Bluebasser86

Welcome!

I caught a lot of fish on the 3" version and I'm sure the smallies at Melvern would be no different.

The squarebills from Academy are hard to beat and you can get them for 3-4 dollars every day.

FWIW, my second largest Melvern smallmouth to date (4.80), was on a Ned rig. My first one over 4 from out there is still my largest from Melvern at 5lb even that ate a tiny CDBS Zero in American Shad color. 4 even on a Bull Shad 4.80 on Da Ned 4lb 8oz on a Buzz's 110+1 I've had a couple other 4's in the boat by other people too. My wife's 4 on a Series 2 Luck E Strike in Sexy Shad. Drew's 4 and change on a War Eagle Jigging Spoon (Drew also has a 4.95 I believe on a spinnerbait and I believe another one or two over 4.

I use a leader with lighter test because my main line is 50lb braid I would still use a lighter leader even if I was still using mono so when I get hung up (because we all know it's going to happen), I want to be able to just lose a hook and plastic, not my expensive sinker/bead/clacker/swivel setup. I'm plenty vocal about my hatred for C rigging, but I've gotten much better at it since I switched to braid for my main line. Feeling everything is much easier, and hooksets are much surer than they use to be.

I have the 70XHG and 70HG (Curado and Scorpion). I actually bought the Scorpion for about $20 less than the Curado FWIW.

The other thing with the larger hook that guys are wanting now is it makes the bait more rigid than it is on a short, small hook. The bait doesn't do much anyways, but the small hook allows it to have a very subtle movement and wobble that is ruined by the big hooks guys are wanting to use. They'll still catch plenty of fish with it like that because it's a small, natural looking bait, but it's not a Ned Rig anymore.

Online and gun shows are mainly where I've seen it. It's redneck kryptonite (as most explosives and anything that involves fire are, I should know). Obviously might be a bit too powerful to be selling to the general public though.

You're a bad influence. I've been wanting to try the Trick Darter for awhile now and I had a little money in the Paypal so why not? Had a little money left and I was already ordering so I added a Duel Noi-Z JR 85F that I've been wanting to try along with a Duo Pencil 110 because I've been wanting to try those too.

Not much to see here, but the few fish that I did catch at Melvern Friday. I wish I had shown a shot of how dirty the water was. No idea why it muddied up that bad. There's tons of sediment on the rocks right now. If you get up shallow, the TM kicks up clouds of mud like you're in the back of a cove at a state lake or something. I've never seen that at Melvern before.

http://elitelaugh.com/video/heres-a-video-showing-how-to-dock-like-a-boss/

Black/blue flake or black/blue laminate and watermelon/purple flake for me. Cinnamon/purple flake is a good one too.

I've never once in all my time on the water heard someone wish the had a less powerful trolling motor. Shorter or longer shaft yes, but never less powerful.

Reminds me of this guy.

According to Rapala's website, that bait has a 6 1/4" body and weighs 2.5oz, so it's just a baby. I wouldn't want one of the deep runners but I'm sure a bass would hit a shallower runner. Then again, if I was going to throw a bait that size for bass, I'd much rather it be a big swimbait.

We got more snow yesterday on Easter than we've had all the rest of the year combined. That should help the bite, right?!

I enjoy making baits and hearing stories from guys that do well on them, but even with having them in a pretty popular local store and selling hundreds a year, I make enough to cover the cost of materials and enough to keep myself and my friends that help me stocked up on jigs, bladed jigs, and various styles of jigheads. The market for fishing lures is so flooded right now it really takes something special to make anything. If I was going to go into the lure making business to actually try to make a living, I'd start learning how to carve big swimbaits now.

Don't move to Kansas, they just moved the cutoff up from 65 to 74. Makes me wish I would have bought the lifetime a couple years ago before they doubled the price but I did the math and I would have about come out even so it wasn't worth it.

I usually stick to a shad color or chartreuse. I doubt bass can see much at all in our murky lakes at that depth.

Welcome!

Not here, shad populations have gone crazy as well. I really feel like the smallmouth are starting to eat zebra mussels here as well. I don't put them in the livewell often, but when I do, there is almost always empty adult zebra shells in there by the end of the day. Maybe they're just bycatch when a smallmouth sucks up a crawdad or something, or maybe they're learning they can eat the things.

We were at Melvern Friday as well and it was pretty awful. That water got so muddy for some reason and everyone knows how much smallmouth love muddy water We might have caught 2 dozen fish all day out there if you count our white bass and drum double (the only double of the day). I did get out to Lone Star for a couple hours Thursday. Was hoping it would be longer but man I was slammed with orders this week and Mondo was completely out of 4 different colors, so had to take care of business before I could go fishing Water temp was all the way down to 50-51 depending on where I was at, although I didn't get very far because I only had 2 hours. Probably caught 15 on a jerkbait and wobbler, Sam got one on a dropshot too. Water clarity was good and the weeds are already 2' tall according to the Garmins.

How about no. LOCKDOWN!!

Yeah, you'll be fine with most M or MH spinning rods as long as there's not heavy cover. I like baitfeeders but you don't have to have them, they just make your life a lot simpler. If you want something you can use for both those and bass though, I wouldn't go with a baitfeeder. I fish pretty similar situations here for catfish and I use a pair of 7' MH Ugly Stick Lites with Okuma Avenger 30 baitfeeder spinning reels spooled with 20lb PP. I can handle any fish that swims in the places I'm fishing as long as I can keep them away from cover with those setups. In your case, just swap the Ugly Sticks (or don't if you like them for bass fishing), with whatever rod you want and the baitfeeders with a similar sized standard spinning reel.