iceintheveins

Pepper jigs from pepper custom baits!

Good advice here. If you can't bounce it off cover or the bottom, adding pauses and twitches as WRB suggested is a good ploy. Try changing rod angles too.

Never fished either, would probably pick LF because Texas puts boaters and anglers through fewer hassles to fish and it's a better state for liberties than California.

I never throw jerkbaits, hard or soft, on glass. For soft you need graphite to set the hook, and for hard you just get better dancing action with a fast rod.

Lighting rod shock for sure.

Don't overlook topwaters very early in the morning and keep your eyes peeled for shad on the surface.

Yep! I might be able to tough it out till 10 but that's a BIG if. It'll already be 100 by then. Or fish at night.

Oh not at all I trust Denny, I'd love to develop skipping and dock skills even half as good as his one day, but that's a tall order. I've just heard some other pros who are good at it say otherwise. So far Denny's advice has been the best.

They are the best spinning reels under $100 I have ever used, and are in fact better than some $150 ones as well. All mine are still going strong, they flat out rock. And you can use the extra money for lures. I don't think you need to go with a more expensive spinning reel than the President IMO.

Always glass or a composite for treble hooked lures, hooksets are not an issue. For those lure weight ranges I would go with a MH.

My favorite is the accent hi - rider double buzz b2 buzzbait, it has floats below the blades which enable an even slower retrieve. Plus it comes in all sizes from 1/8 ounce to 1/2 ounce. The slowest buzzbait on the market.

I fish them in low light or cloudy periods, but not AWLAYS, sometimes you can get a good topwater bite during the day, especially if they are busting panfish or shad on the surface. I'll fish them at any depth but generally shallower than 12 feet.

The Halo 7'11" MH cranking rod is only $130 and it's awesome. The BPS crankin' stick in 7'11" MH can be had for less than $100, it's not quite as good as the Halo but it's still good.

Totally disagree. A moderate or moderate fast crankbait rod made of glass, specialized graphite, or composite material is the way to go. A quality cranking rod will be sensitive yet still have that parabolic action keep hooks pinned and to load properly for long casts. Use fluorocarbon and your sensitivity to what your bait is doing and hitting will increase.

Rapala knot!

Minimum of 1/2 ounce but you often need 1 ounce and heavier. You shouldn't use less than 65 pound braid, in real thick slop and places with big bass, like the Cal Delta, 100 pound braid isn't overkill.

I would put a few lakes that should be selected as Honorable Mentions: 1. Lake Powell, Utah ( smallies average 1/2 pound to two pounds with the odd 3 pounder, so primarily focus on largemouth, which average 2 to 5 pounds and occasionally bigger) Takes at least a 20 pound sack per day to win most tournaments), and I've seen three day totals of 45 pounds not quite make the top 5. If it's tough, catch some smallies for a quick limit (10 pounds if you're lucky), and then focus on nothing but largemouth the rest of the tournie.) The drought has made finding largemouth someone tricker due to lack of brush cover but they often sit in the shallows near where the brush once was, and will use cover like tumbleweeds and log jams from flash floods. Smallies sit on the rip rap rocks. The best rip rap rocks are those in the shade, the very best ones stay MOSTLY in the shade). 2. Lake Washington, Washington. 3. Sand Hollow Reservoir, Utah 4. Quail Creek Reservoir, Utah 5. Wilson Lake - AL/TN 6. Elephant Butte, NM (Though Drought affected) 7. New Melones, CA (Through Drought affected) 8. Lake Oahe, SD (smallies) 9. Truman Lake, MO 10. Weiss Lake, AL 11. Stick Marsh, FL (though not what it was a few years ago) 12. Flaming Gorge - UT/WY, good numbers of smallies to five pounds. Gotta average 18 to 20 pounds top constantly have change there 13. Aurora Reservoir - Colorado - Producing lots of 3 to 4 pound smallies and some even bigger, while the largemouth are taking off in the flooded shallows again and some 7 - 8pounders have been showing. It's not a head over heals action type lake, but when you get bit,it's a quaility fish. Gas motor only lake which is a slight pain, but the real pain is a very overbearing parks staff that kicks you off right at dusk and will ticket you for anything they can. But it is a good fishery. Nearby Quincy Lake is much smaller, but 5 - 7 pound largemouth aren't unheard of and 3 - 4 pounders common. 14, Navajo Reservoir - numbers aren't insane, but 3 - 5 pound smallies are common and a 20 - 25 pound limit on smallies a long isn't out of the question for a skiller basser. Most of these lakes it takes at least a 22 pound bag to have a chance at the top three or winning. If we get some good rain and snow this year in California and for the next several years, lakes like Folsum, Whiskeytown, Diamondvalley, Pyramid and others will start to produce better once again.

When is the frog bite generally best here? I would guess from now to about early October?

I'm not sure of the water level but I know Bullard's Bar is still at 71% of capacity and is kicking out some monster spots. The only lake I've fished in the area is New Melones.

See PM fisherrw.

I use the Shimano oil and the Reel Butter oil, the Shimano is a bit lower vis. if I'm not mistaken.

Get the Tatula 5.4:1 on ebay for $100. The BPS PQ 5.2:1 is very good though for deep cranks and it's a little more fool proof than the Lexa.

7' MH Abu Veritas, a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier 6.3:1 reel, and 17 pound mono.

The Cotton Cordell Super Spots and Bass Pro Shops XPS Rattle Shads are both really overlooked.

Cordell Super Spot Bass Pro Shops XPS Rattle Shad Rat L Trap