iceintheveins

Pepperhawg jigs are the best.

So what is your pick overall usually? When do you use each? I've actually done better with plastic trailers, especially the Mr. Twister Split Double tail. But pork trailers seem to work better in colder water and get bigger bass.

Sounds like I need to slow down. I have caught some fish when swimming jigs but most of them have been on the fall or picked up off the bottom. I will try little bottom hopping too.

As long as your not catching bass, you may as well not catch them a number of different ways.

I don't know about bulk, but gitzit has the largest selection of 2.5" tubes. Anybody here drop shot with tubes?

I love their XPS rattle shads, they are the best lipless cranks ever. I also have one of their cheaper graphite spinnings rods and it is a wonderful rod, one of my favorites. I have bought four reels from them, all spinning. Two of them broke rather quickly and the other two are still going strong. The funny thing is, the two ones that are still working great were their cheapest spinning reels, the megacasts.

What is your favorite lipped crank to throw in spring, not counting jerkbaits? My favorite is a #5 or #7 shad rap.

I do prefer an externally adjustable braking system, but the more expensive reels with dual brakes (both magnetic and centrifugal) seem to backlash less.

I'm not sure what brand to recommend, but if you are fishing plastics and cranks you need two different rods. For a cranking rod I would recommend the browning silaflex rod that's available at BPS. A 6'6" medium action is about right. For plastics, you need a stick with a stiff tip and some backbone. I would suggest a 7', medium or medium/heavy BPS bionic blade spinning rod.

All of this is good advice. You just have to weight till you either feel the fish or see your line moving off. I usually land fish that hit a topwater solidly.

I would like to know this as well I like to yo-yo them, just as I begin my retrieve i will use a steady retrieve until I hit grass. Once I hit the grass I start to yo-yo. I will pull it up just enough to rip it out of the grass. This will really help the bass react to it. Something about lipless cranks over emerging grass seems to just nail bass.

Power pro doesn't dig in the way other braids do. I would go with the 30 pound test on a casting reel.

I would go with 6 - 10 pound test on spinning gear for cranks that are 1/4 of an ounce or under, unless you are fishing heavy cover with shallow running cranks. Deep divers I go with 10 - 12 pound test and casting gear.

Original stren is the best I have found. If you are getting coils, tie your line to something and slowly walk back from it, pulling on the line to stretch it out and tighten it up. I have found trilene XL to be brittle with no abrasion resistance. I also like P - Line CX Premium. It has less memory than the CXX.

He nailed it. That's why I carry so many different baits in different sizes. I catch big bass on little baits, and sometimes little bass on big baits.

Are you able to get it that much sharper? How do you do it?

Hooks should be replaced, not sharpened. 8-) Agreed!

Do you guys burn the lipless crank or use a stop and go, yo yo type retrieve this time of year?

What are your most productive lures in 55 - 60 degree water? Here are mine: 1. Senko 2. Suspending Jerkbait 3. Jig And Pig 4. Tube 5. Shallow Running Crank

My favorite Rapalas are X - Raps, Shad Raps, Taildancers, jointed raps, jointed shad raps, husky jerks, fat raps, and skitterpops.

The one I got sucked, it just dulled the hook totally. Sharpening hooks is tough I have found, though there is a way to do it.

If the water is fairly clear, it would be a 4" creme white senko rigged on a 1/0 EWG Gammy.

Mega Strike is good, but Smelly Jelly is by far my favorite. It does turn a few lookers into biters, and cover up your own scent. It's not magic, but it does help some. They make it in both a jelly and sticky liquid formula. Tons of different flavors.

Thanks micropterus. Much appreciated.

The South Platte is one of the better trout rivers around, though you need to go upstream of denver to get into the best fishing. Parts of it are flies and lures only, but in other parts you can drift crawlers. Some other good rivers are the Cache La Poudre upstream of Fort Collins, and if you can make the drive, the Blue River below Dillon Dam holds huge trout. Spinners and Rapalas will catch them.