Lip 'em!

Yes those hooks you already have should be fine with small swimbaits if you are fishing shallow. Sadly the standard A-rig is a heavy setup requiring heavy duty gear to fish it effectively. I fish it on 65lb braid and a 7'9" heavy action swimbait rod. Search the forums though for the topic about the smaller A-rigs. Might give you some ideas on how you might be able to fish one of these more finesse rigs on lighter tackle.

The zoom super swimming flukes are great for the money. You might want to look into the YUM money minnows or strike king shadalicious as well. 4.5 inch rigged on a 5/0 gammy weighted swimbait hook. And since you say they are chasing schools of shad, of course id recommend the A-rig as well to imitate a small ball of shad.

6'6" definitely. Probably the most comfortable all around rod to fish imo. I am 5'11" and average build so unless he is on the smaller or larger side i would split the difference and opt for the 6'6".

I have a box in my bag specifically made to store up to 4 alabama rigs. It works great you should check into it. I think plano makes it.

Lol! I had never looked at them like that but now that i have, you indeed have a point!

Ive never fished the keitechs, but i have fished the shadalicious quite a bit. Their look and realism cant be beat imo, but with a slow retrieve they lose more action than other swimbaits.

Green pumpkin or watermelon with chartruese tails!

Yes thats exactly what mine was doing. Good to see im not the only one. Lol This weekend i will try reeling it slower or even jerking it down and see if that helps. If not i will try tuning it.

Thanks guys. Next time out I will try to tune it and see if that solves the problem!

Jigs and soft plastics...i need to remind myself that even with multiple rods i can only fish one at a time. Lol

x2 on this. Try puttin a different colored bait on the center hook, or even switching it to a large grub.

I 2nd everything everyone else has already said and add a sweet beaver/pitboss to the list.

I was using 12lb suffix mono. I just checked and it unfortunately has yellow eyes. Guess I got an accidental cross-bred one since the lip says suspending. lol And now that I think about it, it was running slightly out of tune but not bad, and was tilted on its side when it surfaced. I also was burning it down at a pretty good pace, but I do the same with the rapalas and dont have this issue. Decided to experiment just to see what would happen so I filled up the sink in the garage and got all my jerkbaits out and tested them. I even checked the water temperature to make sure it was around 45 degrees like the lake was. This very same rogue suspended like a champ...better than the x-raps actually, which slowly rose to the surface. So after all of this, what do yall think the final verdict is? Am i using the wrong line, did I get a mismarked bait, is it out of tune, or am I reeling too fast?

At first that was what i thought too, but on the lip it says suspending. I just re read my post and realized i wasnt clear enough. It would rise back to the surface while i was still reeling. Not rise after i had stopped reeling.

I usually fish husky jerks and x-raps but this weekend i thought i would give the rogue a try. I usually quickly reel suspending jerkbaits down to their max depth then let them sit a while before giving it a jerk. But when i tried to reel the rogue down quickly, it would dive but then pop back up to the surface a few seconds later. I was fishing it on mono cause i have had better hook ups even though i know it wont run as deep. Has anyone else had this happen and know what it could be? Sorry might be a stupid question but im new to the rogues.

Bandit 100 squarebill in tennessee shad, or KVD 1.5 in bluegill.

I love fishing a rage toad around pads during late spring/summer. Make sure its texposed though or hookups will be a problem!

Generally theres nothing that i WONT use because i enjoy experimenting so much, but one technique i dont have much confidence in yet is a drop shot. I fished it several times and just cant seem to get them to bite. Im gonna work on it this year though to hopefully change that around!

Top 3: 1. Sweet Beaver in green pumpkin/watermelon 2. Zoom fluke-pearl/albino 3. Culprit curly tail worms-pumpkinseed/grape/red shad

I dont like throwing it simply because its awkward to cast. With that said though, it has its time and place and has produced several good fish for me.

Ive always had good luck in clear water with a smoke w/ silver and blue flake (salt n pepper if you will) color kalins grub on a 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig head. Fish it from top to bottom and as slow or fast as you want depending on what the fish tell you.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys and its good to see im not the only one who has this problem. On the topic of the shakey head...as soon as i got home i tied one on in preparation for next time. Its about the only thing ive had any luck on at that lake. Ive probably caught 5 or 6 small ones and one 3 lber on it with a zoom finesse worm. I had thought about the crankbait as well, but i wasnt sure whether to throw a shallow, medium, or deep diver?? Next time out i will be sure to slow down. Waaayyyy down! And not be scared to fish shallow even when its cold.

Theres a lake near my home town that i fish fairly often in hopes to figure it out. Its around 800 acres so its not huge and it receives alot of pressure despite having the reputation that it sucks. However there are a few local guys that fish tournaments there often that know how to fish it and consistently weigh in sacks of 18-20 lbs and i have seen some hawgs caught out of it. The lake has shallow habitat (losts of boat docks and lily pads and water willow during the spring/summer) deep water creek channels and ledges, rip rap banks, and steep bluff walls. Now to get to the point. I fished it this past saturday from noon till 5 and only caught 1 little dink on a 3inch grub. I threw suspending jerkbaits around points, rip rap, and laydowns near deep water. Then i tried a flutter spoon in the creek channels around 15-20 ft deep and no luck there either. I drug/hopped a black and blue jig on the ledges and channels as well with the same result. I dropshotted a fluke jr around the bluff walls, and even threw the a-rig for a little while with no luck either. The water was around 45 degrees and had some color to it. My question is...where should the bass be with this kind of temperature and habitat? I figured they would be deep since the water is still fairly cold, but i watched another guy catch 2 flippin a beaver on a laydown in 6 ft of water. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on what cover/depths to fish and what to throw this time of year with the water around this temperature. Thanks! ---Lip 'em

Hey guys im sure this question has come up before but which do you have better luck on, the KVD 1.5 or 2.5? I know they both dive to the same depth and the only difference is size/weight. Going to be stocking up on some soon in preparation for spring and was curious. Thanks!

I started out throwing the a-rig with a 7'3 mh and it was uncomfortable to say the least. Even rigged with 1/8 oz heads i didnt have alot of confidence in it because the thought of my rod snapping under the weight was always in the back of my head. When i did catch a fish i had to work with it and couldnt just horse it in. Bought a 7'9 heavy swimbait rod last fall and it made a world of difference! I can feel confident throwing it now knowing that i have the equipment to handle it which has led to better success with it.