Primus

I like that jighead as well.

I miss the Xcalibur wake crank, glad I bought a couple of back-ups.

I tested various combo's in a swimming pool so I can see exactly what my bait is doing. I prefer unless dealing with a lot of grass where I would go with a T-rig anyway a football style jighead. http://www.***.com/Picasso_Shake-E-Football/descpage-PSF.html What I like about the Picasso is the flat spot, when paired with a no salt plastic you will have a deadly combo. I usually use the 1/4 sometimes the 3/8 oz and pair this with a custom poured no salt Senko which I have purchased in the past from Dichoso hand pours. Unfortunately it appears he is no longer in the business so the last batch I had poured from a local hand pour guy that I bought from Michigan Tackle in Battle Creek ,MI. There are dozens of guys out there with the Senko shaped mold or if you prefer finesse or trick worm molds that can pour worms with no salt that in many cases can meet or exceed the quality of the big names brands that are out there. Anyways, my Shaky Senko rig as I call it will stand up at an app 60 degree angle when resting it on the bottom and I can leave it sit there without constantly rolling over. I get a lot of bites just letting it set there and in my opinion the Senko profile tends to catch bigger fish than the finesse/ trick worm profile. Obviously there are combo's that will likely work with Elaztech type of baits, I personally prefer traditional soft plastic. If you match the jig & bait correctly you can have a true stand-up worm. I omitted the Megastrike Shake E jighead because I have not tried but I see no reason why that wouldn't work as well. Obviously , people catch fish with this presentation using salted plastics. In my opinion these are fish that eyed the bait on the way down or react to the movement of the bait when an angler hops it, that said a combo that stands up off the bottom will be more effective on finicky fish that want the bait deadsticked for part of the presentation. I also use a little heavier line than some as I present it with a 7' MH Loomis casting rod, Curado reel spooled with 12 lb floro.

Talonman, I ordered a few of the Flitterbaits to try this year. Thanks for bringing this bait to my attention.

Lucky Craft RC 1.5 for numbers, strike king is a close second and seems to run a little deeper as well. Lucky Craft RC 3.5 - I like to throw this early summer during that first 1/2 hour early morning from the transition from darkness to 1st light. The extra vibration is a difference maker and seems to attract the bigger fish.

I like the S.O.B. Mini Me, the PJ special color works real well for me. The cool thing is that you can get it customized with regard to blade size etc.

I fish some of the relatively expensive baits ( I do have my limit on what I 'm willing to spend ) and I also fish conventional tackle and I have had success with both approaches. I will be the first to tell you that you don't need expensive baits to have fun bass fishing and for most this is going to be the way to go to either fit their budget, they have other things they prioritize or it could be " I would never spend that kind of money on tackle " mantra . If you fall in that category that's cool but I find there is resentment by a few sometimes directed at those who buy this kind of tackle which I've never understood. If you don't like it don't buy it, who cares what the other guy fishes. I don't fish live bait but I have no problem with anyone who does. That is my rant part of this post. The appeal of big custom baits to me is their trophy potential and the fact that when I throw a Matt's hard gill for example I am probably the only one in our county and one of only a few in my state that evens owns this bait so it's fun to show the fish something different. I also attempt to be a student of the sport( though there are outings where I fish like a flunkie ) so it's fun to me to experiment with different not commonly used approaches and big bait fishing certainly works for me from that perspective. That said I also enjoy fishing jigs, traps & jerkbaits in the spring etc and my evolution as an angler is trying to sort out the best times for big bait fishing verses the times when another approach is better. My advice is get the tackle that works for you and your budget and go have fun whether it's a 5$ spinnerbait or a 100 $ swimbait or try both and when you can take a kid or a newbie fishing.

That is my preference, with app a 6/0 hook for a no salt floating Senko.

Good post, there are a lot of good swimbaits that are affordable and produce well.

I get custom poured 5" Senko profile worms in a no salt floating formula and usually fish this on a 1/4 oz Picasso Shake E football jighead and it works very well. I feel that the bulkier profile of this shape catches a larger size fish on average than a trick worm type of profile. I refer to it as a Shaky Senko. This stands up at app a 60 degree angle on the bottom mimicking the look of a feeding baitfish though I'm not sure what the bass thinks it is.

I agree. Nice little bait, it shimmies a little on the fall. In addition to reeling it in I like to fish it almost like a fluke with slack line twitches or a combination of both.

KVD trebles are money, well designed hook.

QUAKEnSHAKE also mntioned the Rapala Rippin' Rap in addition to the Red Eye Shad & the Aruka Shad. I say get all 3 as they are not expensive and you will find all them are capable of being the hot bait for the day and each bait excels under different scenario's. I like the 75 size Aruka Shad for slow rolling in slightly deeper water, also their metallic finish baits are impeccable and durable as well. This bait seems to produce more 4 plus for me than most lipless cranks. I like the 1/2 Red Eye as an all purpose crank and especially when fishing emerging weeds in about 5' of water, the shimmy on the fall after you rip it off a weed is money. The Rippin' Rap I fish like a blade bait but more aggresively, works well when the fish are little deeper and bottom oriented. It also swims down like the Red Eye Shad. I would also recommend the Sebile Flatt Shad, this bait has a wider body than most and the vibration seems to appeal to the lateral line. The liquid filled versions are silent which sometimes can be a plus when fishing pressured clear water.

I've has some luck fishing the Nightcrawler straight tail worm on Texas Rig for bass. The goby pattern has done well for guys fishing Great Lakes smallmouth though I have not personally tried it.

I will buy a couple, part of the fun of fishing is trying new stuff. Those who say it's a gimmick, is this based on personal experience with the bait ?

These are a terrific rod for the money. I use the 7' Medium with 12 lb floro for general crankbait fishing Traps, 1.5 squarebills, Wiggle Wart and similar baits. I spool the 7' MH with 17 lb mono for large squarebills and wake Cranks like the one that Xcalibur used to make. I fish the 7'6" MH with 12 lb Floro and use this for heavy 1 oz plus trap style baits and deep diving cranks and even though the rod is rated to 1-1/2 oz I have had no trouble casting and retrieving a 2 oz Strike King 10XD which exceeds the rod's listed rating though I tend to lob this bait more. Even though these rods are listed as fast action to me it's more flexible on the tip than what that designation normally implies.

Good post, Tom has a lot of good insight.

Strike King Rage Craw, Xcita baits Raptor Tail Jr and Power Team Craw D'oeurve are some of my favorites. In colder water I will sometimes use a PoorBoys Craw Daddy or Reaction Innovation Smallie Beaver.

Good point about trailer choice affecting fall rate. When I use a trailer like a Craw Daddy by Poor Boys the bait will fall faster. http://www.poorboysbaits.com/catalog.cfm/craw-daddy/craw-daddy:2096 Stick on a 5" Yamamoto Spider grub and the bait will fall much slower with the kicking legs and extra skirt material. http://www.cabelas.com/product/Gary-Yamamoto-534-Double-Tail-Hula-Grub174/1232660.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3FN%3D0%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dyamamoto%26WT.srch%3D1%26WT.tsrc%3DPPC%26rid%3D20%26WT.mc_id%3DGOOGLE%7Cfis_general_general%7CUSA%26WT.z_mc_id1%3D43700001031656405%26gclid%3DCJeE-8Hc2rsCFcxAMgod3SgA5A%26gclsrc%3Daw.ds&Ntt=yamamoto&WTz_l=PPC Also, if you thin out the silicone skirt that comes on the jig you will get a faster drop speed. I often do this when fishing clear water in the summer.

Regarding leaders here is a pretty good take from swimbaiters from Minnesota. http://www.uppermidwestswimbaits.com/1/post/2013/06/swimbaiting-in-the-midwest-always-use-protection.html Also, it ties in to the swimshot technique .... http://www.uppermidwestswimbaits.com/1/post/2013/06/swimbaiting-in-the-midwest-enter-the-swimshot.html I have not tried these approaches but it is something that I'm considering for 2014.

I live in SW Michigan which should offer similar largemouth fishing to what you have in Indiana and the majority of time when fishing ribbontail worms I fish the 10" Powerworm, in most situations I haven't seen a big difference in the number of bites and the average size fish is usually bigger. That said I tend to catch bigger fish on average if I can get them to hit a full size Zoom Brush Hog, the 4 lb plus fish seem to like that bulky bait. I usually fish it on a 3/8 tungsten slip sinker. This year when fishing a 10" worm at a lake near my house I stuck about 15 fish with the biggest at about 3 lbs. Tired of catching average fish I switched to a Brush Hog and added a nice 4lber and 5lber within a few minutes after hitting the same area as the worm. I'm not saying the Brush Hog is a magic bait that always catches big fish but it seems to do that more consistently over most soft plastics that I fish. Sometimes a bulky profile will appeal to bigger fish over a long profile. Last but not least if you are not already fishing a jig you will need to add that to your arsenal. Swimbaits & Deep Diving cranks have been good producers for me in my attempts to target bigger fish as well

I have done that and have proven to myself that color matters at times especially when fishing clear water. There are times when the fish are very aggressive and will bite just about any color you have in your tacklebox especially juvenile fish that tend not to be as selective. I am not saying that someone has to have custom painted lures to catch fish and I have found that stock colors will do well under most conditions. That said I have done much better fishing a Bullshad swimbait that was painted in a Golden Shiner pattern to match local forage than I have with the standard Shad pattern as one example. I have talked to a few touring pro's who have had baits custom painted so apparently I am not the only one who thinks that way. We can agree to disagree, happy holidays

My top 2 would be Lucky Craft Pointer 100 & Ima Flit. That said a lot of different jerkbaits work well and I've had a number of different baits end up being the hot bait for the day.

Some touring pro's apparently are fools as well as I know that many of them use custom painted baits. It's not the most important factor in getting bit but I have seen it a make a big difference on many occasions. It can also be a factor in the size of the fish as well. That said I hope most think the way you do on the lakes that I fish, gives me an advantage.

BenB54 please follow up with a review after you have fished it a while, I would be interested in hearing your feedback.