Jay Ell Gee

I really appreciate it Sir. I agree on using expensive hard baits from shore. I have one completely void pond with decent visibility (5-6 feet) near my house and I will be tossing it just to practice the cadence and action. There is absolutely nothing to get hung up on except on the bottom in 12-15 feet of water, and I may borrow a Jon boat to do even that. I couldn't imagine losing a 10-15 dollar lure from shore!

PM sent. Thanks to everyone for their advice! May try to order a few of the Daiwa and Luck E Strikes!

I never carry a thermometer with me, but perhaps I should. Our winter days fluctuate, but this time of year it may reach below 32 (29 is the lowest so far) once a week. Our days tend to be in the upper 50's and sometimes lower 60's. Is this a waste of my time even tossing JB's? I'm still catching fish on a jig'n'pig pretty much daily. Maybe throw some swimbaits along with the usual plastics? However, thanks a lot for the advice. I do want to pick up a few just to try. The STX seems to be pretty popular, just have no idea where to find them. I'll start calling around. I may fold and pick up a shallow pointer as well. Seems like a good bait to fish parallel to banks and wood when a squarebill won't produce.

Hey, you were invited! I do think we had kind of a slow morning there. Now that I realize the kind of shad that are in there, I can hopefully formulate a better game plan!

This is my first "winter" (if you can even call it winter in South Louisiana) that I am still attempting to bass fish, and for some reason, I have just been really against trying jerkbaits. I would much rather throw swimbaits, but if some suspending jerks will put some fish to hand this winter, I will throw them as much as I have to, in any temperature that I have to. My main question is, does anyone have any suggestions for beginner friendly suspending jerkbaits? I'm not really into modifying my lures yet (nor would I know how to) and am kind of hoping to find some baits locally to try before ordering. Keep in mind that I am a college student, and while I am not against picking up a pointer or two, I was hoping to also perhaps see some suggestions for some less expensive ones. I am also bank bound most of the winter, as my dad (fishing partner) is hunting more this time of year. I am looking for some lures that will be useful in spring as well (in the boat), so I am not wanting to spend a lot on specialty lures diving 8-10 feet. I am just looking for a handful of general use suspending jerks that are beginner friendly. Main colors would be shad, bluegill, baby bass, typical south La stuff. Also, does anyone fish soft jerkbaits this time of year? I haven't used flukes much because they just roll all over the place, they never stay upright. Is that supposed to happen? Thanks in advance for all the help guys! I am planning on bringing the girlfriend to a pond Thursday to get her on some bass. Perhaps we can nail some and post a report!

1.) Stanley Ribbit. Watermelon Red. I have never felt like I needed any other color, and even thought I tried them, nothing produces as well around here for me. 2.) Weightless, weedless Texas rigged. 3.) Gamakatsu EWG 4/0 or 5/0

The creeks around my part hold both spotted and largemouth bass. I pursue them either with a fly rod (usually my TFO 3 wt or 7 wt) or my St. Croix mojo bass wacky rod/Shimano Sahara 2500 setup. Aside from the usual popping bugs and dry flies, I also pursue the little rascals with UV speed craws, zoom finesse worms, finesse tubes, poppers, pond magic buzzbaits, Zara puppies, pond magic and H&H spinner baits. I have some small bitsy bug jigs for good measure, as well as cranks, but I never use them. It's a great way to get out and have a good time.

I appreciate the diagrams sir. I personally like a lot of the Rage line (finally got around to using the craws, what a fool I was to wait this long!), but I simply won't be using any of the toads again. Thousands use them and apparently they run just fine, but maybe my two packs from the clearance aisle just weren't up to snuff. Perhaps they were old or something. I have been using Ribbits even before they hit the market, and when they run upside down, you are absolutely right, 99% of the time they aren't rigged dead center. However, two packs in a row with ten frogs all flipping over on me just didn't leave a good impression. For what it's worth, the body profile of the toads are great. Nice action as well. I work for a large outdoor retailer as pro staffer (college job), and while I say here that I won't use them personally, I have never talked bad on them or recommended against them in our store. I'm just not that kind of guy. Thanks again for the tip Big O, it's a great diagram for anyone to see and use. If you are ever in South Louisiana, stop by and bring me some promo goodies to try! I'm always looking for product knowledge! Makes my job easier!

Zoom UV speed craws mainly. I am expanding my jig fishing this year, however, and am liking the gambler ugly otter as well as the missile baits D bomb. Sweet beavers also aren't bad.

Stanley Ribbits with a Gammy EWG 4/0 or even with a keel weighted swimbait hook with a screw keeper in the front. Keeps the frog from running upside down. However, I once watched my frog come back at me upside down (Rage Toad, first time trying them, and they all ran that way) and as I was about to kill it and let it flip over before continuing my retrieve, a bass slammed it. To my disbelief, the hook set perfectly in the bottom of the jaw, so maybe it isn't such a big deal. Watermelon red is the only color Ribbit that I throw. Can't say that I am a fan of the double take hooks... tried them before and was really disappointed. I could have bought a whole pack of Gammys for the price of those two hooks, lol.

I use the basic bluegill color (non ghost) in the G2 shellcracker and it works great. The bluegill down here in Louisiana are super dark, and the water here is almost always fairly stained. It's a hoot to throw and fish. I have been wanting to try out the ghost color myself but can't see spending the money for another when what I have works great! I throw mine on 65 lb braid and it works great. Gets a solid hookset and you can pull that twenty dollar bait out of anything.

I can't see this thread getting too far... So in before lock!

I wouldn't be turning that one down, Matt. I have a couple of D series Citicas that rock with braid. My Lew's MG 7.1 is currently running 65lb power pro, and it works well too. I picked it up from a member here for 65.00 with less than a season of use. Still would be looking hard at that Citica!

Try baiting a few and proning about 150 yards away with said .17HMR. I have never run dogs, but that HAS to be close!

They also provide a TON of fun when pursued with a .17 HMR or .22lr. Southern woodchuck hunting!

Good looking bass! Congratulations. New PB's are always exciting. You will remember that fish a long time..... Now off to go google what a Ned rig is!

Please don't mistake my pokes for punches Mr. Jim. Good idea about getting some silent lipless cranks. Heck, I got a KVD lipless crank kit for Christmas last year... Wonder if they all rattle... Be back tomorrow... I have a box to shake.

I have never fished with bates before! Tell me more!

Senkos can certainly do well this time of year. I find them to be most effective fished weightless on a 3/0 EWG, but if your bass are deep this time of year, it can be downright frustrating to use. It can take a long time for a weightless senko to flutter down 20+ feet. Try wacky rigging it with a weighted jighead, similar to the flick shake. You'll get to cover water, slowly, but still at a reasonable pace. If you want a bit of a faster fall, try the flick shake worms! Jackall or Bass Pro Shimmy worms work just as well. If that doesn't work, I wouldn't cut the wacky jig off until I also wacky rigged an old fluke or small swimbait and sent it down horizontally as well. You would be shocked at how well this works. Soft plastic swimbaits (Berkley Grass Pig, Lake Fork Magic Shads, Zoom Paddle Tail Fluke all work well for me) fished on a keel weighted 4/0ish size hook and simply retrieved slowly across the bottom, above grassbeds, or wherever else your fish may be. Finesse jigs with a floating finesse worm trailer can be a simple, downsized finesse option. You can also never go wrong with a jig'n'pig. I scent all of my trailers this time of year. Every little bit helps. Some guys recommend bulky baits this time of year, to represent an easy, calorie packed meal worth not passing up on by the bass. I'm not really sure where to stand on this one. I also wouldn't rule out the dropshot if the bass don't like texas rigs getting drug across the bottom. Worms, craws, creatures, etc. Typical color rules apply. Throw those lipless cranks too! If you have any, a weedless spoon (believe it or not) in baby bass or shad will work well if you can drop it right on their nose. Point is, you have a lot of good options, and odds are, you are already have half of these lures in your arsenal. All you need to do is send them across the pond and see what they pull up! Lot of good info this this thread: http://www.bassresou...ts/page__st__15

Something to consider... Right now Cabelas has their Shimano Sahara 2500FD's for sale, 44.99. Excellent deal in my opinion. I have a couple of the Saharas and for bang for the buck they are pretty darn nice.

While I typically fish my small clear water creeks with a fly rod for spotted bass, I have a St. Croix Mojo bass that I love (M/XF, 6'8). Dicks has them for 80.00. Academy has their vendetta spinning rods around 39.99, and the Powell Diesel is an excellent 60.00 choice. The UL Bucoo is a great rod, but the lightning shocks aren't bad either. You have a lot of good options. Bring your reel, mount it up, and just pick which one fits you best. It's hard to go wrong with any of those great choices! My pick overall is the Croix or the Powell, though.

Just throwing this out there... There are about 50 more efficient techniques for catching bass in 20 feet of water than a weightless senko. I find a senko to be its deadliest in 6-8 feet of water, at least in most situations that i face in south Louisiana. You can flip it, dead stick it, pop it like a jerkbait, or even wacky rig it weightless and do very well there, ESPECIALLY in backwaters, shallow weed edges, and inside weed lines. In 20 feet of water, you may want something that not only gets down there fast, but also makes some vibration or moves water. Big weighted curly tails, jig and pig, spoon, slow rolled spinnerbait, drop shot, even some swimbaits come to mind this time of year. I only have four rod/reel setups, and one always has a weightless senko on when I fish rivers and backwaters... I like it that much. However, they certainly have their time and place, as does any other lure. It is also predominantly shallow (6-10 feet), calm offshoots of the main river. I have a cheap M/M Abu Garcia Conolon Premier that came with my Citica D, it's 6 feet long and throws weightless senkos a laughable distance. From the back of the boat, I can drop it in front of my dad's frogs/trick worms if he starts showing me up. Desperate times, and all that, lol. That's a 15 dollar rod, but it does lack some hook setting potential at a distance. I have since moved to a Powell Diesel or St. Croix Mojo Bass wacky rod to throw mine, though. Both do very well, just in slightly different ways. Good luck!

I own a 723 MH/XF as well, and for 69.99, that rod is a gem. They are right about Walmart carrying micro guide Veritas rods for 70.00 also. They are also alright rods, just not my personal preference. I use my diesel for hollow body frogs and light pitching duty and it works great.

Agreed! Start with a 9 inch MS Slammer in baby bass and then start tossing the 8 inch Hudd! If there is a big fish in there, you will know!