ChrisD46

I like what Bluebasser86 has to say about the winter Tokyo Rig retrieve as bass tend to relate to the bottom more in cold water at deeper depths . Good lure choices also. ... I might also try a ZMan soft plastic craw , StreakZ / Z-Too (straight tail shad) or stick worm on a slow drag & stop retrieve for a little more action on the pause . If you want to use a paddle tail I'd opt for a tighter tail action like a 4" Keitech Easy Shiner ... After that , the other 6 rods you might have on deck for the bottom would be a mop jig with living rubber skirt / Rage Craw trailer, a Gene Larew "Biffle Bug" swing head jig , a C-Rig with a finesse worm or Strike King Zoro / Z-Man ZinkerZ , a Scrounger jig head with a Zoom standard 4" Fluke on the back , an underspin with a Keitech Easy Shiner or straight tail shad like the Z Too or StreakZ trailer and lastly - and lastly a drop shot with a 3.75" Z Too / Streak Z and a short dropper length ( 4" ~ 6") ; 1/4th oz. weight ... *Rotate through those winter set up options and it will be pre-spawn before you know it ! ?

When you say : "light wire 2/0 standard worm hook" are you referring to a straight shank worm hook or an offset worm hook ?

Thank you - I too was going to quote what Aaron Martens used to do with his drop shot hooks and soft plastics , it also gave the nose hooked bait a slightly different look when nose hooking a worm , shad , etc. Aaron's way ...

For those that no longer drop shot nose hooked baits is the main reason due to lost / attrition rate of soft plastics or for another reason ? Tom , specifically for the standard , thin Robo Worm in 4.5" and 6" what size Mosquito drop shot hook do you prefer ? The original thin Robo Worm is very thin - a bit thinner I believe than say a Zoom Finesse Worm so would you reduce size from the #1 down to a #2 or even a #4 size Mosquito hook ?

Do you find the Owner Mosquito curved "beak" hook tip hampers your hook up rate in any way ? Curious about the reasoning behind Owner's curved tip of this hook versus a straight hook tip like the Decoy or Owner Mosquito Light straight hook tip as far as hook up ratio is concerned ?

I appreciate the replies - I dug further into this subject and it seems more people have moved away from the traditional Gamakatsu Drop Shot / Split shot hooks due to due to losing fish from lack of gap between the hook point and hook eye due to the way the hook is constructed . I just bought the Owner Mosquito Light in a #1 size to try and will end up also adding the #2 and maybe the #4 size for nose hooking Robo Worms , small straight tail shad / minnow baits and for drop swimming 3" paddle tail swim baits . The Decoy Shot Rig Hook in sizes #1 ,#2 & #3 appear to be similar to the Owner Mosquito Light hooks (I do like the wider bite of both company's drop shot hooks) . For T-Rigging the Robo Rebarb Hook #1 as well as the Owner Cover Shot #1 would now be on my short list to try .

Perhaps the Nichols Indiana blades being thinner / lighter may start up faster and spin better at slower speeds than the heavier Indiana blades made by other manufacturers ?

For nose hooking drop shot baits - what are your favorite size(s) of drop shot hooks ? I know it depends on the drop shot hook manufacturer but currently I'm leaning towards the size #1 and size #2 drop shot hooks in the Gamakatsu Drop / Split Shot and Owner Mosquito / Mosquito Lite series... What one or two size drop shot hooks are your go to most often when nose hooking baits for drop shot ?

Site member (Tom) introduced me to Testors enamel paint for jig heads in small bottles found in crafy and hobby stores . They have a few whites , blacks , reds , oranges , browns , blues , etc. One of my favorites is a color called "Rubber" which is a purple brown mix that looks natural .

My Academy store just removed the H2O line (what was left) and replaced the whole aisle with miscellaneous fishing supplies ... Not a good sign as I see nothing making me think the H2O line is coming back any time soon ?

*Top water Rapala Floating Minnow , Bang-O-Lure Floating Minnow , Bomber Long A Floating Minnow , etc. all were popular at one time but fell out of favor as newer lures and tactics came about ... I say it's time for a return !

Zell Rowland and other noted top water masters used to routinely modify (sand) the lips of top water poppers to get that "spitting" water action they wanted - have you ever experimented with doing the same OR have you found a popper that "spits" the same coming right out of the box as a modified popper ?

Good tips - when I trim a weed guard down I may also remove a couple of fiber strands as well of the weed guard so it's not overly stiff once I've trimmed the weed guard shorter (just past the hook point).

For grins , I'll still fish them (Zoom Swim'n Fluke Jr.) but my Blue Glimmer is now this weird Blue Glimmer / Tennessee shad color ... Yes , I will contact Zoom and share what they have to say about the colors turning Tan .

I've noticed my Zoom Disco and Blue Glimmer color soft plastics turn a tan color while in storage - all are in their original packaging kept in a cool , dry , dark area ... Anyone experience the same or know the reason ? *My hypothesis is that there is something in the composition of those specific Zoom colors that makes them turn a tan color after a certain amount of time in storage . I have also seen three different tackle stores show the same Zoom colors turning a tan color while on store pegs waiting to be sold - so I know it's not an isolated occurrence . Interesting to note I have not experienced this issue with other Zoom colors - just the Disco color series and especially the Blue Glimmer colors having this issue . I won't be buying any more of these specific Zoom colors UNLESS the objective is to use them up right away - but definitely not for any type of extended storage (i.e. a few months+) .

Starting to experiment more with the drop shot : For the standard Robo Worms straight tail worms (4.5" & 6") , do you prefer to rig using the nose hook method or wacky rig ? My application will be more of horizontal casting the drop shot set up in waters 3' to 10' with say a 14" dropper then working the rig back to me (if that information helps).

Apply a light coat of clear spray adhesive (art supply) then sprinkle a little silve glitter on one side and gold glitter on the other side. Add an Owner Hyper Wire split ring (#3) and sub out the treble hook for a single 1/0 ~ 3/0 trailer hook .

*Good comments ... The 2.8" is perhaps most deadly on a small jig head with a #2 or #1 size hook making it easier to rig .

After further research - this somewhat pricey offering in the 1/8th oz. #2 hook size may fit : https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Zappu_Bredy_Weedless_Underspin_2pk/descpage-ZBWUS.html

For the smallest Keitech FAT Swing Impact swimbaits (2.8") - what brand and size weighted swimbait hooks for a weedless option are you using ? ... At a quick glance , the Owner Flashy Swimmer in the smallest 1/0 size may work (probably better on the Keitech FAT 3.3" though) ... Your thoughts and experiences for a weighted , weedless hook rigging option for the Keitech FAT 2.8" ?

I'd say a Big Bite Baits Trick Stick or Yum Dinger 5" rigged on a 4/0 EWG hook and a pegged bullet weight (1/4th oz. +) may be the best "get no respect" flipping bait going !

Safe to say that as the water warms , you can go up to larger size swim baits. For colder water or pressured situations then downsizing your swimbait would be in order . Although I have larger swimbaits , for late Fall up to Pre-Spawn I will focus in that 2.75" ~ 3.3" swimbait size range . For grins , I do have a 4.8" Gizzard Shad color swimbait that I may put into play in a lake I know has larger Gizzard Shad populations .

Beyond a "match the hatch" theory - what criteria do you use to select paddle tail swimbaits (Keitech FAT Swing Impact , Strike King Rage Swimmer, etc.) from say the 2.75" size up to 4.75" from Fall through Winter and up into Pre-Spawn ?

*I've watched some Elite Pros who trim a silicone skirt trailer cutting individual strands to uneven lengths with such precision it's like watching a Jig skirt haircut ! ... Always been curious if the bass notice ?

Has anybody tried the new Abu Garcia - Jordan Lee brand rods yet ($99) ? At the same price point as the Abu Garcia Veritas , I am curious if the rod ratings will be similar (i.e. slightly stiff for rating) which is how I would describe the Veritas rod ratings ?