wisconsin heat

Bass fishing starts May 4th in Wisconsin( I gotta get outta this state). Last year we got a snow storm the night before opening day. On May 5th I caught my first bass of the year standing in 15 inches of snow. Winter is FAR from over.

4 inch senkos are my favorite. I've never tried these myself, but some friends of mine say they slay river smallies with in-line spinners.

WOW that jig looks awesome! That's one of those lures I wouldn't throw because I'd be afraid to lose it.

Pitboss baby! That is my favorite anyway, but I will pitch/flip just about any plastic.

Chigger craw, but I got some rage craws ready for flipping come june/july.

I tried it a few years ago, some came out OK, and it is fun if you have a couple extra baits that you wouldn't mind turning out ugly. It is pretty easy to make/add a splatter-back, and that looks pretty cool.

Berkely Twitch Tail Minnow was this year's best producer for me!

Oh my, please don't get some of these guys started.These guys practically have their own tackle stores in their garages. There was a thread where everyone posted their tackle boxes, but I can't seem to find it.

I have bought a few items from our sponsors, but I think hearing feedback about products helped me stay away from the bad ones just as much as persuaded me to pull the trigger on good products.

I'm pretty sure Gold Bling is/was an exclusive color to the rage tail shad. It might have been discontinued?

1. Fish areas that have big fish. If there are little to no big fish in a particular body of water, you're not gonna catch one. 2. Be thorough. If you think there might be a fish in a particular area, whether it be a grass mat, point, laydown etc. make sure you dissect it thoroughly before moving on. 3. Be prepared. Have a gameplan, read all of these posts before you go big fish hunting

A senko of some sort definitely. I'll trust a jig in any situation too, but I will never not have confidence in a senko. I always feel I can get bit on one, it's just that good.

I spent about 30 bucks. chatterbaits for 1.49 so I got like 5! Also some rage craws and zman jig trailers among other stuff.

Brand: no preference, my two favorite individual spinnerbaits are booyah and a strike king Color: Chartreuse/white, and a brown or bluegill color Blade #: most I use are double blades, but I'm not ruling out singles Blades: I use a double willow in a brown or bluegill pattern in stained water. And I use a double colorado in chartreuse/white in murky water. I dont really fish spinnerbaits in clear water. I prefer gold blades over any other color.

Shaking squirrels are great, Much more durable than a robo with comparable action.My fav color is oxblood red

Found them here http://www.overstockbait.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=rage+tail&Search.x=-364&Search.y=-161 I am in no way affiliated with this site, just thought I'd let you guys know about a good deal.

As many have said, its a fantastic dirty water color

I got em on sale last year for 55 dollars each. Regardless of price I love them. They cast very far, are smooth, and very easy to adjust. I highly recommend this reel. I have a citica 200e and I actually prefer the caius. Really, really good reel. A lot of online retailers have sales nearing christmas, see if you can get one 10-20% off, if you can definitely pick one up.

I love my Abu Cardinals, got about 5 of em, they are very solid reels, and they will run you only $30-$40. I haven't had a problem with them. I know a guy with a President and it seems really nice too, you won't go wrong with either of these. But there are also a lot of good spinning reels in this price range.

Most of the waters I fish are too clear for a chatterbait. I have had some success with them when the water does turn murky, but a colorado bladed spinnerbait out performed the chatterbait. I just bought some more chatterbaits because I will continue to fish them, but for me, the colorado blade spinnerbait is the go-to in those conditions.

I use a lot of craws and creatures cut down, like chigger craws and pit bosses. I just bought a couple packs of rage craws online because of all the good things I hear about them. I also bought Zman chunks which are Elaztech so they are almost indestructible and float high off the bottom, I can't wait to give 'm a try! ... Next year LOL

AH! I missed it! Last year was fun, but I guess I'll have to wait til next year!

I like to use a lot of different frogs but my overall favorite is Spro's poppin frog. From my experience they are very versatile and walk easier than the original Spro Bronzeyes. Two out of my three original bronzeyes sunk like rocks, so I stay away from them. But all my poppers work very well and are very durable. I also like Booyah's frog because it sits lower with its head just sticking out of the water. Good around pads and sparse cover but I like other frogs on top of mats(mainly Spro's popper because it can cause more commotion). Otherwise, I have used multiple Snagproof frogs, a Koppers, the old Tru-Tungaten ones, and the Picasso Shad-Walker. They all work, and their all good frogs but I like Spro's popper and the Booyah Pad Crasher the best.

Another vote for the twitch tail minnow! Awesome drop shot bait, caught a lot of fish on it this year.

If it was only for a short period of time, and my intent of being out of state was not fishing, I'd probably just pass on that opportunity.