Primus

Shallow Crank: BPS RC 0.5 & 1.5 & Excalibur Wake Bait Mid Range Crank: Wiggle Wart & DT 10 Deep Crank: Jackall Muscle Deep,DT 16 & DD 22 Topwater: Yellow Magic Popper 3/4 oz Football Jig w/5" Yamamoto Twin Tail Grub Texas Rigged Plastic: Zoom Speed Craw Worms: Zoom Trick Worm & Centipede, Yamamoto Senko & Slim Senko, Lipless Crank: Yozuri Rattlin Vibe & Strike King Red Eye Shad Jerkbait: Pointer & Ima Flit Sorry, I just can't pick out 1 bait, but these were some of the baits that produced well me for me in 2008

If your have limited funds get some X raps & Husky jerks, if you can afford to add a few Pointer 78 & 100's, Flash Minnows along with some Ima Flits. The Live Pointer is one of the few Lucky Craft baits that I've been disapointed in. I think the Pointer is the most consistent but I've had days where some of my other jerks were the "hot" bait. I think that jerkbaits are like cranks in that if you can afford it you'll do better with a variety of baits & colors.

Whatever floro you end up choosing put on a reel with that has a larger spool, the coils won't be as tight as it's coming off the spool.

Though I wouldn't put them in the same class as Lucky Craft, they do have some good fish catchers, I'm especially impressed with their Ratlin'n Vibe lipless bait which I think is one of the best in it's class.

J Francho I just got a few Kietech's recently, can't use until next year. I usually fix the trailer to the head of the bait, with a drop of super glue does the trailer stay on o.k.? I do like the compact tungsten heads, should get through the weeds a little better despite the Arkie shaped head. I would appreciate your early impressions of this jig. I also have a question for RoadWarrior on the Micro Munch grass jigs in the 3/8 & 1/2 oz sizes does this jig have a good trailer keeper on it? Thanks.

I've thrown the Strike King Shad & the Spro a little bit with a medium action BPS crankin stick with no problem. The Tru Tungsten isn't any bigger than the baits already mentioned. I just got my Tru Tungsten but I can't throw it until next spring when the ice is gone. I also seen on the Cabela's website that Yozuri now has a similiar bait out with some intersting colors, might have to get one of those as well as since I'm too weak to resist. 8-)

Basspro has a few products that are exclusive to them that I'll buy, but the majority of my online eqipment comes from Tackle Warehouse primarily because of the free shipping on orders over 50$ plus they seem to have a better selection of high end stuff. However I try to purchase what I can from our local tackle shops because I believe it's important to support local business and keep important tax revunue & jobs in our hometown communities.

I would definitely get a RTS V Joint if you want a productive subsurface jointed bait that runs app 1-2 feet deep, however it doesn't wake very well. I also have a couple of Slammers and they look great waked accross the surface of the water but I sometimes I like to mix twitches, pauses & waking in the same retrieve. I'm still learning the Slammers and have caught a few so far but I look forward to giving it a big workout next summer, I am excited about it's potential. So far it represents the most that I've ever spent on a bait.

I just got my Tru Tungsten in yesterday, unfortuneately with lakes being ice covered where I live I'll have to wait to next spring to check it out. I recieved my Spro bait a few weeks back and it looked good in the water with the limited number of cast that I've made. Good tip from JackallFreak on the Giron, I'm going to have to try that next year.

This will vary depending on the type of fishery and whether the fish are early spring/ coldwater, prespawn, spawn or postspawn ( I'm talking majority of the fish as they don't all spawn at the same time). As a general rule during the coldwater period on clear natural lakes I start the season with bladebaits, dropshots, rattlebaits, jerkbaits & jigs. My favorite bait this time of the year are the jerkbaits if the conditions are right. I love to throw a spinnerbaits & swim jigs against lily pad stems when the water warms enough to move fish in the shallows and this is the time when soft plastics become more of a factor. As we get later in the spring prespawn & spawn phase is when I start nailing them on Senko type of baits, tubes, beavers, lizards and also small dropshot type of baits. I'll start adding topwaters in the mix and they'll become more involved as we go into postspawn then to summer. The mix of baits I use will be a little different for stained water & river systems.

Uh Oh, Baron 49 you let the cat out of the bag. I've done very well using this on those "tough days", I usually use a 1/16 oz sinker for my version and app 12"-15" leader, this rig gives the Super Fluke a death spiral. I highly reccomend any who haven't tried it to add to their bag of tricks.

I agree with your opinion Baron49, this one seems to be a love it or hate it lure. I've been very pleased with the 4 that I have and I've been one of the lucky ones because I have not had one break even though I fished it quite a bit last year. I've caught bass over 5 lbs plus some nice size pike on this bait. I've caught some fish twitching but to be honest the most successful retrieve for me has been burning it in.

Thanks for the reply, it sounds like the Winch will be a great choice for my deep cranking rod (which is MH BPS Crankin' Stick), this is the rod I use for throwing DD 22'S, DT 16'S, etc.

I'm thinking about getting one for next season for deep diving crankbaits because some have commented you can get increased casting distance over the Curado. If you have one, how have they worked out so far and would you reccomend it? I realize they haven't been out long, my main interest is casting distance and the braking system. Thanks.

Most of my topwaters and I throw a wide variety of them have a transluscent bottom (for clear water/ clear skies), a chrome bottom or are white with the occasional black Jitterbug for night fishing.

I use these baits in a lot of situations where I would use a shallow running crank, I've caught a few 5 lb plus bass on them (good size for Michigan), I like the fact that it will fish fast and not roll on you. I've seen some post that they've broke at the hinge but this hasn't happened to me and I have 4 so far and from what I understand the newer ones don't have that problem. I've gotten the majority of my bites on the Mojarra & Baby Bass colors.

Fatmanslim247 I've seen the Stone Jigs at both Tackle Warehouse & Cabela's websites, you might want to check there.

Thanks for the tip Muddy, I'll pick up a few to try for next season.

I wish they would bring back the old fat free shads with the transluscent sides and the reflective inserts, these baits have caught me a lot of fish and I only have a couple left thanks to Northern Pike. :'(

I've done well on the "Petey rig" that Peter Thiliveros used to win a national tournament a couple of years back. This is basically a C-rigged set-up with a short app 10" leader with a swivel and a 1/16 oz slip sinker using 14lb florocarbon line with MH 7' baitcasting combo. This has a spiral action as opposed to the glide that you'll get from a weightless Fluke and it also is a more effecient way to fish deeper water. This has put fish in the boat for me on those" tough days." Some of my favorite colors would be Watermelon, Green Pumpkin, Baitfish, Baby Bass, Smokin Shad & Pearl. This bait along with the Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver are probably my 2 favorite soft plastics.

Some of my favorites would include X Raps, Husky Jerks & Pointers. A couple of my lesser known but just as deadly weapons would include the HMKL K-1 minnow, Jackall DD sqirrel & Mask. One that I tried last year that shows a lot of promise is the IMA Flit. The one that I think is the most underated is the Lucky Craft Flash minnow, this would be the one that I would use in place of a Roque when I want a bigger shallow running jerkbait.

My guess is the billed version is designed to be fished faster like a crankbait, where the lipless sinking version would be for twitchting and slower retrieves. My question for Matt would be if you were to start with one which would you try first?

I fish in SW Michigan and the majority of our inland lakes have an abundant amount of grass, when fishing shallow flats I like a crank that runs just deep enough to tick the top of the grass and as soon as I feel the rod start to load I rip the crank off the grass and that's usually when I'll get bit. I also like to do the same with lipless cranks. As the others have suggested keep your color selection simple, as you gain more confidence you'll add other colors/brands as needed or in my case you'll buy more anyway whether you need them or not. The great thing about modern cranks is that you can get cranks that cover the surface down to app. 20' deep. I would suggest some wake style cranks to run on the surface down to a few inches deep, some 1 minus style that run about 1' deep, a few that run 2'-5' deep, 5'-8' deep and so on. The key is looking at your cranks as tools to do a specific job and in my opinion the most important consideration is finding one that runs the right depth. As your collection and expierience grows you'll learn there are times to use a crank with a tight wiggle, along with those that have a wide wobble. There is also going to be a place for silent cranks (usually in natural or transluscent colors) along with rattling cranks in louder colors like Chartreuse. The last aspect of your selection will be deep running cranks to fish along the weedline, normally I want one that runs just deep enough to hit bottom or to be able to rip off the short deep grass.

In addition to the ones already mentioned I've caught a lot of fish on the River to Sea V joint wake minnow, this one runs about 1-2 below the surface.

I bought one, paired it with 6'9" Medium rod that I use for jerkbaits & small cranks. The plus is that this reel does minimize line twist as advertised. However, after using it for a few months the reel started wobbling a little and despite my best efforts to lube & clean it there was a high pitched grinding noise. This on a rod that I don't use a lot. Based on my expierence it's like your typical chinese product in that it's not built to last. I don't plan on buying another one.