scaleface

Jelly Worms but they are tied on all year .

Bass are bass . Do some map work . you dont have a lot of time to prefish . If you find an area on the map with a lot of zigzag topo lines that area will have a lot of variations and you might be able to piece together a pattern in a short time ..

I like a tight action and no rattles most of the time .

edited deleted .

I cant stand a long handle when working a top water . My top water rods are old pistol grip Lightning rods 5'6" and 6 ' .

I have three .They are top shelf baits , thats for sure .I just ordered some they are still available .

I was in a bank beaters club too . Only thing I learned from those guys was that I was using crappy equipment .

My tournament strategy was to stay put , dont run around the lake , catch a limit then go big . Weighing in fish put me in the money and eventually a big win . It was only 1 win in a large event but several top 5 to go with it .

To go further on my last post ,when I started bass fishing from a boat in a bass club , not one of the guys I fished with had any idea on thermoclines and offshore structure . It sure would have saved me a lot of Trial and error if there was someone who understood deep fishing . Every last one of them was a bank beater and I knew we were missing out on the best fishing our lakes had to offer .

When you want to reach a certain depth what diving crankbait models are the lures you have the most confidence in .This should help a few anglers , including me , to wisely choose some baits and take much of the guess work out of it . These are all judged using 12 lb Big Game . Shallow diving the vintage Rogers Big Jims are my best baits and I dont hesitate to use the only one I have left . 5 to 6 foot the Rapala Fat Rap has been a steady producer decade after decade . Down to about 8 foot there are a lot of baits I choose from .Perhaps my best producer now is a Rapala Crankin Rap CRR 10 8 to 10 foot I immediately consider the Norman Deep Little N 10 to about 13 foot the Rapala Crankin Rap CRR14 has probably caught the most fish for me so far this year . Beyond that to about 17 foot the Strike King 6xd has been the only lure I have had much luck with at those depths 17 foot and beyond , Ihave not had much luck with diving baits . Next year this list will likely change as I am always evolving and that Rogers wont last forever .

Other than the red Eye Shad I dont own a lot of them and the couple of deep divers I own have performed splendidly . I have a 6 xd which is the first crankbait I ever owned that I feel confident fishing 15 to 17 foot with .It has been a steady producer all summer . The square bills , I havent caught much with but thats probably due to the fact that I have other favorites that get a lot more paying time .

I fish the same thing in fall as I do summer . The fish are often shallower but I still use the same deep divers , square bills , plastics ....

I wish some of the guys I fished with early on knew what they were doing . I had to go learn everything by myself . Bassmaster , FishinFacts , In Fishermen were my text books .

Jigs . I like twister tails , paddle tails , tubes , marabou , Sliders and Beetle Spins . I also like to troll small crankbaits for them . The Bill Norman Deep Baby N trolled at 10 foot works real well if the crappie are at that depth .

I've never caught crappie with them but I'm sure they would work on a jig head . I have never caught a perch , so dont know unless your referring to sunfish and sunfish will eat it like candy .

I texas rig everything . I've told this before on here .I went fishing one day and forgot to bring along my soft plastics . I searched through my gear bag and found a new pack of Black Fatz Gizzit's. I texas rigged them and didnt skip a beat .

I put them in a container and cut them out when needed . They may be empty or in the pupa stage right now . Pupa stage is good too .

I've seen plenty of bass boats do the same thing . I was fishing a shallow hump marked by a big old bright white and red warning buoy . Here comes some guy in a bass boat heading right for it . I'm waving my arms trying to get him to stop. Right before he hits , he slows down and idles over it . Then stops and ask me why I'm waving my arms . When I tell him that i was trying to prevent him from tearing off his transom ,he replied " I hit something here yesterday . I just wanted to see what it was . " Not only that he just spooked the fish I was after .

Nothing wrong with stinkbait . A good punch bait will stay on for a longtime .

You know those Bagworms you see infested on evergreen trees and shrubs .If can you find some of those and cut them out with manicuring scissors you will have one of the best live baits there is . Bluegill , catfish , carp ...

Are these your lures? Is that a Rogers Big Jim ,bottom row D ?

Hmmm. How can I rig a Jelly worm to hover over the surface ?

Really , I have some old Diving B's I may have to part with .

I would guess the fish are in the dredged spot . They dredged a section of irrigation ditch in a place I fish and the deeper dredged section is by far the best area .

Oh yeah . Three doctors in three days then lazer surgery . The birds "floaters" are still there though . Nothing they can do about that .