Spankey

I generally cover my knot and hook eye.

I like many of your color patterns. On the river Roadkill, Rootbeer and Sand are productive as well. Been fishing whites over the last few seasons more. White had been a color I really never fished.

I don’t mind fishing in the rain but I prefer to be out already and then have the rain start. Had some great bites over the years when that happens. If it gets blinding torrential, time for me to anchor up under a bridge and ride it out. Lightning, aluminum boat and graphite rods don’t seem to be a good mix. I try to get a good feel as to what my weather conditions are gonna be. I Have a weather radio onboard.

There are guys who will throw the “finesse” term around with crankbait fishing. Can’t say that I can do that. Though the crankbaits I fish most are not that big (3/8, 7/16, 1/2, 5/8 & 3/4 oz.) and some are XD baits. Possibly it refers to UL crankbaits that are 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 oz. baits primarily used for trout or crappies. But I have heard the term thrown around about finesse crankbaits. I’ll throw some 5/16 oz. and 3/8 oz. Shad Raps regularly for river smallies but don’t think it’s finesse.

Couldn’t put a rabbit past him.

I’m not that great when it comes to remembrance of particular years or time lines but when the term finesse fishing back some time ago and more recently the NED fishing term thing came about, I did get a good laugh about it. We’ve been fishing like that since the late 70’s. Many of a Mr. Twister and a Culprit worms became a NED bait by cutting the head back. Over the years the hooks and jig heads became more sophisticated. And more expensive.

Just an FYI, if you go to SunLine website there is a great knots download. This may be useful to you. I’ve had it on my phone for years.

I sort of know where you are coming from but their feed patterns change. There is probably not a soul on this site that likes to fish a crankbait more than me. But for me that bite is down to nothing these days. Heat wave? Water temps? Baitfish or lack there of. Slow finesse presentations of soft plastics is catching some now. I’ll stick with that for a while. But continue to throw a Rat-L-Trap around some.

I wish some manufacturers would reintroduce some of their plastic variations that were around 25-30 years ago. They produced a lot of fish for me back then. They have been off the market for so long that they would be a new product to many guys today. Berkley, Mr. Twister and Mann’s had some great stuff that’s been long gone. But I understand about moving forward, marketing, and competition. It is what it is.

That’s what I heard would or might happen. So I’ve been keeping them in the original packaging, and have the Zman stuff in a Bass Mafia money bag. It’s basically a HD Zip-Loc bag. The worms, creatures and craws I bought over the winter have produced fish. Just hopping and dragging them, fishing as slow as I can. Bite has been slow here in this heat wave. I’m not ready to put Zman on any pedestal yet, have other plastics that get bit well. The higher float of the elastic material might just be a different look. That was my reason for trying them. Catching the few Walleyes in this heat wave has been a real surprise.

Buying for myself has been down some the last couple of years. I have a 17, 14 and 3 year old grandsons that are fishing with me at different times and I’ve been trying to hook them up with some half decent stuff. 3 yo is just starting. I'm always ready to buy a new color of a soft plastic that is productive. Crankbait fishing is a big part of my fishing, like to have spares and spares that I add additional paint colors to them.

I love the way the radial tires handle and touch the road.

Crankbaits Finesse Plastics Jigs

I’ve never fished a solid body tube. Why I don’t know. Don’t know why I never tried them. But there are a few brands out there that appear to be good quality. I fish grubs so they are sort of a grub with a tube tail. Zman has one, guess they are set up for NED rigging. Never jumped on the NED rig bandwagon stuff. Some of us were and still are fishing Ned style since the 70’s. If the Zman stay buoyant for being a solid type tube they look like a good different choice. That slight bit of a change may draw unexpected bites. They claim that elastic holds up well.

I use the Abu Winches the most regularly. They are flat like a paddle. I tried a couple of different slip on inserts on them, thought that they might look cool and sure a purpose. Not really, ditched that idea pretty quickly. I like the factory set up in the Winch.

My catching of Musky on the river has never been of any type of regularity. Very sporadic. Just a fun bonus. I’d like to catch a monster 40” plus and land him but it will be difficult on 6# and 8# test. I’ve been lucky on most of my catches where my hook ups were in the corner of the mouth but have been lucky that my lines had held up. I’ve never caught one on soft plastics. Fat Raps, Shad Raps, DT’s, Bomber A’s Bandits, Husky Jerks and Mepps Spinners. They have come off the bank with quick drop offs, typical smallmouth spots. A few hit totally unexpected close to the boat on lure retrieves. I’ll be back on the river soon for smallies. Lately been fishing the lake for that Monster Bass that I’m struggling with finding.

God bless you guys. Stay safe. We are gonna get hit hard tonight. But not until after dark which makes it worse. My trees and those of my neighbors are huge. I’ll be pacing. Some of you guys are dealing with big devastation and loss. Seems to hit you with more regularity. Hope you get through it.

You can buy those teeny tiny tube prerigged PowerBait tubes but I don’t think ones that small are a great way to target Smallies. Draw attention from panfish. If 2 1/2”-3” tubes are a good catcher for you now I would not go smaller. As summer progresses going to fall I would think going a bit larger. I’ve caught those rut/dink smallies on 4.5 inch finesse worms and Senkos. Wondering where did they think they were gonna do with that. A 3” or 3.5” tube is not oversized for any respectable size Smallie. Great post. Like the tube talk. They don’t get talked about much these days. Try “Roadkill” or “Pumpkin w/ green flake.

The tube bait is a great bait. Overshadowed by many soft baits these days.

The longest I’m fishing are 7’ / 7’1”. How and where I fish (not a pro) I don’t think I would gain anything. Would like to try one. I love fishing my soft plastics on 6’3”, 6’8” and 6’9” fast and Xfast Avids and it looks like they stopped making them. An all time favorite river rod of mine is a 5’9” Avid Medium X-Fast. A tube and grub rod that works great around dock and overhanging limbs and branches. Another rod discontinued. I’m convinced that the game is being changed by the manufacturers. Not in a bad way. But a different way. Rods, baits, reels are all changing. I’m older and a creature of habit so I’m not all that receptive of some changes.

I fish tubes, got hooked on the Case tubes many moons ago by some older river rats who fished the heck out of them. Gitzit is another good tube. I prefer to use the 2 3/4” with a jig head. But I have fished some larger magnum tube rigged weedless with an EWG hook and splitshoting. The larger are not my tube to grab, but know some Susky guys who prefer the larger. But I’m also a fan of the 3” grub on a jig head. I fish various soft plastics for smallies but the old tube and grub are classic baits. I have fished some Berkley Power Tubes. I liked them but they dried up and have not seen them in years. I would suggest you try the larger. Why not. Soft plastics are cheap. You’ve been chasing smallies a long time and they may just be a bait that works great from the get go for you. Larger profile that they might be looking for. If you are feeling it, go for it. You’ll make it work.

I’m not a musky fisherman. I don’t set out to catch them. Eastern PA river rat who chases Smallies. Over the years catching some tiger and spotted musky has been a real treat. I’ve never caught one over 38” but you guys have some beautiful fish there. They like smallie baits. But catching them on 6# and 8# is hard on the fish. I guess this is what is meant by playing a fish to exhaustion. Even though you are not playing, just trying to land them. During the dog days of summer this seems more common. But I’ve been lucky and all seem to have faired up well. I’ve never touched (manhandled) a Musky, was told any Musky you were going to release do not touch them with your hands. Something I was told as a kid. But they are a neat creature and I can see the enthusiasm to fish for them.

Mine is not one particular bait. I’m a crankbait addict and junkie. Have a strong confidence level of fishing them. But ones that have a live image look to them are a no go for me. Has to be a mental block or something. Being the Rapala fanboy I am I had high expectations when I went to fish their version of some live image finishes. Rapala’s original Bluegill is a long time producer for me. Live image Bluegill had to be as good “NOT”. Rapala original Largemouth Bass another long time producer, the live image Largemouth and Smallmouth has to work as well, “NOT”. Big fish eat smaller fish. That theory went out the window. The live image have worked best on channel catfish while bass fish. BUT, I think it’s more of a mental block for me, others I’m sure are having success with them.

I like to use a swim worms, 3.5”-4” craws and Creatures rigged weedless both weighted and weightless. One might just be laying in an open pocket. On the grass edges into the drop off to deeper water I’d throw a DT. But there is a 100 different way to fish it I guess.

I can’t say I performed a detailed experiment or an in depth study on red hooks but did try them in smaller (1/0 & 2/0) EWG’s and straight shank worm hooks as a for my own head and the hype around them. Split Shot and T-rigs smaller finesse worms for river Smallies. My opinion is that they performs no better and in my own opinion worse, not as well as the bronze or a black. But to each his own, and I’m sure findings would be different. I wouldn’t tell anyone to not try them.