MIbassyaker

If I lose an appendage, I keep throwing it until I start getting superstitious that the lost appendage is why I'm not getting bites anymore (but almost certainly just due to chance).

You changed things up, took a clue from one of Glenn's videos, applied it, and got one....sounds like the opposite of clueless to me!

I threw a scrounger rig for the first time on Tuesday and got bit on the first cast. Just a dink, but it made me go, "Huh. How about that?"

If you would like to experience for yourself the dinks, rock bass, and pike bite-offs that I contended with today, you're welcome to it!

Probably a different lake, but I was on your turf this morning too...

I think @Jar11591 is right that the 1% figure probably includes many bass that were sampled from standard survey methods, but would generally be too small to be caught on hook and line. My experience in MI (which has about the same average growth rate as the other nothern states for LM), is that individual waters vary widely in both the % of fish over 19" and how catchable they are.

just regular needlenose pliers. I haven't had a problem with the wire breaking. Definitely if it breaks, that's a good reason to retire it -- even if you manage to get a blade and rivet back on there, gotta wonder what's going to break next?

I replace skirts, blades and rivets. Actually ordered some components just last week for exactly this, from TW:

The weightless Senko is no joke, and the chartreuse tip is a bit of a (not so) secret weapon for plastics and jigs any time the water is a little dark or off-color. A dark body with a chartreuse tip is characteristic of bluegills, which have bright tails. Get a good look at an adult bluegill from above in shaded or overcast conditions, and you can't miss it.

I've saw a guy fish a jig with 3/4 of a plastic lizard as a trailer and catch bass, so 🤷 Not something I feel like doing, but there are no rules, so go for it and tell us what happens.

Few of these guys this morning out on "Lake 9", with the biggest two each going 3 and change: Overcast skies had me thinking topwater, but after a lot of nothing the first hour, I went back to the t-rigged lizard that was doing so much work a couple weeks ago...and sure enough, that's what they wanted again.

Last week they needed something juicy dropped right on their heads. Fortunately, the old Zoom Lizard was at hand. One of fifteen cookie-cutter 15"-16"ers. The bigs have been hiding.

Five rigs in the kayak, each doing double or triple-duty: -weightless Senko- or Fluke-style plastic -Texas rig worm or creature; jig -Buzzbait, spinnerbait, or belly-weighted swimbait -walking or popping topwater; occasional jerkbait -finesse worm on head of some kind (ijgworm, shakyhead, slider, etc. ), ned rig, or tube

Best of 13 this morning at 16"....which otherwise was Dink City: To be fair, I find the day after Memorial Day holiday is often rough going.