iceintheveins

Roadwarrior is right ON!!! Fish Cavitrons and rage shads. Sometimes one works better than the other, so carry BOTH! I like some other buzzbaits (strike king elite, lunker lure, and accent hi - rider B2), but hands down Cavitron is best. IMO they are the Michael Jordan of buzzbaits, the undisputed best.

Yeah it works really well. With a bullet weight I peg it though (parasite weight), or I use a light split shot. With scattered grass and weeds, lighter is better. But with really heavy grass where you need to punch through, go heavy, at least 3/4 of an ounce.

Chompers, Yum, BPS, and Arkie.

4" senkos are good, but I also really like robo worms and reaction innovation's flirts, and of course the old standby zoom finesse worm. I rig the senko texposed weightless and the finesse worm types as a weedless split shot rig.

I prefer the creepy crawler by zoom for a jig trailer, but when fishing a plain jighead I like the yamamotos best. Chompers and many others make great double grubs though too.

I love the skitterpop, because you can vary the intensity and sounds you make with it better than any other popper, not to mention it walks the dog VERY well. A torpedo will catch fish though and is pretty versatile. How do you guys do best with torpedo's and other propbaits, just curious?

You can fish spinnerbaits on spinning reels and they will work fine. However I do believe casting reels are the best thing to throw them with. Go as light as 10 pound and as heavy as 20 pound. I use trailer hooks whenever the vegetation isn't too thick, though I don't use soft plastic trailers that often and think I should.

Bomber Model As, Bandits, Storm Wiggle Warts, Strike Kings, and Excalibur Fat Frees are awesome crankbaits and all are under $6.00 apiece.

Jordanelle is the best big smallie fishery in Utah, but I would say the overall best is Flaming Gorge. Better size than Powell. Powell is best for numbers.

So if I want a quality Utah trip I should pick sand hollow over quail?

I have three PQs and they are awesome. I would say the old Curado is barely any better and is another 80 bucks. They cast far and preventing backlashes is pretty easy. You just have to set the spool tension right, and use the least amount of braking possible to prevent overruns. These reels are smooth too. I don't think a better baitcaster is made for under $150.

X2. I don't like the action of a topwater with braid anyway, the lack of stretch makes it so easy to overwork it.

I am a big believer in big lure = BIG SMALLIE. Smallies are especially aggressive and will hit very surprisingly large baits.

Grubs, be they single, double or skirted. Green Pumpkin, white, watermelon ect.

Either crankbaits (be they lipless or diving) or finesse plastics (grubs, tubes, senkos).

Storm Wiggle Wart or a Bandit 300.

I don't cast lures under 1/4 ounce on baitcasters. But if you set the tension and spool brakes correctly, you can throw 1/4 ounce lures just fine on a baitcaster. I can throw a skitterpop at least 100 feet with my Curado and 10 pound line. Treat the line often with KVD L@L conditioner. Using a glass or composite rod helps too.

Go with mono, braid sucks for all topwater except frogs because it overworks the lure. I use 10 - 14 pound line for most poppers. Original stren is hard to beat as an all around line, especially when treated often with KVD line and lure conditioner.

I've only used the pit boss, and I really like it as a pitchin' and flippin' bait, but it works good for casting too with a lighter weight. Really good for working cover.

Megastrike. It does cover up bad scents like sunscreen. It makes a small difference.

Grubs are awesome, must have baits, ESPECIALLY in clear water when bass aren't that active. The Yamamoto 5" Double Hula Grub is my favorite, but I also really like Zoom's Salty Fat Albert, Yamamoto single and double tail, Berkley Power Grubs, Kalin's, and Mr. Twister Exude Grubs. The bigger grubs are great for fishing just like a plastic worm, the smaller ones for clearwater smallies.

I've had fish drive several hooks into my fingers, which sucks bigtime. By far though, the worst thing was when my 16 year collie english shepherd mix Ginger passed away from unknown causes, but probably old age while I was gone fishing. Still miss her terribly to this day. I also lost my 16 old border collie mix Sam, who passed away of his cancer at home with my mom while I was gone fishing. Wish I would have been there, as both died suddenly and unexpectedly while I wasn't there, as we thought both of them had quite a bit of time left before he started to suffer. I will miss them forever, but I am very lucky to have a wonderful young German Shorthair/Aussie Shepherd mix named Reiver.

Usually it happens after the postspawn period stops and the bass settle into summer patterns. However fishing is still good, just have to time it right.

Around here I notice the bite slows down during the day once water temps hit the low 70s and air temps are consistently in the high 80s. You can still catch them, it's just slower and less comfortable, not to mention the bite is much better in the evenings or early in the mornings. The high altitude sun here in Colorado is intense.

I use casting gear and 14 pound mono or fluoro for the 5" senko to give it that slow sink and shimmy. With the 4" senko, spinning gear and 8 pound line is just right. Anything of 5" or over calls for casting gear imo.