iceintheveins

Like the others have said, chartreuse, chartreuse black, firetiger, red craw, dark green craw, and others like that produce best. Those colors work well in stained too.

Spinnerbaits are the most versatile bait in bass fishing. No other lure I know of works in more conditions other than perhaps a jig. Spinnerbait bites seem to be the best with a little chop in the water when the water is clear to lightly stained, and in partly cloudy to cloudy conditions, but don't follow that rule hard at all. A flat out great lure. If cloudy skies or low light conditions are out and topwaters aren't producing, burning a spinnerbait is a great alternative. It's one of the first lures I reach for in spring too, slow rolling it works great at any depth. I don't use spinnerbaits lighter than 1/4 ounce, and seldom do I go heavier than 1/2 an ounce, but sometimes a 3/4 ounce spinnerbait is great for covering lots of water or fishing deep. Generally for me, the shallower the water, the lighter the lure. I like double willow or tandem colorado/willow blades for clearer water, and tandem willow/colorado blades for stained water, and a double colorado or single colorado with a BIG blade for murky water and night fishing. For blade colors, silver or silver/gold are best for clear water. Murkier water calls for double gold or painted blades. Painted blades also work well in clear water. My favorite skirt colors are golden shiner, chartreuse shad, white, chartreuse and white, and black. For clear water with lots of shad, a natural shad colored skirt is hard to beat. As far as retrieves go, the cooler the water the slower usually. Often in deep water when fish are deeper I will retrieve slower to keep it deeper. Burning is best in low light conditions or in cloudy, windy conditions. But burning it can work well in clear water too. Unless the water is cold, start with a medium retrieve and if that doesn't work, try slow, or fast until you find what the bass want. I use a trailer hook unless I'm fishing weedy, grassy areas.

I replace if possible, sharpening is tricky.

I never fish without a trailer.

40 - 55 degrees

Go with 65 pound braid and a small, compact creature bait like a pit boss with a pegged sinker.

The yoke I think it's called. I did that too my first time.

1. Senko 2. Super Fluke 3. Pit Boss 4. 6" Curltail Worm 5. Hula Grub 6. Sluggo 7. Centipede/French Fry/Finesse Worm And many more but that's my top repetoire.

Texas rigged weightless, sometimes wacky but I prefer the weedless way because I fish lakes with a lot of weeds and grass.

The PQ or the Lews Speed Spool.

Ten pound fluoro for deep cranks, you can use heavier fluoro or mono for shallower cranks. I use 15 pound power pro braid for smaller jerkbaits up to the size of an X - rap 10 or a Pointer 100. The bigger jerkbaits fish well on 10 pound fluorocarbon.

I would start with a rapala skitterpop or a Pop R. Throw it out, and give it a pop of varying intensity, then pause for a few seconds and repeat. Topwaters almost always work best in low light conditions and overcast skies and are my go to in those situations. Don't follow that rule too hard and fast though because there are times when they work well in sunny conditions. The other one to start out with is a buzzbait. Cast it out and reel it in just fast enough to keep it gurgling on the surface. Once you master these, add the walking bait (like a spook) and a frog to your arsenal. Prop baits such as torpedos, skitterprops, and the like are good fished with a pull and pause retrieve.

The reel kleen degreaser in the Ardent Reel Cleaning Kit works well. It's a citrus and petroleum based solvent.

Jigs can resemble baitfish or panfish as well. They will nail them anywhere. If the pond is fed by a year round stream it probably has a few crayfish anyway.

Should NOT be doing that, you got a DUD!

I had planned on buying one. But the reviews are not good and so I don't scrapped the plan. Get plenty of frog fish on my koppers, spros, and pad crashers just chugging them on the mats and walking them in more open spots.

I prefer a crankbait type rod on spinnerbaits as well. The BPS crankin stick is great for spinnerbaits, you can feel the bait's blades turning and thumping really well. Bass tend to HAMMER spinnerbaits and the slower action helps them take it in deep and stay pegged.

The Spook Jr. is my favorite walking bait.

I like a moderate action for all topwaters except frogs. The BPS crankin' stick is a good budget option. A 7' M for lighter poppers, and the 7' MH for heavier poppers and walking baits.

Suffix Siege and Original Stren.

Got my first topwater bass of the year last week here in Colorado on a Heddon Popn' Image. I start with a spinnerbait worked just beneath the surface and a floating minnow, then a popper, a walking bait, then a buzzbait, rage shad, and finally when the weeds get thicker in May, a frog.

Bandit 200, Excalibur Fat Free Fry, DT6, Original Wiggle Wart, Crankin Rap 8, and a Bomber Model 6A.

I only have the frogs, and they are very much worth it, my favorite frogs.

Fat Ika

3/0 or 4/0 EWG Gammy for full size, 1/0 EWG gammy for the junior, and a 7/0 EWG for the mag fluke.