iceintheveins

Nothing has the same action as an X - rap, you can't replace them.

I have had pretty good experiences with BPS lures. Their plastics are really awesome, not to change the subject.

They are probably the best vertical jigging spoon in existance, and using a retrieve with snaps thrown in can be good for deepwater bass too.

The zoom creepy crawler is a good un.

I would go with bigger plastic worms, say 6" - 8", and also lizards. Buzzbaits are good big bass baits as well.

Zoom is the lizard king, and for that matter most soft plastics. Have done well on power lizzies too though.

Wiggle warts, bomber fat As, rebel wee rs, and bandits. Also like bagleys honey bees and diving killer bees.

The bass pro hardbaits are pretty good if you buy their more expensive ones. The bps XPS rattle shad is actually my favorite lipless crank, and the BPS XPS deep running nitro crank, along with the nitro shad dancer, are some of my better cranks as well.

I like the rage tail tiny chunk, the smaller gene larew salt craws, and Zoom's smaller twintail trailer. A #11 pork frog is good for the heavy end of finesse jigs too.

I've used both the brush hogs and the power hogs. I like both but will reach for the power hawg if a smaller bait is needed. Do you guys usually peg the sinker to these since they are mostly a heavy cover bait?

The skitterpop in frog or lime frog is my best producing topwater, followed closely by the cavitron buzzbait and the rage shad. All three catch a lot of bass for me.

I get the spro to walk but it's a pretty subtle walk. The spro popper and the Mad Maxx walk the dog much easier. I use 50 pound braid and a 7' heavy action casting rod.

They are good cranks but I don't like the suresets. I do wish they made a smaller body in the DTs to match smaller panfish that bass around here often feed on.

I fish soft baits a little bit more than hard baits, but I use both every trip. If I'm not finding bass or sure where they are at I will use hard baits, and I ALWAYS have a topwater on during morning and evening twillight periods. If I'm sure bass are in the area though I'm generally using plastics. Probably about 60% plastics and 40% hardbaits for me.

So far the spro bronze eye jr. has produced the most bass for me, but action wise and thanks to the drain, I like the Madd Maxx an awful lot. I always carry scumfrog poppers and they catch lots of fish too.

Generally cheap and low quality, with the exception of the Ugly Stick line. The ugly stick lites make decent crank and topwater rods, and the heavier ugly sticks are good for large, hard hitting fish like pike or catfish. The reels are utter junk though.

The plastic worms have caught the most fish for me, but the centipede is pretty lethal on a carolina rig.

A little file hone is good to touch up hooks, but sharpening hooks is pretty tough for me, I sometimes ruin them, but by the time they need a lot of sharpening, it's best to just replace them.

You want a faster action than some crank rods to be able to jerk it free of weeds that cling. But most plastics rods are too stiff for spinnerbaits. Buzzbait rods IMO need to be about like a crank stick.

Trilene XL stinks, period. Brittle stuff that degrades fast in sunglight. Switch to original stren or P - Line CX Premium. Yo zuri hybrid ultrasoft gets good reviews too. P - Line CXX premium is the best heavy cover line around, but needs some KVD line and lure to be more manageable.

Fluoroclear develops memory fairly quickly, but I really like P - Line's CX Premium in the clear blue fluorescent. It is only a little less tough than the CXX and casts way better, with little memory. Performs even better with KVD Line and Lure. The regular hybrid is pretty stiff but does hold up well. Haven't tried the ultra soft yet.

KVD is the best by far and I can assure you it is worth every penny!

I can throw a 5/16 ounce frog a long ways and I use 50 pound power pro spooled on a BPS pro qualifier. Braid throws at least as well as mono of the same diameter.

I throw smaller cranks, 1/4 ounce or lighter, on spinning gear with a Browning Silaflex rod, medium action, 6'6" long. Heavier cranks or deep runners call for casting gear and 10 pound test.

It is the right idea to match the forage with a presentation that is reasonably in the ball park as far as color, size, and behavior go. But you don't have to have an exact match. Don't overlook using live craws and live minnows though. Live bait catches em when it's real tough.