UWBass

http://www.bassmaster.com/news/after-cold-day-fishing-randy-moss-unretires Speaking of high profile athletes enjoying competitive bass fishing...

Hey now I can like what I like. I prefer smallmouth fishing so sue me. I like fishing deeper, fishing slow...dragging a jig, Dropshot, a Carolina rig. Methodical fishing. i dont prefer to just bomb away. i like to pick apart structure and I just don't like shallow weed fishing, it's as simple as that. I never implied that shallow fishing doesn't produce big fish, or lots of fish or that buzzbaits, spinnerbaits or senkos dont catch fish. I just prefer different techniques. That's it. Frankly I'm astounded at the response of some of your replies. I never catch anything on buzzbaits, every boat you see is chucking a white spinnerbaits, and literally the only lure you see most fisherman use is a senko. Maybe just a WI thing but it is what it is. For what it's worth, I LOVE crank bait fishing. Square bills, moderate depth, deep divers, any and all.

I forgot my least favorite technique though: FROGS! I know; I'm a weirdo. A lot of my friends hate fishing with me. They just like to chuck ad wind.

Buzz baits and spinnerbaits!! Buzz baits because they just don't work and spinnerbaits because every yahoo throws them. Not a huge fan of senkos anymore either because of the newb connotations. Used to have football jigs and jerkbaits on this list too but I kicked butt with them last fall so they've moved up. As far as a technique, I absolutely despise fishing docks or other shallow shoreline cover. I live for offshore or weed line fishing. Less bites but bigger fish.

Eric is definitely the go to guy in Milwaukee. He's always on them

Did you fish with Eric Haataja?

I had one for about two weeks. Flew out of the boat after 2 times using it doh!! 70 bucks gone oh well. It worked great when I had it though!

Looks like you were fishing right by the launch. Try walking on that little peninsula that seperates the launch bay from the main lake, cast on both sides. In may there are some giants caught from shore there. Delavan is a great lake-I've caught some pigs there this summer. I like that the lm move deep there-not a lot of lakes you can catch them in 25 ft or even deeper. Fishes like a deep south lake. Flutter spoons, deep cranks, big worms and big jigs, and of course the Dropshot! Boat traffic sucks!

Abu Garcia Pro Max retails for 80, comes in a high speed 7.1:1 R or L retrieve, is very smooth. Highly recommend that one. Also have Lew's Laser MG ($80) for cranking reel and is very light, powerful and smooth. Great "cheap" reel!

It was a combination of things. I've learned since - haven't broken a rod in past 3 years. While not necessarily the cause either, but two of the rods were broken on hooksets on approximately 12-15 lb. catfish. I was able to land both of them and they were 31", and 32" respectively. Hooking that large of a fish with a tight drag and XF rod with a vicious hookset is a cause for disaster.

I use a St.Croix Avid 6'9" ML XF for dropshot and like it a lot, but don't think the XF is all it's cracked up to be. I've broken several rods with XF taper on admittedly too hard of hooksets right at the curve point. I think it just puts too much pressure on one spot on the blank. I've since went to more of a wrist flick with the XF and no problems. I used to use a 6'6" ML F St.Croix Legend Elite for dropshots and that rod was the bomb for that purpose. No problems with using either a F or XF or dropshot. I use F St.Croix's for all of my other spinning applications, and have never broken one. I will say I definitely prefer a Fast Action to an XFast action for fighting a big fish though

I highly recommend the Lethal Weapon series of swim jigs. They have two models, the classic Lethal Weapon II and the new Lethal Weapon III Living Rubber Swim Jig. The II's feature a sticky sharp Owner hook and the skirts are hand-tied and extremely durable. The III's (which are new for 2012 and I have fallen in love with) feature a more streamlined head design than the II's and come through weeds very well. The weedguards on both are soft and seem to contain just the perfect amount of bristles (no need to doctor your weedguard, which I have seemed to do with a lot of the other popular swim jigs out there - most are just TOO THICK), and the jig swims more straight and true than any other jig I've tried. Don't get me wrong - I like Northstar's and Dirty Jig's very much (and appreciate that like Lethal Weapon-they are based out of the upper Midwest) but LW's have been my go-to for the last 6 years and that ain't changin'!

I think ice fishing might be my favorite fishing of the year. Nothing like jigging shallow water for big gills and seeing that spring bobber SNAP down hard. I make my own inline fishing rods that are 4 to 5 ft long and it is a hoot to land a 9 or 10 inch gill on that noodle. They fight so hard!

DT16 (meaning Dives-To 16) are meant to dive to 16 ft (although they really only dive 13-14 ft. consistently). Try a Rapala DT-6 (Dives to 6 Feet) in that situation or a squarebill crankbait (such as a KVD 1.5 or KVD 2.5). Those will all dive the appropriate depth.

Mark, the rig is legal in WI. You can use a 5 arm rig and only use three hooks on it and put blades on the other two arms, or rig up dummy swimbaits w hitchhiker screws w no hooks and rig those on the remaining two arms...or simply buy a three arm A Rig and not worry about it

I use St.Croix rods exclusively and have never had any issues. I have had the fortune of working at a tackle store for a long time and received a sizable discount, so most of mine are Legend Elites (all spinning rods are Elites) or Legend Tournaments (baitcasters) with a few Avid's and Mojo's thrown in. They are simply a stand-up company, and being from WI, I obviously have an extra interest in fishing their rods! Also, something kind of cool, if you have ever noticed, that is my picture on their home page under freshwater rods (holding a smallie), and I appear several times throughout the website with bass or crappies. My friend and I made it into the 2012 paper catalog of theirs as well in a dozen different photos. If any of you ever get the chance to do a photoshoot w/ St.Croix for their website, do it - they treat you very well in gear...(which is better than money anyways!!!)

I am obsessed w keitechs- all shapes and sizes but primarily swing impact and swing impact fats. Game changer-i probably have over 100 packs by now

I also got another free pack of hooks last week! 4/0 EWG first time now some 3/0 Ewg's. Neato.

Keitech swing impacts. I must have 50 packs of the things but they work so well and are soft so they go bye bye quick when a smallie takes to the air. Swim jigs also, specifically Lethal Weapons. Locally made in WI, when I find a color and size that's hot, I'll buy 30 or 40 in a crack. Lot of jig stealing pike in our waters!

Yeah I'm going. Only able to go Saturday and Sunday though. Also my first Elite event-pretty excited for a chance to schmooze with the pros!

Green Mirror 580G Fathoms. Simply incredible. I'm seeing beds in 20 ft while friends with Oakley's and Wiley X's can't even see bottom in 12 ft.

Sahara no questions asked. Light years of a better reel than a Spirex. I also have a vendetta against rear drag spinning reels, but still, Sahara. I would also recommend the St.Croix Mojo Bass 6'8 MXF. Around $100, and would be acceptable for your uses. A 7' M spinning rod is also just a great all around rod for pretty much everything, akin to a 7' MH baitcaster. There is a 7' Medium Fast Mojo available also. While a ML would suffice for a lot of applications, it just doesn't have the nuts to pull a fish out of the weeds if they dig down. You said you want to flip cover, go for a Medium.

I bought one. It's incredible for the price tag. Very lightweight and has flex but definitely seems to hold up relatively well to its MH power rating. I've only thrown squarebills and some DT-6's and DT-10's on it. Plenty of power for all of those uses. You might be a little undergunned for a DD22, but I am sure it would be passable, just not ideal. I throw bigger deeper cranks on my St.Croix Legend Tournament 7'10 Heavy Moderate. That rod costs some bills but it is the real deal for big cranking. I would still purchase the Diesel Glass in a heartbeat though.

I also got a pack of 4/0 EWG Worm Hooks and a decal. Nothing for the bigger survey yet.

4.5" roboworm in morning dawn, killer. 6" also works well. Also, while not traditional "worms", the keitech swing impact and jackal cross tail shad are the best baits out there for dropshotting. Pricey however!