TheSmilingSwordsman

As I posted the other day, they had Rage Tail Anacondas for only 99 cents. I cleaned them out.

I am finally the guy who found an amazing deal. Tonight I went by the Academy in Lubbock, TX just to kill some time. I stumbled across some Rage Tail Anaconda's in June Bug for only 99 cents. ONLY 99 CENTS!!! Naturally, I bought all 5 packages. I don't know if any other stores are clearing them out, but it may be worth it for some of you guys to go check it out. Hopefully this helps someone out. ONLY 99 CENTS!!!

My biggest was on a Strike King 3/8 Sexy Shad spinnerbait. The only fish I caught on that spinnerbait all year in a small pond that has 100s of carp and almost no bass.

My first artificial was a chrome black-back Rat-L-Trap. There are a million of them so I wasn't particularly attached to it. I do however keep a good stock of them in my tackle box.

Lubbock, TX just got a Cabela's Outpost. It is on par with our Gander Mountain but with more hype. I still primarily use Academy and the occasional online purchase for my fishing gear and my local gun store blows them out of the water on gun prices.

H20 Express Square Bills - Always seem to work. Berkley Havoc Pit Boss - Great colors and designs for a great price. Zoom Finesse Worms - A large bag 'o worms that flat out catch fish.

Zoom Baby Brush Hogs!!

The little lake I fish has a lot of matted plants. I don't yet have a rod and reel set up heavy enough for punching mats. What I do have is a MH/Fast casting rod (1/4-3/4 oz) and a M/M spinning rod. I had limited success with a buzzbait when it started raining but that ended with the rain, I caught a couple of dinks with a Hula-Pop-R and I broke off my leader when I caught a fish while T-Rigging a Pit Boss in the holes I found in the matting. What are my other lure/technique options for either pulling the bass away from the mats or actually getting down to the fish underneath given the equipment I own?

3/8 Brush Jig

I assume that you are bank fishing. If that is the case, I would suggest crankbaits, swimbaits, t-rigged plastics and spinnerbaits. I would also recommend drop-shotting if the amount of cover and structure allows. I love fishing Siebert jigs, but when I fish from the shore in small waters I tend to lose them, so lean more heavily on t-rigged plastics.

Bottom contact. Jigs, t-rigs, and shallow dropshotting.

Pretty much everything I know about fishing comes from either guys on this forum or from YouTube videos like Glenn's. I came into this thing having almost no luck because I would go out in the middle of the summer and throw around a few crankbaits and a few spinners out in the middle of the lake hoping to catch something. I have since learned that summer fishing sucks, bass tend to live on the edges near structure rather than out in to open, various rigging methods, how to use soft plastics, jigs, and a baitcaster. I have gone from hoping to catch a fish, any fish really, to expecting to catch multiple fish while targeting larger bass. I now check these forums multiple times throughout the day and intentionally clear time from my schedule to fish. I have also learned enough that I can now teach others how to catch fish.

Dredge Brush Jig in Blue Craw!!!!!!!!!

I would also suggest the H2O Express square billed Crankbaits as well as the Rat-L-Trap lipless crankbaits. As far as colors go, it really depends on the water you are fishing. Although, with crankbaits I'm not sure how important color really is to a bass this time of year. I like me natural colors as well as chromes and whites.

If I want a weight I just use a heavier swivel.

Baitfish Watermelon Red Flake White Ice

T-rigged Brush Hogs Lipless Cranks Drop Shot I love using jigs but I lose way to many when bank fishing.

I have just begun to explore the spinnerbait. I know that there is a time and a place for various retrieval methods, so far I have had the most luck with jigging the spinner and slow rolling it along the bottom. What retrieval technique do you have the most confidence in?

War Eagle spinners.

I seem to buy a lot of KVD branded products only because he seems to have his picture pasted all over the place.

Dang it! This reminds me that I meant to order a Siebert spinner with my most recent order. Oh well. I don't fish spinners very often. Of the ones I have tried I have had the most success with Stanley and Strike King. I haven't yet tried War Eagle or any custom jobs yet. Maybe I'll try to pick some up soon for my fall fishing.

My recommendation: Siebert Outdoors 3/8 Dredge Brush Jig in Blue Craw with a green pumpkin craw trailer. I was in your shoes not long ago. I took the advice of others and ordered a Drege Jig 5 pack from Siebert in order to get a few of the most popular colors. Initially, I had no idea what would work best for my lake but by trying out a number of different jig colors, I have developed a pretty intense confidence in the Blue Craw colored jigs. I have not tried NorthStar yet and I have not found a brand available in store that measures up the quality and price of Siebert's jigs. Though I think they are great trailers, I don't usually fish with the Rage Tail products unless the fishing is really tough. I primarily stick with either Zoom or Yum for my trailer due to price and general durability.

This time of year, I would try either a lipless crank or a spinnerbait. Both are relatively easy to learn. Check out bassresource on YouTube.

I just bought that same frog on clearance. I haven't used it yet but am interested to see if I have the same paint issues. I primarily use H2O square billed and diving crankbaits, I'm not a big fan of their lipless, and have not had any real trouble with them. I will be careful when buying any of their spinnerbaits. I haven't used any yet but will make sure to only get one or two to try out before I commit to the brand to see if I have the same issues. Thanks for the warnings. Hopefully it was just bad luck and you have better results next time out.

Cotton Cordell Super Spots - Inexpensive and effective. RatLTrap - does anyone dislike these? Xcalibur - Good colors with a great finish and quality hooks straight from the box.