iceintheveins

KVD L and L ONLY!!! Increases casting distance and also helps prevent memory.

I fish 5" hula grubs a lot for both largemouth and smallmouth. In weedy or timbered areas, I rig them on a 1/0 EWG gammy and a 1/8 or 1/4 ounce parasite head, depending on depth. In areas without the weeds or brush, I use a football jighead of the same weight. I also use the Zoom Salty Fat Albert and fish it like a worm. A single tail grub almost can't be beat for shallow smallies, right up there with a tube. If they won't hit a bigger worm, creature, or lizard, go with a grub and you will probably start catching a few.

I like the 4.5" roboworm fat straight tail worm in baby bass. I don't drop shot much, but that's one of my favorite split shot worms.

Mend it rocks!!! Yes it will split a bait apart that's torn, but if you apply mend it to each end and line it up right, it will glue right back together. It saves me probably 100 bucks in extra plastics every year.

I really do well on zoom u tails and luck e strike hook tail worms in the 6" size. A 7" Berkley power worm is my favorite aggressive worm. When they want something subtle, a 4.5" robo worm fat worm, zoom's finesse worm and the luck e strike ring worm are my go to choice, on a split shot rig.

Yep, when you have pelagic forage like blue backs, speed up your retrieve. When you fish waters like mine where panfish are the primary food supply, slow down. Good rule of thumb.

I go with a MH graphite with a little bit of give for close in frogging or more sparse cover, since I am using braid and a little give helps. Go with a heavy action, 7' casting rod for heavy weeds and longer casts, since you need the power to set the hook and horse them out of the slop. Don't go too cheap on these graphite rods or you will get a pool cue action with NO give.

The PQ is an awesome reel, as good or better than reels costing two or three times as much.

Generally I use poppers in cloudy or around sunset and sunrise. I fish them pretty slow, alternating the length of my pauses and the intensity of the bloops and blips. Sticking to them at mostly these times and using this type of retrieve helps. A faster, skittering retrieve is best in lakes with lots of shad that are fast moving.

I use mono for both but fluoro is good for spinnerbaits. I prefer a moderate/soft action rod, basically a crankbait rod, unless I'm ripping free of a lot of grass. Since I make long casts I prefer a 7' rod. For spinnerbaits I use two reels. A 5.0:1 for slow rolling and a 6.4:1 for fast retrieves, using as light as 10 pound for 1/4 ounce baits and up to 17 pound for 1/2 ounce baits. Buzzbaits call for a 7.0:1 reel and 12 - 17 pound mono. Braid works in really heavy weeds but mono for all other applications.

I just wet wade, since most of my river fishing takes place in the warmer months in Colorado, from June through early October. Once the temps get cooler I just use neoprenes and fish comfortably even in winter.

It's hard to say no to a jig though too, but I think the spinnerbait gets the nod because it works better in low light conditions, and for covering water.

I catch tons of fish on spinnerbaits, even though they aren't my most productive lure overall (various plastics usually are). I just don't think you can get more versatility from another lure than a spinnerbait. They work fished slow, fished fast. Warm water, cold water. Clear water, murk water. You just can't go wrong throwing them and finding the correct retrieve and depth.

BPS rods are great, some of the very best for the price. I own six of them.

Bingo!

Learning jigs more.

Make sure its in the bed when she wakes up.

And they work plain texas rigged or even on a carolina rig.

A great bait for pitchin' to cover or punching through vegetation. Use a heavy weight for heavy vegetation and a light weight for pitchin'. In all three cases, use parasite weights.

Since I also fish channel cats, big trout, and pike in addition to bass, a smooth drag is a neccessity. When catching 4 pound smallies in swift river current, you will appreciate a smooth drag.

Zoom has a better color selection and their lizard is a bit more subtle than the rager. Why not carry both?

Stick that next to your wife!

BPS Crankin Stick

Spinnerbait

I use 5.0:1 or 5.2:1