Mumbly

I used to fish Torpedo's a lot. My PB Smallmouth was on a Tiny Torpedo. Not sure why I stopped fishing them to be honest but I am guessing it is due to just liking a spook, plopper or buzzbait more when I go topwater. A small thing that I used to do on some of mine was to experiment with bending the blades back ever so slightly. It changed the sound, water displacement and the blades seemed to spin easier.

I think most guys have fished more brands of squarebill's than I have but for me this past season it's been a mix of a few different baits. SK 1.5, Luck-E-Strike RC2 series 1 & 2, XCS100 and H2O CRS all produced very well.

Great to see you back Hootie!!

I have 12 or so fishing games for my Wii. While they are great for entertainment I don't believe I have learned anything from them.

I counted 5.

As others have said, small changes can drastically affect your results. Whether it is a change in size, color or profile. The fish will dictate what they want. Give it another go and see what happens. I am curious tho....what color was the 110 and what color and size was the buzzbait?

Anyone seen any ebay codes floating around currently?

Most of the smallmouth that I have caught on the 90 plopper look like a live bait rig, with one treble either in mouth or top of head and the 2nd either on back or belly. As @Bluebasser86said, I just reel into them.

Still using o-ring's here. I have tried both shrink and vinyl tubing but neither worked very well for me. I'll keep using the o-ring's. At $3.99 per 400 they are cheap enough.

I find this thread interesting. I have nothing to add to it as we can only fish until 2 hours after sunset, so no night fishing is allowed here. Unsure of the reason.

I sometimes will target Chain Pickerel specifically for fun. Also living on the coast, I do a fair amount of saltwater fishing as well.

Hmmmm....Blue, you dropped down to a #6 from the stock #4? There must be a reason.....does the bait sit higher as a result?

To my fellow Canadian's.. Not a high end deal but decent enough to mention it. Canadian Tire is clearing out the Daiwa Revros combo's for $34.93. Reg. $99.99. The reel is a 2500 size and the rod is 6'6" medium action.

Bone and Loon are my choice as well. They work well on smallmouth for me.

I am going to echo what @bigturtle and @snake95 said and suggest a Fenwick as well. They've made some changes to the HMG line (due to be released this month) so the "older" version should be on sale.

Congrats on the reel! I hope that you will like it. I have to say though....23% tax? Holy Canoli!! I thought ours was high at 15%.

The stock hooks on my 90's seem to be great and I don't see the need to upgrade them at this point. They work well and stick when smallies are slapping at it.

Topwater bite should be even better this time of the year.

Yum Dingers for me. I have tried a few others like the stick-o, havoc flat dawg, SK ocho, wave tiki stick, to name but 4. They all worked ok but I seem to catch more fish on the dinger's. Perhaps it's a confidence thing, not sure. Another plus is that they can be found on sale frequently for $2 a bag (BPS has them on sale for $1.97 currently). I learned that not all vinyl tubing is the same. I bought some tubing from a hardware store in that exact size and yikes. I am thinking it might be too stiff and smooth. The 5" Dinger slid right on through it with no effort at all. Looking back, I believe you mentioned in a previous thread about aquarium tubing, which I am thinking is softer and "grippier" which would keep the bait from sliding through it.

Academy baits have been fantastic for me. I can't say enough good things about them.

Yum Dingers (all sizes) are on sale at Bass Pro for $1.97. Online and instore.

Best PB pics ever!! Huge Congrats!!

or a smidge more.....I just weighed 2 Pond Magic's. The white is 10.22g or 0.360oz (heavier than 5/16), the chartreuse Pond Magic is 9.5g or 0.335oz (again a bit heavier than 5/16). Sadly I don't have an HJ08 to weigh as I only seem to have HJ10's.

Like others have suggested, you might look at 3 colors...... bone, black and a chrome variant, ie either the black shiner, foxy momma...etc. I will also suggest having all 3 colors as situations will be different and you can be covered. For sizes I will also suggest having all 3...super spook, one knocker and super spook jr. Again, as situations will be different, you will be covered. A lot of places sell them for $5.99 or less. Dick's recently had the Super Spook and One Knocker's for $5.99 with a buy one get one half off. You can also just build up your spook arsenal by buying a couple now and then get more as you go.