flyingmonkie

I actually like to fish a bullet sinker on the end of dropshots - especially if I'm pulling through brush or rock. I slide the sinker on the line and then tie something on the end (bead, swivel, split ring) to keep it from sliding off. Sometimes, I'll just pinch a split shot on the end - they have the tendency to slip off in a snag, which can be good or bad.

Good for you for taking that lizzard out - might have done him a favor.

Probably got hot and melted together. I get all kinds of fun stuff when I leave stuff in the truck or in the sun.

Bubblegum senko baits are KILLER and one of my go-to's in the spring. Especially good for smallies. There was an article in the latest Bassmaster about them. I like a slightly less saturated bubblegum color, like on the Strike King Zero. A tiny bit more natural in my opinion

That's about as bad as I've seen. Did you catch any other bass? If it was just hungry, you'd likely catch other skinny ones.

Hold it close enough to the camera and you might get a Minn Kota hat.

Oh wow... that's kind of bizarre. Any other professional fisherman that have crossed over into mainstream entertainment?

NOT waitlisted! I'm confirmed! My first BASS open - i'm pretty excited. Anybody else going?

I'm with A-Jay... so many other factors in play... no easy answer. But if you want to deep dive into the topic, THIS is the place! Start searching the forum, as this has been hashed out nine ways from Sunday.

You know there is a silver lining to this, right? You're fishing completely unique colors! Embrace it.

White ice, pearl, watermelon, and the green sparkly ones w/black back. Love me some chartreuse dye on the tails of the first three.

I fish green pumpkin 80% of the time, so I'd expect to have roughly 80% the success.

I assume every body of water has fish in it. Fish come out of the ground like crawdads, right???

Been there before, brother. My condolences. :/ My advice: Fish hard dawn and dusk, and in between, get some live bait and a cooler of cold ones, relax, and enjoy nature.

HAHA! My observations align with that of Scott F. That being said, there has been a lot of research done around this, and there is evidence that lunar cycles impact fish activity. Impacts on fish feeding peak around the full and new moons, more specifically, when they are directly overhead or directly underfoot. It's just one more thing to work into our equation of seemingly infinite variables. I don't weight it very highly, though...

"Lucky...." ~ in my best Napoleon Dynamite impression.

i'm with papajoe... twitch some lightweight plastics. Fluke or senko would be my goto. Swim jig, bladed jig, or swimbait ticking off the top of the weeds should work too.

I pack my soft plastics based on anticipated water conditions and rarely look back. If I change anything, it'll be location/presentation. I'm more likely to change color on a hard plastic, but I usually need evidence (chasing fish or short strikes) to do that.

Experimenting with Kietechs on a 5/0 weighted EWG and willowleaf underspin. Like the way it looks, but the jury is still out. Using a 7' St. Croix MH/Mod and 30# flourobraid (sinking braid). Experimenting with that too...

Technically yes, it does matter. EVERYTHING matters! You're trying to get a wild animal to eat a piece of plastic, so the odds are already stacked against you. It's really a question of HOW MUCH line color matters. In my opinion, it matters less than line type and line weight. So my recommendation would be to choose the right type/size line for the job, and if you're afraid it's too visible, tie on a flouro leader.

I was in the same boat a few years back and had to devote some quality time to using jerkbaits. Now I rarely leave home without them! Like everything else, there is a confidence factor: focus a couple outings on jerkbaits only and get to know them a little better. Fall is my favorite time to use them. For the money, Smithwick Roques are near impossible to beat. I've also had good luck with Jackall, but they cost a bit more. If you're a bank fisherman, expensive hard plastics with three trebles can be a little frustrating. A weightless, t-rigged Senko or Fluke is a great substitute and can be fished with similar retrieves. Mastering them will set you up for jerkbait success.

I would have bought a nicer boat before I got married. Now, it's a freakin' act of congress!

HAHA! Looks like somebody has a thing for fire and senkos. I bought something very similar... was a worm specifically designed for wacky rigging, but had a protruding arm right in the middle so that you could t-rig your hook. Didn't ever fish it much...

I would still guess Cotton Cordell. I think I have 2/3 of those myself. Probably picked them up at Wal-Mart in the $1.96 box on the bottom shelf. They don't shimmy on the way down like a Red Eye, but rip one through a school of and nobody cares!

The only mod I do to my Siebert jigs is add a trailer. I had to cut off a few strands of weed guard on a batch of less awesome jigs I just recently bought. Too stiff... afraid I'd have a hard time hooking up.