Bluebasser86

Chartreuse black back citrus shad or chartreuse blue back Tennessee shad red craw craw orange belly bull bream copper gold bream

Come on! You know you have to use black baits to catch fish at night!

I've been hauling the boat gorilla around for awhile now! Don't let that guy get to you! You start looking at used boats that are affordable, then it's boats that are a little nicer but a little more than you want to spend, then you're on boat dealers websites using their "build your boat" menus. Why not side imaging? and power poles! and chrome wheels! and dual consoles! That way it's a little more protected from the elements when my wife kicks me out for spending that much on a boat!

Any soft swimmer that can stand the abuse of a big cat without being super stiff is a winner in my book!

If you're going to do it, do it right! Gamakatsu round bends or EWGs are very good hooks also.

Fish Chris obviously is well known for his abilities with a camera as well as a fishing rod, but the fish in that picture is one of the best looking bass I've ever seen, regardless of what kind it was

Buzzbait and a bladed jig

Dude in the first video does a TERRIBLE job trying to get those hooks out! These guys do a much better job and point out what the guy in the first video was doing wrong, you have to commit to the pull! If you or your buddy chickens out on the pull it's just going to hurt worse than it did. When you push down on the hook shank it causes the barb to release from your skin and the fast, hard pull jerks the hook out before the barb can reset.

Hillsdale

Lindy No-Snag sinkers

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/41660-for-us-kc-area-guys-fishing-reports/ 228 pages on the subject

I've got the Fisch in the 580G lenses and love them. I've had the Fathoms in the blue mirror lenses and loved them as well.

It wasn't your question. Your original post was simply bashing Strike King baits and praising other baits. Strike King isn't my favorite brand in everything (or most things for that matter) but they make a quality product that are competitively priced for the most part. I have dozens and dozens of their squarebills, cranks, and XDs, I have yet to get one that didn't run straight out of the package. Even if I did, a slight bend with the pliers on the split ring hanger, problem solved. I'm not going to list the reasons I think Strike King baits are good because you have your opinion that I'm not going to sway with my opinion no matter how many examples or pictures of fish I have of baits caught on Strike King baits. So instead I'll read with amusement the post in this thread until it flames out and gets locked.

yep, laying there like a dead stick.

10lb Mustad Ultraline for poppers 14lb Mustad Ultraline for walkers and buzzbaits

I'd go with a Bass Pro Pro Qualifier. You can get them on sale for $80 and they're a solid workhorse reel.

They supposedly got some of the original molds and I think I read they were going to go back to gluing both halves again? Don't know if they'll be just like the old ones but I suppose it would make them closer. I'm hoping they make the paint jobs look more like the baits of old. The newer baits next to my old baits just look completely different even thought they're supposed to be the same colors. I fished some of the new baits last time I was at Table Rock and caught fish right along with my old baits though. The biggest fish of the weekend did go for the old school wart though.

I pour my own heads I use for swimbaits that works very well for flukes also. It's a small casting jig head with a 3/0 hook, 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 ounce sizes.

A big wake bait will draw fish from an incredible distance. I've seen them come off the bottom in 20+' of water to hit a topwater.

The Lazer Eyes are good for what you're paying for them. No elaborate color schemes, not the best hooks/paint/components, but they will catch fish and it doesn't hurt so bad when you lose one. I'd much rather spend my money on a bait with a better hook, skirt, and components but you certainly don't have to.

Whopper Plopper is pretty noisy. Deps Buzzjet is a loud, noisy topwater. Woodchoppers make a bunch of commotion. Seems like I remember seeing a buzzbait with 3 different blades? 2 next to each other like a normal double buzz and then another one out in front of the whole thing. Can't remember who made it or what it was called but I bet that sounded like a trolling motor prop on the surface.

I left a bottle of Spike It in my boat when it was hot and it seemed to have lost it's color a bit. It still dyes the lighter color baits, but I can't tell I did anything with a green pumpkin worm anymore.

3/8-1 ounce Spro bucktail naked, grub, or a shad. I use them mainly for wipers but catch a little bit of everything on them.