iceintheveins

Few lures catch more bass for me than soft plastic jerkbaits like the fluke, bass assassin, or sluggo. Rig the 4" with a 1/0 EWG, the 5" with a 3/0 EWG, and the 7" with a 6/0 EWG. The lighter of line you fish them on, the deeper they will sink, and you can fish a dying baitfish lure fairly deep that way. I usually fish them on 8 - 10 pound test unless the cover is super thick. Throw them out and let them slowly sink to your desired depth. Then give them a sharp twitch with the rod tip, but it doesn't have to be too hard. Let them sink more, and vary the length of your pauses between jerks, and sometimes do two or three twitches instead of three. Get into the mindset of a dying minnow and you will bag the bass bigtime as long as the water is fairly clear.

I bought the kit a while back and the worms are awesome, with great curly tail action. I have been catching lots of bigger bass on them lately, especially the green pumpkin. Very, very worth while. The centipedes, lizards, soft jerkbaits, and razor worms are awesome too. The jogger worm, their version of the senko, is rather stiff but it's durable and still catches em.

All I can say is the rage shad outfishes my buzzbaits, and I catch lots of nice bass on buzzbaits.

I prefer a somewhat flexible rod, but with a faster action than crankbaits. I usually use a 6'6" medium graphite casting rod for most spinnerbaits. Heavy cover or bigger spinnerbaits (over 1/2 ounce) call for a faster action and heavier power. Many crankbait rods make good spinnerbait rods IMO.

I fished a spro jr. out of the package the other day and it only took on a little water. I put a dab of megastrike on the hook hole and that seemed to help quite a bit. Even caught a 2 pounder on my only strike and that didn't effect it at all.

It could have been any number of things, or the bass had a smaller strike window and he managed to get this bait in there. A senko is often the best or one of the best lures you can use, but other lures work better in many conditions. I do think rate of fall was probably the biggest factor. I have always found that the less weight you use, the better. With deep water or thick cover you need heavier weights though.

I use poppers when the water is calm to little chop, and turn to buzzbaits when its getting darker or I need to cover more water. Prop baits are better than poppers in choppy conditions, and spooks are what I turn to when action from the bait rather than noise is the key.

I use a 2/0 or 3/0 EWG gammy with the zoom u-tail.

I have caught plenty of bass on colors that resemble nothing that exists in nature.

We don't have any shad in western colorado, panfish and crayfish are the main forage. So I use a lot of bluegill patterns on cranks, and baby bass is a great color too.

My favorite suspending jerkbait by far. I use them mostly with the water below 60 degrees though.

Casting reels wrestle fish out of cover better for sure. However most plastics applications where I'm not using a heavy weight, I go with spinning gear. A 5" senko fishes nicely with a 2/0 hook on casting gear with 12 pound line though.

Has anyone here ever pegged a sinker to the Ika and worked it through thicker weeds?

Slow retrieve usually unless you have shad or other pelagic forage skittering across the surface. I will throw it out, let the ripples die, give it a pop, pause it for 5 - 10 seconds and then pop it once or even twice again. Vary the intensity of bloops and vary the length of your pauses.

Fantastic reel, best baitcaster for under $100 in existance. Smooth, casts light baits well, and seldom has a serious backlash.

I have a pro qualifier I just got a couple months ago to use as a froggin' reel. I have the 6:4:1 gear ratio and have it spooled with 50 pound power pro. It is a very smooth reel that casts even a 5/16 ounce frog a long ways. I have had only a couple small backlashes with it. It's smooth and awesome. One of the best reels for your buck. Haven't used the Citica but have heard it's an awesome reel, about the same or slightly better than the PQ. It's cheaper than the Curado but I've heard the Curado is worth the money and might be the best under $200 baitcaster made.

Pepper Hawg, from pepper custom baits!

I use the 2 3/4" skitterpop as my favorite popper. You would be AMAZED at the number of 4" - 6" bass you catch on it, not to mention some nice bluegill. So yes, even a 3" + popper is good for average bass.

I thought of that one too and was going to try it.

I fish quite a few finesse baits. Small cranks, especially #4 or #5 shad raps and risto raps, 4" senkos, 3" tubes or curly tails, centipedes, super fluke juniors, and 4" worms, especially power worms or ring worms. I will fish these lures on 6 to 8 pound test and medium spinning gear.

I use the senko when I want a quicker fall and the fish are holding a bit deeper. The senko is worked slower with less intense twitches and more of a dragging type motion. Flukes and other soft jerks are a bit different. I fish them with harder twitches and let them sink, then twitch them again. Get into the mindset of a dying baitfish or panfish when fishing soft jerks. They sink slower and have a more erratic action. I use both types of lure a lot. Last trip the senko didn't work that well but the fluke nailed 'em.

Here in Colorado the bigger females have already moved off the deeper weededges and I have been catching a lot of 3 - 5 pound fish on 6" plastic worms. Also got a good one on a Bomber Fat A the other day, that runs about 8' - 10' on 10 pound test. So yup, deep crankin' time is here. In the deeper lakes I will run Mann's 15 plus and Excalibur fat frees.

The spro can take on water pretty bad, but they do draw a LOT of strikes. The poppin' spro doesn't take on water nearly as bad and walks the dog a lot easier. I have also tried the Mad Maxx frog, and the drain it has keeps the water out, and it walks better than the spros. Haven't had any strikes on it yet but only fished it once. Natural green is my favorite spro color.

I like to peg a weight to a tube and fish them in and around weeds and brush. When they hit the bottom, jiggle and shake it to get the tentacles moving. Retrieve them back with slow hops. The other way I fish them is in open water on a jighead. Only slide the insert head in about half way and you will get a very erratic, spiraling drop. Tubes are one of the best imitations of both a baitfish or a crayfish available in one lure, and sometimes appeal to bass more than curly tail grubs when a different look is needed.

A great soft jerk, they sink a little slower than a fluke but have a little bit more wiggle. Rig them texposed with an EWG hook. Throw them out and let them sink slowly to your desired depth, and work them back with a series of twitches and pauses, varying the amount and intensity of the twitches and the length of the pauses.