iceintheveins

Flaming gorge is a great smallie fishery, and I think Glendo has a decent fishery as well. Up state, Keyhole Res. is decent for smallies too, but it's more known as a destination pike and walleye lake.

Vanish is garbage, most brittle junk ever. I love P - Line fluoro, Seagaur and BPS fluoro are great too. Power pro is a braided line, but it's THE BEST braided line.

Flukes, sluggos and the like are some of the deadliest bass lures around, right up there with the senko as the deadliest. I throw them out, let them sink to the depth I want to work them at, and then give them a twicth, or two, or three. Long pauses in between twitches helps. Bass usually slurp it down on the pause. Try these retrieves: Throw it out, let it sink to the desired depth. Twitch it, pause five seconds. Twitch twice, pause 10 seconds. Repeat. Once you get that down, vary the length of the pauses, up to 30 seconds, and change the number of twitches. Senkos fish a bit differently, but they might be even deadlier, especially when bass are closer to the bottom. Use this retrieve: Throw it out, let it sink to your desired depth. Give it a gentle twitch or two. Pause it 5 - 20 seconds. Give it another twitch, pause 5 seconds, then give it two - three gentle twitches. Pause up to 30 seconds. Bass will slurp it just like a fluke or sluggo.

I need to give them a try. The soft jerkbait is my number one lure by far. Might be the best bass lure of all time in clearer water. Can't go wrong with a super fluke.

That study showed that bait mortality in trout was much less than previously thought. This study put it at 25% when fished passively (deadsticking). Another study from the University of Wisconsin put bait fishing for trout with an active method (drifting, jigging) at less than 5%. I'm sure that in bass it's even lower than in trout, because trout can't be taken out of the water very long.

Weightless as a floating worm around weedbeds and cover.

I love these lures, even more for pike than for bass. The only problem is they don't sink fast enough for my liking. Maybe if they came out with a faster sinking model, it would be even deadlier. I've caught a couple nice trout on them too.

I like to use a finesse worm with a split shot, weightless, or on a jighead.

What conditions do you guys reach for a prop bait instead of a popper?

I like light plops to medium bloops. I work my poppers with a pop or two, then a 5 - 15 second pause. The longer I pause, the louder I make the initial bloop.

I like poppers in calm water. Buzzbaits work best in calm to slightly ripply water. For choppier water loud props with big propellers work best.

I use frogs with 30 pound power pro and a 20 pound mono leader. A Medium action will work with the braid. How fast do you guys usually fish floating frogs?

I always use about 20 yards of mono backing. I don't know why anyone wouldn't like that.

I don't bend barbs on any hooks, even for trout fishing. Studies show barbless hooks don't have a lower mortality rate than barbed hooks, and barbless hooks just make it easier for fish to get away.

I definately need to buy some of those parasite weights and clips. They look awesome. I need to try the screw in ones too.

Creme's worms still work well, especially when finesse fished with a small hook and a light weight. Great darting action.

ALWAYS use a leader with fireline. If you are fishing subsurface lures, use fluorocarbon. If you are fishing a frog in the slop (the ONLY topwater lure I will use with a superline), use a mono leader.

Senkos are great small fish lures, and good for big fish too. I catch 6" bass on both the 4" and 5" senkos all the time. It's common

A jig certainley works better if the water is moderately stained to murky. The cloudier the water, the bigger the plastics.

Thanks for the tips guys. I will cover the eye of the hook up with the tip of the worm.

I don't use baitcasting gear for any lure lighter than 3/8 of an ounce.

POWER PRO, HANDS DOWN!!!!

Try the scumfrog popper. That might be the best frog of all. Their bigfoot frog is also very good.

You just have to wait until you feel the bass moving off with the bait, then set the hook HARD! Heavier line helps get a good hookset as well.

X - Raps are must have baits, especially in size 8 and 10 for bass, but the 12 will work as well. I like to use 14 pound power pro and a medium action rod with a somewhat stiff action. Use a 2 foot fluorocarbon leader. Sometimes they like it when it's twitched and jerked in without pauses, especially for smallies. Usually though, jerks with intermingled pauses of up to 10 seconds are best.