iceintheveins

The telescopic lure retriever from BPS that extends out to 18 feet is the best. If it can reach your lure you WILL get it back. I also carry one of those hound dog type lure retrievers that have chains and a weight on the end of a wind up cord. They are somewhat less effective at unsnagging lures but if you snag in more than 18 feet of water you have about a 50/50 chance of getting your lures back, so I carry both. In summer out west the bass can go quite deep so during the day you are often fishing deep water.

If cover is sparse I prefer a split shot or weightless rig for an even slower fall, because it seems the slow fall is what triggers strikes. As the others said, the lighter the weight you can get away with, the better, USUALLY anyway. Punching through weeds with heavier weights works wonders though.

I need to check and see, we have two Wal Marts here in Grand Junction Colorado so they might have some shads on sale.

The live magic shad is so versatile. You can rig it on an EWG weightless and fish it fluke style, or on a jighead and fish it deep. Even caught a couple big lake trout through the ice this year fishing it on an airplane jig.

I use a medium heavy spinning rod for most smaller plastics. Usually I use medium casting gear for plastics 5" or over.

Late prespawn when they are moving close to the beds, they start really hitting topwaters at that time too.

Oh wow I like the looks of that one.

Yeah Colorado doesn't have a season restriction, though I would happily have one in return for some actual fish management. Jigs and suspending jerks were two lures I figured on using.

The Susquehanna in the Binghamton area and downstream is very good for smallies with some pigs.

What should I use in lakes with this temperature? They are shallow lakes with some weedgrowth and not much water over 15 feet deep. The primary forage are bluegills, green sunfish, and smaller bass.

Yeah they stink ;D.

That's one of my favorite frogs. Very soft body means easy hooksets and it doesn't take on water hardly at all.

Generally before sunrise till after sunset unless it is the middle of summer or very early in the year and the mornings are too cold.

I use 15 to 20 pound fluorocarbon leader for pike and have landed plenty up in the mid 20 pound range. Yeah you get an OCCASIONAL bite off but they are uncommon. Wire leaders are best in heavily stained or murky waters, especially Cortland toothy critter, which is tiable.

How does the Hagerstown stretch of the Potomac fish for smallies? What about upstream to Hancock?

1. Crankbaits (Fat Raps, Shad Raps, Bomber Model As, Rebel Wee Craws, Bomber Fat As, Storm Wiggle Warts) 2. 2.5" to 3.5" Tubes with a jighead (white pearl, motor oil, green pumpkin, pretty much any baitfish and crawdad color) 3. Grubs in the same colors as above from 3" to 5". Single, double, and skirted styles. 4. Hard Jerkbaits - (Xraps, pointers, husky jerks) 5. Senkos (similiar colors as tubes/grubs) 6. Soft Jerks like Flukes, sluggos, bass assassins (same general plastic colors) 7. Poppers (skitterpops, pop r's, poppin' image jr.) 8. Spinnerbaits from 1/4 to 1/2 ounce 9. Buzzbaits 10. Prop Baits 11. Zara Spooks and other walking baits Don't overlook inline spinners either.

Lake Powell but not that many fish over 4 pounds, lots of action though. Colorado's Yampa River is a wonderful topwater river for smallies to 5 pounds and bonus pike up to 50".

Overlooked and not used as often anymore, that's why it works so good.

Buzzbaits and frogs produce the biggest ones for me.

From my experience hollow bodied weedless frogs and such baits work much better over weeds, right in cover, or in slop. The buzzing frogs like ribbit frogs work better in open water than the hollow ones. But the buzzing frogs also work in heavy cover too. I think an angler needs to carry and use both.

How does Ish's phat frog walk the dawg?

Great on a Carolina, mojo or split shot rig, and even weightless like a senko. Different look from a french fry or senko.

Buzzbaits are very effective though, a close second to poppers IMO.

It just works much better than just about all of 'em.

A 6.25 pounder on 6 pound test on a weightless lizard.