FrogFreak

Worst for Bass- North Dakota Great for Walleyes and awesome for waterfowl hunting but Bass.....not so much Best for Bass-Minnesota Yes, it's frozen for months but there are tons of lakes with 5 pounders and very little pressure.

1/2 oz. homemade flipping jig w/ craw trailer,(vile craw or rage craw) GP color for both. Bone or white walking bait, prefer homemade or sexy dawg 3/8 oz. homemade white swim jig w/ white paddle tail plastic, prefer SK caffeine shad Homemade squarebill in sexy shad color pattern Senko style worm GP color (wacky or t-rigged) I spend the whole cold ass winter making lures so I tend to throw my own. Next winter I plan to try pouring plastics.

go to lurepartsonline.com and buy the equipment to pour your own!

Up North!

I think it's mostly the commercials that made it seem like they would pull fish in like some kind of magic trick.

Banjo minnows and helicopter lures oh and the flying lure (not sure if this is the name). Man if I didn't catch fish on buzz baits and hollow body frogs, I might quit fishing! I love the blow ups! Now that I think about it, I need to throw a buzz bait way more this year.

Hmm, this question is a hard one to answer. Here is a general strategy that can change based on too many things to list. In the spring I start at the top of the water column, then go from a fast to a slow presentation (top water lures) Then I go mid water starting fast and going slower or erratic (swim jig, bladed jig, spinner, crank) And then I hit the bottom with a jig, t-rig etc. starting faster and slowing down. But, if I am fishing beds, I just love using a weightless senko wacky rigged but I'll try any soft plastic to get bit.

Hey Glenn, what soft plastic brand do you prefer?

MLF is the future of bass fishing on TV. I love watching how the guys figure out how to catch them. I think I would have went shallow as well, finding them deep takes time, something they really don't have. Much like most of us fun fisherman on a weekend, time is a precious commodity. Just a side note, if you like multi-species fishing shows, check out 39 hours on YouTube. It's a hoot!!

I hear all of you about Hook n Look but Kim's laugh drives me crazy.

I hate drop shotting and I mildly dislike cranking so I avoid both if at all possible. Am I the only one that doesn't care if I ever DS again in my life? I'd rather paint my mother-in-laws toenails while we binge watch some Lifetime show. What do I want to improve? Understanding my surroundings. Someone once said it's more important to throw the wrong thing in the right place than throwing the right thing in the wrong place so I'll focus on finding the right area and then throw what I like to throw. Just to clarify....drop shotting is evil.....but it works.....but I don't care.....I hate it.

I have a local networking group that happens to meet in a local sports store (they have a nice meeting room) and as I walked out, I saw rods for sale and bought one. Outside it was snowing and it was about 10 below zero and here I am walking to my truck with a brand new 7 ft MH/F BC rod. Oh, and the gal at the checkout asked where in the world I was going to fish with the rod I just bought. I just looked at her and said Minnesota.... duh. Try living up here in Walleye country and trying to explain to everyone that you don't fish for Walleye, you prefer bass. They usually look at me like I'm an idiot.

I love this site! What a bunch of awesome information! Why I'm a better popper fisherman than you: I throw a popper when others don't, where others don't and work it with a level of creativity that many won't. When: I believe that regardless of the fish's mood, a popper can catch them. I throw a popper when I think bass are in a negative mood because i think I can fool them into biting. I throw it when they are neutral because I think they see a popper as a meal that they can't pass up and I throw it when bass are aggressive because the strikes are so darn much fun! I throw a popper when the sun is high in the sky and in the middle of the day. These times and conditions aren't typical but I have had success during these times and in these conditions on many occasions. I also throw a popper from pre-spawn until the lakes up here freeze with success. Before you cry foul, please read on. Where: I throw a popper in your traditional ambush spots but i also throw it over deep structure, pinch points, and open water in transitional areas. When I see any type of surface activity, I have confidence that pinch points, transitional areas and even open water areas with no characteristics will produce. But here's the weird part, I have had success with a popper when there was zero surface activity in the middle of a lake where most wouldn't throw a popper. How I work it: This can get a bit zen but I truly try to become the bass when I work a popper, especially around ambush spots. I always always assume that a bass is looking at my popper and considering it from the time it hits the water (or maybe even before it hits) until the time it gets back in the boat. Some of my retrieves can take as long as 20 minutes with pauses up to 2 minutes at a time and sometimes I pop it so violently and continually that my angling partners laugh...until I catch fish doing it that way. I suppose we all feel like this when we have confidence in what we are throwing but for me, this is the number one key to popper success, confidence. My buddy throws a popper when he sees me catching fish with one but he has zero confidence in it and therefore he doesn't work it with any patience. I believe that i can entice negative fish to bite with a popper, I just have to figure out what type of retrieve and action they want. Color and brand: Doesn't matter too much. I like any popper with a white or black belly and I do use translucent plastic poppers if the water is very clear. I have tried many popper brands but prefer to make my own. I always dress the back treble with buck-tail for a bit of extra enticing. I do like to put a split shot on the lure and tie directly to that. This seems to positively affect the action especially if I feel that walking the popper is needed. Set up: I keep this pretty simple. I use a medium rod with a moderate tip. The moderate tip helps load up the rod when the fish strikes. I usually use a 6'6" rod only because I split time between my kayak and my boat and the shorter rod is a bit easier from the yak. I use mono exclusively. I did try braid for a bit but I missed the stretch of mono when it came to hooking up the fish. I prefer the Daiwa Lexa 100H (6:3:1 I believe) but most any quality reel will work. I don't feel that a fast gear ratio is necessary here and can hinder my zen like approach. One other note, it's very important to wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the strike and simply start reeling (this is where the moderate bend of the rod helps). This works better if you keep your hooks sharp! Why does popper fishing work for me? I think we tend to forget that the surface is another "edge" that fish use to ambush prey. If you think about it, it's the only edge that exists all over the lake. Yes, there are times that other techniques may work better but tell me it's not a kick in the pants to watch a bass hit a popper?

2015 was great for me. Here are some highlights: Several 5 pounders (good size for up north). One memorable pig on a frog next to a dock. I learned and had success with a jig (both flipping and swimming). I started a new job with a schedule that gives me every other Friday off and a boss that understands my passion! I found several new lakes that produced well. I didn't get skunked once! The spring was a hoot catching big numbers with a wacky rigged worm Summer fishing was steady with some great days! Fall was hit and miss but still beautiful and I had the lakes to myself! I actually got to fish in November this year! That's a rarity up where I live. I wasn't nearly as one-dimensional as I have been in the past. That helped my success I'm sure. I took a young neighbor kid out kayak fishing and put him on some hot spots. He caught 12 bass and his smile is something I won't soon forget. My 22 year-old son bought a kayak and went fishing with me often. I got very comfortable with my boat this year and learned a ton about boat positioning, loading and unloading etc. My wife caught her PB 3.5 lbs!

I would love to play but I haven't fished for bass long enough to say I'm better than anyone (yet). I grew up fishing for trout and salmon and only got into bass fishing around 9-10 years ago. I might be as good as some at spending every waking moment thinking about fishing. I suppose because I fish in MN and fish as many as 20-30 different lakes per summer, I am pretty good at breaking down a lake and the conditions but I don't have the years of experience and I only fish from May until October. My first trout reel was a Zebco 33 with a Zebco rod. It was pretty top of the line back then.

If a person is changing out lures a lot, I can understand the desire for external controls. I've always used external mag breaks but lately have been looking at dual breaking systems since I'm going to use that reel for one application (pitching jigs). My thinking is that I'll set the centrifugal breaks and not have to move them since the weight of the jigs will change very little and then I can adjust the mag break when the conditions change (wind etc.). This seems like the optimal setup. I have used a Revo SX for pitching jigs in the past and it has been fine. I think the reel companies have to look at a better mousetrap or we may stop buying.

I use a St.Croix Triumph 6'6" MH that has a softer tip and a Revo Premier Gen 2 6:4:1. It seems to be a great setup for swimjigs, spinners, chatterbaits. I tried this setup for flipping jigs one day and it was horrible for that application. I felt like I had zero connection with the jig but for moving baits, the soft tip allows the rod to load up and I get a pretty good hook up percentage with it. I use 10 lb. good ole Berkley Trilene XL in moss green.

I like the Revo SX but will be buying a Lews Tourney MB soon. The PQ is a great choice as well, dual breaking with an aluminum frame can't be beat at that price point. Don't forget to get the highest ratio you can. It makes the job of pitching a bit easier.

Wait a minute, we need to understand what the OP is going to be using this line for before we can make a recommendation. I would never use FC for topwater but love it as a leader when fishing jigs. He did mention that the water where he fishes is very clear so I'm not sure straight braid will work (depending on the application). I fish natural lakes that are very clear and I just can't see using straight braid for any slow moving presentations. So FLbass, what's the application?

Pit Bosses don't work and you shouldn't order them on TW....... especially in the colors I want.

I loved the Berkley Havoc stuff. That was a steal. I stocked up on pit bosses, grass pigs, flat dogs, craw fatty's and rocket craws. I hesitated on the tatula tactical and lost out.

How many reels does one person need? A: One, you can only use one at a time B: Three, one to use, one back up and one for a friend C: Need, none, want..... as many as I can afford D: Lots, just don't let your wife know I would accept either C or D TW stands for: A: Totally Wonderful B: An evil evil place that sucks all the money from my wallet C: Tackle Wonderland D: All of the above The answer is D

Before last year, I would have told you how I only fished a T-Rig, I just didn't have confidence in a jig. Well, that all changed this last summer. I am now full on addicted to a jig. Why? The number one reason is it catches bigger fish but I also love the tap tap and the whole hook-set-like-you're-trying-to-break-her-neck deal. I now prefer jig fishing over frogs and topwater for goodness sake! Yes, you should let the bass tell you what they want....but what about me? What about my needs?? I'm in love with the jig.

Merry Christmas to all you crazy addicted bass anglers! May your 2016 be full of tight lines and joy! Thank you BR for helping me through the winters up north!

Just started, mostly on eBay.