Randall

Really I was disapointed with the Spro overall. Its a good bait but I had problems with durability, castability and hookup ratio. I just think it could have been done way better from a design standpoint to make it work better. Looking at the Tru-Tungsten Bait just from videos I think it will be a better bait for me. They have a little more weight toward the center of the bait which should help the castability. Makes it a better bait for schoolers on top and covering more water in the fall when bass are chasing shad on flats which are the two main things I need a shad swimbait for. It has two hooks. I am usually a one big hook kind of guy but the Spro bait just misses fish and I can still go with one big hook if I decide to by removing the rear hook on the TT. The TT also appears to have a tighter more shad like action to me. I can also adjust the weight if need be. Let me also say Tru-Tungsten had a huge advantage on this one since they are using tungsten to weight the small bait. It will alllow them to make a smaller bait with more strength overall since the weight inside the bait takes up much less space. I just hope I am right and the TT works better since I need a good hard shad swimbait. As far as the size difference I don't think it matters to the fish too much since they are both small baits. Anybody been able to measure both baits so we know who is telling the truth. The Spro looks bigger than four to me but I could be wrong.

Yes you can fish a swimbait in winter. The best way for me is bouncing it along the bottom like a jig. Also I have found that fish that will eat jerkbaits will also hit a swimbait if it is a good swimbait that works and swims at the slowest speeds. My favorite to fish on the bottom is a Mattlures bluegill. It sits upright on the bottom when the bait is stopped and swims well at slow speeds when you move it. The Huddleston Deluxe is another one that works on the bottom or up away from the bottom in winter. I have also caught fish on the Storm Kickin' Minnow and the 6 inch Sebile Magic Swimmer by reeling them very slowly at the depth fish are suspended. Last way I fish swimbaits in winter is to fish a Mattlures shad in the place of a jigging spoon around deep schools of bait and fish.

It is made by a swimbait company and the action is a little different. It has a gliding type action after it turns that is different than a spook or sammy. I don't really see it as a swimbait or walking bait. I call it a surface glider.

www.mattlures.com All of Matt's baits are great and I fish all of them but the hard bluegills are the one to have for shallow water. Mattlures is also a member here. If you have gizzard shad try the Storm 6 inch Kickin' minnow in the Pearl or Gizzard shad color. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=GBDDXDURRMYFVLAQBBKCCN3MCAEFKIWE?id=0037358121158a&type=product&cm_mmc=CRR-_-RLP-_-121158-_-productname_link&cmCat=CRR&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=N/A&cm_pla=N/A&cm_ite=netcon&rid=0180101070502&_requestid=104471 If you have grass that grows up near the surface use these Basstrix baits over top of it. Another one that works well over grass growing near the surface is a triple trout. If it catches in the grass you can often rip it free like a rattle trap. No link for it but there are three retailers that sell the bait. Another great gizzard imitation is Triton Mike's Bull Shad. I like to fish it fast over grass for reaction strikes. Mike is a member here and you can PM him for info. Only place to get a Bull Shad is Natures Tackle Box here in GA. The number there is 678-567-1211. I fish mostly shallow grass lakes and these are some of the ones the ones I fish most.

I have caught plenty of fish on both at 42 degrees. I have caught lipless crank fish at 38 degrees.

I experimented with this a few years ago alternating jigs and looking to see how the fish were hooked and counting how many came off etc. To make a long story short the straight shank hook lost way fewer fish and hooked all the way into or through the roof of the mouth most often while there were a bunch of fish skin hooked in the roof fo the mouth or hooked in the soft part on the sides of the lips with the ewg. Only place I found the ewg did a good job was casting on a very shallow flat where the angle of pull was a little different (flatter). Even on the shallow flat the EWG wasn't any better than the straight shank. So ever since then nothing but a straight shank for me 99% of the time.

Fast sink. Its hard to get the others to stay down at all if you want to fish deeper. The baits don't cast very well and the extra weight of the fast sink helps with the cast also.

I just got a new Rapala Glidin' Rap and the new eight inch Storm Kickin' minnow. I have been making my own glide baits for bass for a couple of years. Saw the Rapala bait and had to try it. Took it out to my test pond today and it works great. Really nice action. Think I might stop making mine since the Rapala sells for just $9.99. and from the first swimming test works just as well. Can't wait to try it on some big bass. I also got the eight inch size Kickn' minnow which is new this year. Never could understand why they made a six inch and jumped all the way up to ten inches. The six inch bait has always worked great but the ten inch bait I have always modified to make it work like the six inch by taking out the weight and wire running through the bait. The weight makes the bait too heavy and the wire kills the proper action. Well on the eight inch bait they left the weight :)out but still ruined the bait by running the wire and plastic through the bait to a second hook which makes the bait just wobble instead of swimming :'(. Still have to do major surgery on the bait to get it to catch fish. But I do have something to work with to make a good 8inch gizzard shad swimbait.

It will catch fish. Don't have a photo of one though.

In addition to the ones above the river2sea S-Waver in the smaller size. Most flipping sticks and medium heavy rods rated for a one ounce bait can throw Mattlures East Coast series and baby bass even though they are around 1.5 ounces. Also the Storm Kickin' Minnows in the six inch size are little over 1 ounce but can be used on regular gear. Basstrix paddletails can also be used on smaller gear.

I had four Spro BBZ shads and three of the four have lost the tail section. Two on the first day I used them and one fell off on the deck before it ever hit the water. I am betting the Tru-Tungsten bait will be the better of the three.

Spro is no different. Reaction Strike and Spro are not much different when it comes to copies.

Here is my theory on wiggle warts and shad raps. They both work/wiggle well at very slow speeds and that is why they both have a reputation for being great cold water cranks. It has nothing to do with tight or wide. It's that both baits get a lot of movement with very little forward motion.

I fish lipless cranks without the rear hook and upsize the front hook. On deep cranks (Rapala DT series) I use the regular stock hooks. On shallow cranks and Shad Rap type baits I upsize the rear hook more often. I also don't crank with a fiberglass or crankbait rod. I use a flipping stick unless I am cranking tiny cranks.

My swimbaits are stored in a cooler where I rigged wires to hang them from. There are tackle boxes that are made just for swimbaits and that is really what you need. They need to hang so they keep their shape. Most swimbaits can be boiled in hot water and brought back to the original shape. Mattlures has some good info on his site including about how to care for swimbaits properly. http://www.mattlures.com/fishingtips.htm

;D No that's not me. I hear he can catch a fish or two though.

That ones hard to guess but I guess 7-8 from the last photo. and 8-9 in the first one. Nice fish! I have a hard time guessing looking at a fish in person unless I pick it up. 12 sounds much better for the storys though. ;D

I know Waine Pittman who qualified for the Classic in the Southern division from GA. He had flown out there back in September to practice and said it was a great lake and he had caught some good fish. Today he blanked and weighed one small fish the first day. Qualified for the Classic with one fish. I think it must be a good lake under better conditions and time of year.

I agree 100%. I bought it to repair swimbaits but have saved more in repairing senkos and toad baits than repairing swimbaits. Very cost effective since I save much more than it costs.

The hydrilla started at the ramp so I guess it came in on a boat or trailer. They hybrids were put into the lake to control the gizzard shad population.

Funny this comes up. I am thinking about not fishing any or many tournaments next year so I can learn more. I learn very little on the days I fish tournaments mainly because I don't experiment and trying new things when trying to win. I go with what I know works on those days. I feel if I spend those days I spend fishing tournaments each year just trying to learn more and not worrying about if I catch fish or not then I will learn more and become a better fishermen. I can also spend that time just fishing for trophy fish instead of trying to get five smaller fish for a limit.

Varner, has had hydrilla for about three years but in the last two years the grass has spread all over the lake. The lake has changed a bunch over the past couple of years because of the grass, a big stocking of hybrids and some grass carp being stocked. The hydrilla has done nothing but helped the late summer and fall bass fishing. It now fishes like Guntersville in the late summer-fall only with bigger fish. We had the best August-early October fishing ever on the lake for those who knew how to fish the grass. There were a lot of good fishermen who didn't like all the grass but I think it had a lot to do with them not having enough experience fishing it. On the downside the grass carp that were added to control the grass combined with a lot of hybrids in the three to four pound range being in the lake hurt fishing in the Feb -July period. The grass carp took out a lot of the shallow pond weed that grows only during the cooler months and forced many of the bass deeper where there was a lot of competition for a limited supply of shad and bait. Also many of the prime trophy bass locations were taken over by hybrids. We had very skinny bass and many bass never spawned. My theory is that most of the larger bass never spawned and absorbed thier eggs to survive with the lack of food in prime areas where they have to live to survive. The county wants to add more grass carp to rid the lake of grass but they are expensive and as of now the state has only put in 1000 carp. If the current rates of hybrids continue to be stocked it will not be good for the trophy bass. The DNR from what I can tell does not have the knowledge that I do about how the hybrids can damage the bass population in Varner over eight pounds. They shock up a few shallow fish and see that they are healthy and are happy with what they see. The very largest bass in Varner or any other GA lake are in the same water as the hybrids in many cases and will not survive when forced to compete with hybrids. Bottom line is the hydrilla in the amount that is in the lake now is good for the bass. The hybrids and grass carp are not. I just did a seminar a couple weeks ago that included info on where trophy bass live and how they have to feed to survive in GA. I have thought about inviting some folks from the DNR to the next one I do so they can see how they damage our trophy bass population in the ways they manage our lakes. Don't know if they would listen or care or not.

Here is the last photo.

This one hit a tube.

Here are a few pics of some fish in the seven pound range caught the last part of October while fishing with Doghouse along with a report for Black Shoals and Lake Varner. The two I am holding hit the new hard Mattlures Bluegill fished over shallow grass. One of the ones Doghouse is holding hit a tube while punching through a grass mat. I can't remember what the other one hit :-/ but all of them were in the seven pound range. I am guessing both Varner and Black Shoals are somewhere around six feet down. Both ramps are still open and there is no problem at all launching a boat. The fishing is somewhat the same on both lakes right now with some fish remaining very shallow while others have already moved to deep structure. Some bass are being caught as deep as thirty feet deep around bait schools while some are right on the bank. Depth isn't as important as finding bait and active fish right now. The shallow bass are very scattered at both lakes so I have been covering a lot of water to find active fish. Best bait for me at both lakes to find fish has been a buzzbait burned as fast as you can reel it. I have been keeping a split shot rigged worm rigged up as a follow up bait and it will catch some of the missed fish. On days they will not come up for the buzzbait a lipless crankbait fished three to eight feet deep will catch fish but so far these fish have been smaller fish up to three pounds. I have also caught a couple fish at Varner on swimbaits but look for a good swimbait/big bass bite to pick up as more of the big fish get back on some deeper structure as they leave the shallow grassbeds where they have been for the past couple of months. It was last year about this time that I started seeing the big fish show up on deep structure and caught a ten pounder, eleven pounder and twelve pounder in about a weeks time. The best bite by far on both lakes right now is spoon fishing for hybrids around open water bait fish. Most of the hybrids right now are holding in the 20-30 foot range and will hit a 3/4 oz jigging spoon if you just get it near them on most days. We have had a couple of days with over twenty hybrids in just a few hours of fishing and one day with around fifty hybrids in six hours. Most of the Hybrids have been in the three to five pound range but we have had a few in the eight to ten pound range . If you get into the big ones they will hit a Mattlures shad swimbait better than the spoon and it's much easier to keep them on with the one jig hook rather than the small trebles on the spoon. Also with the spoon and swimbait you will get a few bass and big crappie mixed in. Only bite that is a little different on Varner is that there is a frog bite in the afternoon on some of the grass mats that are warming up on calm sunny days and starting to break up at Varner. Just look for the mats with activity around and in them and throw the frog. In some of the deeper mats you can catch some big fish by flipping a tube with a heavy weight but the bites are few and far between but worth it when a big one hits. Here is the first photo with two that hit Mattlures new hard bluegill bait on a bright sunny high pressure day when the big ones weren't susposed to bite. Our best five that day went around thirty pounds.