Spankey

Was gonna mention this also. I use a light wire circle type hook and nose hook them. Split it shot and Drop shot rig them in the river also. I believe I caught them t-rigging them. You can fish them 7 way to Sunday and not be wrong.

I glad you are opting for something other than the plastic grocery store bag. If if I can ask, how long have you been working out of that grocery store bag? Glad you are getting something more secure so things don't wind up in the drink.

You may be right also. It sounds it. More of a presentation style.

I hear you brother. I've been there many times over the years. I've seen my home stretch of water change and turn over the years. I believe on the rebound the last few years. I generally go home happy as hell on the solo 20" day. Hard day of fishing but landed a beauty.

I'm not quite sure what it is either but I've been river fishing for smallies that way long before it was called finesse. I agree with Tyler's thoughts on it.

Never gave that a real hard thought. I guess some have that as a common condition. Sorry for bad thinking. I'm always dealing with some stain version. But not with what you have to deal with.

But soft plastics are not a reaction bait. A rattling crankbait or spinnerbait would be in those conditions. My thought you were look for reaction strikes in heavy stained or dirty water conditions.

Not sure if they are really necessary or not but, I just associate them to my pop-r type topwater lures. I've just swapped them out when they get ratty looking. I use a few style dressed trebles. I'll stick to them. A spook does not have them. I would not put one on a spook. PopR more straight line action.

Rat-L-Traps, Bomber A's, Bandits. Noisey as it get for me I guess. I don't put a lot of emphasis on color but solid black, chartreuse, purple and blue are colors I will throw. But natural colors work as well or not better at times.

Drop shot and Split shot rigged Roboworm 4.5's, various colors. Long time favorite finesse set up. Have fished the "fat" version more as of lately (last few years). But still use many original version.

And the catch of a Musky on Smallie gear happens once and awhile. A thrill even if the musky are small.

On the river I'm not fishing any differently. Grubs, tubes, crankbaits, jerkbaits, split shot/drop shot rigs. I've caught Walleye on these. I don't think I ever caught one on a lizard, pig and jig, or topwater lure. They are a nice occasional catch when you are not expecting it.

Being a river rat and smallie addict. Tubes and grubs are some of my go to baits. Have worked in all river structure conditions.

Check the Case stuff out. Should be available. Berkley has a color called camo. Very close. Rumor has it was a long time ago that they made that color from recycling scrap colors.

Roadkill/camo, I've been throwing that. Things are turning upward. One of my favorite colors. Good luck.

Are you saying you are having a hard time from Jan. 1st till now? A little help. I'm up in the north with you. I'm not setting the world on fire yet but have taken the slow approach been fishing lures slow. Grubs, tubes, craws, worms. Probably not what you're doing. Things will break open soon. I've river fished smallies for a long long time. I hate it around spawn. They will get the best of me. I can not figure them out. I managed a few yesterday. I was gonna pull the plug yesterday when the rain got steady. Stayed to fish a ditch that I like and got a 15"er. On a rattle trap. That fish has me stoked. To me game is on now. This year has gotten off to an unusual start. Don't take to heart your start.

Just seem that most rods are marketed toward fast and extra fast actions. I Crankbait fish with St. Croix Permeire Crankbait rods. They have more of a moderate action and a bit softer of a tip. You could look at some of the Cabela's and Bass pro Shops Tourny type spinning rods and I think you'll find them to have a bit softer action. For Crankbait fishing I think you'll find these to be good for lighter crank baits. 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 & 7/16 fish well with these rods. I find my better rods and more senseative are geared toward soft plastics.

Great post! Like you I'm down to just a few. Soft. Obvious teeth marks would get in them but didn't tear real easy. I bent over backwards years ago to find them. No luck. I've only fished the smaller 3" for River smallies. Have a lot of good memories with that bait. Pumpkin orange claw & black w/ blue claw.

rapala skitter prop, heddon torpedos

I'm a Rapala freak. The original Rapala floating minnow and the jointed minows are great.

I love a Roadkill tube, but I'd like $.10 for every Smallie I've caught on a 3" Power, Mr. T or Kalins Grub since the 1970's

Great Post! Thanks For Serving! Welcome Back!

I'm a big St. Croix fan and love their rods. And I could be wrong on this but I chose my last Mojo rod over the Bass X because the Bass X rod was less one guide than the same 6' 10" version of the Mojo. I have both generations of the Mojo's and like them both. The Bass X is a nice rod. I'm pretty anal and the guide issue was what kept me from buying it.

I have to agree 100% with that. A version of a Strike King crankbait that I love has the worse hooks I've ever had to deal with. I can't say it has cost me fish, but on many fish that I've caught, when you're removing them from a fish with a pair of pliers the soldered hook of the treble breaks off. This is with every little force when removing. I've went with a VMC replacement and they seem to hold up well.

Great post. This has been my feeling for quite a long time. I have Bandits that are long discontinued. Glad I have doubles and triples of some of them. Maybe it's a confidence thing, maybe it's that they work well in my region but whatever they are no longer available. They have some newer patterns and I just don't feel it with them.