Bluebasser86

They don't work I go through several bags each winter at the power plant lakes. They're a great option there because I don't get my expensive soft baits destroyed by wipers and they still catch plenty of bass.

The nose catches water just like a regular lipped crankbait and helps pull it down. My Red Zone traps suspend perfectly and get down 2-4 feet.

Try Bandit cranks if you haven't yet. They're similar body styles and have some of the "old school" colors as well. Very reasonably priced as well.

Jigs are without a doubt the simplest bait that is the hardest to learn. So similar to fishing plastics yet completely different. Stick with it and put the time in and it will be well worth it! I took me a full season of fishing almost nothing else to really start to feel like I had the hang of fishing them, a good rod and reel helps a lot too. Now I build my own and carry hundreds in the boat of all different styles (not many different colors though) and they are without a doubt my favorite bait to fish. Good luck!

First 2 are both rock bass; , last is a yellow perch.

Congrats on the new PB! That's a very pretty fish.

If you don't have a scale, get the length and girth and you can estimate pretty closely. You can get a huge variance in the weight of a fish in that length range depending on girth. Last year my two biggest fish were 22" and 24.5". The 24.5" was only 14" and weighed 7.51. The 22" fish was very fat at 17" around and weighed 7.76. Normally a 22" fish is going to be around 6 pounds though and I wouldn't bat an eye if you showed me that picture and said it was 6 pounds. No matter what she weighed it's a great fish though

If people get too close while bank fishing I just break out my "around the world" cast. Nothing gets someone's attention quite like having a set of trebles buzz by their head a time or two.

First bass ever and you caught it on a jig? I bet you're one of only a handful of people who can say that! Congrats on the first of many!

We saw some fish on beds at Gardner last Thursday but it was too windy and stained where we were to fish for them. Never got to fish for smallies on beds but I've heard they're super aggressive.

Douglas State Lake is a good place to go just to catch a ton of fish, but they are pretty small for the most part. Olathe has those 3 big inflows that bring a ton of trash and mud into the lake anytime it rains but it may have cleared up a little by now. The water out there is never very clear and they'll bite in muddy water, just the cold weather combined with the mud I'd be concerned about.

You had one on a Cavitron and one on a Zara Puppy too.

I caught a majority of my keepers at Wyco last year powerfishing with either a jig or 10" worm. I was doing well at Olathe the last couple weeks but I bet after all this rain the water out there is trashed.

Fresh cut bait means freshly cut up baitfish. That would be my suggestion as well, especially if you want to target bigger catfish. I prefer shad and carp but sunfish will work in a pinch. If there's any members of the herring family in the water you're fishing they're very good options as well. If you're fishing from shore you basically rig up a Carolina rig with a shorter leader and cast it to where you want. If there's no current, the wind isn't bad, and you aren't fishing too deep or in a snaggy area then I actually prefer to fish without any weight at all. That's how I caught my PB flathead a couple years ago with a big chunk of fresh cut carp.

Where are you going out of? Lots of fish on beds right now all over the lake and probably will still be by then.

Academy has an H2O bait that looks a lot like the LC Kelly J prop bait that's plenty heavy for casting gear and mimics a bluegill very well with it's short, fat body. I believe they're coming out with one similar to a Devil's Horse with 2 props also.

If the water wasn't too dirty 57 degrees is great water temp to fish a suspending jerkbait. If it was stained a dark colored bladed jig would have been another good option.

Bladed jigs and brush jigs are two of my favorite things to fish at night. The strong vibration of the bladed jigs call the fish in and the brush jig cleans up the ones that don't want to chase. I prefer dark colors and bigger profiles at night.

I bought one as soon as they came out but haven't had a chance to fish it seriously yet. I've made a few cast and the action was great and I have no doubts it will put fish in the boat for me.

Ha! I was going to say I have a Savage Gear line through and it looks nothing like the bait in your first pictures! Good to know the Savage is a good bait if it ever warms up enough to fish one.

Thanks Curt.

It's a Renegade for sure. My buddy used to love those things and had a ton of them. I still find them from time to time hanging in trees. Wal Mart used to carry them but not sure they do anymore. Not hanging on a peg, but in the boxes under the pegs.

I either throw them out or use them for a trailer, never back in the bag though.

My brother in law that doesn't fish kicked my butt from the back of my boat once. Super clear strip pit with lots of grass, like 20+ feet of visibility. I was wacky rigging a stick bait, he put a bright chartreuse, double willowleaf bladed spinnerbait on his ugly stick, BPS megacast spinning reel with 10lb Cajun line and proceeded to wear them out. Sometimes the fish don't read the book.

Did you measure it? What kind of swimbait is that? Sure looks like a jointed hardbait and not a line through. I'm guessing 7.5-8, really good fish no matter what it weighs though.