Bluebasser86

I would suggest maybe trying something other than braid for the spinnerbaits unless you're fishing heavy vegetation. I also don't like trailer hooks, but sometimes you just have to use them.

If I could only have 1 color it would be green pumpkin with a black blade.

Most of the Savage Gear line up would be good places to start. What is your price limit? Just going off of the fact that most beginners don't want to just straight into spending $100 on a bait or really large baits, I'd say baits like a Shine Glide, S-Waver 168 or 200, Optimum Thumper Tail 6", 7" or mini Slammer, Spro Rat 40 or 50, Savage Gear Line Thru or 3D trouts, Trash Fish, or a Jackall Gantarel.

Does April 15th work for everyone? Should be an easy day to remember to get your taxes and baits done

Welcome!

I was thinking they only made the sweet 16 that year but you're right. Not the biggest basketball fan, but that game was awesome!

I like a brush jig but an Arky is probably a better all around head.

If @Scarborough817 is back in, then it's 9.

First time since I was 2, my wildcats are in the Elite 8!

What rod/reel/line combination are you using? Fishing a spinnerbait on the wrong gear can make hooking them pretty difficult.

The Red Fin has been around for a long time for a reason. On the other hand, I wouldn't bet a dollar on being able to outfish my 4 year old with anything from Livetarget.

Maybe one of the old "Honeycomb" series of baits from Wal-Mart? Long discontinued, my dad used to fish them a lot and still has a couple of the crankbaits.

They do make sinking crankbaits, but I'm not sure if that particular one is supposed to or not. If a bait gets a small crack in it, or a leak by the hook hangers or along the seam, they'll take on water and start to sink. You can drill a small hole to drain the water and then epoxy it back shut after it's drained well.

You might like the Rapala BX Balsa Extreme minnow. There's one that is similar in length at 4" long, but weighs in at 3/8oz instead of 3/16oz. I have not personally fished it, but I've heard it's similar action to the original Rapala.

I have that reel and really like it. I like St. Croix but the Avid isn't one of my favorites, mainly because I don't like the full handle, but if it's comfortable to you they are nice rods.

Welcome back! Yes there is, pretty big ones too.

Do we want to set a mail by deadline so that this doesn't stretch out forever? Something reasonable but just so there's a date everyone can look forward to? I have Jig Man's baits already and mine are done but I know some are still waiting for blanks and supplies.

The correct name would be the Midwest Finesse rig, but Ned rig is what it ended up getting tagged as by the followers of the fishing methods of Ned Kehde. Simply put, it's a small, less than 4", plastic or elastec bait on a small jighead, no heavier than 3/32oz head, with a small, light wire hook. It's fished with a no feel presentation, of which there are 6 base Midwest Finesse retrieves. It doesn't have to be a mushroom head, it doesn't have to be a Zman TRD or half a ZinkerZ, those are requirements put on the rig by the folks that sell those products they want everyone to buy.

I just bought a 130 and really like how it cast and fishes so far. Haven't caught anything with it yet, but neither did any other jerkbait we threw Tuesday. It will be awhile before I get a true test of it, but pretty excited to get a Booyah Toadrunner to at least give a test run. One concern, the hooks look a lot like Trokar points, which I'm not a fan of at all. Hopefully I don't end up with a sliced up frog after the first couple fish.

A lot of the lakes that Ned fishes around here are lakes with weeds or mud bottom. I use a 1/16oz almost all the time and adjust retrieve speed to stay just above the weeds. A part of Midwest Finesse Fishing is catching fish off "nothing" banks that other anglers ignore, which are often mud/silt/clay bottom banks with little cover but may be good feeding areas due to an abundance of invertebrates that live in it.

I use to have a super magnum when I had my old bait without any storage. It's huge and can't imagine ever bringing that much gear as a co-angler to a tournament.

I use a variety of retrieves, with a stop and go being my most productive. I like to rip them out of weeds and grind them through rocks and ricochet off wood too. The sudden directional change tends to trigger a response from fish holding on whatever piece of cover the bait bounces off of, and it ends up looking like this.

I use and Okuma RTX 25 for dropshotting. Only 6.6 ounces and a nice retrieve rate of 6:1. It has a very nice, smooth drag, but I'm in the same boat as OkobojiEagle in that I backreel instead of using the drag a majority of the time.

My KastKing Sharky II has been good for me.

I like a wacky rig for sight fishing and skipping, no real reason to it.