smalljaw67

I make a screw lock 3/8oz shaky head with a 5/0 hook for a 10" worm and at certain times it is a killer presentation!

All the advise you were given is great but I agree with Chris at Tech, 1/4oz and 3/8oz jigs at first. The reason is you are just learning, the jig is the easiest an hardest lure to fish, it is easy as you simply put it where you think the fish is and it does the rest, the hardest because it isn't always easy to detect bites. With a 1/4oz jig a whole rage craw will be too much so pinch off the top 1/3 of the bait and thread it on, try to fish it in places you know you'll get bit, this is important as the 1/4oz jig appeals to bass of all sizes so it will get bit by big and small fish. Once you get your spot make short casts to cover, and let the jig fall but watch the line, a lot of times fish will hit it as it falls, once the jig hits bottom you can either use a lift and drop type of retrieve like fishing a worm, or you can give it a slow drag across the bottom, or you can employ a series of short hops, the fish will let you know what they want. A full day of that will teach you a lot, you'll learn to detect bites and keep track of the places and cover where you got bites, you can use that knowledge on other bodies of water. Good luck.

I'm very close to eyedabassman, 4" to 4.5" I'm using a 2/0 , 5" to 6.5" I use a 3/0, and 7" worms get the 4/0, I won't use the larger worms for smallies, not because of size but because if I'm using worms for smallies it is only because the bite is tough so I tend to keep the worms less than 7". Those hook and worm sizes should be a guide, it isn't a rule that you have to follow, as there are times I'll use a 2/0 hook on a 7" ribbon tail worm if I want it to have more action so you can see that the sizes can be tweaked to give you the best possible presentation.

Heddon Moss Boss, it is a fantastic bait!! After that it is a Scum Frog, gotta love them!

Got a pic of the pattern? I ask because I never heard of it so I'd like to see for myself as it may be a good one for the water I fish.

A Yum Buzzfrog fished over sparse grass or open water adjacent to cover I'll use 12# mono, if I'm in grass but not thick stuff I'll use 17# mono but if it is slop I use the 50# braid, that is the only time I use braid.

I fish a 1/4oz to 3/8oz bladed jig (chatterbait) a good amount of the time, my favorite colors are chartreuse, chartreuse/white, white, and pearl. For the trails I like a River Rock baits 4" Jointed Jerkbait or a 4" Zoom Superfluke jr, and the 3/8oz I like a 5" split tail or 5" River Rock Baits Jointed jerkbait. I really like these baits as there are so many ways to use them that are effective plus a different trailer can literally change the action to the point it is like a different bait altogether.

I've been using jigs for a long time and I make my own from flipping jigs to finesse jigs and everywhere in between so I may have some tips that may help. The first thing is when you get a chance get a reel other than a cranking reel, I use no less than a 6.6:1 but mainly it is a 7.3:1 gear ratio and it makes a difference. A lot of times when you get a jig bite the fish will move left or right and even toward you, the fast reel will help get in slack to give you a more solid hookset. As for weedguards, I like to trim mine so that when I bend the weedguard down to the hook it will just barely cover the hook point, the ones I don't trim I fan out the strands, this gives your hook a broder area of protection but also makes it easier for the weedguard to bend on hookset. The last thing is the hookset itself, the most important part is to try and set the hook on a tight line, so many fish are lost due to snap sets with slack in the line, the slack means the set is half way finished before the hook is even in the fish so you don't get much hook penetration, it also is a big reason for break offs.

Excellent!!! I've been jerkbait fishing before they made suspending models, and over that time I tried a lot of rods with different lengths, actions and powers and what I found is pretty similar to you. For the water I fish total control of the lure is a must, I liked the fish fighting ability of softer rods but it came at a price, that being the loss of control which lead to a loss in action. The fast action rods were great for making the bait do what I wanted but landing a fish took time and you needed to be careful but I still lost more fish than I wanted to. The moderate fast rods were so different, some were just too moderate and others too fast so I found what worked very well which was a G.Loomis Jerkbait rod, the JBR752C but it struggled with anything slightly heavier than an X-Rap XR10. For Pointer 100's, Vision 110s and a Spro McStick I was using an old Cabelas XML medium power fast action almost the same as my Loomis but it was better with the heavier offerings and then this season I found a rod that works great with the larger jerkbaits. My Fenwick 6'10" MH-MF Elite Tech smallmouth casting rod, it has the fast tip which gives me the control I want but when you hook a fish and apply pressure you get the flex which makes fighting the fish so much easier, my only problem was getting used to the longer rod as I usually fish a jerkbait with a straight down jerking motion but with the longer rod I had to lear to use a slight sideways motion but all is good now. Thanks for the explanation, I've watched my fried fishing jerkbaits with a really soft rod and he is all over the place and it isn't really bad until you need to get the lure into a specific spot and that is were the proble is, not knowing how far the bait is going to move, you either miss it or over shoot trying to compensate but I now understand your method so thaks for that.

I got a Smoke 100 and a 150 because I liked the 100 so much. I believe the Smoke is the best reel Quantum has ever made, as for the Pinnacle, I tried to like them and the old OEM reels they made for Cabelas and Gander Mt. were made really cheap to the point of being labelee as disposable reels because they simply were not worth fixing. The new Tounrament class looks to be a lot better but I still am hasitant when pros like Scott Martin, who doesn't have anyone knocking down his door for sponsorship, turns them down in favor of Okuma.

I use a MH-MF for deep cranking and I want my rod just a little more on the fast side since I want my bait deep but not with the rod bent in half by the time it gets down. I was using a BPS cranking stick until my Fenwick Elite tech smallmouth 6'10" MH-MF. Not only is it long enough that I can get distance on my casts but it is still in the realm that I can use it for jerkbaits as it works really well for them. For shallow to mid depth cranks I like a rod to have a little more flex than my deep cranking rod, the Falcon BuKoo 4-17 is perfect, 7' M-M up to 1/2oz. For those lipless cranks I like either a medium heavy fast or a MH moderate fast if it is like my deep cranking rod which has a fast tip but deep flex under pressure, you need a fast tip to allow you to rip the bait free from weeds which is my favorite way of using a lipless. For the money it is hard to beat a BPS Crankin' stick, they just work.

I leave it on for the trip home but then cut it off and tie fresh the next trip as I'm always going to have the same bait on, even consecutive days of fishing I always tie the bait on fresh, it gives me a little more confidence that my line and knots are solid.

Me too!!!! I saw the Rapala treasure chest and on top there were a bunch of magnum coutdowns but from past experience I dug through and low and behold...I found three Flat rap FLR10's in yellow perch, I thought it was a mistake but when I turned the box over it had the treasure chest tag on it! The Flat Raps don't get a lot of love, especially the larger ones but I really like them and they are hard to find especially in the yellow perch color, the reason is the flat rap on its own has a very subtle action, it is designed for anglers who are more experienced using jerkbaits and it shows as you can really make it move but it is up to the angler to do that. Anyway, at $4.96 for lures costing 9 bucks, I was all over it! I also saw a box of X-Rap XR10's that the lady told me was going to get taged for that box, they are the silver color and since they got a box full of that color by mistake they get tagged for the chest and I'm just waiting!

MH-F is what I like for chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits.

In the spring most bass will begin to move toward shallow water in preperation of spawning. During that time they will stage at different spots, what you need to do is find out where the fish spawn at and then you can back track their migration route and intercept them. The thing you need to look for is structural changes, not cover, although cover on some sort of structure is the best. Cover consist of brush piles, laydowns, weedbeds and things like that, structure consist of changes in the lake bottom like drop offs, creek channels, ditches and depressions, When the fish begin to migrate they usually follow a route moving from deep water to shallow water by way of following structure, they may use points or drop offs as a place to stage, look for shallow areas that have quick access to deeper water, long tapering points are a great place to start the search. You can tell a lot about the fish that are deep just by looking at how they are relating to structure, if the fish are suspending in 45' of water while in 60' they will be hard to catch but not impossible, jigging spoons are perfect for that scenario but you'll need to rely on your fish finder. I aaume you have a fish finder if you are determining the fish are deep, you also need to determine if the deep fish are bass or perhaps another specie, generally the way you do that is by seeing the size of the arcs or fish i.d. depending on the type of finder you are using.

I only replace hooks on lures that come with junk hooks, the rattle trap and strike king lures are both noted for bad hooks. Certain lures you can go up a size but not all and you need to be careful which ones you do it too, as a rule of thumb, diving crankbaits are a bait type you could upsize with little effect. Baits I would not up size hooks are topwaters, and suspending jerkbaits, especially the higher priced baits that are made with precision.

I like them myself, the DT 6 is extremely verstile but so the the DT Thug. I also am a fan of the DT Flat 7 and Flat 3 and the DT FAT series, they all are excellent fish catchers. DT Flat series is a good choice around wood or in colder water and the DT Flat 3 is what I call a finesse square bill, it deflects very good but instead of an erratic wide wobbling action it has a straight tracking tight shimmy which is awesome when a front has moved in or if the fish are spooky, great around wood.

The other part of your problem is line and rod, the rod you are using is rated for 3/8oz to 1 1/4oz and you're throwing a 5/16oz popper. While it isn't under by much, just the fact that most poppers aren't aero dynamic so now you are throwing an aero challenged, under weight lure on braid with a rod rated for heavier weights, even when you get the brake issue solved you still aren't going to see much more distance. For a topwater that size I'd be using a medium powered rod and 8# - 12# mono, braid is good if you're using a crankbait rod that has more flex but for a fast action rod with a treble I suggest mono.

Most here have told the story, bass anglers fish cover most of the time and an in-line spinner doesn't not respond well to cover. The other part is the dink magnet problem, just like the beetle spin the in-line is very good at catching a lot of fish but the small fish love them so much that unless you are using musky sized baits you can't really lower the percentage of small fish. The great part of this is that when fishing gets tough a #2 blue fox in-line will get bit by something and thus it could save the day.

I think a medium power rod would be better with the line choice but if you can do it with out many ill effects then it will be ok.

Some lines will slip with that knot, Hi-Seas Black Widow is a really slick copoly that has terrible knot strength due to how slick it is. P=Line CXX is tough too with an improved clinch, the best knot I've found for slick line is the palomar, it is very easy to tie and it holds great even with slick line.

Why not just get a Berkley digital lip grip, use the grip to hold and weigh the fish at the same time plus they are much easier on the fish.

I have had a couple rods break when hooking a fish but it was more a defect in the rod than anything else,it is caused usually by a nick in the blank or someother defect. I have watched a lot of anglers, most of them younger, break rods and then curse but the reason was high sticking while landing a fish and it happens a lot. They bring the fish to the boat and as they are landing it they have the rod sticking straight up in the air in the 12 noon position and what happens is the top 6" or so of the rod breaks. You be surprised at how many people believe that high priced rods are better because they are more durable which we all know is most of the time the exact opposite. I fish good gear, I have a few high end and custom rods, 6 in total but the bulk of my rods are in the $150 to $250 range and for the most part they haven't even looked as if they were going to break. I had 1 Quantum tour edition break years ago, it was my fault as I was using braid with the reels drag locked down and was horsing a snag, and I had 2 St. Croix LE rods break in the same place which I assume was due to a defect in the blank but under normal conditions a rod should break.

I' sorry if I seem out of line here but why do you want the rod more moderate for jerkbaits? Jerkbaits are a close second to spinnerbaits as both are favorites for me and after a long time fishing them I have what I feel is a great set up but I have tried soft rods and it is so hard to work a bait with one it seems hardly worth it. I fish a jerkbait pretty aggressive in warm water and I'll do it in cold water but I use long pauses and only short movements but I can change the way I use them but with a soft rod I found myself moving the rod a foot and the bait only moving a few inches because as I moved the rod it would flex as the bait would move so half of the time the rod would flex rather than the bait move. For making long sweeps and stops it was ok but other than that it was really hard to fish and that is why I use a fast action rod but I recently found a moderate fast rod that had a tip more like a fast action rod that allows me total control over the bait yet still flexes when hooked up and applying pressure. I'm just curious if you have used a soft rod for jerkbaits or is it something you want to try, because that is a good rod that you may end up making it a bad rod. I suggest if you haven't fished a jerkbait on a truly moderate action rod that you try it on a moderate rod befor transforming the GLX, you may like it but you also may end up not caring for it, either way it would be worth your time considering the cost involved.

X2 !!