McAlpine

I'm going to second everything above. I have used a spinnerbait as my go-to for probably the last 15 years. I have yet to find one I prefer over a terminator T1 titanium. Kills me that they stopped making 1/4 oz.

SVT - How would you compare the *** to the ***? I have a couple ***'s and am very interested in the *** but the price delta is quite a bit and the ***'s are so good that it's tough to make the jump without some idea of what the extra $$ is buying me.

I'll second or third a couple above. Roboworm and don't look back.

I just screw my roboworms down on coil's too, but in the picture your's looked large. I never have a problem and if the nose ever tears out after catching a couple, just bite off the nose and screw back down. Maybe the zoomed in pic makes it look big. If you can do that bad boy in a 1/8th and 1/4 oz football head that would be awesome. I do dig that hook. Matter of fact, I have been getting ready to place an order for shakey heads for this season as I'm really low. I'll hold off and see what you come up with. Let me know if you need a field tester.

Bobbin Threader.

Great topic. I picked up a couple scrounger heads last year and really have yet to figure out what to do with them. As asked above, does anyone have a specific scenario that they like to use these in? ie..high pressure, cold water, lethargic fish, slow retreive? Or are they just general purpose, do they burn well, or just work well as a swimbait, etc? I'm just not sure when to try throwing the darn thing. I like the idea but dont see where it fits into the grand scheme.

Some of the BPS soft plastics are a good buy and get you most of the action you will get from a name brand. Not all...but most. I buy the snot out of their senko knock off. The hardbaits are mostly pretty crappy. You can make them better but you need to replace hooks and maybe split rings, touch up paint as they wear fast. Even after you do this though, generally they have no density. They are light, hollow, cheap. So if you are fishing a constant moving action with them they can be ok. If you want to stop a bait they rise to the surface like a bobber. This also affects the action in many cases. So, yeah like everyone else i have a few because they are cheap. I play around with them and have caught fish on them. Not going to say not to buy them but I would never suggest you fill a box with these. Maybe get a couple if you like the look but save your money and buy fewer quality baits and you will be happier. Pike fishing is a great use for these. I dont want to throw a MB oneten at pike. A BPS stick bait or spinner bait in loud colors however at a couple bucks ea...catch pike who are not real picky all day long. When they get chewed up, chuck 'em.

I love the hook. As above, can you make some on 1/8 and 1/4 oz football heads with small keeper spirals for roboworms? I'd buy em up!

Rico is a winner!

Yup, this is really the only worm I use for a shakey head any more. They are money. Not sure on the color you are looking for but go to a BPS, they have a remarkable selection.

Have presidents, supremes and 1 supreme xt. The entire line is incredible for the money. The supreme is s very nice step up from the president. The XT is incredible for the price. I really want a patriarch but just haven't pulled the trigger yet.

I fish shakey heads on the Ohio alot when the fishing is tough, sun is high and bright, etc. I find that a football head jig 1/8-1/4 with a screw lock works well. I like to use a ML/F 6'-7" to 6'-9" spinning rod with 10lb Nano-Fil and an 8lb FC leader. I generally fish roboworms rigged weedless on this jig and do very well. For most "tough" situations this is my go to rig almost anywhere and it has paid dividends.

I doubt it will have any affect whatsoever. The Ohio is a high flow river and during this time of the year there is a ton of water trucking downriver. Right now it has come back up since our last rains and is a good couple feet above pool and above my dock on the upper McAlpine pool just above Louisville. It's muddy and moving fast right now. Regardless; disgusting that things like this happen. Those responsible for this type of an event, or lack of oversight which leads to this type of event, should be imprissoned.

The ardent cull balls are great. Go get them, you won't be disappointed.

I prefer an 1/8th oz football head with a bait keeper screw. Works great with a roboworm.

When I lived in northern IN, cold water was water you could drive a truck on to go ice fishing. Now that I live in southern IN, (amazingly 3 climate zones difference) and on the Ohio (moving water), very cold water is now anything in the 30's and 40's. so yeah, it's relative.

I had a pair of the frog toggs mentioned above and they don't breath at all. You won't want that in Alabama. While its an expensive setup I suggest the 100mph suit. You want wind proof breathable gortex then that's the ticket. Love mine.

When they first hit the market, the "wacky worm" was an "as seen on tv" gimmick too. Food for thought boys.

It was a good one though. Even though I saw it on outdoor ch I'm thinking about getting the online version as it has a lot of the between the scenes stuff.

Yeah, but you'll buy more. :-)

I use black back/chartreuse or firetiger, shad or bluegill kind of realistic color and a sexy shad variant and that's about it. Covers muddy to clear water. Of course I have others but really they were a lark when I bought them or I liked them but the ones listed above get 99% of the use. Usually black back/chartruse and sexy shad colored squarebills are both on rods on the deck 75% of the year. To me a much more important factor than color is to have squarebills by multiple manufacturers in my box. They all have a little different action and it's the action that I am trying to fit to the fishes mood with a bait in a color they can see. Same with rattles. Great in muddy water, keep it silent in clear water, stained water it's a toss up based upon the fish's mood/weather/cloud cover.

I started using 15lb mean green this year with spinnerbaits and really like it. Stays limp, casts nice, strong, low stretch.

In addition to the above I keep a bottle in the bow of the boat and give a spool a couple shots if my line starts getting out of control while fishing. L&L is magic.

I bought that one too. Here's what I did. Take an empty large size water bottle and screw the cap back on. Now tie the lure retriever string to the neck. Next wrap the excess line around the bottle. Now you have your own line minder and if you drop the line in the water the bottle floats. Also, after two seasons with this I learned that it works well as a retriever sometimes but not all the time. Just bought a 5-12 ft extendable pole style to have in the boat too.

I'm going to disagree here. There have been multiple times that I have been pre-fishing tournaments and upon catching a a few and starting to put together a plan of action I always try out different colors. Many times I find that fish will key on specific colors. I'm not going to go so far as to say that a hyper-realistic pattern is the most important factor but many times you will find that a general color be it white, chartreuse, black, etc. as a main color on a bait will out perform another general color. The biggest factors on choosing a color for me are light penetration based upon color of the water, what the sky looks like and how much wind/waves there are and season/color of forage. However; to say that color does not play a factor, or even to say that color plays a very minute factor is false.