iceintheveins

Hula grubs are another good option too.

I would use a fiberglass rod or a fiberglass/graphite mix with a flexible tip and moderate action for all crankbait use because it helps keep the fish hooked. Braid tends to rip hooks out easier as well because of it's lack of stretch. Try a fluorocarbon leader or switch to mono or straight fluoro. If the hooks aren't that sharp I like to switch to gamakatsu round bend trebles.

I give another vote for the senko. Four inch or five inch in white, white green laminate, watermelon, rootbeer, or baby bass.

Lake pleasant is a great lake, but fish it on weekdays or after dark. Roosevelt probably is your best option, but Apache and Saguaro lakes are great too.

I don't use casting gear for any lures under 3/8 of an ounce. But with heavier jigheads or as a jig trailer, casting gear is great for jig trailers.

With weeds, you just want to tick the top, not generally run the crank right through it. With stumps and rocks though, you can run the crank right on them. Making contact with objects really often triggers far more strikes than any other retrieve.

Yes I have trolled buzzbaits and it can be lethal.

Cavitrons are the best buzzbaits in the world.

Zoom worms are my favorite. I like fishing them on a carolina rig, or a texas rig with a screw in sinker for heavy cover. When using a carolina rig, I use a brass sinker and glass beads to create lots of sound.

The zoom worm slowly sinks and is great for weightless twitching, split shot rigs, and shaky heads.

White is always a good color, as is white/chartreuse/ When the water is quite clear, I prefer natural crawfish colors like motor oil, green pumpkin, rootbeer, and also natural baitfish colors like silver flake.

d**n those are nice bass. I know the susky is a pretty shallow river, so is it wadeable in the shallows in the summer and fall? I would probably float in my pontoon if I came up there.

I would fish the non tidal sections of the Umpqua if possible. Bass location is easier to pinpoint.

The John Day is really good too. The Columbia is as well but it's just about as big as the Mississippi River and is so huge and powerful it's intimidating and can be hard to locate bass.

The BPS crankin stick is a good one for a casting rod. I like browning's silaflex too. But my best crankbait rod is an old cheapie called a zebco gatorback. Lots of flex in this slow action rod. They don't make it anymore sadly.

X2 nobody seems to thro nichols on this forum but all of the locals around where I am throw them exclusively. They are also smallmouth spinnerbaits And to answer the question, war eagle make awesome spinnerbaits as well. Their size and colors makes them perfect for smallmouths. War eagle and nichols are the only spinnerbaits I throw in tournaments, in practice I fish terminator because they're cheaper. The nichols pulsator in double willow, 1/4 ounce with a chartreuse/white skirt is one of my best producing spinnerbaits.

In some places spinnerbaits don't work as well as in others. I think bass get conditioned to them in certain very heavily pressured lakes. You just have to experiment with your retrieve until you find the right one that will catch bass. I do best letting a spinnerbait sink to the right level and just slowly reel in, stopping once every 5 - 10 seconds for about 2 seconds max.

With barracuda wire is a must. With pike, pickeral, or musky, heavy fluorocarbon will prevent MOST bite offs, but you may still lose a few.

I like Berkley's Tactix Wacky Rod. It's a spinning rod, and is a medium heavy, fast action blank that is 7'0". Only about 60 bucks too.

They are pretty big cranks, I do wish they made some smaller ones. But they still work well.

I've never used War Eagles, but I LOVE the Nichols Pulsator spinnerbaits. Bass and pike just smash them, and I've even caught trout on them.

I've done best so far on senkos, flukes, sluggos, and poppers.

Browning Silaflex, All Star Crankin' Rods, and BPS crankin' stick.

You are using the right hook. I use a 1/0 for the 4" and a 2/0 or 3/0 for the 5".

I like the scumfrog poppers, but it sounds like these will be better. They are on the way, just bought two from BPS yesterday.