primetime

My buddy up north who loves to crank lay downs and throw square bills anywhere possible...Would without question suggest the Worden's Timber Tiger....Been around forever, and is designed to not hang up on wood and has a unique design and action after deflecting....They have some good colors also....They kind of look like a beefed up Speed trap with fins on the sides...Tackle warehouse has them...Think they are $6.99. I believe they have 3 sizes, the biggest one is a good sized crankbait, and I think they are Balsa wood but may be mistaken.

VMC has several models of trebles like all the other companies like Mustad, Eagle Claw, Owner etc...I know the Rapala lures like Xraps and topwaters, DT's have the sure set hooks on the rear, and I believe they are expensive if you buy them as replacements. The regular VMC Round Bend Trebles that Dick's carries which are short shank, 1x strong seem to be strong but not all that sharp out of the pack. But, for 2.50 they are decent. They are not easy to get out of your hand when one gets stuck in your palm or finger.....They seem to go in easy, especially the one I stepped on barefoot accidently a few weeks ago. I find the VMC vanadium worm hooks to be good, especially for the price and availability in all sizes etc...But I will take the Berkley Fusion hooks for $3.99 over most of the standard brands in mid range pricing...I love those hooks.

The BPS Clothes Pin Spinnerbaits from 10-20 years ago were pretty much the only thing I used when living in NY to go with the Culprit Worm, then the Power Worm, and a BPS Buzzbait.....I would love to find some of the BPS spinnerbaits with the closed line tie in 1/4-3/8 oz with single colorado blade and white skirt....I would throw that thing all day long, for some reason here in Florida, I don't catch nearly as many fish on spinnerbaits as I used to. I have so many spinnerbaits in my box, I am not even sure of the brands anymore, I know a bunch are the $1 baits from Walmart, $1 from fishing shows, flea markets etc...A few of my favorites are cheap ones cause they do not have any brands stamped on them....I have Terminators which are ok, but mostly use the Booyah and Strike king spinnerbaits since thats really all that is stocked in stores, but another great spinnerbait that is cheap is the.... H&H spinnerbaits. I know academy still sells them, and a local shop around here sells a bag of 10 for $10. They have the old cheaper tinsel type skirts, but hammered blades, closed eye, and flat out work as good as the expensive ones I have like a War Eagle and few other Randoms I paid $8 for from Tackle Warehouse....If it doesn't roll over on its side, it will catch fish. Skirts are easy to change out....I went through a tackle making phase and I made tons of skirts so I like throwing on watermelon red, or other random colors not seen on spinnerbaits. Green Pumpkin, Orange, and Copper skirts seem to work the best in stained water for some reason, and early in year.

Cotton Cordel has smaller spots that are 1/8 I believe that are good for throwing in ponds...The Bill Lewis Tiny trap is really small, but is a fun lure to fish as bluegill, crappie, bass and everything else in pond will hit them. BPS also makes some smaller sizes in 3/16 range. Sebile used to have a few really nice lipless baits that were small and silent but may be tough to find....Was the original Flatt Shads. Don't laugh, but the Creme Mad Dad Minnow is a good pond bait since it has one double hook that hangs and makes it mostly weedless and offer several sizes, good colors and it catches fish. For 1.99 its worth buying a few. I think BPS carries them, if not, You can find a lot of 3 on ebay for like $6. They come in I think 2",3",4" and have decent weight to them as well.

looks like a bps swizzle stick but that tail looks like a GYB....I think Mister twister had a worm like that a few years back as well.... Then again, Its probably one of the many GYB grubs in the stretch series.....They have a ton of colors and sizes up to like 8-10"...Looks like it would be a good swimming worm on the surface with good action on the fall....Can't beat the color...

The models that are a year or two older and get marked down into the $100-$150 range...You can find some good deals on the Daiwa baitcasters at certain times of year. Shimmano reels seem to always hold their price but they are worth the money as I still have an Old Green Bantam Curado that has to be 25 years old and is still fantastic...Not sure I have ever done much more than clean it and grease and lube... Hard to go wrong with any Shimano. If you want to sell it in a few years to upgrade, it will still get you a good return on Ebay, guys pay good money for them used or not...

For bank fishing...Check out Kapok Park which is in Clearwater and part of the Alligator lake chain. If you look on Maps, there are about a dozen ponds and lakes, feeder creeks that all connect in that area. Its a good area to bank fish especially for numbers. If you can go after it rains you can often really clean up...If you google "Public ponds open for free fishing in Pinellas" it will have a bunch of links to a list of about 30 ponds you can fish in St. Pete, Seminole, largo etc....About half are brackish, which is not all bad, you can catch snook and bass on same trip, I was on the lunker share site not long ago and noticed a double digit bass recorded from Pasadena Lake in St. Pete. I believe that is a tiny round pond if correct, but the picture was not clear so I have my doubts...... I like to look for some of the little canals and streams and move from largo area to clearwater, Freedom Lake Park has some fish in it and you can walk it, has fish feeders, good size lake...I am sure it would be good if you take some time to learn the lake.....Some of the creeks that are near 5th ave in St. Pete that do not look great can be a good time. Decent amount of snook in there especially in winter, fish are usually concentrated in a few areas in the creeks, and brackish bass are smaller but super aggressive and seem to fight better....Its kind of cool to see small Tarpon and blue claw crabs while bass fishing....

I have fished the lake twice in last year from a kayak and both times I was leaving Walsingham and some of the feeder creeks that lead into it, Mckay Creek I think..I actually do ok in Walsingham, probably my favorite spot on that side of pinellas with the other 2 options being in Safety Harbor and Tarpon Springs. I threw in the Yak mid day and both days were not ideal conditions, although I mainly explored some of the better looking areas and looked for brush piles or stucture figuring people have planted them over the years and probably do not get alot of pressure....Ended up catching a big Mudfish and seeing a few Giant Gar, started throwing plastic worms and flukes, rattle traps and tried pitching some good looking mats but didn't see any action from bass. I fished it again in Spring on a better day for conditions and found 4 Bass, nothing bigger than 14" but they were chunky. I pretty much just cruised the weedlines and patches off the shoreline pitching a Culprit Fat Max and I landed 2 swimming it slowly under the surface like a wake bait, killing it, and one just pitching into cover... I did find a spot with some better quality water and depth change, new water nearby, and several fish swirled while working a floating Rapala, and when I switched to a white fluke, I actually caught my best one skipping it, working it fast then killing it and I believe it was picked up either sitting on bottom or slowly falling near. Lost a few fish, not sure if they were bass or not, but I plan on hitting it again in a month or so when it cools down and try to get there early and see how it goes. I spoke to a guy while scouting it out who fishes it regularly and he had pictures of really good fish which he said he catches in 2-3 spots where he punches and Fishes the heavy cover....I also saw a you tube video of a guy catching them offshore cranking and swimming hollow bodies...Decent fish in the 2-4lb range. I need to do some more exploring with the electronics to see if I can find some offshore structure and try to get a few go to spots since it is a big lake and much of it seems to lack oxygen with poor water quality....I never feel good when I see Gar all over the place... Thanks for the replies...Some of the ponds in the surrounding 5 mile radius are tough to drive by and not fish, so it may be tough getting there. I was able to get permission to fish a fenced in retention pond that is pretty big, deep, good water clarity like many largo ponds, but is older and has good structure and pads.....The pond has big shiners and tons of bait in it, so I have no doubt it holds quality fish. I just have yet to get one bigger than 3-4lbs. Sometimes tons of bait makes fishing artificals tough, especially during day when they see and hear you on shorelines. Nervous to fish it at night since it has a big gator....

One way to look at it....Many of the lures people consider "Cheap" also happen to be lures or soft baits that have been around for decades, won Bassmaster Classics, and are the original designs.....Lures from Cotton Cordell, Bomber, Rapala, Heddon, Smithwick, Rebel....Have been around for ever because they still sell and flat out catch fish. Having been a lure enthusiast since I was a kid, you see so many lures and new designs come and go....Every company is guilty of doing it, Mann's had the Pogo Shad, then now Rapala puts the Rip Stop in production...There was actually a chatterbait created at one point, Culprit had a punch skirt, and pretty sure the Whopper Plopper is pretty close to the old Roland Martin High Rollers BPS used to sell, or the Rebel frog with buzzing legs..... If you have confidence in a lure, then it will likely work...Obviously a Lucky Craft Pointer has a ton more action that a Smithwick Rogue, or Tim Horton Suspending Bomber Long A and Husky Jerk...But that is by design...If you want a Rapala jerkbait with an action more erratic to be similar to the Pointer, then its the XRAP...Not saying one is better, its all preference and clearly Lucky Strike, Megabass etc. make great lures that work. If you go through even the recent tournaments of past decade or so you still see many are won with the brands first mentioned..Rapala DT Cranks, Rebel Poppers, Manns worms, Gator tails.... Lures like the Lunker City Sluggo have lost luster but will still catch fish as well as any fluke imo. The cotton cordell Spot and Bill Lewis Rattle trap catch fish plenty good as well. I like buying some of the newer lures that are expensive and they certainly work, but I still tend to fish what I have confidence in, so I will pass up the Duel FLoating Minnow for the Rapala or bomber, The expensive wakes for the Red Fin or Manns minus. Storm Chug bug over my Ima and Gunfish. With that said, if you shop at right time, right place you can get lucky and find $15 lures for half price or less. Most important part if having good quality line imo, and right size hook, and putting any brand in right place where fish are and right depth and odds are you will have a good day no matter what brand of square bill you are throwing.....Just my take. Some of the older lures were also made better, like the Bagley's etc...Give fish a different look.

I believe the newer Chug Bugs (Last 7-8 years?) come with the VMC Sure sets since Rapala makes them. At least on the rear dressed treble. I know the biggest versions I have are slightly older but they have heavy guage saltwater hooks which I personally wouldn't change and they are plenty big. The regular size not the tiny one has quality hooks, I fish them quite a bit and never had issues, but I could see them potentially bending if throwing it on heavy braid and trying to muscle a bigger fish in. They are not heavy guage, but I usually throw my topwaters on 10-15lb Mono so I rarely bend hooks unless I leave stock hooks on less expensive baits and put them on line and rod that is too heavy, drag not set right.....But sometimes....Hooks will fail for no fault of your own, Some would say bigger trebles with wider gap would bend easier, so I am sure we all look at it differently. I don't like to change treble sizes on topwater lures since it often messes up the action from my experience. I will replace with round bend trebles of same size if new ones are needed. Just my take. The chug Bug is a lure that has a unique sound and walking action, so I would just try to keep the sitting position in water the same if I were to change them out. Maybe just move up to a thicker hook if it bent. Losing big fish on topwater is the worst feeling cause you get to hear and see them.....

Based on the lack of responses.....I kind of figured there was a reason I rarely hear about them so I threw up a lot of lures including some BX series on ebay. I did keep one of the Minnows because I like the idea of the square bill on the minnow and profile. You threw the Floating Model or are you talking about a suspender? I don't get to use suspending jerkbaits down here all that much. When I do, I love the Pointer as well.

I throw all my hardbaits in regular plano trays and simply tie the trebles together with the twist ties you get when you buy the plastic sandwhich bags.....Easy to remove, keeps hooks from tangling, you can fit plenty of jerkbaits of all sizes in one row of a standard size box if you simply lay them flat. I may get some slight scratching, but that doesn't bother me. If you throw any lure and catch fish, or simply hit some objects in or out of water....Your lure will show alot more wear....Besides, the best lures in any box are the ones that barely have any paint left. I almost never throw the new ones unless I lose a confidence bait. My favorite harbaits are beat up pretty bad.

I love that bone color....

Sometimes pitching or working a tube or creature bait like the Rage craw tight to the weeds with a rattle can help. Muddy water can be tricky cause they are not always where you would assume. Sometimes they go into the shallow water under weeds etc. so I would use baits that have a decent profile, vibration or sound....They won't always come up for topwater, sometimes a fluke fished quickly and killed will find them along weedlines and structure if you have long stretches to find them...Muddy water is tricky. I never get bit on buzz baits and topwater like you would think for some reason.....Bass will find plastics, especially if you put a bead in between your bullet weight to give it some sound when it hits bottom, or moving it.

Cant go wrong with all the Academy lures since they come with good trebles, I believe VMC, the crankbaits are good, have good topwaters and lipless cranks etc....Can't beat them for the price pound for pound. You Don't need all that many lures.....For a hollow frog I don't trust or like the store brand frogs from limited experience so I would buy the Booyah Pad crushers and they are as good as any especially for $6. For topwater...A zara spook, Skitter Walk, Rebel Popper, Bomber long A jerkbait, Rapala Minnow, Bomber Model a series as mentioned are really good, and you can find the Red Eye shads, KVD square bills on sale for $5 sometimes less. Z-Man baits last forever, Yum and Zoom baits are not expensive, and for hooks, you can go with the VMC worm hooks they sell at most stores, or the BPS line of hooks and I am sure academy hooks are plenty good. I use Magna locks which are mixed in with all types of brands and they have never been an issue. Just pick the right guage for right plastic and line, rod.... Bass Pro has a good walking bait that is cheap in the XPS series I think it is, has a slit in the mouth, shaped similar to the sammy but you have to change the bps hooks out. They also have a really good wake bait in the EGG and the Super shallow cranks that are 3.99 are also really good.... I don't fish alot of expensive hard baits. I would imagine the Berkley version of the Whopper Plopper is plenty good, and I trust the Torpedo and Devils Horse prop baits as much as any of the expensive ones. If you have confidence in the color and lure, regardless of brand, you will catch fish on it. I like buying lures, I am guilty of spending way too much money on collecting frogs and cranks, topwater etc....Yet when I take out my Kayak, I find I take the same lures and only a few are more than $10.

Rattle Trap Zara Spook or weedless t rig paddle tail to swim over and in weeds Fluke Senko or creature bait to pitch into cover or drag hop on bottom

I would be throwing a Zoom Speed worm on top of those weeds and add a light bullet weight to the front maybe 1/16-3/16 to let it fall into some holes after swimming it for a stretch for any followers or to see if they are underneath and not committing. You could swim any plastic like a Paddle tail swimbait, Gambler EZ, Rage Craw, Horny Toad and play around with different profiles or actions until you find where the fish are concentrated. Once you get some strikes, I would focus on that area and work it slower by pitching a soft bait, Senko, or working a hollow body toad slowly since you can let it soak and sit still. That looks to sloppy for me to be using anything but a weedless plastic of some sort. Just keep the rod high and you don't need a weight on some of the heavier buzzing or swimming plastics so keep the rod high and you will avoid all the slime and accumulation of weeds on line. I like those pockets in the back where you have the green Pads growing well. That looks like most of the marshes and swamps I fish around here. Depending on depth and bottom composition, Pitching a soft bait on heavier weight once you find them even if in the heaviest stuff would be worth it. Find some hard bottom and you should be good to go. Place looks good.

I buy saltwater grade split rings which I think are Tsunami and have also purchased the Spro and Eagle Claw Lazers and Mustads and not had any issues. If the rings are good enough for landing Tarpon, Stripers, and Redfish, I figure they will hold up for Bass fishing. For Trebles I buy Round Bends, and I usually buy what is on sale from VMC, Mustad Triple Grips, Xcalibur rotating, but the VMC trebles have been good. Alot of the good topwater lures on the market come with good hooks and rings except maybe some of the Heddon and Rebel lures like the Popper which has a really thin wire hook which is only good on light line. I always replace the front hook with something 2x-3x strong. I don't like changing trebles on topwater unless I have to, baits from BPS always have cheap hooks I don't trust but sometimes it changes the action or how the lure sits....Instead of going up in size, I will go to a thicker hook since I usually throw topwater lures like Poppers on heavier line then designed. One thing I have learned is that not all silver stock hooks that come on the old school lures are cheap. Sometimes when a lure has thin guage hooks, its because the lure is designed for lighter line situations.

I still have not truly figured out the chatterbait, so I would say it is not an easy lure to fish if just chucking and winding which is basically what I do with a spinnerbait. I find chatterbaits better in weeds and try to rip it out similar to how you would fish a trap or squarebill, so it is more weedless. With Spinnerbaits, I kind of keep it simple and because I have been using them since a kid, I like to simply cast and reel or bulge along weedlines and structure or bump and run it, and it is easier to use in my mind as I don't feel the trailer makes a huge difference. I find with a spinnerbait, If I try to put on a bigger trailer or soft bait, it gets it off balance, so I stick with the basics like split tails, small ribbon tail, or grubs. One thing I notice with a Chatterbait, is the trailer is often the difference, and using a fluke vs. Swimbait, vs. Creature bait gives it a completely different action. I have caught fish using a fluke which gives it a large profile aggressive action and then some days I would only get bit using something without action like a critter craw or Salt craw. One thing I like to do is color the blades black or sand them down to take away the flash. I feel like the flash is often too much in shallow water or near surface in areas I often fish. I actually catch most of my fish either at night simply waking it near the surface or letting it tick weeds with a stop and go almost like swimming a jig basically. The one trailer that I always have confidence in is the Lake Fork Segmented swimbait without a boot tail, or a 4" Finesse worm which for some reason works well for me. I guess my point is Chatterbaits take time to learn and are not always easy to fish since they still catch weeds where you want to fish them often, and ripping out of grass etc. is not always easy. Guys that catch big fish down here on chatterbaits fish them with big boot tails and use them as a main tactic since the water is stained. In muddy water they are really good cause easy to find. I plan on putting in more time this year to get more confidence. They certainly work extremely well for bigger fish and the bigger fish are usually in nasty places or deep which makes them harder to fish imo.

I am in the process of trying to minimize my tackle which is always tough for me to do. I fish alot of the Floating Rapala Minnows, Jointed minnows, and wake baits like the Red Fin. I picked up a few of each of the BX Floating jerkbaits, Swimmers, and 2 of the Waking Minnow which I kind of figured would be good since they are much heavier than the Red Fin for casting and because they are Rapala which I have confidence in. I am not sure I have used any of these for as much time in the right situations since I have a hard time breaking habits but enjoy buying new lures anyway. I have thrown the BX floaters a fair amount in places where I should have caught some fish, but only remember catching a few small fish that would have likely hit anything when it first landed. With Wake baits like the Red Fin, they only work well under perfect conditions, so I am wondering if maybe I am not giving this series a fair shake. Anyone use any of these as a first option or have caught some consistent good fish on them? They certainly look the part. Thanks.

Light line, light split shot rig and smaller finesse worm in natural color would likely get bit, ned rig or slider rig, smaller fluke.....I believe that the lighter the line the better in clear water, if its pressured, try to throw a bait they rarely see like a curly tail worm or maybe a different color. Roboworm colors and that 4" curly tail they make have become some of my favorite plastics along with the finesse worms. I wish I would have started fishing them more in the past....Same with the GYB shad shape worm. Rebel makes a little popper in some nice clear water patterns that will get bit. Same with some of the smaller wake baits from Mann's etc...I would always try a small Rapala Minnow in maybe the f-5 size as a topwater or slowly wake the jointed models. Something about the floating Rapala's and balsa that makes them flat out catch fish more times than not.

I have wanted to try them as well. I am sure they work well, kind of the sluggo shape, I think they are 6" long....Most culprit baits are good, I think it is tough to get people to switch from the other popular flukes on the market. I always think the Mag Flukes are a bit too big at times, so probably a good bait to give a different look. The 6" Sluggo is still awesome, I have a BPS gift card I need to use, maybe BPS stocks them and I will grab a pack.

I rarely use smaller jerkbaits, I primarily use the Bomber Long A #15 with 3 trebles which I believe is 5" and the F-11 or F-13 Rapala floating minnow and larger Bang O lure which are all good size with 3 trebles. I like being able to make longer casts and plenty of smaller fish will hit them.....The thing that always amazes me is how fish will still miss all the treble hooks, some are pickeral for sure, but often bass will swipe it and not get the hooks.... I like adding a dressed rear treble or sometimes a red front hook to help hook up percentage. Not sure if the red hook helps, doesnt hurt, but the dressed treble seems to often help at times.

I like to throw a 3-4" curly tail grub with a steady retrieve when I am fishing new ponds from the bank just to see if the pond or lake holds bass. From my experience, in places where there are alot of bass, many are stunted, they will choke it like you mentioned. Especially when it is falling.....Ponds with too many bass usually result in fish that are overly aggressive and will choke almost anything. Usually most times the hook will end up in the jaw and easy to remove, not alot you can do on a steady retrieve from time of strike to hook set. If they simply inhale it, it is what it is. I usually fish them on a darter head or ball head and can usually unhook them much easier than if its a bass that chokes a worm on a bigger hook with pliers. The hooks are smaller and bend so removal is typically easy. I rarely give them much time when I feel them, kind of just sweep the rod once I feel the vibration change and feel some weight. It happens fast, but when they get it on the fall, sometimes it is tough to set the hook quickly and get the slack out if they start swimming with it.

I fish a "Small" Lake near where I live in my Kayak where the exact same scenario happens all day long. Bass will chase little shad on the surface out in the open water all day long, they will come up quick and vanish after a minute or two. I have never had success actually chasing these fish or even staying in same area and throwing topwater, flukes etc. near the surface which I would think would work. I have fished the lake maybe 15 times in past 2-3 years and it seems the best way to fish the lake is to drift the open water and throw rattle traps like people mentioned. I will also throw a split shot rig or light c-rig with a small fluke, trick worm or culprit. I love throwing topwater and floating Jerkbaits, but for some reason they never seem to want one anytime of year unless fishing right up against the shore or weedlines. In open water they rarely seem to hit artificials on or near the surface....Its strange but Schooling fish are not easy to catch, especially when they are moving quickly and not contained or staying in same area due to structure.