ChrisD46

I saw the above soft plastic shad in a web article + saw it on TW where by a guy used it as a chatter bait trailer (4" version) - although it appears to work in other applications as well such as jig head , drop shot , etc. ... Anyone tried this soft plastic Japanese shad ? Your impressions ?

*The bait monkey merely draws attention to sales for you so you can: "round out your lure portfolio" ... He means no harm

* +1 - best kept secret for Zoom baits in rare colors !! ... Nice folks too .

1/0 EWG hook for Senko = wacky rigged only !

I also like how the 360 Angler comes apart in minutes for storage . I would add a Ray Marine Dragon Fly GPS / Fish Locator and a Yakima Rock & Roll 78 trailer which also comes apart in minutes for storage - I could tow the whole thing behind a Toyota Pirus if I had to ! ...Lastly , besides adding Scotty or Ram mounts and a Go Pro is in order so I can punk my family and friends showing them that I have left the reservation and am now living the dream !

The above "watercraft" is a new operation by Jackson Kayak ... This thing is unreal and answers most of the questions / concerns I have with present fishing kayaks (i.e. stability , ease of getting into and out of , seat height , flexibility , fish ability , performance , etc.) Yes , it isn't cheap but in line with Native Craft and Hobie kayaks ... If I can't afford a decent aluminum bass boat when I retire then this 360 Angler will be what I revert to !

*Great ball head choice !

*While there are other choices for Ned jig heads now - one feature of Gopher jig heads was having more lead weight which made up the bait keeper versus all the weight at the head only - gave a different glide pattern ...

*Don't want to sound like I was on a soapbox or anything - past military culture being "it's about the person on the left and right of you" mindset ... Accentuating the positive - lots of great products out there to block the sun being manufactured now ! ... I like a loose collard button down short sleeve sun block shirts(currently Magellan Laguna Madre brand) , arm sleeves and gloves along with either a Buff or wide brim Tommy Biffle hat topped off with polarized sun glasses or auto photo gray UV glasses early or late in the day . *Form fitting sun block shirts don't work for me - makes me look like a "save the whales" promotion .

I personally appreciate this thread : I now have to go to the Demonologist twice a year to have pre-cancerous spots removed from my arms , back of hands , head , face and ears . Usually the total is "in the teens" now with respect to the number of spots burned off or if bad enough - cut out ... Last year was 37 spots removed in 12 months . Just last week I was "delighted" that I left with ONLY six spots that had to be burned off leaving the areas mentioned above swollen discolored or blistered . Even when the areas heal - the first thing people do when they meet me is stare at my discolored / disfigured hands and arms . I'm in my early 60's now and did a poor job of sun scree protection when younger on the water in Florida and now have the above regiment to look forward to the rest of my life . **I urge all my Bass Brothers here to please not be a knuckle head like I was in my youth - cover up ! The information regarding skin cancer is plentiful now as well as sun protected clothing and topical lotions are abundant ... Don't be : "That guy" - don't be like me .

Good to hear ! ... The Max Scent D - Worm in GP would be my starting point for sure . Not available locally yet so would have to order on line .

Not sure what size WP you went with but I would go up to #20 lb. power pro braid for more shock absorption : If you a situation with #10lb. braid where your line snags on a rod guide (wind knot) , becomes temporarily buried in the spool , or any other situation where your line snags for just a split second - the result will be your WP will go sailing across the water , into trees , etc. making it unlikely you will get the WP back . *While #10 lb. braid is strong - it does not do so well sudden stoppage with a weight at the end (i.e. poor shock strength) .

The Maxscent D-Worm I think would be of interest for shaky head , Neko and drop shot .

Get more of the worm with your hook (along with your o-ring ) ; VMC #2 Neko hooks ...

1) Monkey Butt , Phantom Shad (or other see-thru / transparent color ) 2) Bone or I Know It (light non see-thru / opaque color) 3) Loon (dark color) The above would give you a great starting point - personal preference would be in the WP 110 size as it is a nice size and weight to get started if or until you decide you want to try the WP 130 or the new WP 75 . I would pass on the WP 90 size as functionality / ease of use was improved on the WP 110 and then later when the WP 75 came out .

Glenn , using the Hit Worm on a shaky head (as you show) - could you observe if the tail floated up at all ?

I credit a member here (smalljaw67) for teaching me everything I have learned about fishing swing jig heads : *Think of as a crank bait substitute crashing into bottom structure with a hard , abrupt deflection. *Need a heavy action , extra fast tip bait cast rod to get that hard , rapid jig deflection without the rod loading up . *Bait Cast reel of 6:3:1 is fine. *A low stretch , abrasion resistant co-poly or FC line is best (I use Spider Wire #14 lb. Ultimate Mono) *Jig head weights of 1/4th oz. ~ 3/8th oz. get used the most . *You want enough weight for bottom contact with structure but not so much that it digs too deeply into the bottom. *For trailers use Craws , Beavers , Creature and even worms in Green Pumpkin , Watermelon Red , Junebug and Black & Blue colors work well. There may be other ways to use a swing jig head , however above is how I use it effectively ... Google : "Tommy Biffle - Biffle Bugging and Hard Head System" for more details ... *Smalljaw67 probably taught Tommy Biffle all he knows about the swing jig headfor bass as well (lol) !

Good local comments from Jig man & Ranger Jockey - interesting !

I appreciate the comments ! ... All too often in the South you hear : "Any color will work - as long as it's Green Pumpkin" . This true more often than not - but then you step outside the box with maybe a Watermelon Red and a June Bug (which a lot of us do down here) . To me , a "wild card" color (such as Table Rock) could have a place in the line up when you want to mix it up a little to show bass something a little different that all bass species should eat .

I will say - besides the YZ Hybrid line I mentioned earlier as a co-poly example , I have used the Ultra Green in #10 lb. before and was impressed with knot strength, handling and the color disappeared quite well in the reservoirs I fish ... *Perhaps I'll wait a bit as Team9nine indicated BEFORE I go out and buy like 4 different line sizes - as I did with the brand new P-Line Floroclear thinking I found a bargain FC line replacement ... Most of us know how P-Line Floroclear turned out (lol !)

Mid - West Guys (or others with experience ) please chime in : I recently saw a shaky head worm color that caught my eye which I had not seen before ... It was transparent part pale green and part pale purple / violet and named : "Table Rock" color , so I bought a pack of shaky head worms in this color to try . What I found interesting was depending on the light and water clarity - this "Table Rock" color would take on different nuances of greens / purples (the word "iridescent" comes to mind) ... Moving on , I surmise this color was developed by the local mid - west experts who fish the famous , mostly clear Table Rock lake as being the before mentioned transparent pale green / purple color for spotted bass and large mouth bass ? ... *Is the "Table Rock" soft plastics color equally effective on both types of bass or primarily for spotted bass in clear water situations ? Lastly , I assume this Table Rock color was developed to imitate some form of local shad or minnow forage there in the Table Rock lake region ? ... Thanks in advance for replies for those with experience using this Table Rock color or have history of the color origin as much of what I state above is just pure conjecture on my part .

Recent trends show specialty FC and braided lines to be the current rage - however I read that at this year's ICAST show the above subject line from Sufix drew a lot of pro's attention : First it claims 50% less stretch , better knots , better sensitivity and better manageability than prior mono lines and comes in a new low - visibility green color . At the lower test lb. ranges #6 & #8 I looked at it was very close in size (slightly thinner) than Yo-Zuri Hybrid but not quite as thin as Seaguar or Sunline FC lines in the same sizes . I see this line could possibly fill a niche for fishermen wanting to move away from FC line but don't want to use a braded line . As for me , I plan to test against a couple of copoly lines (YZ Hybrid & Spiderwire Ultimate Mono) to see how I like the knot strength , sensitivity and overall behavior of this new line . *At 50% less price than FC lines it may be attractive enough to use in other applications than the typical top water usage ... Your thoughts ?

The new Berkley Power max line of baits are a different deal for sure (material wise) ... The Green Pumpkin color in the General is a great place to start and does look good in the water with action as such described by the OP ... I just haven't put them in an area where bass are yet or tested in detail (that's on me !)

For what it's worth - I first bought the WP90 size but wasn't in love with the design rolling on me , having coming up to plane issues , etc. I then moved to the WP110 and find the design more satisfactory and a bit more ideal in size for spotted bass than the WP130 (although I'm sure spots will probably hit the WP130 as well) ... *This may sound controversial but I'm losing confidence in the WP being a bit of a one trick pony with that one constant retrieve speed which is deemed optimal ... How soon before bass get conditioned to stay away from hitting it ? The more erratic nature of walk the dog baits and poppers (or hybrid lures that do both) are more appealing to me at present and thus improve my confidence . Your results may be different so I urge you to try the WP110 but I would limit to just Bone , Loon and maybe Monkey Butt which should cover most of your needs until you see how you do with it (after a fair evaluation) .

Anybody held or used the new silver / grey color Lew's Custom Speed Lite HM85 spinning rods ? ... They have a few technique specific spinning rods (i.e. dock sniper , drop shot & shaky head) which look interesting and at an approx. $169 would put them in a category well below technique specific spinning rods from G. Loomis and St. Croix LTB series . *With HM85 blanks you would have to think they would be extremely sensitive for finesse application and the Winn grips are a plus - your thoughts and experiences ?