adam32

I've seen a lot of returned reels in the display cases at dicks, so I would be skeptical.

Jig-n-pig!!

One of my best winter smallmouth baits is a 3" black senko fished on a small jig head. I went to order some more of them and the Yamamoto site only shows 3"slim senkos and 3" fat senkos. All the ones I've used in the past just say 3" Yamasenko on the bag. Does anyone know if the slim senko is the same thing? I'm thinking maybe they changed the name to slim senko when they came out with the fat version. I emailed Yamamoto, but haven't heard back. Thanks for any info!

I'll be out this weekend also, but I'll be dragging hair jigs in high 30's water temps. No topwaters for me.

Absolutely! Chug bugs will draw some heart stopping explosions for sure especially from riverine smallmouth.

Buzzbaits are hard to beat. For walk the dog baits spooks and sammy's are my go-to. As for topwaters in winter, it's possible depending on water temperature. I wouldn't waste my time throwing a topwater around here when water temps are in the 30's and 40's. Sure it may be possible to catch a fish on top but there are much better options.

Chartreuse shad, ghost minnow.

The big musky size black jitterbug is my favorite night time bait for river smallies.

Lucky Craft Sammy Second place wouod be a rapala floating minnow. Not really a topwater but at times it's deadly just twitched on the surface. No other topwater bait even comes close to the number of fish I've caught on a buzzbait though!

Daiwa sol spinning reels.

I have old spit n image jr baits still in the package from when they first came out, before they were made by heddon. They say excalibur on the package. Never seen one that says Xcaliber.

I've used those strike king river bugs as trailers and they work great. Only problem is they are a walmart exclusive bait (which in my opinion is stupid) and can be hard to find. Janns netcraft sells the identical bait called the sweet craw jr.Try an erie darter jr as a trailer on your bitsy bugs. Awesome little finesse trailer!

I'm sure that some stores still have them. My problem is none of the stores within a hundred miles of me have any, including bass pro, cabelas, or dicks. Boohyah has been out of stock on these jigs since last spring. I can find the black and blue ones but that's it. I'm looking for the 3/16 size in 3d green pumpkin mainly. My absolute favorite jig for river smallmouth.

It's no stranger than the giant treble hooks hanging off of it. Sure it will catch fish!

The image line of baits first came out from Excalibur then switched to heddon if i remember right. They used to make a spit n image jr which was a great little wtd bait! The older Excalibur versions had rotating black nickel trebles.

I'm always finding xculibur baits for cheap! Bought all the xculibur jerk baits and rattle baits that dicks had last fall for under 3 dollars each. Well worth it!! The poppers are great too. I bought a bunch of the huge sized gaudy blue and chartreuse colored square bills in those bargin boxes at walmart. The smallies absolutely kill those big square bills in my local river!

Here's what I want to know.... What happened to booyah! I've been trying to buy some baby boo jigs and they've been out of stock for 8 months now!

Erie darter jr's are becoming one of my favorite jig trailers for river smallies when the water temps are in the 30's.

I'm really suprised at all the buzzbait responses! Definitely my favorite bait, especially for river smallmouth.

I really like the cabelas guidewear I have. Plus it's hard to beat cabelas warranty.

Latex gloves under a pair of jersey gloves with the finger tips cut off. Keeps your hands warm even if they get wet. A thin coating of vasoline on your hands under the latex gloves helps also. Also do NOT wear any cotton for your base layer... socks, pants, shirt. You want something that will wick moisture away from your skin.

The smallest yum craw papi, which I'm not sure if it has been discontinued or what. 3" chigger craw before berkley changed them. 3" berkley crazy legs chigger craw with the legs trimmed off, which are now also discontinued. I liked to fish these on a 3/16 booyah baby boo jig, which I can't find anymore either! They have been out of stock everywhere for almost a year! So I'm in the market for a new finesse jig trailer.

I buy it where I can find it, and when I find what I want I buy a bunch. It's getting harder to find anything I want locally. The bass pro and cabales near me are a joke when it comes to tackle. When the DSG opened near me a few years ago the had a TON of tackle. Now they just have one isle of stuff that's not even worth looking at. Lately even when I go to order something online I have to go searching. It seems like everything I want is always out of stock. 15-20 years ago I could get pretty much anything I wanted locally, not anymore.

Well i just tried to order some craw papi's and noticed that tw doesn't have them at all anymore. I hope yum hasn't discontinued them completely.

Reels-Daiwa and Lew's Rods- St.Croix and Falcon