smalljaw67

It is about finesse for me, I'm using a shaky head for smaller worms less than 6" and light cover or rocky bottom. The Texas rig for me is usually heavier stuff except when fishing a Senko unweighted around floating docks and light cover. If I'm fishing moderate to heavy cover or using heavier tackle then it is a Texas rig, I use the shaky head as a finesse tactic.

The spinnerbait is my favorite lure and I'll throw them for smallmouth when the water is above 45 degrees. For largemouth the water has to be over 50 but I only throw them in colder water when it is too dirty for a jerkbaits, for me that is less than 2' of visibility.

This^^^^!!!

It is all trial and error but I have a few "rules" that I go by to get me started. The first is blade type, muddy water with less than 1' visibility I go with a single Colorado blade. For water that is 1' - 2' visibility I go with an Indiana blade with a smaller Colorado on the clevis. For water 2' - 3' visibility I go with a willow with small Colorado on the front and more than 3' I use double willows. For blade finish, well if the sun is out I go with nickel or silver and overcast I go with brass/gold. Now those are just the basic guides I use, there are times when the water is clear that I will use the Indiana and Colorado combination but that is another discussion altogether. The best thing to do is when they aren't biting the bait you are throwing rather than switching to a different type of lure, try using a different color or different blades as this will help you get an idea of what works in certain conditions and what doesn't. You want to make 1 change at a time, don't change the color and the blade configuration at the same time or the blade configuration and skirt color at the same time. This way when you hit on something you know what it was and you may be able to duplicate it in the future.

Hard minnow baits are jerkbaits and the Rapala original floater was one of, if not the very first. I started bass fishing before minnow baits were suspending, the closest thing to that was when Rapala came out with the countdown minnow and I believe Rebel had one as well. I remember reading an issue of fishing facts about guys drilling holes in minnow lures and adding lead to make the bait sit motionless under the water instead of floating back up for spring time bass. Then Luck-E-Strike came out with a Rick Clunn model jerkbait that had a plastic grommet in the bottom and came with a syringe so you could fill the bait with enough water to make it suspend, the problem was trying to get the grommet out multiple times as you tried to get just the right amount of water in it.

Fenwick HMG 7'2" M-MF!! I use that for square bills and medium divers exclusively but my medium divers may be different than yours. For me 6' - 12' is a medium diver and that rods fits the bill perfectly. It is a medium but actually it is in between a medium and medium heavy. The rod is rated 3/8oz to 1oz but 1/4oz to 3/4oz works the best, the tip feels like a soft cranking rod but it transitions quickly into a solid backbone that is a little more stout than the typical medium. I don't know how the new version is but the old version I have is a killer rod for the price which was $99.00 even.

The rods you are talking about still exist but you need to look at both power and action. Phenix rods with a fast action tend to be closer to a moderate fast action. The tip sections are a little softer which will load up easily during a cast but they tend to feel about 1/2 power lighter than what they are rated. For example a medium heavy will feel more like a stout medium rod or what Kistler calls a light medium heavy. Hammer rods that aren't cranking rods are all moderate fast actions and will feel like the rods you once used. Falcon rods also have more moderate fast actions but again, it will depend on what rods you used back in the day.

I make my own as well and I can narrow it down to two. Arky head, 3/8oz with 3/0oz VMC 7161 hook 50 strand silicone skirt in magic craw pattern (watermelon with blue tint) and a flipping blue Zoom super chunk Jr. trailer. The other is a round head 5/16oz with a 3/0hook (Eakins type jig) in my clear water craw pattern with a River Rock Baits Jake's craw trailer in light special color. Allen, do you know where I can find any Prowler pro eel chunks??? I saw the Prowler reference, there chunk trailers are great but I think they went out of business.

The chatterbait/bladed jig has a much larger profile, heavier vibration and more erratic action. The scrounger has a smaller profile with less vibration and a tighter action. The scrounger excels is clear water or when fish are keying on smaller prey or any other time they can't be coaxed biting a traditional bladed jig. There is trial and error as well but I will go with a scrounger first anytime the water has more than 2' of visibility.

For a 3" grub on a jig head I run 3 sizes mostly, 1/16oz, 3/32oz, and 1/8oz. I use a #1 hook most of the time but I also use a #2 on occasion. I pour my own jigs so having a few of each size isn't an issue but if I was buying them I'd probably go with a 3/32oz or 1/8oz with a #1 hook.

That snap looks a little too big for the lure, perhaps 1 size smaller.

Try wetting the keeper and then go slow. I'd also say that it may be a bit too much for something like a trick worm or other slender bodied worm. I know I had the same issues when I first used the Mustad grip pin hooks with a Basstrix locomotion worm but wetting the keeper and going slow was the way to do it.

I have a hard time narrowing it down but I have 3 that I like. Smithwick Suspending Rattlin' Rogue, Lucky Craft Pointer 100, and the Rapala X-Rap 10. Floating jerkbaits I have it down to 2 of them, Smithwick Floating Rattlin' Rogue, and the Bagley Bang-O-Lure.

You missed the point I was making. I'm saying I agree with everything but the fact they are stronger, they are not. It isn't opinion it is fact. Yes, plenty strong enough for what we do but high end rods are not stronger than most cheap rods because they use lower grade material. High modulus graphite is stiffer and is more brittle, this isn't opinion, it is fact. So saying a more expensive rod is stronger just isn't true but as I mentioned, the rods are more sensitive, lighter, more responsive, and just more enjoyable to use. Nobody is telling you how to spend your money and I completely agree with using what makes you happy but the point is that if you are making a list of why you like a higher end rod then simply leave the "stronger" element off the list because it is factually incorrect. BTW, I think the Conquest rods are awesome!!

They are everything but stronger. Expensive rods made with high end graphite are much more brittle than the Ugly stick, I'll be you my house I can lift more with an ugly stick than you can with a conquest rod before it breaks. I'm not being smart, most of my rods are in the $120 to $400 range with my most used rods in the $150 to $200 range. The very reason high end rods are more sensitive also makes them more brittle, the lighter crisper actions are much more enjoyable to fish with but you aren't boat flipping a 10# channel cat with a medium power conquest without it snapping like a dead and rotted pine branch. You can take an ugly stick of medium power and boat flip a 17# carp with though and not suffer any ill effects, I saw that happen, I would even try to do that with a good composite rod. Yes, the better rods are lighter, crisper, and more enjoyable to fish but they aren't stronger.

Jerkbaits are tough because most suspending baits are weight sensitive. That is why you see a lof of light wire hooks on jerkbaits, they are designed to be used with lighter line and tackle that what most normally use.

That looks like an old Berkley Power bait worm and the color is discontinued. The best bet is to find a custom soft plastic lure maker and have them match the color.

The reason for not using the stuff is because he is tournament fishing. The idea is to get big bites so the anglers tend to use larger baits that catch bigger fish but get fewer bites. The "panic box" Iaconelli was talking about is made up of baits that typically will catch fish even in adverse conditions but they tend to catch bluegills, crappie, and smaller bass. Tournament anglers shy away from those baits because they are typically smaller and designed to catch numbers of fish and not big fish. Before you say it, yes, they will catch big fish as well but on average they catch smaller fish more frequently so the only time they use those type of lures are when the are fishing for 3 hours and not getting any bites so they begin using lures like beetle spins, in-line spinners, and small 3" and 4" worms.

I don't think there is any. I know Mustad makes the 37188 but they only go to like a size 6 or 4 and Gamakatsu has the 2894 but they only come in a 3/0 and 4/0. Those are the only 2 90 degree jig hook I ever saw with the wide gap.

I don't know how big that bait is but when it comes to cranks a #6 treble is almost standard on most except a few smaller baits that use #8s and larger cranks that use #4s.

The first place I'd start is the hooks, those are way to big for that bait. After you get proper size hooks try it and see how it runs, if it is moving off to the left then take a needle nose pliers and GENTLY turn the line tie to the right. I emphasized gently because it only needs to move a tiny amount to make a difference. Even cheap cranks will swim straight and catch fish but they are more prone to having what I call "fatal flaws" which are manufacturing defects that cause them to be junk from the factory. The last thing I just noticed is the split rings, they shouldn't cause any swimming issues but they are sprung and I'm guessing it happened putting the larger hooks on so they need changed as well. Just so you understand, there are heavy wire and light wire treble hooks and the weight difference could affect the bait in a negative way but high end crankbaits are usually more weight sensitive than cheaper ones.

No, the body would get soft because the plastisol is going to stay hot longer than the body of the bait will stay cold. Worse case scenario is the bait actually melts, best case is the body will get soft and deform but not completely melt. I think you get some RTV or plaster of Paris and make a mold of the bait and then pour it yourself, without a rod in the center of the bait it will come out solid.

Hair jigs can be very different from person to person. A member here, WRB, likes using a larger type hair jig with a pork chunk just like a silicone or rubber skirted jig. For me it is a finesse tool for cold water smallmouth and largemouth and mostly 1/4oz and under. The wild card is the preacher jig, the 7" long version made of bucktail and/or synthetic material along with longer hackle feathers which act as a tail and are fished without a trailer. I do well in clear water on hair jigs, and I do make a hair jig I call my "dirty water hair jig" but dirty water is a relative term. My dirty water hair jig is still small, usually 1/4oz to 3/8oz with a 2/0 hook but the water has to have a minimum 1' of visibility for me to fish it because I find a silicone or rubber skirted jig usually yields better results in dirty water. I do fish a finesse style hair jig in warm water and it is normally for smallmouth and is either marabou or craft fur and I use them when there is some type of adverse condition like gin clear water with sunny skies or too much pressure but the one common denominator is clear water. The biggest reason is they don't have a ton or action or move a lot of water so it is pretty much a visual bait. I'm only giving you some general information as it is hard to go into specifics not knowing what you are trying to learn about because as I previously mentioned, they can differ a lot from person to person.

Zoom Super Flukes aren't bad but my favorite is the River Rock Custom Baits Jointed Jerkbait. That is a soft bait that fish hold onto and it takes little movement to get the desired action out of it.

Are they even in business yet? The last time I saw those was in an Ollie's bargain store in 2015.