Greed

Big Hammer paddletails get my vote, 4" preferably. The line of swimjigs that Pepper Jigs have are what I use.

Owner Hooks are the best in my opinion. Just like Catt said though, it's all about confidence in the tools you are using more than the tool itself.

Swimjigs - Already off to a good start with these type of lures. Swimbaits- Not off to a good start so far this year. It's hard to put down the jig, swimjig, and spinnerbait when they produce so many already larger fish for me.

I've tried the rage toad and after I two casts I put on a rage shad and went back to catching fish. I bought the rage toad to fish matted grass and the plastic would run upside down . The Rage Toad also doesn't seem to plane on top of the water on slower retrieves like the Rage Shad. This is just my opinion, I tested both plastics on the same 4/0 hook back to back and I feel the Rage Shad is all around the better plastic to use out of the two.

IceintheVeins beat me too it. Grab some parasite clips for your weightless plastics.

If I can reach the other side of the pond when I cast I'll work a fluke style plastic. Twitch, twitch, twitch, and pause the lure gets slurped. Caffiene Shads are what I like to use.

Why not an orangue/red belly? Best of both worlds.

Water, Smokes, and a 5 hour energy drink.

The Swimjig has been my number one producing lure this year. Color doesn't seem to matter but I believe the 4" big hammer trailer matters.

I like to use the Big Hammer 4" Paddletails, whatever color that matches your jig. When I'm swimming a jig I like to cast it out as far as I can and let it sink to the bottom. I'll slow roll it back killing the action and letting the jig fall back to the bottom every 6-10 feet or so, that's when most of my bites occur. Swimjigs have their place when it's nice and calm, post front like days. When there's a breeze I'll throw a spinnerbait instead.

During the fishing season I don't wash my fishing clothes much. I don't think much of it really, by the time the mosquitoes start getting thick my outfits are already impregnated with DEET.

I tried to fish Braided line exclusively last year... and quickly switched bad to using the right line for the right application. I pretty much only use braided line for Froggin' and for the larger jerkbaits. <4"

The 7'6" MH AG Veritas get's my nod, it has a little more give than the 7'3" model.

The 7'6" MH AG Veritas get's my nod, it has a little more give than the 7'3" model.

I have a 201E Curado and a 51E Chronarch and I don't see much of a difference. That being said the Chronarch does look nice on a AG Veritas...

My favorite Shakey Head plastic is a straight tail worm such as a Roboworm and as back up I like to use Pace Chunks for a ultra finesse approach. I treat my Shakeyhead Jigs like every other jig, I'll make a pitch towards a location, let it fall to the bottom, and then I'll commence the jigglin'. Pitching shakeyhead jigs on on light line is a productive tactic for when the smallmouths are 'shallow' and on their beds, then again just about anything else works as well during this time. Just my .02 but I don't care for different brands of shakeyhead jigs. From what I've used though I can say that foot ball style jigs are the way to go. To me the presentation is better because you can really get that plastic standing straight up when you have some tension on the jig. I personally don't care for the stand up style shakey heads. They pick up too much gunk if you are fishing around vegetation and are truly effective when fished on hard bottoms like gravel but a football head jig will do the job better in the same situation.

Too bad about your lake being iced over still op, keep an eye on it though because it might ice out soon. As soon as it does ice out you can get out and work on your casting and lure presentation for when those fish are ready to bite. I'm a hobby fisherman myself but I did put in a lot of time for Largemouth Bass at ice out last year here in CO and was surprisingly pleased with how well I did in 45-50 degree water. This year my lake iced out 3 1/2 weeks earlier than last year. I've fished it three times in 4-5 hour sessions in my float tube and I've struck out each time but like the other posters said, it's nice to get out sometimes. I'll keep fishing until I start hooking up with fish because I know the water and I know the fish are there. In the meantime I'll make sure I can jig that lipless crankbait like a hair jig through the water column for when they're feeling ornery.

Locationist I only fish two bodies of water for Bass and I feel I have the lmb dialed in on both lakes. On those bodies of water I have spots that are extremely consistent when the conditions favor that location. If I can't get a bite at those locations I chalk it up to the fish not wanting to play.

I also have a 7'6" veritas, I call it the compensator and I love it. The 7'6" Veritas has some other good uses also other than Flipping. I've used it for Catfishing, Swimbaits, and Froggin'. Another Veritas I own is a 6'9" ML spinning rod that I use for just about everything when it comes to extra light tackle 1/8oz and below I broke my old Abu Garcia Vendetta on a fish last year but I have high hopes with the new ML just because my 7'6" fishing pole has held up pretty well.

I would like this post if I could. I would also say a thump to the head with a club would do the trick. Edit: You can like posts, well I'll be... I love this site!

With the information that you provided and it being winter time I would suggest a shallow running jerkbait or even a floating minnow plug. I would also take note on where you are getting snagged up at and work the edges of said snags. I'm sure there are some areas in you body of water that are free of cover that you might lose a lure to.

I regularly pitch 1/4oz jigs, rarely do I ever use 3/8oz unless the water is murky (endangered lake) then I'll switch to a bulky 3/8 jig.

This last spring I stumbled upon a school of prespawn females moving shallow to feed. Long story short is that it was a magical and I managed two four pounders in two casts, my pb at 6#, and multiple three pounders before and after. Not too shabby for an hour fishing session before I had to go to work.

I mentioned it in another thread recently but I said it once and I'll say it again. Lipless Cranks and Jigs are a deadly duo during the winter time. You can substitute the crank and jig for any search/finesse combo, just as long as you have confidence in them. see what I did there?

From my experiences, the two presentation that I use for winter bass are a lipess crankbait and a jig. There are others that would recommend a jerkbait and that's fine but I personally don't use many hard jerk baits for lmb. I rely on using the lipless crankbait as a searchbait hoping for a reaction strike. Once I get a hook up I'll work a jig every way possible and everywhere near where I caught the fish, fish markers help for this also. It also helps to have an idea as to where the fish will be holding in the winter time in your body of water. Knowing where the bass are will save you the time of finding them all you have to do then is find out what will make them react.