scaleface

One year right after the ice thawed , I spotted a bunch of purple crawdads where water was flowing through a culvert .

Yep. Old lures that still get playing time are Pico Pops Big Rebel chuggers that look like a Pop R only twice the size Rogers Big Jim crankbait Dalton Special

A Hackney B Kennedy C Martin D Mullins E ? Right now I have DeMarion down in E hoping he can get a strong smallmouth bite at .05 percent . Thats a big gamble .

I'm convinced that rattles are fish deterrents more times than not . The hooks rattle , the lure doesnt need more .

I use a 6 foot pistol grip Lightning Rod for Spook fishing . I find the shorter rod much easier to walk the dog with .

I guess the most under utilized bait for me are suspending jerkbaits . I need to fish them more , even in the warm months .

I forgot about them for a long time but fished them a lot last year .They produced some nice fish . I found some old stock large sized Beetles without the spinner at a mom and pop tackle store , added some spinners , put on a baitcaster and used them quite a bit .

I dont have a fall back strategy . I just keep making adjustments hoping that I will finally get something figured out before its time to leave .

I've caught a couple of smallmouths from a river that had chunks missing from them from what I assume were otter bites .

I never could get a spinnerbait to track correctly with just a swim bait and no skirt .

I have the Lews triangular shaped one . I dont know if its any better than the others but I get most crankbaits back .

I fish dams like that from bank . About any lure can be fished shallow . Top waters , spinnerbaits , crankbaits... When it comes to deeper you will want a lure to follow the contour from deep to shallow and there will be hang ups . I use cheap jig and grubs , ""Beetle spins"" , pre rigged swimbaits.. . I cast out in deeper water then let the bait settle to the bottom . As soon as it touches down I lift it and begin my retrieve . The lure stays near the bottom, in the strike zone , the entire retrieve . You will have to experiment with retrieval speed to keep the lure just above the rocks . A lot of times I'll let the lure settle back down during the retrieve , then pop it up again just to make sure its near the bottom . Sinking lures are the key . Lipless cranks work well but I dont like the idea of losing several of those in a outing , so stick with ones I can afford to lose . Make a few cast to different depths , move a few feet then repeat . The goal is to figure out what depth they are assembling at .

I fished a river that had good populations of both . Smallmouths preferred current and largemouths liked lazier water . I havent caught enough smallmouths in lakes to form a good opinion .

No , but it has happened .

The Carolina rig is one of the more difficult rigs to fish . Nothing wrong with throwing Beetle Spins and they catch the heck out of bass . I did a lot of that last year .

I like watching the tough tournaments , where limits are hard to come by and finesse techniques are being used . I learn from that . I can see blow ups first hand . What I dont like is a pro acting like a blooming idiot after he catches a big bass . Come on man , act like its not your first time .

So you are fishing rip rap on a fast river . Strike King Rocket shads cast upstream and brought along the current . If you want to go real cheap , take a crappie jig-head , add a grub with the tail removed to just cover the shank and attach a cheap spinner on the hook . I've done a lot of that . Catches all kinds of game fish . Like this .

I have accumulated so many soft plastics that I just need to use them up . I even have FLW worms .

Once an angler learns to detect bites with slow moving baits such as Texas rigs then all techniques are easy . There are some that I havent ventured into but there is no doubt in my mind that I can do them competently . Except for skipping .

I need to retie a lot anyways , so that is a non-factor for me .

I'm glad you included " Sporting Goods " in the title .

You can get in now .

zilch .

I'd rather catch fish than try to force a bite . Use it a bit to satisfy your yen then get back to catching bass . Lots of lures I havent caught bass on and I dont care .

It appeared to me like he would lift the jig off the bottom , hold it still and drift with the current through the targeted rocky area .