iceintheveins

The cronarch is the best reel of all of those.

I use a 3/0 EWG gammy. Use a parasite weightless clip to keep the bait from sliding down the hook. A 4/0 superline hook will give you a bit of extra casting distance and a faster sink rate. www.parasiteweights.com

Yeah

Do the claws flap just like on a paca craw or chunk, despite the curly tail antennae?

I've really been on a creature bait blitz this year, they have probably produced more fish for me than any other soft plastic type. When do you guys choose a compact bait, ie a beaver, pit boss, or craw type bait? And when do you pick a longer, more streamlined bait like a brush hawg or rage hawg? I've done best on the compact type this year as a rule, but a couple times the brush hawg type bait has produced much better.

I have a such a good hook up rate on EWGs that they are basically all I use. Sometimes though a regular offset or straight shank comes through grass better, but since I can't use a parasite clip with them, the plastics get damaged and are harder to keep rigged straight.

Rage chunk is my favorite, but all of those work. Pacas seem to last the best though.

It can impede a fishes ability to feed and can on occasion be fatal. Never throw them overboard, but if they eat a plastic it isn't a certain death sentence. I've caught many with plastics in them, most of them were looking emaciated though, so I know it's not good for them at best.

Hmm a big trailer makes sense to slow the fall. I also really utilize jerkbaits this time of year as well. The only other hardbaits I throw are a lipless crank and a shad rap type crank this time of year.

When I'm saying cold, I mean water 52 - 60 degrees, so not bone chilling, more like early pre spawn, so late March and into mid April around here in Colorado.

I was wondering, what is your favorite jig trailer in cold water? Should I use something more subtle than a rage chunk, say a plain crawdad type trailer or perhaps even pork?

Terminators catch the most fish for me, followed closely by pepper hawg spinnerbaits from pepperjigs.com.

The PQ is hands down the best, I own five of them. In fact the old Curado E is only somewhat better, mostly with casting light baits, though the PQ does a fair job on that still.

The spinnerbait and the jig are the two most versatile lures in bass fishing. The jig can be fished slower and seems to work best for deep, inactive fish or fish in heavy cover. The spinnerbait can be fished quite slow along the bottom or burned along the top, and everything in between. Even early this year when the water was in the low 50s, a slow rolled spinnerbait outproduced a jig for me. But both are lures that need to be carried at all times and you need to learn to fish both.

Buzzbaits, rage shads, jitterbugs, prop baits, and big single spin spinnerbaits.

X2

I fish flukes pretty slow, acting like a dying baitfish. I throw them out, and let them sink to the desired depth. Lighter line (8 - 10 pound) test and a 3/0 - 4/0 hook will let you fish the depths with a fluke. After it sinks to the desired depth, just give it a twitch or two, and let it sink 3 - 10 seconds. Vary the amount and intensity of twitches, and the length of pauses. The longer you pause, the deeper you can work it. Hits are almost always on the pause, and generally you will see your line move away either slowly or quickly. A general rule of thumb is the fish slower in deep water, and faster in shallow water. The random darting action and the slow sink is generally the key to catching fish on this deadly lure.

Spinnerbaits, jigs, soft jerks.

Spinnerbait

They are fantastic buzzbait substitutes and in many places will outfish a buzzbait. They are something I always carry. They come through weeds and timber very well and the hookup rate is pretty good.

Three and Four inch senkos, Norman Deep Tiny N Crankbait, super fluke jrs., strike king bitsy bug jigs, tiny brush hawgs, and 3" curly tail grubs. Don't overlook inline spinners like Panther Martin #9s, or Mepps #3s.

Panther Martin #15, or a 3" tube on a 1/8 ounce head.

You can't go wrong with rage and paca chunks either.

Power pro! Go with at least 50 pound for frogging, and if you have lots of hawgs and very thick cover, step up to 65 pound.

Quit using pegs and start using parasite weights. Much more natural presentation and comes through clingy weeds much better. parasiteweights.com