Bluebasser86

shakyhead with a trick worm or wacky rig.

I couldn't find one I liked so I started making my own Hated the hooks and skirts on almost every other one I fished. Not a problem anymore with a wire tied skirt and a Trokar hook

Small beaver baits are killer smallmouth baits (bigger ones are too though).

I've done well with a white jig for largemouth in lakes with no shad. Almost every baitfish has some white in it. I like to fish them faster than craw colored jigs though.

I only fish 3 baits at night, a dark colored bladed jig, a dark colored jig, and a dark colored 10" worm. Fish slowly, fish quietly, keep organized, have a good headlamp, and be ready to catch way bigger fish than you would during the daylight hours

Bullfrogs love to eat other frogs, real or fake. They can be a real pain if you get in an area with a bunch of them, and bass really don't mess with big bullfrogs very often in my experience but prefer leopard frogs and other smaller frogs.

In a lot of lakes around here the shad have spawned recently so now there millions of 1/2" long shad schooling in the middle of the lake. Bass will follow them into the middle of the lakes and school up on them. They do it all the time in several of the lakes I fish and when they do it's really tough to beat a Super Spook Jr in any baitfish color. The key for me is to not set the hook when one blows up but to just wind like crazy until I feel weight and then lean into them. That way if they miss the bait you can continue the retrieve and 9 times out of 10 they'll keep coming back for it until they get it.

Happens to me every time, I have to stop fishing and go home

I've had similar things happen with spinning gear but never been lucky enough to hook the attacking fish, great story!

Congrats man and enjoy it! Seems like just yesterday I was holding our "little" guy in the delivery room, now he's almost 6 months old and swelling up like a California bass on trout stocking day!

Brad Paisley, that man can flat out play a guitar! He's also an avid bass fisherman and I got to meet him once when I was working at Cabela's in KC. He came in to buy some stuff for one of his band members as a joke (he's a big practical joker too apparently). He bought a Zebco 33 and a big 8" swimbait to tie onto it. I got to talking to him and he put a pair of tickets on hold at will call for me for his concert that night. I was pretty shocked when my girlfriend and I got there and he had actually remembered, 3 rows back and dead center with the stage, pretty awesome show.

One of the lakes I catfish regularly we do something we call bass fishing for catfish. We use cut bluegill or shad on a 2/0 Kahle hook on medium action spinning rods, 30 size baitfeeder spinning reels, and 20lb braid. Cast up to the weedline with a weightless chunk of cutbait and let it sink to the bottom. After it hits bottom if one doesn't bite after a minute or two we start a lift, drop retrieve back to the boat, just like a T-rig. It's amazing how many catfish we catch doing that sometimes, along with a surprising number of bass and even the occasional walleye or wiper.

Welcome to the forum! I threw a crankbait a lot and never had a bite, only hard bait I could get bit on was a 7" MS Slammer (in the pictures). Stick worms, baby brush hogs, and trick worms caught most of our fish.

Looks like you had another awesome trip Joe! Great fishing and great scenery!

Those 3 brands you listed are almost as expensive if not more expensive than LC at our BPS Their jerkbaits are 100% worth the money though. Their other hard baits are great but haven't seen a real example of a time when another similar bait didn't get real similar results.

Welcome to the site from a fellow KC area member! If you haven't yet check out the KC area thread. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/41660-for-us-kc-area-guys-fishing-reports/

Keep a little slack in the line before each twitch and give it a quick snap and immediately throw slack back in the line, it should walk perfectly. If you really want a bait that walks you might want to check out the Spro Bronzeye shad. I like the Spro Bronzeye frog and the popping frog along with the H2O frogs. The smallest size H2O frog is a killer when they're being hesitant with normal sized frogs.

What's the power and action on the rod? Personally I like to fish them on 20-25 pound copolymer and reel them as slowly as I can stand, bumping along the bottom if possible. Get some Megastrike or other slippery scent so when a fish strikes it will be easier to get a good hookset on them.

Their hard baits are great, and I've used and own about all of them. Never had one break or any issues with durability in any of them, even the paint jobs hold up well. I own several of their rods and have been completely satisfied with all of them. Their worm hooks have been very good to me. Occasionally roll a point but for $5 for a 20pk I just throw that one away and get a new one. I've rolled points on Gammies plenty of times too but those are nearly $1 a hook now for the superline hooks I like, that hurts a lot more. Even have one of their Mettle baitcasting reels (on an Ethos rod) that I got on sale for $30, really wish I would have bought a few of them. That little reel just takes a beating and keeps coming back for more with no signs of slowing down after a year of intense use (about as much as I'd expect to get out of a cheap baitcaster). I've been using it as a jerkbait/spook reel and anymore it has all but replaced my 50E/Avid combo that I'd normally use for those baits. Their rain gear is really nice too and way cheaper than other big name rain suits.

I tried one and never had any success with it. IMO the old standby Heddon Torpedo is a much better bait.

VMC hooks are good but certainly not the sharpest. I would consider upgrading the hooks for one thing. Another thing like I said would be to try a little different color or retrieve. It's possible the fish were just nipping at the bait and not getting the bait very well. Another thing I always do with cranks is when a fish is trying to make a run I'll disengage the spool and use thumb pressure on the spool to control them. If you are going to use the drag make sure it isn't too tight as that can easily pull the hooks as well.

Congrats on the great outing!

I spend several days each winter walking the banks of the local lakes looking for lures. This past winter I picked up nearly 100 crankbaits from the shoreline of several different lakes, along with a couple duck decoys, a bowfishing arrow, a nice rain jacket, 2 reel covers, and about a billion bobbers. Some of those baits I keep for myself, some are given away, some are cleaned up and sold

They work all year round. I've caught them in water as cold as the mid 40's up to the high 80's and in almost every condition imaginable. The key for me is to fish them as slowly as possible while keeping the blade vibrating. For some reason black and blue seems to be the best color for me for big fish.

Sharp hooks and a bent rod are the biggest keys to keeping crankbait fish hooked. It's possible something wasn't quite right with your retrieve, bait color, or the way your bait moved so they were just nipping at the bait and barely getting hooked.