Jay Ell Gee

In before the lock! But seriously, I like the Strike King Shimme Stix. 3.00 a pack at Wal-Mart. I actually purchased 4 of the 52 worm kits at about 5.50 a kit on clearance at Academy. Awesome little baits.

Hey Mr. Sam! Thanks for stopping by! I must unfortunately admit that my fair weather is gone for at least another week. Rainy, poopy days ahead. With the Fishing Classic sale starting tomorrow at work, I won't have time anyway. At least I can take comfort in knowing its storming anyway. I should thank you for the flat sided crankbait suggestion. I saw you recommend them on multiple occasions, saw these Normans, and thought they may do the job well. So thanks for that!

Gotta drop in with some love for Hackney, the only Louisiana angler in the field. I wouldn't mind A-Mart getting his first win if he quits whining the entire time.

Watermelon with orange flake!

Sounds reasonable!

It's no big deal, certainly no rise from me. I learned to fish on $15 Abu Garcia Conolon Premier rods when I got my first two Citicas. They did absolutely fine. Sometimes the bites are just light, as was the case that day. Except for the fatty, of course!

I kind of wonder if it did!? Thanks AK!

While we are on the topic guys, I would like to ask a question. I am looking for a small assortment of lures for her to start regularly using to build some confidence. I often end up tying her on random lures as I find a pattern and she has to learn a new technique on the spot. Anyone have any suggestions for lures? I am simply wanting her to have a small arsenal of lures available to her that she is confident in as she ties on, not something she is spending more time concentrating on learning to use and getting bored. My ideas so far: Rage tail / Zoom Fat Albert grubs on an exposed jighead. Wacky rig. Texas rig. Split shot rig.

My girlfriend and her family have a camp in Cocodrie and they do a lot of inshore fishing. I am slowly converting her to bass fishing, however. Her first bass... Her first bass after finally getting the nerve to try a baitcaster. She caught it casting a suspending jerkbait during a cold front. She actually outfished me both of these days. Both times on my rods!

Haha. You know, I'm actually really impressed with this St. Croix Mojo. I recently got quite a few free spools of Trilene XL from a rep at work and have been using their 8 lb test with this rod. I have lost some real sensitivity compared to other lines. However, I was working the shaky on relatively slack line, and I probably should not have been. I was hoping that I could add some wiggle without moving it much. While the bites were the lightest I have felt in a long time, I certainly wasn't helping any. I was more experimenting with the whole shaky technique. I really wouldn't trade the rod in for anything, though. It was my first high-end (for a college student) rod and I can't imagine replacing it. I'm actually thinking about running straight braid on it for enhanced sensitivity, but for now it will probably go to Yo-Zuri. I am about to add a St. Croix Legend Tournament to my arsenal as well! Tuggs, I would hate to have hard water. Louisiana has some CRAZY weather swings, but even after a really severe cold snap, I was able to bring three bass to hand in under an hour. I only fished half the pond. Five minutes down the road, another BR member and his buddy are throwing freaking A-Rigs at their pond bass and catching 5 or 6 an afternoon. Crazy! Makes me wonder if I am wasting time finessing these bad boys!

Cocahoe minnows are fairly small profile but also have a very tight wiggling action with the small paddle tails. Overall, it has less of a side to side wobble and ends up being more subtle, which is typically preferred in the winter. That may be why he is catching fish so well on them right now. I have used more soft plastic swimbaits than I care to admit, and if I were to use the A-Rig, I would agree with RoadWarrior. Maximum action, minimum weight. You don't need a bunch of heavy jigheads and minnows when fishing in a small pond. I don't mind paying for lures as long as they catch fish... especially when a small bag of mini grass pigs can be had for a dollar more with better action. maybe those would be worth a shot? If the cocahoes work, then by all means rock them. He may be onto something with the tight wiggle in cold water. However, I prefer the softer plastic (more action) of bass oriented swimbaits, as well as the color schemes available with them.

The faster retrieve will also help you to get a fish away from cover after a hard hookset. That 3 inches per turn could keep countless bass from wrapping up around sticks and boat dock beams.

Thanks everyone. I will agree with Blue, this bass seems like it was full of eggs. It was certainly a chunky fish and I was darned glad to bring it to hand the morning after a crazy cold snap followed by bluebird skies! And gripnrip, I didn't undermine your suggestions by any means. The squirrel tails are just the only ones I saw where I stopped to look for some worms, so I grabbed those. Great suggestion though! Hope you guys get out and nail some as well. Hopefully my girlfriend will land a similar one out of there soon. Boy would she be tickled.

I just wanted to point out that last sentence and how utterly true it will be for thousands of anglers. For me, I am only getting hot and heavy into bass fishing for the past year, so I have all types of lures. I don't necessarily just buy some random baits. I look into a technique that I am looking to explore (usually through BR and other online articles) and if I see a home for it in my lineup, I then pick the best quality lure type/brand for the job. This is where reviews and BR research comes in. Hope that makes sense sir.

It was a gorgeous day today, low 40's in the am quickly heating to low 60's in the afternoon. Bluebird skies, light wind. It would have been a shame not to get out, and with the girlfriend sleeping from her night shift at the hospital, I had the perfect excuse to go piddle in a neighborhood pond that Matt V. introduced me to not 10 minutes from her house. I'm glad I did! After some frustrating tests with a shaky head in the test tank, I decided to try some Owner Shaky Heads. I decided to make a quick stop to pick up some Big Bite Baits Squirrel Tails recommended to me on my shaky head thread and decided to start with those. I just brought a single rod and a small bag for simplicities sake, my Sahara 2500 on a St. Croix Mojo Wacky Rod, 6'8 M/XF. Two casts in, my line starts moving. Never felt the hit. A few more casts in, my line starts moving again. Again, never felt a thing. No telling how many more I missed! After saturating the pond with shaky head casts, I decided to swap gears and tie on a squarebill Norman Thin N chartreuse and black back, hoping to pick up a few reaction bites. After two casts to an area that I absolutely saturated (15-20 casts easily) with the shaky head, my rod took a lunge towards the water as something started bulldogging drag from my reel. A few moments later, I brought this little chub to hand. I didn't have a scale on me, but the fish measured seventeen and a quarter inch, but I am not really going to attempt to guess the weight. Nothing compared to what a lot of you guys post on here, but for a half acre neighborhood retention pond, I'll take it any day. I can also say for a fact that this is my biggest fish from a pond without a doubt. Just thought that I would share, so get off your behind and explore your local ponds, even in the winter! -Joshua

Well, I don't remember stating that I was looking for my lures to stand up 90 degrees, but I was looking for a hair better than what they do. Felix, I feel the same way now. I tied some line to my shakey's and noticed that even with minor floatation, most worms would make the traditional shaky pose when slowly drug or hopped. The slight movement kicks the butt end up well. Thanks for the insight. I guess I am just so used to dead sticking this winter that I lost sight of that concept. Thanks all! Going to give the shaky a few shakes in the next couple minutes. Hopefully something bites!

These are the round variety. The first time around messing with the SH, I caught quite a few bass and decided to grab some more hooks, but never ended up using them again. Sometimes it stood, many times it didn't. Guess I was just hoping for a head design that was more consistent. I'm going fishing in the morning (40 degrees, brrrrrr) and will give them another shot! I also agree about having to go out and buy stuff. My backpack is pretty weighed down as it is. My mission for 2013 is to blow through most of my soft plastics, pick the ones I like, and quite buying so many different types to try.

I was actually just dropping them down. I didn't realize that it would make a huge difference. I appreciate the heads up. I'll also give the roboworms a few more tries I suppose.

Good evening everyone. I was doing a little tank testing of soft plastics that I keep around and started to realize that some of the lures that I would have assumed always float tail up barely come close. Keep in mind that I am new to the technique (promised myself that I would work on finesse fishing this winter) but I am starting to find some real uses for it. However, after testing some worms and craws, I am at a bit of a loss. My two top hopes were my original (not super salty plus, I know better) zoom trick worms. They did somewhat well, but kept possibly a thirty degree angle after being rigged. I then rigged up a some roboworm straight tails (and fatties) and they simply fell over. Thought I normally dropshot with these worms, I was really expecting them to float tail up like I have seen in online tank test videos. Any chance my jighead is too heavy? A couple of my craws and beavers "kind of" stood, but I don't trust them under water on a non flat surface. I was using the one pack of shakey head's that I bought, which are Strike King Shakey Head Jigheads size 3/16 (which I now realize are a bit on the large side) and I am just about ready to toss these in the garbage and try some new ones. They barely stood up, if at all, and the giant bait keeper absolutely destroys any worms that I thread onto it. Once it goes on, the nose is ruined. Should I perhaps be using smaller jigheads? 1/8 oz or 1/4, perhaps? Any particular style or brand that you recommend? I really would love to try the E2 from Megastrike, but I hear that they perform best on rocky/gravel bottoms, not too common in Louisiana, at least where I fish. Perhaps a football head type? I will admit, I am also worried about ordering some due to the fear of adding enough into the cart to make it "free shipping" and end up with more stuff! Also, does anyone have any suggestions for lures that truly float? I am definitely open to suggestions, as I am really wanting to learn this technique, and I have more soft plastics than I need already... I would hate to end up with more non-floaters after testing them. Also, does anyone ever throw something different, such as flukes, sunfish-profile soft plastics, or perhaps grubs on shakey heads? I would imagine that they would be more efficient in warmer months, as they would probably need to be hopped and moving to keep them upright? Thanks for any input guys and gals!

For what it's worth, my local academy has those worms on clearance for 1.88 a pack. I picked up two packs in green pumpkin to try. I am a big fan of the rage tail recon worms and anaconda though. The anaconda isn't ribbed but it's still a fantastic lure.

I'm picking up what you're putting down A-Jay. I apologize, I have been up since 4 am for work this morning getting ready for the spring fishing classic sale next week. I follow what you are saying now and I do agree for the most part... perhaps some anglers draw a section of the area that forces them to fish deep water, ledges, or perhaps submerged timber fields. That would be interesting. It would also force the top anglers out of their normal elements to see how well they could really complete. I like it.

A-Jay will probably shun me for life for this comment, but I rather enjoy watching flipping and pitching. Then again, I primarily river fish in Louisiana, so pitching docks and tossing frogs are really staples for me in any given part of the year. Overall, I think Denny is a classy kind of guy. He never has anything bad to say about anyone, and he is flat out fun to watch. I particularly appreciated his modesty during the finals as well as his comments day one about Ike slamming fish.

I fish the BPS floating worm in pink on a 1/0 hook and it works the same way. Twitch twitch twitch it through grass or anything else and BAM. It's hookup is about as good as a fluke. it also skips like a champ on spinning tackle. You can skip it under 4 inches of clearance while wading. Awesome topwater lure in our local creeks/streams for spotted bass.

Her first bass on a baitcaster! She was all smiles after that. She was proud to have nailed a fish on my Citica. Same bass. Note the STX in Pearl White. My first bass on a suspending jerkbait. I believe the color is Cosmic Shad. Not nearly as big as yours, but fun all the same! Always nice to learn a new technique. Can't thank RoadWarrior enough for introducing me to these lures.

I'm not sure that I can really contribute yet, but I am going to try bank fishing an 1,100 acre reservoir (Okhissa Lake in Mississippi) from the shore this Saturday. I aim on making a day of it and just getting away for the day. The water is super clear, especially by Louisiana's standards. My goal is to throw big plastics and jigs down the dam (quick slope dropping from 6-8 feel to over 40 feet within castable range) and any accessible points. Tossing suspending jerkbaits and playing the waiting game and maybe trying my hand at the dropshot if I get desperate. Heck, I don't even know if bass hold on hard slopes such as dams in the winter. However, if I learn anything, I'll be sure to let you know!