to shy away from noisy lures. Targeting points fishing from shore this technique can be deadly early spring. Just make a cast and reel just fast enough to keep it off the bottom while following the contour of the point. Most of the time you catch better than average fish when you swim a jig. Much like a swim bait it can be counted down to any depth and can be fished in places other baits can't. It isn't a cure all bait but when the bass are on a swim jig bite it is hard to beat.

Finesse fishing-light lures and equipment generally spinning gear with 8-6lb line. Power fishing-baitcasting rod, 10-on up line generally flipping, pitching, cranking, spinnerbaits. Reaction fishing- a fast pace way to fish looking for active fish or you are presenting the bait in a way that the bass will bite out of instinct.(flipping, pitching, cranking, spinnerbaits, plastics can also be reaction fishing) It is always a good idea to be well rounded if what your doing isn't working.

Most of the time they can be interchangeable. Cover, and water conditions generally dictate which is a better choice and the bass's mood. You can do more with a spinnerbait than with a crankbait around cover. For example when you run a crankbait through a tree your bait reacts to the limbs the same as a spinnerbait. With a crankbait the bait might change directions to cause a bite. With a spinnerbait you can bring it through the tree and drop it to cause a bite. With a crankbait for the most part it is a horizontal presentation. With a spinnerbait it can be a horizontal, or vertical presentation. Blades can also put out more vibration also some skirts will give the visual illusion of a swimming effect. Blades also make the lure appear like a small school of baitfish. Spinnerbaits can also be counted down to a depth without the need of running room unlike a crankbait. Both are a year round bait.

I tend to stop jerking them if the water looks like chocolate milk. Sometimes even if the water is muddy you might have an upper layer or an edge of muddy water that jerking a jerkbait can still be productive. I also have used a jerkbait for many years in muddy water cranking it like a crankbait with success. One spring the only way to catch fish off of spawning beds when the water muddies up was cranking a bomber or bang o lure minnow bait. (not jerking it cranking it)

The key is to make that tail thump that is what is going to draw strikes. The paddle tail and the shad paddle tail also work great on a Carolina rig.

If I am flipping grass with plastics more times then not this is what I flip in clear to stained water. I also swim it alot around deep cover or on the edge of grass. Weightless your going to have issues getting it to drop because of the lack of weight. Some guys notch the tail to buzz it over grass. You are also going to need some light weight to get the tail to flap good unless you notch it. Manns and some other companies make a larger size that works well in the summer and around spawning beds. Gambler and Producto make a shad version that can also be killer. If you rig the shad one with a belly weight it gives it a funky fall like a senko. When bass are schooling both styles can be a killer bait.

Fish it and fish it hard you should have staging fish. Find places that are a roadway from deep water to shallow spawning areas. It might be hunt and peck but when you find the right area you could load the boat. Don't get discouraged by the low 50's surface temp just keep a mental note that you need to slow down. Bites are not going to be bone jarring so use baits that you stay in contact with to detect bites. I know fighting wind stinks but it can be worth it.

I hook mine fatty side down. If you feel like experimenting you can take a knife and cut the fatty side at the nose to form a wedge shape it helps stick more fish and gives the trailer more action. When taking the pork off the jig turn it so that the tails are towards the jig head and work it off the hook (its easier). If the punched hole in the trailer wear out take a some surgical tubing or a piece of hard plastic to keep it on the hook. (like a hole punched out of a coffee can lid) Just remember to keep the trailer wet if your using pork. The weight of the jig determines the rate of fall and how well you stay in contact with it for longer distances or when punching in cover not the size of the bass. Bulk helps the fish find it on the fall and can help slow down the fall. By fanning out your weed guard and loosening it up a little (sometimes it has paint or glue on it) helps the hook stick fish. If you thin out the weed guard by cutting on the front part of the guard it will make it very flexible. If you thin out on the hook end it will make it more rigid but still has less guard to get through. The top of the guard should be trimmed to form a wedge shape. You just push it down to cover the hook and then make your cut a little above the hook at a tapper. When your setting the hook on a jig your kinda forcing the head of the jig out a closed mouth. So if the weed guard doesn't collapse then out pops the jig and no fishy on the hook. So it is a matter of balance between the fall rate, and how much weed guard you need to get through stuff.

Rattletrap style lures work well year round. Because they lack a lip they also lack many of the deflection qualities that a regular crankbait will have. Some traps float but most sink. The running depth is determined by the speed of the retrieve, line size, and weight of the lure which all can be manipulated to change how deep the lure can be ran or how shallow. In shallow water traps become a zone bait. If you where fishing a long weed edge this bait will be a good choice. You are able to fish the edge at a certain depth the whole cast. This also works well with drop off edges or bridge walls and such. The 1/4 oz model on most of these baits will hang about 3ft of depth but less if you use heavy line or a faster retrieve. By adjusting your equipment or how your fishing this lure can really help to dial in the right zone. 1/2 oz lure can run 4 to 5 ft depths on average. Around soft weeds and even rip rap this bait does well. Most anglers will match this bait with braid to help rip the lure out of the weeds when it get hung up. Around hard cover like stumps and lay downs your going to hate this bait and loose a bunch. In deeper water this bait can be counted down to about any depth just remember to either slow roll it or yo yo it to keep the bait down. When you use a yo yo retrieve make sure you let the bait fall on semi slack line to help detect bites. In stained water I always did well with a clown pattern lure, gold, or even black. I will also add that the suspending model that they make is a heck of a cold front lure at times. It also throws a change up pitch around other anglers throwing traps and can draw more strikes if fished right. The floating model works well when the bass are up busting shad or on real shallow flats or skinny water.

Here is what I do maybe it will help. I buy them unglued and build them anyway I wish. http://www.luremaking.com/catalogue/catalogue-index/catalogue-items/crankbaits/rattleshads.htm depending on what you fill them with changes the rattling noise be it plastic beads, lead, sand, larger shot, glued in lead, glass, whatever you choose.

Bass love cypress and ceder trees. If you look up the tree the how far out the canopy extends is about how far out the cypress knees grow out from its trunk. Bass and other bait fish hang out in this network of roots. You fish it much like you would any wood cover but always keep in mind how far the roots system extends away from the base of the tree. Sometimes bass will be close to the trunk other times they will hold up on the edge of the roots or somewhere in between. Key lures that do well is bumping spinner baits or crank baits off the knees. Jigs and soft plastics come into play as the water heats up and you need to pick it apart. As you are running lures through the roots pay attention because some knees will be more numerous in some places or some might grow higher than others. It is places like that where the bass might key into and hold on more than others. Motor around and look for a depth change on the edge which will also draw fish. Areas where the trees form a point or lone trees that are set away from the group will be a high percentage area. Sometimes they might grow right on the edge of a channel bank or drop. These trees might seem to replenish with fish so hit it at different times and come back even if they don't produce at the time. Even though these kinds of trees offer tons of cover for a bass where the tree is growing can be just as important and at what depth as to how much a bass is going to relate to them.

There was a small lake that I fished every year that half of it was covered in ice early and late in the season. Most of the fish I caught where up against the bank to about 15' out from the bank. They where either up feeding or out on the first break. All of the fish where hanging on some sort of cover or structure and not really suspending but close to the bottom. Fish that where caught out in the lake where suspending at a set depth which changed depending on the day and the amount of sunlight or wind. Other lakes I fished sometimes I had to break up some of the ice with my boat which can get interesting to to fish but can be productive. The key in both situations was the cover and structure if the area has some fish it. If your just gunning after fish that might be suspended in the open area if you have a strong population of suspended bait fish you might do well. I have not found bass to use ice as overhead cover to hide around not to say it doesn't happen. I know when the flipping spin was being field tested Denny pitched it into a small opening in the ice and let it fall and caught a bass on the first pitch.

One mississippi, two mississippi, etc. After you reel it in about 10 ft count it back down one because the bait will tend to rise some. The closer to the boat the more it wants to loose depth so you need to count it back. The shad style weighted Rapala flutters on the fall and is a great winter bait.

If your looking to power dive http://www.luhrjensen.com/products/bass-lures/hot-lips-express This isn't a bad bait either 15-17' depending on the cast http://www.banditlures.com/shop_product.asp?pid=11 Your DT's and Hotlips dig the best without wearing you out in the process. With both of these lures because of the diving curve they dig quick so it is just a matter of picking the right lure for the depth your fishing. Then it's just a matter of casting distance to reach the max depth at the point where you need that specific depth. These two baits are the most accurate as far as the printed depth is the true depth. I also know you like that Yozuri line the best deep cranking line in my opinion is silver thread. It has the best diameter for the pound test and the diameter is more consistent throughout the whole line which also helps in casting and gaining depth. I know Big M is working on a new deep diver model that you might be interested in when he gets the bugs out.

Most of the time it is a confidence thing. Other times depending on the water a lure might not come in a specific color that is working. Some guys like myself use a lot of older lures that they don't make anymore so they get repainted to bring new life to them. Other lures that fall into the "pet lure" category get repainted because they have a action that other lures don't. When they get beat on and banged up and in some cases almost broken if it is a key bait with a key action I get them redone. Average lures just get replaced.