Jigfishn10

That's a beauty for sure! Congrats @MichaelCopeland, looks like your patience won out on this day.

I can see the open gill design leaving a bubble trail on a topwater, but based on the vids there is no bubble trail, so why advertise it that way? The only time he's getting a bubble trail is when he jerks the bait from the surface which can be done with a floating minnow and even a PopR. May just be me tho, who knows... EDIT: I'm basing my opin solely on Pirana's vids the OP linked

I can see the open gill design on the popmax being effective as a topwater, not on this lure

I never understood the open gill design. There was another manufacturer who had a similar deal and that didn't last long on the market. Supposedly allows water through. I'm sure it does but it seems to keep the bait from diving deep. That vid looked like it would be like a floating minnow, but IMO there are cheaper and better options.

Early in the season I'll use small lures. Bass in our neck of the woods this time of year will be slow so casting small lures gives me an opportunity to catch multi species. Catching trout and crappie are a ton of fun and will hit those lures as well as bass. Just remember, catching something this time of year is betting than casting practice. @EGbassing and @MartinTheFisherman, appreciate your participation. Glad to see your generation getting involved in this sport. Stay involved guys.

Bed fishing? Same results, they turn over

I remember fishing a Denny Brauer Pro Jig and the eye was turned 90* from then "standard", it made a difference to him (he made a lot of money selling those jigs to the public), but I never saw a difference.

I generally practice during the winter on hard water. Works like a champ.

Pillows of paradise

I tried rigging heavy weight, light weight and mojo rigging and I hate it. I just don't have the feel of the bait like I do with a t-rig or jig. Mojo rig is probably as close as I can get to getting any feel for the bait.

@jimmyjoe gave you some really good info. Just wanted to reinforce what he's already mentioned here: 1. Why do some willows spin on a nice, tight axis while others spin on a wider axis? The following applies to all blades. The bigger the blade the more thump, lift and drag it has. The bigger blade is not only longer but wider. The wider blade will generally arc out wider. Willows will stay tighter followed by Indiana followed by Colorado. We'll just keep our discussion limited to those 3 for now. Because willows are narrower they tend to fish faster...less drag. 2. All things being equal (same skirt, same blades, etc.) which can you roll slower while still keeping the blades spinning, a heavier or lighter spinnerbait? This is a matter of preference, but from what we know about blades above, I'd pick a single willow if I want to roll somewhat quickly. Indiana's followed by Colorado's will fish slower. I hope this helps. It's only a small sample size of a lot of different factors that affect the way a spinnerbait swims. There are really no hard and fast rules, but a little information that can help you when determining your spinnerbait selection.

Maybe you need a drop of oil on the spool bearings. It happened to me yesterday, in fact. Different reel, same problem. For whatever reason they were dry. Just a guess

Fixed it for you @fin, I made that about 4 years ago, it’s been retied a few times. I can flat out find fish with that contraption

Here’s a spinnerbait that can flat out bird dog fish. Casts like a rocket, the blades spin opposite each other and can be fished any depth.

THAT’S IT! (low key) except I don’t have a cool trailer like that. ? I don’t mean to get off topic, but A-Jay, with that bulky trailer, do find you need to fish that quicker because of the added weight? I can honestly say I never went that bulky.

I make my own but the BEST I’ve fished with and still have some are Megastrike Strikeback. Single willow for fishing bottom Single Colorado for early season, night and murky waters ”All Around” would be willow main blade with Colorado on the shaft

That’s a beauty for sure! WTG @Fishing Rhino! I’ll be ordering a TM soon for my Zodiac, we should all try and get together some where down there.

It never made sense to me. You fish in a tourney to win. You fish on the weekend to catch fish. Why would you leave your confidence bait in the box. It’s like telling a pitcher to throw his 3rd best pitch on a 3-2 count with bases loaded.

Nope, out to have fun, not to stress over it.

Couldn’t agree more JF

Mojo Rig. I can not get the feel of what my bait is doing and I know I'm missing more bites than on a t-rig.

Great to hear! Not great to hear about your rig...good luck with it

Now that I think of it, Larry didn't do a ton of Bass fishing, so picking out that episode is a long shot

I may not get out and fish Sunday, my son's indoor baseball practice got cancelled last night moving it to outdoors on Sunday with temps anticipated to be in the 60*'s. Spring has sprung here in the Bay State

Trevor Gowdy's Monster Fish was along the same premise. Larry Dahlberg Hunt for Big Fish?