Spankey

Big Game is great line. I fish the lower side of it. 8#,10#,12# but as mentioned not for spinning set up. I went down to 8# on one of my BC setups. Too early to give an honest opinion on what I’ve done. Have it on a 1/4 oz. / 5/16 oz. crankbait setup.

Great river smallie lure. ?

That 6-8 feet is a good number for summer river Smallies I fish. Fish will be shallower, the fish can be on a piece of structure. But most time I find them at that drop off. Just enough break in contour and they like that. I get my crankbaits down to that depth.

- grubs - tubes - crankbaits

I’m sure I’m fishing a few that don’t get talked about much if at all but yesterday I caught a couple of river Smallies on a Mr. Twister Timber Doodle. Sort of a spoon & grub combination. Don’t use it all that often anymore but wanted to add a bit of flash to a favorite grub so I combined them. Also was thinking if a (small) Muskie were to hit at it he’d be in for a mouth of metal.

I do use them as a jig trailer but majority of the time it’s T-rig and various jig heads. The more realistic the plastic craw looks means nothing to me. They don’t have to look like the real thing.

I believe I have to agree with you. I have cranks and jerkbaits I’ve been fishing for years (and still buy more). I don’t know much about bargain bin baits because I don’t often see them around. I’m more inclined to look for a quality bait(s) on ale at a good price. My only bargain bin bait over my life time that I can say I bought and has worked great was a Lucky Strike 5” black ribbon tail worm. Bought a few bags because they were black, down to just a few worms left. Have never seen those plastics again.

The Rapala Original bluegill is one of my most productive lures. Back some years ago when Rapala started marketing the ‘Live’ or ‘Real Image’ baits in the Shad Rap and DT Series baits I was all over them like white on rice. Two of my most productive baits. As big of a Rapala fanboy I am, their ‘Live Image’ baits have been a major disappointment. During the August September time with no rains and ultra clear water on the river they have yielded me more channel cats then bass. I bought a brand new original bluegill and hung it up outside all winter to fade the color some. I have not fished it yet but will soon. Think it is gonna work great. I fish a couple of Lucky Crafts that have been productive. If you catch a few variations of bluegills and sunfish in your waters, you can get pretty close to a good imitation. But I thing getting an exact or even close to exact pattern means nothing.

I bet it is a combination of the line and knot. Good thing the RES are on sale a lot. That helps ease the pain.

Have to agree with others. I fish a lot of Berkley. The MaxScent has been a bit disappointing. I feel some of the MaxScent shapes should have fit into my type of fishing. Has not happened yet. Not skunked but not setting the world on fire either.

Soft plastics alway are somewhat of a bargain with the amounts per bag. Some of the higher dollar crankbaits never go on sale. Catching places like TW with some of their sales make buying some of the pricier cb’s a good deal.

Nah. His trademark.

Myself and two work buddies got sicker than dogs and possessed all the symptoms last February before this all started to come about. Never giving Covid a thought. I believe we had it. I had an antibody test June/julyish came back negative. Whatever I still believe I had it. Now a year later I have both my shots. But more importantly I hope you and your wife feel better. Stay hydrated. Do what you have to from a bad fever. Sorry you have to go through it.

Sort of understand your question. Because I can relate to your buddy. I feel more comfortable fishing a Salty Spider than a skirted jig but that not to say the jig is not better. I truly believe the skirted jig is a lot more versatile. Is better. It’s your comfort zone.

All good. A lot of nice stuff out there. Manufacturer freebies are always nice. And they all are nice for the most part. My favorites are shirts from the people at ReelSnot. I’ve admitted this In numerous posts that I’m pretty anal. Anal to the point of bass fishing only fishing in white, light gray, light blue, med. blue or mixed combinations. Tans. I won’t be fishing in a bright red or orange, hot pink or any color like that. I don’t want fish to see that. Yep call me crazy. Wife thinks I’m sick. Maybe I am. And I am probably wrong in my thinking. I just don’t want to stand out against a sky background. Been that way for so long that it would be tough to convince me differently even though I see pros every week on tv in their billboard fishing jerseys. This proves me wrong. But. You are not wrong. I’ve sensed that over the years also.

I’m not overwhelmed with a lot of true fishing shirts. But the ones I do own some HUK, Columbia or Scales my wife most likely bought them. I’m perfectly fine with an old beat up Duluth LS tee. Not into dressing up to fish. But I do get that “you have not worn that HUK blah blah blah I got you yet”. Mostly wear them on vacation.

Those clothes should count. In my case if I’m out fishing Sunday morning in a L/S sun HUK shirt. Get back home wrap everything up. And carry on with the rest of my day. Keeping it on. Why would that not count. My HUK shirts are nicer than what I see a lot of people wear to church, grocery store or Home Depot.

Black Wooly Bugger or black bead head nymph.

Back when I was a kid me and my brother were trout fishing in the National Park, he hooked into a fall fish about 14” long and that fish had at least 10-14 old rusted bait holder hooks in his mouth. Something I’ll never forget the site of.

I’m a Rapala junkie. My first lure was a floater diver back in the early 70’s. I don’t have every lure Rapala produced but I have to say every Rapala I brought in my lifetime I think I caught fish on. I fish other brands of hardbaits but I believe could fish Rapala hardbaits exclusively and get by doing so. But that’s no fun. Good fishing.

Mo love your post. We are about the same age. I have a lot in common with many of your posts. I think that a good thing. My first box was metal and I still have it an old brown JC Higgens. When I started to expand it was to Plano plastics and they got tossed. They did not hold up to plastics well. I still have much of my stuff from being a kid. Mostly trout related. I started taking that pretty serious at a younger age. I love that pic. The pic is priceless. Be nice if you still had that rod and reel. Make a Great Wall hanger. Car would make a nice show care these days also. Good luck.

Pulled off my first Smallie of the year last night. No prize only 11” on a Rapala jerkbait. Could not fish tubes and grubs the way I wanted to because of the wind. Caught a few more white perch on Shad Raps. Generally I don’t find these white perch where I’m fishing. Close by but not in the current where I’m at. Good to catch that first one. Mindset gets better. Been hammering the heck out of some trout the last month. I’ll scale that fishing back now. Good luck.

REAL NICE!

I’m an east coaster also. I just do the free shipping because I really don’t need anything tomorrow or anything that badly. Usually takes me 7-10 days Covid or no Covid. I really don’t want to deal with anyone else at this point. TW does a pretty decent job.

I don’t want to come off like too much of a father figure but put half that money in the bank and buy some lures with some of it. This bass fishing is pretty addictive and hate to see you buy stuff you don’t need. If river Smallie fishing has got you going, check and do a search for river Smallie baits. Or you post a topic for river Smallie baits and lures. I’m pretty sure a few guy including myself can throw some Smallie bait at you that don’t break the bank. But are very productive. You should try to work yourself up to getting a nice ML - fast spinning rig setup for plastics. 6’ 6”” to 7’ and a decent BC setup Medium power for Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and light jigs. You should be able to find one rod at first to do everything you need it to do. Maybe a moderate fast tip. Take your time. Get some fish under your belt. Sort of let the fish tell you what direction to go.