Dale Bryant

If the article or video doesn't specify where they are fishing or what the water temperature is, look for other clues. How are they dressed in the video? What kinds of vegetation are they referring to? You can sometimes get a better idea of how cold the water is and then apply it to your local lake based on that.

Been cut by braid more times than I can count. I've tried coconut oil and neosporin but not honey. Thanks for the tip.

If you don't have shad in your lake, what about goby? The Strike King Go-B-Gone works on Lake Erie. It's chunky but flat-bottomed so it works well on the soft bottoms that you are describing.

I would try a soft body jerkbait on a small jig or rigged weightless. Maybe the Zoom Fluke?

I use a fluke throughout the summer and a hard jerkbait in fall and winter, usually in cold clear water. A good place to start is the Rapala X-Rap. Once you've got the hang of it, you can upgrade to a more expensive Lucky Craft minnow or Megabass Vision 110. Those are really good looking lures, but they can be somewhat of an investment.

You can shakey head the finesse Hyper Worm if you want, but the bait does better on a Texas rig in my opinion.

It would be hard to turn down a double digit largemouth, I don't care who you are. But in general I think smallie fishing is more rewarding so I'd love to catch a 7 pounder.

Stand on a milk crate in the driveway and cast to random targets in the yard (coffee cans work great). The neighbors might think you're nuts though.

You can make quick repeated casts if you get bored just letting your baits sink, but don't abandon an area until you're sure it's not holding fish. This is especially true for docks and stumps.