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I like these jigs too, nice and small. I use the rage tail baby craw's on them with a couple of sections removed from the tail.

And the conclusion to the now 9.1lb smallie story: http://voices.suntimes.com/sports/chicago-fishing-smallmouth-record-not-accepted/

Felix, Can you stand in your ride 115x?

I feel your pain papajoe222. I'm just west of chicago and spend some time at lake michigan on the harbors. Tough time there for everyone I talk to.

Couple more for your Raider: Raining Blood on a banjo War Ensemble on a Ukulele

I've caught a channel cat here in Illinois on a black spinnerbait.

Here is the info on the 8lb smallie. Interesting story, bad ending for the smallie... http://www.suntimes.com/sports/outdoors/28684551-452/heres-a-fish-story-for-you.html#.U8aD07GTHXt

Best thing would be to talk to the locals and see if you can find a fishing report for the lake you are going to. If it's clear, I'd go with natural looking colors of soft plastics.

@Jay415 Thanks for the review on this, I've been trying to get an idea of which kayak to buy and you have been very helpful in narrowing it down for me. @HeavyDluxe Thanks for your post on the kayaks in the other thread. I'm also a bigger guy myself and I think that is a crucial point that a lof people that review kayaks miss. I will be on the lookout for kayak demo's in my area to give some a try.

Slonezp, If the rumors are true, that is one huge smallie. Looks like I'm going fishing at lunchtime.

I like this one too. The beatles do death metal

What reed/rod/line do you fish the weedless shad on?

I got a couple of these as well, haven't fished them much but thats probably because I haven't much confidence in them yet. I have a tough time feeling what the bait is doing in the water, maybe it's because I've been fishing a jig too much and I'm expecting something else. How do you fish these things? Just straight retrieve or like a jerk bait?

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned before, but watch your line. If i'm throwing a jig, I'll try to get an idea of where the bottom is by casting and then counting to see how deep the water is. If you cast and your line stops before your mark, then maybe a fish....

I've bought a few things from BR members and have had good results. Like anything used you have to make an assessment of the seller and how they treat their things. If they were pretty quick with pictures and seem pretty honest then you have to trust your judgement. The higher end reels (200+) I'll probably buy in a store or from local members.

I have the Tournament Speed spool and I like the size of the reel. The TSS does have a clicking spool tension knob (I don't see much benefit in this, as when I adjust the spool tension it's barely a click) and the dual brakes. I like the dual brakes lets you fine tune it a bit better. They both have 14lbs of drag. The size of the TSS is pretty close to my BPS PQ.

I got this article through mysterytacklebox and it makes some sense. Take from it what you want, or not. http://www.fix.com/blog/view-from-below-lures-underwater/

Nice job Preytorien. I do the same in shallow water with weeds/grass. I think this technique works pretty much all the time, it mimics a dying baitfish. The only time I have difficulty with this set up is in deeper water. I love the watermelon seed super flukes and I rig them on a 3/0 EWG or a 4/0 offset round bend worm hook. I have seen others use the weighted screw locks, nose hook with a number 2 octopus hook and even wack rig them.

Time to throw my warmouth into the mix. I caught this little guy on a 5inch senko last year. Very aggressive. Great color.

I have my Ci4+ HG on a 7'2 MHXF Crucial worm and jig rod (pretty cheap now a days, I think they are getting rid of their stock for the new crucials). And I love it, very sensitive and shimano's lifetime warranty.

The bead in front of a senko is a great idea! My other plan of attack was fishing soft jerk baits weightless. What is your opinion on a grass jig or jig with a veritical line tie with narrow cone shaped head? I want to be able to cover the watercolumn which may not be possible with heavy weed mats.

Hey guys, here in IL there are some pretty bad weed mats in some of the forest preserve lakes/ponds that I fish. Would a traditional punch rig be a better option or would using something like a heavy jika rig be better to get through the weed mats? What are the advantages of one over the other? I am mainly fishing from shore, 7'2 MH xf shimano crucial. Looking at either a 3/4oz punch rig or 3/4oz jika rig (or heavier the better?), probably throwing some beaver type baits. Thanks in advance!

Thats the beauty of the jig, you can fish it so many ways. Depending on the bottom I will fish the jig differently. Mucky/weedy bottoms, i'll try to keep the jig hopping/moving. On rocky bottoms, I'll drag it more and hop it when I get caught up. What I have found to help is to sometimes contrast your trailer with the jig skirt. I used to just try to match them, but I've had more success with contrasting/different jig trailers and skirts. The other thing to keep in mind is the profile/bulk of the trailer, sometimes when I am not getting bit i'll move to a smaller profile trailer (net bait paca chunk vs. rage tail baby rage craw). And sometimes jigs aren't what the bass are looking for. Learned that the hardway last weekend, spent 4 hrs fishing a jig, only one fish. Threw a texas righ ocho right before I left, caught two fish in about 20 minutes...

add me to that list of right handed but use left handed bait casters. I've tried to switch, but just doesn't feel right. And to the original poster, do what feels right to you. I've seen more companies make LH reels now and you've got a really nice selection to choose from. Good luck.

Nice job, sounds pretty close to fishing a jig to me though. I may have to give this a try.