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GYB makes some real nice grubs as well, and they offer a ton of colors which are unique, and I fish the 6" like the new Gambler Burner Worm, Or zoom speed worm....When on sale, I stock up on all Yamamoto Grubs from 3-6", and love the Spider Grubs as jig trailers, punch baits, or back in the day when I had hard bottoms to fish on a football jig...Love his colors in the smoke range especially with some copper. I like the Mister Twister and Exude soft baits and often hit their website for deals on clearance tackle as it always has a full page of good baits that are a $1 a pack from Flukes, Grubs, Tubes, and they have a senko style worm called the Comida which is actually a well designed stick bait with deep vibration ridges, nice colors that are different than most, and like a GYB Senko will only last 1-2 fish and are not cheap, but if they advertised more, we would all be fishing more of their baits imo as they have some really nice designs for more than just grubs...Spotted Lizards are awesome in early spring when water is stained, and great up North where the salamanders have spots on them in a similar design......I hear the Sinister is a great creature bait and they also have a cool looking rat, however the floating frogs look realistic but have absolutely 0 action to them and are awful....

Gander Mountain is quite large as well, and often has great deals in their bins, but Bitter's and Brigemasters is a must especially if you like soft baits dirt cheap and top grade.

I have been curious about the Producer since the price point is fantastic and I will consider a producer when my next reel goes down, or ends up down on the lake bottom. The Optimus is a fantastic baitcasting reel that performs and feels like a much more expensive reel as well, and I have had an Inertia finesse baitcaster from Pinnacle for a few years now and is still in the rotation and I am still surprised how well it handles after the work it has been through. Great reel for tossing light baits and I will fish it until it dies.

The great thing about Florida is we have hundreds if not thousands of ponds/lakes that are never fished due to poor access, private, or people just don't realize that some retention ponds behind shopping centers with garbage on the shoreline often hold trophy sized fish. I consider any fish over 7lbs a Big Bass and a fish you should be proud of here in Florida, and they are actually quite common in the right places if you take the time to find these "ponds" which I call lakes as on Long Island a 20-30 acre lake was a place we would fish all day. People catch fish in the 9-10 lb range often, and my goal is to get a teener as I consider that a true "Trophy" or fish of a lifetime. I will go on lunker hunting trips in areas I know hold double digit fish and are rarely fished, and I will throw nothing but large lures and my goal is for 1 strike, but getting a 10lb Bass on an artificeal in the lakes where everyone fishes is tough, and getting tougher each year.....On Long Island a true 21-22" 5lb bass was a trophy and I still get excited with any bass 19" or roughly 4lbs every time. when I tell friends who visit that a pond we are going to fish is 2 acres and loaded with fish 2-5lbs and has more than a few in the 7-10lb range and larger they assume that they will catch a 10lber...we have fished for 2-3 hours and caught big fish approaching 7, but in order to get a fish larger to strike, even in a "puddle" all it takes is a live bluegill or live 12" shiner. Crazy part is how fast you can catch 2 giants over 24" easy on a giant wild shiner, yet those fish passed up every thing we throw all day. They get really big for a reason, so I never doubt that much larger fish live in any body of water that has a good forrage base and I lived in front of a pond less than 1.5 acres that I was convinced only had stunted bass, and for 2 years would simply use it to test out new lures, reels etc..Then one day I toss out a 1 ounce silver spoon on my new round baitcaster only to land a bass that weighed all of 8lbs and it was the heavy lure that allowed me to hit a spot on the far shoreline I had never attempted.....It must have been living on 6-9'' bass as I caught her a few more times on bass colored jerkbaits before she vanished.

Almost all new lures are some slight modification from a lure that was made in the past. If you ever take a look at a book that displays all the tackle since the early 1900's you start to see all the lures we have never heard of that look similar to today's lures, only tweaked with modern paint, bearings, and advancement in technology for mass production. Wood Lures still work fantastic and I am alway's on the prowl for older Bagley balsa cranks and Hellcats, The Older Bomber Long A's with the subtle rattle instead of the louder rattles that are in the models today. I would say the USA made Long A's, Red Fins, and older Smithwick and Pradco lures catch more fish for me then the newer models. I fish a Long A or Red Fin on every trip I take, and when the Jerkbait/Topwater bite is on, the Older versions just flat out work better for me and it is not even close. I have a Woodchopper topwater that is full of holes from teeth, and the only color on it is some yellow and orange I put on the bottom with magic markers and it is a great big fish topwater when the water is rough and the wind is ripping....It is way to loud to throw when the water is calme and we get some good waves in some shallow lakes where it is killer over the submerged grass in Summer.

I have a bunch of Wave Tiki Reapers that I think are 3.5" but I have never actually used them. I may give them a try on my next trip on my light action spinning rod and reel and hopefully have some fun.

I learned about bladed jigs for night fishing from this site about 6 months ago and I now fish bladed jigs as my #1 lure at night and I have replaced spinnerbaits with bladed jigs...The custom lures pictured above are way better than any you can buy as I was lucky to get my hands on a few, and you end up saving money and catching more fish, much more durable, colors custom, way more vibrant, and the design gives more vibrations, better hooks, and overall just flat out better.....I found that a Zman or Booyah would get 1-2 fish and be destroyed, and in saltwater I wouldn't land most snook or Reds. Alot of these mass marketed lures look like a deal when you see chatterbaits for $2.99, but trust me they are not worth it and will not work as well as the better models. I am told the new Rage Blade,D&M Piranha jigs are good quality and Zman has gotten better but for $5-8 each, and 6 color options I will pass. You also do not lose alot of these lures either and can cover alot of water and are surprisingly weedless.....This site has introduced me to alot of new lure and baits and I have also learned to appreciate the craftmanship in lures and tackle that are done with precision and not on a production line.... Sorry for the ramble, I get frustrated when i catch one fish and the blade and snap are bent, and the skirt only has 10 strands left.

I get so frustrated fishing the local ponds where I live because they are loaded with big bass but they are extremely tough to reach, especially after rain and the water comes up 2-3'. I also like to try all my new toys in these ponds and some of the new lures, on the new 8 strand braid, really do have bearings that load to give you longer casts.... The Trees across the pond look like christmas trees when the moon is bright as it has Sebile lures, Yo-zuri, lots of jigs and quality hooks and worms, Jerkbaits, and topwaters.....I take a few casts every time I walk my dog and that rope from the fountain is another great way to lose lures and a good 4-6lb Bass always strikes when I am playing around with my new light spinning rod and clearance 8lb fluoro,so I either get hung up or just broken off. The first time I took a cast with Sebile Stick Shadd 114mm Topwater that looks like a giant shiner it was pitch dark and I said to my friend "No wonder these lures are expensive, you can't even hear em land so they won't spook fish...I then realized that something wasn't right, and problem was I cast across the pond, and landed a good 10 feet up in the trees on a cast that normally would maybe go 20 yards....Yo-zuri Mag Minnows, and Excalaiber Jerkbaits cast further than most lures in their classes, and I no longer mess around with anything too expensive although I know 10lb plus Bass are in 2 of the ponds for sure, and maybe one much larger as a local kid caught and actually had it weighed at a local bait shop a few years ago that was 13.4lbs and all these ponds are from the same watershed and connect, so with all the forrage, and sounds and fish you see, I would say I have lost over $100 in braid alone in my neighborhood, $20 hooks, $200 lures, $10 leader and 1 rod and reel while fishing live shiners that was dragged into the water while daydreaming, and that was the Daiwa Aird combo that I really liked. I don't worry about it, It hurts, but if you are not losing lures you are probably not in spots where fish are hanging. I do lose alot less on a boat with a lure retriever and I do try to get every crankbait back even a jig. Kayak and pond fishing is just hazzardous and it is like playing golf, if you take chances, you are going to lose a few balls every trip and that adds up even faster.

The Big BIte Squirel Tail worms come in 8" I believe and do the head stand nicely and it is a good worm for fishing all the way back to the boat if on a shaky rig or if you are casting toward cover... Floating worms that are truly floaters are usually hard in texture and can be tough to rig weedless and get good hooksets and fish also let them go faster than usuall from my experiences. I would think if wanted a ribbon tail that would give the tail lift while having the head anchored down, would be to check on the Zman, Strike king websites for eleztach. Also, Worms with ringed bodies like the Rage ribbon tail-forget name, new version of original anaconda, or any worm from Lunker city, El grande, or Stanley has a sidewinder worm that has rings to capture water and stand up right.. However, you can't beat a 10" power worm, Rage worm, or Culplrit for Ribbon tails with some Megastrike & extra worm oil in weeds, and I have been dipping all my baits and lures in a mixture of megastrike and Worm Oil/Vegetable Oil in a Gulp tub and I believe it is helping me out since fish hold on and the slick in the water looks like shad have been getting slaughtered so it gets a bite going at times..That Megastrike and also the Pro-cure Gel UV have made me a believer in scents, but Powerbait is plenty scented as is gulp, trigger x etc.

Thanks for the input and advice. I have my cart loaded up and I may just ask Mike to add in what he thinks is best for my fishing style....I agree that the lighter swim jigs are great for the muddy bottoms we have and you are right about finding hard bottoms. I still have a box fool of football jigs from my years growing up in NY and I have used them only a few times as I only know of a few spots with hard bottom and rock but they are in phosphate pits and deep water, so I like to dropshot or fish a spoon in deep water, I think I should just sell my roughly 100 football jigs on Ebay. Thanks.

I like a GYB 6" Senko unweighted as it ways about 1/2 ounce without the hook so I can cast it plenty far, and I like to always bring a frog in case I am blocked by weeds at the shoreline so I can fish it all the way to the bank...A floating Minnow style Rip bait is one of my favorite lures to throw and hard to beat a rapala or Bomber Long A.... I also like to carry some Lizards with me and rig them on a heavier than normal weight, usually 1/2 ounce on a mojo rig is good when fishing under trees. I find that the splash often attracts them and not spook them like you would think and my theory is that Bass living in cover or areas under shade and trees get used to looking up every time they hear a splash since Lizards, Frogs, and other critters fall out of trees into the water so they will strike as soon as the bait hits the water many times. I fish alot of ponds and it is often hard to use the same techinques from shore I use when picking apart a lake from a boat as I can't get away with lighter line and finesse presentations since I have no control of casting angles/positioning so I can't let a fish have as much drag as I would normally want.

Lindy makes a slinky style weight and a walking style sinker that does not snag on a drop shot or carolina rig, and using a leech is something I only use in Ponds or smaller lakes here in Florida....I prefer creature baits and craws on drop shots, or the Dream shot worms which have an awesome look in the water no matter how you fish it. A Trick worm or any finesse worm is usually good as well.....If it works for walleye, it will work for Bass, at least that has been my experience as I did alot of walleye fishing in college in upstate NY and we would catch plenty of Bass using walleye rigs.

The anaconda has pulled in some of my personal bests, and I love the Red shad for stained water, that worm is a killer as it moves alot of water. You could make it float if you wanted by using a floating bullet weight or any of the other style floats that are used on walleye rigs.

I have never seen a true "Floating" 10" Ribbon Tail worm, however I know that Charlie's makes "buoyant ribbon tails" but I find that a Power Worm works as well as any other and I am usually more concerned with my terminal tackle and color than brand since every company makes a good ribbon tail imo. I often throw a ribbon tail on a jig head so I if you want the tail to sit upwards in the water and have a hard bottom a stand up football type jig would work well, or you could always add a small walleye style slip float or pill float in the shape of a worm weight either in between the weight on a carolina rig or instead of a bullet weight....You can get creative and throwing a big worm in the summer does work very well at certain times, so does flipping a ribbon tail which I think alot more people do, they just do not speak about it as much, same as punching a Senko....I find a Senko get's through anything easy and get's hammered better than alot of "typical" flipping baits.. I guess Zman would make a floating ribbon tail but I am not a huge fan of elaztach but I know alot of people are...The Strike King Zulu flukes are elaztach, not sure if they make more than just flukes and lizards, but they do work awesome for fishing near the surface.

After hearing all the positive reviews about the quality of this site and company, I have decided to load up for Fall and Winter with some nice custom Jigs, Punch Rigs,and terminal tackle etc. My wish list that I have written down is MUCH larger than I planned and need to narrow it down a bit, as I want every color/size, style of course(The bait Monkey starts to get bad when seasons change). Any suggestions of a jig or color pattern that has worked well for you would be helpful as I want to try some new color and styles of jigs and flipping and punching set ups. I gravitate towards all black and blue jigs, watermelon, and green pumpkin but I want to expand my color ranges and also more than just the standard Flipping style jig or Casting Jig for fishing the Stained, shallow, weedy and oftten muddy bottoms here in florida.... ' I am just getting into the heavy punching with skirts instead of just pegging the weight ot the plastic, or using a 1 oz, jig with trailer.... Thanks in advance. I know alot of guys/gals on this site use these jigs often.

Rodent, Incredicraw, big show craw

chum pot with some rocks in it works great,weighs about 2lbs, or a minnow crawfish trap with a few large lead weights in it not only anchors your kayak, but chums up the bait which helps you match the hatch, and sometimes I just want to relax and throw live bait and see how much easier it really is...tuna fish, cat food, oatmeal, dog food etc....put a dead fish in trap and seeing how big and color of craws is key, but it is easier to just lift up rocks at the ramp to find crawdads, but seeing the forrage always helps with lure and color while pulling double duty...Plus it adds fun, I have caught eels, baby catfish, exoctics, but a live eel or catfish is a deadly bait, in fact I wish I could buy them in Florida like you can in NY for Stripers....A 12" eel under a cork is a double digit bass for sure, I now see why Doug Hannon created the Snake Lure and had his theory of long thin profile baits for catching larger fish.... I have seen other people in kayaks get tipped by anchoring in an area with too much current or where boats pass without slowing down as many boaters (especially in salt water) act like you are not visable....Having an anchor that does not drag at all can be an issue if a wave comes rolling your way when you are not ready....Drift socks work well, as do all the other methods mentioned, I just wish Alligators did not exist, especially when flipping shorelines and going deep into swamps/reeds.....

The Bass pro Carbon Light Combos with the Carbon light reel and rod and also they have some extremes with Revos and curados and they all felt super light and I would go with a Medium light 7' and a light reel like the carbon light is a good choice, and so is the Quantum Smoke, or Okuma Komodo, I can chuck 1/8 oz darter heads with 4" grubs on 10lb test mono plenty far, and wacky rigged 4" weightless senkos easy. The Komodo can cast light lures and weighs nothing and is super smooth, and you can find new smokes, and especially higher end Okuma and Ardent, Pinnacle reels from last year super cheap as companies are stuck with older models...The Serrano low Profile which I paid $229 for 2 years ago, I just purchased for $68 and$8 shipping brand new a few months ago, and also picked up a Citrix for $55 brand new, and a lightly used Pflueger President for something silly as they listed it spelled wrong and the Older man tried it once and did not like it, kept it in garge or 2 years and I was lucky to win the bid for I think $30....I am always looking for steals/deals and when the reel arrived in mail I took it apart and the brakes were never even set, and tension knob was loose so I can see why he was backlashing....Reel is heavy but holds alot of line and has power, so it makes a great Carolina rig reel.

I like two toned color patterns at times as it gives me cofidence that fish can see it from longer distances as the contrasting colors and water color/weather need to be lined up the way I like it...I have only had a few times in my life where it was color that made all the difference, as it is usually size, action, line diameter, speed of retrieve, or a swivel, or something else that is causing you to not catch fish when someone else is... I never throw Pinks and crazy swirls in bright colors & never liked them since I was a kid(I alway's make sure I have them just in case of emergency), and I figure they do not look natural to me, do not resemble any forrage or colors under the water, and I have no confidence in them. I have thrown metholinate worms in the summer since that color gets mentioned every once in awhile for being the "Hot color" on certain lakes. I will throw the bait for about 5 minutes tops and if I do not get a strike I go back to my theory which is what makes me feel good and has always worked well. I like to think that Bigger Bass are Smart and therefore I like to approach colors so they either resemble forrage, or match the water color/bottom and underwater weeds...For example, I alway's start out with a Green Pumpkin or watermelon Red worm in green water near weeds since the green is going to be easy to see but not out of place as baitfish and forrage change colors to match environment so in dark green stained water, dark green with red flake excels since Red is easiest to see and with it being a flake and not all Red, it is subtle and less "Threating" If Green pumpkin Red, Watermelon Red, GP/black/copper,Gp purple/blue are not working, then I always go right to black, black and blue and black red, but black and blue gets the nod for almot all my flipping pitching work since water is really dark under the canopy and it is like fishing at night...I also believe in subtle rattles or a bead are good at time, and if shad are the main forrage, I always have whites and pearls, chrome/blue, and in spring Females crave Iodine during the Pre-Spawn before they finally move shallow, so while they are staging in the deep water near a shallow flat, crawfish are what they want and crave, so that explains why craw patterns, Rayburn red, Orange/brown spinnerbaits are usually very effective. I figure I want all my lures to be in baitfish or forrage patterns so I have jerkbaits in shad patterns, some chartruese for panfish/some shad have chart tones as well, baby bass when Bass are guarding fry, all summer, bluegill/shellcracker/firetiger patterns are great all year round especially post spawn when they spawn so that is when pumpkinseed worms, green pumpkin chart tail worms are good. If in California, Guys throw large Rainbow trout colored baits, and I am sure they would work in Florida even though we lack trout, many strikes are simply reaction strikes and after this entire rant about color and strategy, we still have no idea what Pink or Chartruese, or purple look like to a bass as they do not see what we see......With my color strategy the best, smokes in clear water, salt and pepper, and what I mentioned, I have a buddy who loves to use bright colors and swirls with crazy flake etc.....and he does just as good as I do as he likes to think fish can see it from far away and it irritates them....Who knows, keep buying more colors, size, and styles of lures and baits and all we be good.

Thanks for the suggestions, I was actually on the Seibert jigs website that everyone raves about and the pricing is actually very good for weights, rigs, and jig heads, and I have a buddy who buys custom jigs from them and I have "borrowed" a few and they seem to hold up well and have a ton of options...The fact they take pay pal which I didn't realize is also nice as I can hide the transaction easier and it doesn't feel like real money since Tungsten is not as fun as buying lures...I will check out the sites and with Ebay I never trust how pure the Tungsten truly is as I have seen companies overseas offer a condensed lead/tungsten version that is like 60/40 and the samples felt great, looked great, but frayed the line badly and just didnt hold up well.... It sounds crazy but I would rather loose a nice squarebill than a 1 ounce tungsten punch rig or weight....

I need to buy a bunch of weights from 3/4 to 1.5 ounce and prefer mostly Punch weights but regular tungsten would work as well....Punch rigs would be nice to buy in the heavier sizes as well, it just gets so expensive, and lead is way to big once you get past 1/2 ounce. Thanks, I may just buy the boss Tungsten weights from Tackle warehouse as I have the last few times although I want some jigs as well.

I use maybe 5% of my box, and my wish list for more lures is not all that big but they are the expensive one's that I "Need" and since fall is coming it is time to place a TW order for some suspending Jerkbaits and I wish I never heard of Ima....I have only used the Skimmer and Flit but man are they good lures that really do put extra fish in the boat compared to the standard go to lures alot of the time....I thought the Bomber Pro A, Smithwick Rogue, Pointers and Xraps were good enough for suspending jerkbaits,but it seems it is not so..... I need Jackall Siera Minnow Boil Trigger OSP Bent Minnow Flit 120's, Roumba, more Skimmer colors, and more academy square bills and slush puppies......and I need to find a place to find some good deals on Tungsten from 3/4oz-1.5 oz.....I hate buying tungsten but terminal tackle is everything....and more colors of the Swizzle Stik from Bass Pro...Just tried it 2 days ago and I love it..Senko with a curly tail, kiind of like the Cut'r or swim senko but looks and feels different and casts a mile. and of course,cutsom Jig order for winter....

I have endless amounts of soft baits in tons of colors but since I am always fishing stained water, I am always throwing green pumpkin or watermelon red, or mix of flake, or black and red or black and blue, and in summer I stick with any worm that is 9-12" when hot, but will downsize on tough days and go as small as a 3" grub or hellgramite and often a 3" senko helps get your confidence back and also help establish a pattern by getting strikes and action.... I am not afraid to break out my spinning gear and 6lb test and throw a 3" senko on a dropshot...I usually end up catching big fish when I am just looking for numbers anyhow, so I always make sure I am using quality hooks even if they are a small circle hook... You really can't go wrong with any brand as long as you know what it does in the water and how it moves when sitting on the bottom resting...Triple ripple tail worms are awesome for just chucking out in the weeds and letting settle....I have had good strikes after 2-3 min of deadsticking because the tail is always moving and eventually a Bass will swim past a worm put in a place you think Bass travel.

I would post a sign at the pond on a tree with your number to let someone know you found their tackle bag if it contains a decent amount of stuff...I remember losing my tackle box at a ramp as a kid on a small lake (before cell phones and internet) and a week later I found a sign posted where the D.E.C posts regulations that a box of tackle was found... I had a huge plano box back then, big double sided box with tons of lures and I was devastated, and when I saw that sign as I went back a few times to look and ask around I remember being stoked. If I remember correctly my father handed the guy a $50 bill and he wouldn't accept, so maybe post on craigs list or local chat group for fishing if it is worth anything.

you know a bait is good when every company has copied it....bass pro speed shad, Kalin's Sizmic Shad,Assassin boss, Kicker Fish, Lunker City, Berkley....The Keitechs come in more sizes and have that slot for nail weights which is cool. Anytime you see a bait copied by dozen's of companies like the Senko, Chatterbait, Swing Impact Minnow, skinny dipper, you know they are legit and good baits that should be in your box, and everyone fishes these baits in unique ways and has success which makes bass fishing so much fun... These ribbed swimbaits are by far my favorite trailers at night for swim jigs and bladed swim jigs for bulk and vibration....that Tail gives off some crazy thump behind a quality bladed jig