Bluebasser86

The only thing I use the 3/32oz and 1/4oz cavities on my Midwest Finesse mold is to pour heads for grubs and small swimbaits. I've been wearing the walleye and saugeye out the last couple weeks with a 1/8oz head, 1/0 hook, and a 4" Strike King Swimming Shiner.

Buy KO's. I buy mine in 100 packs for 50 or 60 bucks I believe and can pick a few different colors.

Crappie are spawning here right now. Those guys and the people when they stock trout early in the year are the worst. I got cut off and had guys park boats right next to me half a dozen times Thursday like they couldn't even see my boat. As much as I'd love to say something, it's not worth it and I just move on. Too many crazy people to get into with anyone on the water over a fishing spot.

Phoney Frog glide custom painted in black crappie color. I actually won it in a benefit raffle that I bought $500+ worth of tickets for. I won 2 other baits too but that was the most pricey one. Most expensive bait I've lost so far is a Donut Shad, which were $80 when I bought mine.

Jason Christie almost won the Bassmasters Classic on Grand a few years ago with nothing but a spinnerbait and water temps in the low to mid 40s. His bite actually died when the water got warmer.

According to the Corps website its over 13' high still. My best advice would be don't go. Perry is tough under good conditions, going to be all but impossible under conditions like that. If you're deadset on going, fish the marinas with dark colored plastics, and spinnerbaits.

I'd like to see a comparison of what the difference is between the Thunder Cricket and the Pure Poison because they look the same to me.

PB&J is my boat lunch of choice. Added bonus if I have some Sun Chips to put in the middle of the sandwich. I prefer strawberry jelly, but my mom makes homemade blackberry jelly every year that is better than anything in the stores that I eat until it's gone.

All on a jerkbait and ned rig; largemouth bass smallmouth bass white bass rainbow trout white crappie black crappie warmouth green sunfish drum walleye yellow perch channel catfish I believe the only fish in the lake that I didn't catch that day are common carp, flathead catfish, wiper, and bluegill.

Gardner has a lot of good (greater than 15") bass in it. Generally takes 12-16 pounds to win our Thursday night tournaments out there and big bass is always 4-5 pounds. There's a lot of smaller fish too, but plenty of quality fish if you figure out what they're eating. I haven't fished SMP in a couple years, but I did pretty good the last time I was out there. It was this time of year too. Fished 'Dale again this morning for a couple hours. Pretty sure I got redemption on the good one I lost last week. She ate the same bait, on the same spot, short lined me again, but I got her in the boat this time, 4.19lb big fish of the morning. Also got my first frog fish of the year from the bank at Gardner right before work on a Toadrunner Jr.

I have 3 SPD rods, the shakyhead rod, jerkbait rod, and a jig/worm rod. I really like the shakyhead and jerkbait rod, kind of undecided on the jig/worm rod but I think I haven't really figured out what I like to use it for yet. I think they're a very good value for the money, and I love the Winn grips instead of cork.

They're one of the only baits I can get bit on a dropshot consistently. I've also had a lot of luck with them on a very light T-rig on a spinning rod when the bite is tough.

I have some 3/32oz midwest finesse heads that I fish them on with a #1 hook. It works well when it's calm and/or they're in shallow water.

Gardner is usually pretty good. Douglas is good if you don't mind wading through a bunch of small fish to get at a bigger one.

Phoenix

I haven't used the shad, but the toad adds a ton of weight, making them much easier to cast further and with more accuracy. It also adds a lot of extra lift during the retrieve.

I found a fish farm that shows prices online that says a 12+ inch largemouth (which all those appear to be), is $13.99 each. I rounded up to $14 and that puts it at $1596. That still seems pretty light but if they applied what I suggested above, it would make it a felony. The added bonus to that would make it illegal for them to possess a firearm, so no hunting for them either if they did that. The bodies of those fish don't suggest a lake that is overpopulated. More like a healthy lake that was full of healthy, dumb fish that were easily caught.

Jerkbaits and rattle baits are by far my 2 best producers of spring wipers. Dams, wind blown banks and points are usually the best areas, and make sure to watch for birds like was mentioned. Bladed jigs are a big time sleeper bait for wipers as well if they're up shallow.

I'd guess somewhere in the 14-16 pound range. I've caught them up to the low 20lb range, doesn't look quite that big, but that's a nice one, well into the double digits for sure.

I'm surprised you caught anything at the outlet, last few times I've been there it's been nothing but carp and gar so thick you could walk on them there. I usually keep the boat a long cast off the bank and put my bait right on the bank and fish it most of the way out. Some days they're right on the bank, some days they'll be right next to the boat, or somewhere in between. Fish slow is the main thing at La Cygne it seems.

I haven't handled the newer models, but have owned and fished older models of both and preferred the Clarus.

A #2 split ring is the size you need. Try experimenting with bending the end of the blade to get better vibration. I bend all of mine that I make with the split rings and get much better vibration and faster start up that way.

Anytime I try a double bait rig, all it ever allows me to do is lose baits twice as fast.

I typically use the slowest retrieve I can get away with. Sometimes I've give it little snaps and they'll really trigger on that. Ticking it over grass and ripping it out when it hangs up gets a lot of bites too. I don't burn them, that's about the only retrieve I see guys doing that I don't do. If I want a fast retrieve I switch to a spinnerbait.