Bankbeater

Hard baits work best around here in the spring, then when it's warm enough to go without a jacket the bite on plastics starts up, and the hard bite dies off until mid or late fall. This pattern may vary a bit from year to year, but it's what I begin with.

I bring 4 or 5 rods, and my 3600 tackle bag. Depending on water and weather conditions I will carry 1 to 3 rods. I take the bag if I am going to walk, or I know I might need something out of it. The bag has 5 boxes so in each box I have tackle, creature and craws, crankbaits, flukes and senkos, and jigs. If I'm fishing a 1 or 2 acre pond then I leave everything in the car and return to it as needed.

I use to be that way about crankbaits, and then plastics. I will keep a jig tied on, but I will keep changing the trailers if I don't get bites.

6" Creme scoundrel in grape. I was fishing it on a texas rig with a 1/16 oz bullet weight and a 2/0 ewg hook.

I had a BPS spinnerbait that I used off and on for about 20 years. I just sharpened the hook and changed out the skirt when it needed it. Over the years I probably caught 30 or 40 bass on it before the arm broke off.

Glad you finally got out and caught some.

Congrats Matthew!

I'll use 1/16 up to 1/4 depending on wind, vegetation, and water depth.

White with a white fat albert trailer. If that doesn't work I switch over to green pumpkin chatterbait with a green pumpkin fat albert trailer.

I keep the plastics in the original packages and then fit them into my 3700 boxes, if they will fit. If they don't fit I do what others have said and put them into a gallon ziplock bag, and put them in one of the side pockets of my bag.

I bought a pack of 100? a couple of years ago. When the bite shuts off I will cast out a 2" sassy shad on a 1/8 oz jig head. I'll use a 1/16 oz if jig head if I'm fishing over submerged vegetation. I just reel it back with a slow steady retrieve.

Another Big Game user here.

I would get the MH rod. It will be easier to carry on the bank if you go through brush, and the extra backbone will help if you are fishing around cover that’s out from the shore.

15 lb Big Game because to me a topwater bait is a moving bait that stays on the surface.

I've been painting off and on for the past 32 years. It's usually a relative's place I'm painting. I always thought that the prep work was the hardest. Once the scraping, patching, taping, and filling is done, the painting goes pretty quick.

I like a weightless senko or a weightless fluke. If the vegetation isn't too thick I like a 1/8 oz jig and craw. The 1/8 ounce size is small enough so you can pop it out of the weeds if it gets stuck without picking up too much.

It's hard to fish a frog around here. The real frogs tend to go after them.

I usually don't care to fish in the rain, but this year I've been looking for rainy days.

I've been fishing from the bank this year so I've been playing get the crankbait back to shore without hanging up.

I can’t even remember the last time I fished for 12 hours straight through.

The rods I use for plastics and jigs are all 6’6”. I use a 7’0” for moving baits, and a 7’0” ML rod for finesse applications which are easier to get distance with.

Congratulations on the win. We ran out of gas one time. That was a long night.

Check out what everyone is using for bait and use something different. Around here it’s spinnerbaits, t rigged plastic worms, and live bait.

Nice find!

For crankbaits 1/4 ounce and smaller, weightless plastics, split shot rig, and light weight t-rigs I use a spinning reel. Everything else I use a baitcaster.