smalljaw67

I don't throw the large swim bait type of wake baits, but I do throw, and have success with, the crankbait style. My favorite is discontinued but I bought a large amount so I have enough but the Mann's Waker Elite is a killer. It is a big body that is loud and produced a wake at much higher speeds as it only dive 3" below the surface. I've been coming to like the Storm Arashi Wake Crank a lot more, it doesn't work at high speeds like the Mann's does, but it is loud and it gets bit.

Use a smaller EWG style hook, that bait isn't large and I'll bet they suck the entire bait in. I'd try a 1/0 or 2/0 EWG style hook so the hook point comes through higher up on the body, I doubt you'll miss fish because of the smaller hook but I know you'll extend the life of the bait.

Nope, not the same rods, not even close.

I heard from another guy that instead of just sticking a glass blank on the rod they used the same construction technique on them. Tackle Tour did a preview of them saying they use the same hi-power X blank but they incorporated glass into it for the softer action but it still maintains the same properties as the full graphite models.

Normally it is marketing, but there are 2 kinds of extra fast tapers. The common thing with an extra fast taper is where the rod bends, and that is mostly in the top 6" to 10" before it gets into the backbone. The differences are that one could be pretty stiff while another is pretty soft, and being that the rods are technique specific tells me what the tip sections are like. If you want a rod for basically all-purpose finesse, get the shakey head rod, the reason is drop shot specific rods tend to have a very soft tip which makes it hard to really do any thing else with the rod. My drop shot rod is one that is a medium light all-purpose type deal, it is softer in the tip section than medium power rods but it is still stiffer than a drop shot specific rod. There are 2 reasons drop shot rods have really soft tips, well 3 reasons actually, the first reason is that it lets you move your bait without moving the weight as the tip section will usually bend a good bit before the weight moves, the second reason is that you don't always feel bites with drop shot fishing, especially when the water is deep, the tip is soft that it bends without the fish feeling the rod so you can see the bite without feeling it. The third reason is that drop shot hooks are smaller, and that soft tip really helps in keeping the fish hooked as the softer tip will help keep you from applying too much pressure and pulling the small hook free. So if you see a rod has a drop shot label and you want something to do a lot of different things, get one not technique specific or one labeled shaky head as the type of rod for a shaky head makes a great finesse rod in general.

I'm a Fenwick fan but before you buy any of those, do a search and look for the regular Tatula, not the Tatula XT. The reason being is that rod was really good at the $150 price point but they can be found for $99 and when you compare the regular Tatula to the HMG, the Tatula wins out but the HMG is no slouch either but for the same price the Tatula is much better.

I think you got your terminology mixed up, I think you want to know whether an offset shank worm hook is better than a straight shank worm hook. I say that because straight shank hooks and offset shank hooks can both be round bends, or sickle style or EWG (extra wide gap). The difference depends on application and what line type and knot is going to be used. A lot of pros like the straight shank for heavy duty flipping and pitching with heavy braid or fluorocarbon because they can tie a Snell knot and when pulled against the worm weight it will have a cantilever effect keeping the hook pointed up for good penetration in the roof of the mouth. That said, there are also a number of pros that use heavy wire offset shank hooks because they believe in the Palomar knot and rigging a soft plastic bait straight on them is much easier. Now, all of this is for not if I misunderstood but round bend means the actual bend at the bottom of the hook, and you have round ben, sickle, and EWG, for hook shanks you have straight shank and offset shank and you can also have offset hooks which means the point is slightly offset and some believe that leads to more and better hook ups, but in the end it comes down to confidence and what works for you.

I just saw this and ordered 12 of them, $71.88 for a dozen cranks of good quality is a win-win!!! TW has the Bagley Rattlin' Diving Kill'R B and the Ratllin' Kill'R B for $5.99, the Rattlin' Kill'R B is a square bill and the diving dives to 6'-8'. These are plastic versions of the balsa baits but since they are plastic they added a rattle but it is a good one. I got the square bill last year and it proved its worth very quickly and it was $7.99 so to find them now being sold at TW for 2 bucks less, I got the diving model. The nice thing is the rattle is very low pitch, and that is great because it doesn't spook fish in clear water, in fact the bluegill color was a clear water killer, we caught both smallmouth and largemouth with them so grab a few diving models before they go or the price goes up, they are good baits for sure at a great price.

There are anglers that pay top dollar for those types of spinnerbaits, I know because I've made them. The vibration you get from a thin wire is very distinct but they are fragile, there are also the cheap ones that us a low grade stainless which not only bends easier but deforms so badly when it does that it often breaks when trying to bend it back. I agree wit Catt 100%, Stanley Vibra-shaft or Wedge Plus spinnerbaits are really good, if I didn't make my own Stanley spinnerbaits are the ones I'd buy.

I have 3 presentations that will work, well it is actually 1 presentation with 3 different baits. The first one is a spinnerbait, with summer here the fish will be in or around current so you'll find some and a 3/8oz spinnerbait with a willow and small Colorado is perfect. The second bait is what Crestliner2008 mentioned, a 3" curly tail grub on a 1/8oz jig head, and the third is a 3.5" swim bait on a 1/8oz jig head. The presentation for all these baits is going to be the same, make a cast upstream at a 45 degree angle and retrieve the bait at an easy pace, as you reel the bait will be getting pushed downstream but that is what you want. You can cover a larger area like that but you will lose some jig to rocks but you'll also catch some good fish.

The way to remember the diving depths is to be organized. I have boxes for shallow divers , boxes for mid depth an 1 box of deep divers. What I do is section off my boxes, for example, my mid-depth boxes have 4 rows of compartments, the top two rows are for baits that run 6' to 8' and the bottom two rows are for 9' to 12'. Doing it like that allows me to grab a bait at a glance when I know the depth zone I want to cover and it makes it easier than trying to remember. I almost forgot, I too am looking at this thread to see what anglers are saying, my mid depth boxes reflect my age. I have a ton of Bomber 4A, 6A, Flat A, and Deep Flat A cranks not to mention the Fat Free Shad and square bill Fat Free Shad. I'm looking to branch out a little, and the Berkley hard baits look very nice, I remember the Frenzy baits, I still have some minnows that are really good so I bet these are going to be good also.

As an avid river smallmouth angler I may be able to help you hang into larger smallmouth. The first thing is to up size your baits because the old saying of "big baits catch big fish" is true. Yes, big fish eat small stuff and vise-versa but on average you'll get bigger fish with bigger baits. Now I don't know the specifics of the cover, or all of your depth zones but that is where you start. Start looking at the spots you are catching the fish and try to establish spots in all the zones, find the shallowest water you catch fish at and the deepest spot and then you play connect the dots, look for riffles, polls and other areas in which the fish can move to to feed and then the closest cover they can move to and rest out of the current. Once you have that established use baits that probe those areas that will attract bigger fish, the shallow spot I'd go with a square bill, crank, if you have dirty water or an overcast day go right to the shallow areas and hit it with a crank like a Baby 1 minus or a Cordell Big-O, they aren't large cranks but in the kind of water you're fishing they normally draw larger than average size fish. You can also use your favorite but big smallmouth in moving waters seem to really respond to the crankbait so try that. Another bait is a spinnerbait, but instead of a small one go with a 1/2oz with double willows if the water is clear to stained or a double Colorado for dingier water, these can be used in both shallow and mid depth zones, if you have clear water choose natural colors and burn the bait, that tactic is a big fish killer!! The last thing will work in all zones, a tube, but try to go with a fat tube in the 3.5" to 4" size or a 5" Senko and rig it Texas style with no weight, the difference in the size of fish you get from the 4" to the 5" is unbelievable, and that is how I would approach your situation without really knowing the water.

It will work in muddy water but as others have said, different presentations are better. I found that if you're fishing muddy water that is shallow, less than 5' deep, and dead calm, a walking bait can be decent but most of the time poppers or buzzbaits and even prop baits work better.

Out the house brand rods, the XML and the Fish Eagle rods are really decent, the rest aren't bad but will suffice for the casual angler. The problem with getting the kind of help you need from a bass board is that $100 is considered entry level for just a rod or a reel and you are looking at a combo which is most often a lower end rod with decent reel or vice-versa or both are lower end. For $100 if they have the Silver Hawk on sale get it, and then grab a Pflueger President reel, you may go over your budget by $10 or so but you'll have a much better combo that what you will get for anywhere close to that price. The Silver Hawk feels like a decent rod, it has a 30 ton blank which isn't bad and it has Fuji Alconite guides, you are going to have a hard time finding a rod under $100 with those guides, in fact this is the only time I've heard of a rod under $100 with Alconites.

I have made my own spinnerbaits for a long time, I purchase my own wire and bend the forms and pour the heads so I have total control. That said, I have tried all kinds of wire, from .029" diameter up to .041" diameter and I've settled on .035" diameter for most everything, even 1/4oz baits that I use to use .032" with. The reason is that .035 is the "balance area", that is what I call it, it is the diameter that is thin enough for good vibration yet strong enough that it won't get deformed to the point of being ruined by 1 decent fish. If I was going to buy a bait off the shelf, it would be a Stanley Wedge Plus, those are killer spinnerbaits!!!

Before there was Z-Man and the TRD there was the original beetle that was used, then as more people adopted it the offerings expanded. When the Senko was introduced it became the go-to finesse rig bait, just cut the 5" in half and you had the ultimate finesse rig. I use a bait from a small company called River Rock Baits, they make a worm called a PC Ringer which is a 3" Senko type worm but it is a little thinner than a Senko, I get them with salt and without salt depending on how I'm using them. I tend to use the light heads with a bait that has salt in it for deep water, but if I'm fishing shallow or I'm seeing suspended fish I'll use the no salt bait for that ultra slow fall.

My general rule of thumb is under 62 degrees and over 85 degrees I use a chunk or craw with little to no action. From 62 to 85 degrees I'll use trailers like a rage chunk or craw, or the paca style chunks and craws but the appendages will flap on the fall or if I'm stroking it. When the water is warm the metabolism of a fish is very high so the added movement is natural and fish will chase more but when it is too hot, the metabolism is still high but oxygen becomes depleted so the fish end up not wanting to chase or move too fast which is why I go back to the "do nothing" chunk style trailers when it is really hot. The other deal is size, the cold water I will often use a smaller trailer where as the warmer water a bulk style is preferable, yes, there are times that fish will do the opposite but as a general rule of thumb I go with the smaller chunk in cold water and beef it up as the water gets warmer.

I have a bunch of boxes that I made up for my hair jigs, but when I go out to fish I use a tackle binder, the old tackle logic that has bags in it. I put about 2 dozen or so in 3 of 4 different bags and then take the binder and go fish. After I'm done and put my stuff away I'll put the ones I used in a separate bag from the binder and when I get home I lay them out on a paper towel, on the bucktail jigs I'll actually run the towel down the length and straighten the hair out but rabbit, marabou, and craft fur I just dab and leave air dry.

It sounds like you have the smaller original floater, if that is the case you need to measure it to determine the hook size. Not counting the lip, measure the length of the bait, if it is 2.75" use VMC spark point 1X treble hook in a size 8, if the bait is 3.5" long, use the same hook in a size 6, and the same size 6 if is up to 4" or even a little longer. The 5.25" model gets a size 4 treble and if you don't understand hook sizes, the smaller the number the larger the hook, meaning a size 4 is larger than a size 6, and the 6 is larger than the 8. The reason I say to use the VMC 1X spark point is that is a decent treble that is very close to the old bronze hooks that they use to use, in fact I believe the VMC spark point is made in a bronze hook. If 1 hook is rusted you'll want to change all the hooks, probably 2 but if it is a longer bait it may have 3 but those hooks are old and will probably break with a decent fish. Cast that bait on a spinning rod with 8lb test line, let it sit until the ripples disappear and then twitch the rod tip, just enough to pull the bait under the surface and then have it float back up, it is a wicked deadly presentation, I was in a boat with my buddy when he won a tournament on a F-11 (4 3/8" length) original floater in silver, and he not only won but also got lunker, and all he did was twitch it on top, he just pulled the rod and the bait would go under about 2" or so and pop back up. I tried poppers, walking baits and nothing worked like that did. Give it a shot and you'll see why it has been around for decades and is still being used by tons of anglers.

It depends on the kind of shop and the location and I know it sounds stupid but I'll explain. I've been to shops where the person working or the owner has told me what the locals have been using and what is going on with the fishing community in that area and it was sound advice and it was easy to see since there was very few of the baits left in which he told me the best colors were gone. Now, if it is a tourist spot, then I don't even ask, a friend of mine goes to Northeast Marine on Lake Erie every year for the spring bite, he spent an extra $2,000 to make a second trip up like 3 weeks after the first one ended. The reason was the bite was almost gone when we got up there but the guy told my frined that there is a secondary bite that not many know about as the next wave of fish come in that are late spawning fish and you can get on some good action. Well I told my friend that was garbage, he just wanted the business as I never heard of this "secondary" bite going on, and my buddy found out, he caught 4 fish in 3 days because he didn't take the right gear, he was armed for another round of shallow water combat and the fish were gone, he told me he asked another guy he met on the water about this secondary bite and the guy laughed at him and told him that the marina owner has been telling campers that come up in the spring that same story for years trying to get some more business because it slows down for him when the fish move back out. That was a classic example of a guy taking advantage of someone but my friend is like that, he won't tell you what he is catching them on, but he expects everyone to be truthful to him, I found the whole thing funny.

I don't like recommending combos as today they are directed at entry level anglers so you either get a decent rod and lower end reel or decent reel and low end rod. You can actually get a good rod and good reel for less that some combos that offer only 1 decent piece of tackle but if it has to be a comb then here you go. Cabelas has a Pflueger Purist reel paired with a Cabela's Fish Eagle 50 spinning rod on sale for $130, the Fish Eagle 50 rods are decent and the Purist is a lower end reel but not bad in the Pflueger line. A better combo at the same place would be the Cabelas Verano reel paired with a Tournament ZX rod, on sale for $220 and if both of those options are too much then the Pflueger Summit rre with the Fenwick Silver Hawk rod for $120. That makes your shopping for dad easy.

I have 2 of the Pflueger Supreme XT casting reels, both are in a 7.1:1 and I'm thinking of switching all my reels out to this one kind. I have quite a few decent reels and the Supreme XT is a killer, the frame is nice to hold, the handle knobs are super comfortable and the reel is at that perfect 6.5oz weight with easy access to the centrifugal brake system. At $150 this reel is my favorite in that range, I even like it better than my Revo Premier 2nd generation which was over $100 more and so far they seem to be holding up. If you aren't worried about taking a chance on a reconditioned item, you can get them at FFO for cheap but I like new and reconditioned scares me but it is a killer price if that doesn't bother you.

As Glenn mentioned, getting a follow is a sign, it means you are on the right track, you got the fish interested but something is keeping it from committing. The big three are size, color, and speed, this happens with cranks and jerkbaits a lot, and the easiest thing to do first is to change speed or cadence. If the speed or cadence still renders only follows, change the size or color or both, I usually begin with color, if I get no follows I'll change the size and go back to the original color, and if that don't work I'll try a completely different color in a different size but normally something will work. I've had fish follow a clown color jerkbait and I'd switch to a shad pattern and they would begin hittin, I also had them follow 3 different color Pointer 100 baits and then I dropped to a Pointer 78 in the first color I used and that was the ticket, so remember, speed, size, and color.

I have tried grubs, craws, worms and some different creatures and here is what I can tell you. Craws with flapping claws work better than ones with regular claws and the same thing with creature baits. I found that baits made to swim work better with a chatterbait because the added action seems to help with the swimming of the bait and the searching type action it generates, baits that have more drag seem to hurt the action of the chatterbait more than they draw fish to them. Now, just as Raul mentioned, there is no rule and you really don't know until you try it but based on what I've witnessed I'd say that it would probably work to a certain extent because it really isn't bulky but the side appendages are large enough that it could possibly hurt the hunting/searching, side to side motion of the chatterbait and rather than take a chance I'd get a pack of BPS speed shads or something like that which will be much more effective.

I have used the SK 1XS and let me tell you, if you throw a Mann's Baby 1 Minus you'll quickly forget about the Strike King. There is also the Yo-Zuri 3DS SSR which TW sells as the 3DS Wake bait, it is a 1/4oz bait that does wake but when reeled at a moderate pace will dive about 8" to 10", that to is a killer bait. If you want a larger body bait you can go Mann's Mid 1 minus or the large regular 1 Minus, and then you have the Rapala DT Fat 1, there are some really good shallow divers that get great results, I agree the SK 1XS is a good bait but don't limit yourself, you'll be surprised at what you find.