primetime

10 Pairs of braid cutters if you fish with anyone else...They get tossed around so much and misplaced, I would buy a large batch of them just to have and keep in storage because nothing is worse that having to cut braid and not having anything sharp enough, and if you get a bad cut, it is hard to tie knots at times.... Good Quality Needle Nose and Split ring pliers are a must, (find a way to tie down your pliers, I have had more than 1 pair bounce of the seat and into the water). I also carry a Hook removing kit/first aid combo, and I printed out the instructions from online how to remove a hook because it seems simple but you will be happy to have the paper there to give you instruction, it is actually quite easy. Good Pliers are worth every penny but a cord of some kind is advised from my experiences, same with buying a good pair of polarized glasses...I used to only use cheap glasses, but put on a pair of decent one's and you see why people pay big money for glasses, I always buy hand me downs when it comes to stuff like glasses as I just can't afford more than $50 personally. 1- Rain gear/Poncho or at worse something plastic to repel the quick storm. 2- bug Repellant is necessary if you ever stay later than planning and nothing is worse than being on fish only to have your friend complaining about bugs, actually a lit Cigar keeps bugs away for most part, but I don't like the smell of cigars... 3- Bring a Net, if you get a true Fish of a lifetime, you don't want to have to try to lip it or grab it, and if your partner or friend misses the fish, it caused tension that is not needed, a good net is easy to use and will give you comfort in those situations since getting a trophy to the boat is hard enough, a Net can save you an extra run or two the fish may make, and make sure you go over with who ever you fish with never to grab the line if the fish is still green, plus braid can cut you really good... Some type of push pole or any way to move quietly if fishing backwaters or shallow water....I also would suggest investing in a comfortable life vest that has the cord you pull if in any trouble, they are not as bulky and even if you fish small bodies of water, you never know what can happen.... Hope that helps, but removing hooks from skin on a boat is key otherwise you may have a day end early

I am super curious about the Bonnie, have been eyeballing it and it has been in my cart many times but I always remove it before checkout...I still am not sure what it is, or does, a review would be great...Even just letting us know the action, how it casts, and what it does that makes it so special, they market it as a hybrid ripbait/topwater and I have thought it could be a good lure for over grass, I like the fact it is in a clearance bin, that means people are not throwing it and so far nobody responded so it may be a sleeper.

I use the Manns Jelly worm in pressured areas I know people are using trick worms...Work It like a well...Trick worm or any other finesse worm, I use the augertail still as well in the blue translucent color on a shaky head just to mess around in a local pond everyone fishes and it works sometimes better than a ribbon but the zoom U tails are the same thing really, I like the colors manns has

The MJ rig on the Timmy Horton show a couple years ago was fresh and new.....No?

lead 1/2 ounce lindy walking sinker for hard bottom, or the slinky for weedless, It comes through anything clean.....I prefer River Walleye weights for drop shotting.

A wake bait is my favorite presentation in the last few years, postspawn until end of fall, you can wake anything, the Manns are great wakes for the money, but I really like the Red Fin style and shape wakes like the Rapala BX minnow and Long a, or a big fat bait like the larger Egg from Bass Pro and the DT Fat 1 in Red for some reason...I get fish to chase it down from 20 feet away with the big Rapala.

That is a great question and timing is crazy, I have been cleaning my boxes up and I love wakes this time of year so I was pulling them out of my tangled mess of lures, and all my mann's wakes with red hooks were sticky like you said. I couldn't get it off as I thought it was scent or some time of film, but it is on the 3 I have all in a shad pattern, silver and blue, red hooks....The tiny one's are fine and have different paint, same with a few I have that are much bigger, I think the biggest size they have....I would say mine are 3 years old, barely used as I found them on clearance in a bin and I don't like 2 red hooks, only 1....Just realized how dumb that sounds.

I thought you made good points in your thread...Loook at all the responses you received..I would say you made some good points, and was well written, If people never experiment and share there results then fishing never makes the next leap forward....For every idea you think is good, someone else who is also a good angler will always disagree with you, that is what makes fishihg so good, you never know when and where and often I learn more from a person I take fishing for his first time than I do from someone who is reading the same magazines I am...Not having any expectations except catching fish makes new fisherman successful many times no matter what you give them, even a pink worm and blue hook.

You need to google the Stupid rig, Idiot Rig or some call it the Roller Rig...All about a loud spash down in shallow water after rain is best, under bridges, and a larger worm is best imo, 6-7" weightless, lob it up, get a good splash to get attention, then work the worm like a zara spook but make sure it breaks the surface a few times like if skipping a bait to give the impression the bait is being chased. I like to work it fast and kill it every 10 feet, only use this technique for 5 minutes tops, when it works it is amazing, when it doesn't.....well, you look stupid. Their is a story behind this theory, Bass after long rains are not used stained water, eyes have not adjusted, the sound makes them curious, competitive instinct, big bait = easy meal, but often muddy water Bass either stay on weedlines to feel safe, or they go shallow where over hanging trees are, and lizards, snakes, insects, frogs all fall out of the trees, and I first witnessed this years ago but didn't understand why the guy was using a Carolina rig with 1 ounce and a large Fluke style bait in 3-4' of water, hard bottom featureless, meanwhile tall grass line was a good 8-10' away...He won the tournament, and he told me he didn't want to spook the fish he knew were in the grass, he knew the lake, said the bass are curious by nature, and on that flat they often heard big threadfin shad against the grass on windy days and the wind was blowing on that shoreline and grass line that day. He cleaned up, and the Stupid rig story is from a story that happened on a major tournament years ago, I stole this concept or technique, I altered it with a Senko after seeing how good the MJ rig was with a larger worm when fished stupid fast and by accident it broke water one day as I was reeling it in and it was smashed.....We ended up landing a dozen fish the first time we burned senko's on the surface and they choked it while moving or right after killing it after it skipped the surface, beads or rattles help....UV GEL as well, when it works it works...No joke, it is a funny story how the rig first got the name....I would have been the guy who was talking about the idiot ruining my spot by spooking fish only to see him win by a large margin...Now I always listen to any tip anyone gives me and try it not only when I am not catching anything, most people try techniques or new lures only when nothing is working not even live bait and then say it is no good. Kind of like the review "Best lure ever, 6lber first cast"...Personally, I hate first cast fish, it is a jinx imo.

The only hits I did have in that hour, were not in that heavy stuff, I realized after 5 minutes that nothing was going to allow 2 hooks to get through anything that requires more than 3/8 so I tried it on the weedlines and would cast it in holes in the Emergent weeds, or scattered grass, and all my strikes came quick, and you have a heavy rod, no stretch braid with a leader, and when you think you are not swinging that hard, keep in mind, you are 10 feet away, and have a broomstick, so you end up missing a fish the jig or punch rig alone would have caught. I would go heavy weight since that is the only reason to use it, it stirs up shrimp and other critters under a canopy, but a canopy means you need at least an ounce, and you have to leave it without moving, so how do you know your bait is not wrapped around your line while you are waiting? it happens almost 50% of the time or did for me....Only try this in sparce grass, I would love to see video of this working in a true canopy animals walk on.

Here was my issue doing that...I broke off a lot as I never knew if they were on the Jig or Drop shot bait and I also found the jig would snag way too much around weeds, it causes line twist even with a swivel hook for me, I honestly thought It was good for about an hour, until I simply started power shotting the way Aaron Martin does it in his video, and I now just use a heavy weight on a weedline, not in weeds as the jig always would pick up weed and out of habit I would set the hook too hard if hit on the drop, and then it becomes tricky.....I personally never do well overall when trying to get creative with double rigs and even using a jig as the weight on a c-rig....Hook sets are different and I guess the right jig matters, but very few are weedless in the weeds that I fish at least, I would master the straight power shot before tying 2 hooks on, plus if you get 2 fish, good luck getting them both out of the weeds....Sparce weeds, sure it works well, but power shotting works, I am still crappy at it, it feels weird for me to not move a bait as I want to lift it all the time.....

The only lures I retire are the one's that sit in my box and rarely get wet....I usually sell them off, and buy more of what I am doing well on...Some of my best lures that I tie on first are beat up and have all new rings, hooks, missing paint, patched up and I try to keep them going for as long as possible. Every once in a while a certain lure just has the perfect action or maybe you just believe in it, so it always produces. I have about a dozen lures that are alway's tied on or easily accessible, and about half dozen of the exact same lure as backups in case I lose it. I am not a color guy, I am starting to realize that my boxes of hardbaits are all chrome, gold, chart, or red/craw colors with a few flashy patterns. I used to buy every color and every size, now I carry less so I don't get urges to change lures to much, usually it is not color from my experience but more size or style. I do have lures I am scared to use because they have memories and have been favorites for years, but the same lures go on first no matter what in each category, I only try new lures once I know we are on fish to see how I like them. Too many people give up on lures because they only use them when nothing is working, so if you only try a wake bait when nothing else is working, and you do not get anything after 3-4 trips, you may have a great lure but not giving it a fair shake. Preconceived notions are a killer, I love fishing with people who are new at Bass Fishing and are open to trying anything, I learn more from them usually than anyone else...I realize that I am too stubborn many times and that lures I hated are actually good.....Inline Spinners would be an example, I stopped using them after I found the spinnerbait when I was about 10, but now I have a box loaded with linline spinners from 1/32 ounce road runners and rooster tails, to big Hildebrandt snagless sally's, and the mepps black fury is one of my favorites with either yellow or orange dots in size 1 or 2. Spinners are awesome when fry are small and all over a lake. So are tiny floating minnows like the Pin's and 2" Rapala or rebel.

I don't target bedding fish on a regular basis, I try to find the flat and then fan cast a Carolina rig with a floating tube or craw, or some type of fluke style soft bait. If I see a perfect spot I know there is going to be a bed, I always have a drop shot rigged up, if you let a bait hang in the nest or off to the side and rig any soft bait that has a floating tail and a nose down posture, but I have done well at times using a popper to mimic the sound of a feeding bluegill, and I seem to do best with the Rapala Skitter pop as it sounds like a bluegill and is easy to keep in one place longer than most poppers. I did well this year simply casting the Sebile Flatt Shad suspending lipless crank which is larger in size similar to a 3/4 oz Red Eye shad, but it is silent and suspends nose down perfectly and is perfect for not spooking fish yet pushing vibrations and it handles weeds really well. only the 77 size suspends, and I do best with the gold color on overcast days, and chartreuse silver glitter is my go to color any other time, or a bass/bluegill pattern. I get annoyed when I fish with someone who spends more than a few minutes trying to get a bass to bite a soft bait over and over, but I usually turn around and start covering water, really any bait works if you bring it by a spawning fish or any fish moving up at the right time, speed etc... key is finding the spawning flat, and then if only catching small males, you need to figure out where the next drop off is from the flat that offers an escape route, cover of some sort either weeds, underwater structure, and a 1' depression could be all you need. I always do best in Spring with crawfish colored cranks or something with chartreuse in it, I stay away from shad patterns, and for soft baits you can't beat a craw, creature, or fluke imo....Shaky heads are great if you find hard bottom and a drop off. Usually early in Spring the critter craw style baits work better with less movement, if active, the speed craw, rage bug style baits are good, but you can never go wrong with a rage craw in green pumpkin rigged any way you want.....That bait has the best look on the fall and when swimming with the Yum Mighty craw a close second.

From reading your posts, it sound like if we were to go fishing together, we would have the same lures in our boxes...I rarely use crankbaits that run deeper than a few feet anymore and I have way to many, I have lots of older Long A's, Fat Raps, Ireland Rapala's, and a local flea market has tons of lures from the 60's-80's from Luhr Jensen Sugar Shads, Rapala Twitchin raps (been getting $30 each and up on Ebay which is crazy) but long A's are so popular the place I visit the most and used to work has tons of older 3/8 oz long A's for $4 each, Red Fins, Old Smithwick, and many more....Rebel Humpy, Suspendr, wee r etc...If you ever are looking for a lure or color I will send It to you at what I pay. I have a bunch of Fat Raps and vintage Rapala I am looking to move, and I would rather give them to someone who will use them and from this site than get $10 for a used Fat Rap or something.....I have some crazy Rapala Colors that are older and stamped Ireland...Wee R with the Forrage patterns, lots of that stuff, but the Long A and Bagleys are Florida legendary lures, Norman's for deep divers, and Rebel Wee R and Rebel jointed minnows are in everyones box. Older colors especially.

Mr. Twister Keeper Hooks, Tru Turn hooks, Gator Tail worms, sliders, Heddon Crazy Crawler, Mann's little George, Augertails, and I still throw manns jelly worms in black and strawberry reg 6" size, We had plenty of good hooks back in the day, I never remember having issues with hooks since we never used soft swimbaits and a straight offset hook was fine, and Eagle Claw, Mustad, Gamakatsu came around first with super sharp hooks I believe but I used Keeper hooks from MR. Twister and the 6" curly tails and squirmin worms all the time.....Mepps Spinners were big for me as a kid, and the Crème Midget crawler rig....Rebel craw cranks are still awesome, I like the shallow small ones for action.

A popular way to fish tubes here in Florida is to use them when you have to skip under a dock or laydowns etc..NOthing skips better than a tube, and it can be fished like a fluke, subwalk, hopped etc...But lately people are throwing them in the slop instead of a frog or toad and letting it fall through, using internal weights and texas rigged. I forgot to mention, if you want to get the best tube for clear water and for fish feeding on batfish and not craws etc...Berkley makes a tube with eyes that looks realistic, but Reaction Strike has tubes that are fantastic, overstock has them for cheap like $5 a bag, they are super realistic and are awesome for fishing weightless like a fluke or for a gliding fall, the key is the flat slider jig heads, any jighead with a flat design or line tie that is 90% If 0 weeds, but think swim jig style heads and putting a tube on it....Tubes fall great If you peg the weight but let it slide 3-6" as well, gitzit tubes glide the best and flash tubes are thin and imitate baitfish...peeling off the outer layer and making sure the tentacles are not sticking is key, tubes need grooming usually, and they hold scent well. The Berkley Powerbait Tubes with eyes are still available on Ebay, they don't sell well since Tubes are not marketed much and are not a flashy fun bait anymore, when they first hit the market they were in everyone's box, now I am the only guy who buys a lot of tubes out of the group I fish with, some guys use the Hydra and IKa which are awesome, but for me those are punch baits or casting gear heavy presentations and I save them for important days when I am fishing great lakes and areas...Hydra and Ikas are heavy and no joke, they are great as a frog on the trash....

I love tubes, I consider them to be the most versatile soft bait, and there are a million ways to fish them, I would simply google how to fish a tube and modifications, and you will find articles with a lot of tricks. It is important to understand the different types of tubes, double dipped, flipping tubes, and then the finesse tubes or thinner tubes that I prefer for anything other than flipping, and my favorite tubes are by far the following..... 1-original Gitzit Flash tubes-in deeper water, suspended fish, rig a 3" gitzit flash tube on a slider jig head or darter head open hook, trim the tentacles and fish it like a jerkbait but use your reel for action, keep the rod down and ready to set with a pull more than a snap since the hooks are light wire...or go heavy line any way you would fish a worm. Zoom Tubes, BPS Tender Tubes, Kase Plastics, Mizmo, Venom, missle flipping craws for punching, and Power Team food chain tubes are really good but for the money, BPS own brand has a cult following...The Reviews explain why they are good tubes, don't buy the more expensive brands for same tube....Gitzits and truly unique, they are the GYB of tubes.

I really like the Speed Traps and Xcalibur series from 100-300. Good hooks, colors, and price..I would say I like almost every square bill on the market as long as it has some chartreuse in it and the bill does not break off easy....Wakes are my thing more than Square bills-Footloose,Mann's, DT Fat, Yo-zuri, KVD, BPS EGG are all very good imo.

For some reason I rarely use regular lizards but I know they work just as good or better on a c-rig than other baits...I used to use the c-rig in NY a lot more than I do now, but I always liked a Power Worm or centipede style worm....Now I like the Mojo RIg which is similar and I use a lot of baits, I like to put a walleye slip float inside a tube and a rattle, fill it with scent, and pull that along with long leader letting it float and dart all over plus a tube is really weedless. I seem to do best with creature/craws on the c-rig but lately I am getting into a simple 4-5" Grub, or an elaztach fluke like the Strike King Zero, or the Zman Scented soft baits of all kinds, but in summer, I find a Power Worm or 10" Ribbon Tail is the way to go for me in most places, I just have confidence in the ribbon tail...Berkley, Culprit, Charlie's, V&M Wild Thing, Gulp Turtle back worm 7.5", and Rage Anaconda and the ringed ribbons are really good as well..... But I would say the Zoom lizards are probably the most popular C-Rig bait in spring here in Florida from what I hear and see. I think the Zoom are more buoyant than others but only carry the zoom and BPS lizards & rarely use them only because I carry way too many options than needed. The BPS Floating Magnum 8" Lizards are a good bait at times, very hard and fish will spit them out for some reason, but I soak them in Megastrike and I do well with the black and gold tail no matter how I throw them and usually I just put a split shot and use them from shore on shorelines. I like floating soft baits but in reality they all float if you pull them along with pauses because they rise naturally....In open water I used to like a hardbait like the XRap or Small KVD 1.5 crank in a river I would fish but for some reason I stopped doing that since I fish the trash more often than rock and deep water because I am more comfortable in weeds.

I will take any type of strike I can get.....I know that some people use lures to fire up schools and such, I try this at times and usually it is not intentional, I will be throwing cranks and traps, and then will switch to something slow and subtle like a tube or worm, and then will start getting bit, not sure how that works, if it is just something people say to sell more tackle, or if fish get excited and frustrated and then just take something slow and easy to catch.... I do like to throw a slow wake after I throw a walker and sometimes it works, I notice that at night I do much better hook up wise with a straight line instead of walking. I like to slow reel a popper like a wake bait and maybe use the reel to get a pop here and there, but one thing I wonder is this.....Why is it some days fish will blow up on a Frog or floating minnow bait like a Rapala and not get any hooks in them at all. I have had a few days where I get 4-5 solid crashes on a Rapala or bomber floater and never have to swing since they never get it....I will try to downsize, change color, sound, or go subsurface, but it amazes me that they never get a treble stuck or snagged with 3 large #2 Trebles hanging off a 4-5" lure. Hollow frogs drive me nuts, although I now figure they are good for locating the fish and then throwing a soft bait at them, I only swing on maybe 25%....Not sure I like my frog selection, I only seem to do well on the Spro Frogs, but have mostly River2sea and Live Targets since I found deals on them. I actually like the KVD sexy frog because it has rattles.

Duo does have some of the best looking lures when it comes to color patterns and also shapes and sizes..I want to try a few of their topwaters, only have tried the walking bait but someone "borrowed" it and I have never seen it since. I love buying walking baits, not sure why but I like to collect and hoard them, I really like the Deps Pulsecord popper, and the Jackall Bowstick, and the big pencil plug by I think it is Evergreen or Paycheck but have not used them much, always around weeds, but they all look awesome and I am sure will catch fish if I throw them. I actually really like the BPS Slim Dog and the Strike Pro Walking sticks as well, that water filter in the front of the slim Dog is unique and I know KVD throws that and his own Walker, but the Slim Dog has a following and is an amazing lure for $3.99 reg price. Anyone ever try the Damiki Dolphin? Kind of want that one but not sure about it, I like that shape, but wonder if it is hard to walk or easy....The cotton cordell pencil is huge and colors are not pretty, but it gets the job done for Stripers and big bass.

My only point was to say that when you catch such a nice bass like in your picture (Looks like a solid 7.5lb plus which is huge anywhere anytime) and photo's are tough to guess weight since I have pics of measured and weighed 7-8lb bass that look like 3 lb fish, and I have a pic of a 17" chunky Bass which may have been a bit over 3.5lbs, but with the angle, light and how the cell phone processed the frame, the Fish could pass as a much larger 7-8lb Bass... Either way, I think that when you catch a Fish on a Walking topwater bait, you deserve to give yourself credit as walking the lure with the right cadence, perfect cast at perfect time, and all walking lures whether a buck or $20 do not have any action built in, you need to create the action by deciding how much slack to leave in the line, to glide it or walk it sharply, pause it, or use a steady speed with hitches as I find even with walking lures many fish will follow it and turn away but I like to change direction, speed, or pause it especially if it sits tail down and has a dressed rear treble...You can often do well on a walking lure simply waking it in a straight line if Shiners or baitfish are roaming near the surface, and getting strikes is half the battle, many fish will blow up on a topwater and it amazes me how they never even get a point in them at all..... Almost all lures have an internal casting system for distance after Yo-zuri introduced that technology from Japan years ago, and even though Yo-zuri gets the credit it was another company from the 60's I never heard of. I know Megabait was using it back in the 80's in some lures I have.... I am in the process of trying to decide whether to purchase a large lot of Vixen Walking baits which are older stock and they retail for good money, but locally here in Florida people would rather buy a $5 Rapala or Tsunami etc. but I am thinking maybe Ebay but when I took the sample out for a test drive it reminded me of all the Awesome walking baits on the Market. To me, Duo, Ima, Megabass, Lucky Craft, Damiki, Jackall etc. are all awesome and come with the latest color patterns, and latest add on whether it be the logo in the eyes, ribbed body, 3d holographic flash foil and colors that are more like art work than a fishing lure, but the key to fishing is having confidence, and if I just landed that fish on any brand lure I would be getting a few more. I am seeing a pattern in my fishing gear, out of say 8 boxes of lures, 1/2 are expensive versions that I have maybe used a few times, someone always wants to borrow the most expensive, but I end up buying so many that now I am thinning them out as you only need so many walkers in a few sizes and colors, rattle vs. silent vs. 1 knock, hybrid chuggers and pencils, and I like a few that sit flat, a few that sit at a 45 degree, and then some that sit vertical... I settled on 2 Yo-zuri lures, a Rebel, the New Yamamoto walkers are actually a great deal and come in good sizes with flash, and of course the zara spook, and my thing is Sebile as they give me confidence since each lure is truly unique with the color and scale falling off effect, Shape and sound, sizes are always a mew MM off to give it a new look profile, and Sebile offers 4 walkers to get the job done in all water types....I would just say if looking to get to $50 and you like topwater's, take a look at some of the walkers that are in the $5-$8 range as they are also very good....Most Reviews will say something like this....Best lure ever, caught a 9lb bass first cast while I was behind 18 boats all fishing topwaters, but this lure was magic....Then the bait monkey tells you to buy it, but my recommendation, the Rebel T-10 in bone or silver black will cast a mile, sit vertical, and is awesome for fishing fast or slow and easy to walk even if not in the mood to pay attention, they rarely slap it to stun it but instead hook themselves.....The Rebel hooks are fine as long as they are fished on the line they were meant for which is 8-15lb test, so if using 30lb braid, you want to up them to at least 1x strong...That is why hooks bend, Pradco uses T3 Inline which are good on my xcals and Rebels, and Heddon lures.

I find a good walking bait is a good walking bait, if you have confidence in what you are using than no need to change. So many good baits and when it comes to walkers, we are giving the lure it's action, I love topwater lures and love to buy them and collect them, fish new one's, but it is at the point when I am now convinced that casting accuracy, timing, sound and size, color maybe, and speed are the most important keys since all walkers do not have action unless we give it to them...I have a DUO and another that looks similar, I think Damiki or Vixen, but after filling 2 boxes full of walkers I found that my Bass Pro XPS Slim Dogs were catching fish as well as my Sammy's, Ima's, Dolphin, Bowsticks etc...I now like one that sits horizontal and has translucent colors and flash so I go Yo-zuri Sashimii Pencil Tate, for a smaller size I still use the old Yo-zuri Walk N Splash which is similar to the gunfish in action, and for walkers I like the Rebel T10 for tail down, and the Sebile Bongo Minnow and other Sebiles for shapes and colors that are different plus they all weigh an ounce... I feel brand on walkers is only important for hooks, components, and color but if that is important to you than it surely matters. I find some Japanese baits have cheaper and smaller hooks, the American lures are catching up...Strike King, House brands, Rapala , Pradco..A good Xrap Walk looks as sharp as any lure on the market imo or to a fish. If they want more detail than an XRAP has then I guess I need a new hobby....I still color my clear Kinami Jay Walkers with red dye and put black stripes on it in spring, and then make it chart and silver then gold and black, or red shad depending on water color...It kills em and is FUGLY,

soft Paddle tails like the Keitech are actually considered boot tailed grubs and classified in the sassy shad arena, the OEM's in China call all JDM soft baits Grubs and it get's me confused all the time..Also, Craws are shrimp or prawn, squid scent is popular to cover up the smell some OEM's use for plastic which is usually a super soft PVC and silicone mix.... A big soft swimbait is considered a Hollow body or Hammer Tail where they measure the length of the body and then the tail to determine the total length of bait. For example, the Storm Interchangeable swim baits that come with internal jig heads and 3 baits usually, if they say 6" your tape measure will show 5" long, but the extra inch is in the tail. A 6" Yum Money Minnow hollow belly is 5" long, Tail is 1" long, and same with most, I learned this the hard way selling online without a tape measure but I had it explained to me...Some companies are odd, MR. Twister measures a sassy shad including the standard ball jighead so a 3" is 2.75", and they make grubs smaller as well. Big Swimbaits for me and I am in Florida are anything over 5" in the Hollow belly arena, a 6" Money Minnow or 6.5" is a big bait that pushes a ton of water, heck, a 4.8" sizmic shad is Gigantic compared to other 4.8 Ringed Keitech style paddle grubs. Small & average is the 3.5" smaller Skinny Dipper style, Little EZ, The Locket version which is now in a lot of brands, but my favorite is the BPS swim sally & or Charlies zipper Dipper which feel the same, both super soft and buoyant and priced right. Those are small and cheap and for Hardbaits, 4" is a good size like a Spro BBZ but a Big Hard Segmented swimbait is 5" and up..... Lately I have been fishing the Egret Baits Kick A Mullet which is a wake/Glide 5", heayy duty for saltwater, believe Stanley is behind them, but I like them better than the S Waver and Savage Glides, and it is heavy, 4x strong trebles, and you rarely get smaller fish..Baits like the Smaller Magic shads from Sebile, Voodoo Mullett you see at Dicks which is Egret and same as Bass Pro as well, is smaller since they are lighter and thinner.... anything over 125MM is big for me, 168mm is Huge and for lunker hunting is how I see it...125mm depends on shape, but the Bigger and thicker swimbaits are huge like the S Waver etc...However I throw the 7" Jointed Red Fin all the time and Rapala F-18 which is thin but really long, same with 7" Senko or 12" worm, but a worm Fat max thickness in 14" is Striped Bass fishing bait or a Gulp Eel on the bottom while fishing hoping a monster inhales it....Maybe I am weak, but the 4" BBZ Wake is a bigger bait for me, I put it in big lure box, not with longer Red Fins, Pencil Poppers etc...

Rumor has it KVD can afford to pay a lot of guys to pre fish for him...so I have been told by some local's.....he pays the most so I guess you can be confident burning baits when your intel is on point. It looked like he uses his thumb instead of his reel to give his bait little pauses or jumps but was hard to tell...He was obviously just looking for numbers in the part I watched, but I thought he was using his thumb to bump his line as he was winding to give the crank some flash or deflection....I have never done that fishing that fast, but then again I wonder what gear ratio that was, that is rattle trap speed for me or trying to fire up some fish, but he was chucking and winding....Rookie that guy, He just get's lucky.