MIbassyaker

Tempted to say a 4-6" worm on a jighead, such as a jigworm, shakyhead, or slider. Or, that's what I would have said at one time. But I have spent significant time and effort the last 10 years or so trying not to have "go-to" lures, to specifically choose presentations based on current conditions and environment, and other circumstances. So when you say "conditions notwithstanding", the question no longer makes much sense to me, and I'm not sure I have an answer.

I've been trying to do more fishing for stream trout. Lots of good trout creeks and small rivers in my area that I've been neglecting. I keep wanting to get into the steelhead and salmon runs that happen here, but they coincide with my busiest times of the year at work, and the most accessible fishing areas are always absurdly crowded.

Usually a Bluegill pattern, or Chartreuse with some other color. Gold or copper blades. Last year it was this guy:

Senko, Buzzbait, Senko, Spinnerbait, Senko, jig, Senko, and.....Senko.

A couple of stream trout today:

It was trout day with the ultralight. Now on the board with some smallies and trout, I'm going to see about trying for some largemouth tomorrow from the kayak. However, I expect the lakes are still pretty cold, so Skunk Risk will be high.

Monday, 3/4, Noon: 3" Kalin Sizmic grub

Achievement Unlocked: On the board for 2024, with my earliest ever bass of the season (by 4 days, apparently). Finally getting a chance to escape a crushing work schedule, I spent a couple hours bank-hopping some river spots. My stream thermometer consistently said the water was still only about 38 degrees, but these brown bass showed up (along with a few escape artists). They were small but still satisfying ( biggest two went about 13"). 3" Kalin Sizmic Grub

I can tie three knots quickly and reliably: Improved Clinch, Palomar, & Alberto. I will learn another knot when I become convinced these are not good enough. Which has not happened yet.

I fish mostly weedy natural lakes with good LM populations and few, if any, Smallmouth; or river sections with lots of smallmouth, and just a few largemouth here and there. While i sometimes catch them both in the same areas on the same water, most often it's one or the other. I find smallmouth hard to target in lakes and I rarely catch them in that kind of environment. I have a much easier time finding them in rivers and they're usually super aggressive.

Yep, back to 27 degrees today, with some snow and 23mph wind. But things should be back in the 50s-60s by Friday. I'm planning to hit the bank a couple times next week, but I'm honestly wondering if I could get out on a kayak one of the days. I need to do some scouting this weekend.

I'm also dodging Livesay's 67% (!) ownership, and crossing my fingers it won't come back to haunt me: Walters Huff Palaniuk Feider Hackney

Just about any kind of spinnerbait will catch fish, and just about all of them will fall apart or get destroyed eventually. I just want one with blades that spin easily, that hooks up reliably when a fish hits, and that won't fall apart too quickly. Unfortunately, my experience with the really low price ones is that they have some trouble in these areas. My sweet spot kind of lands in the $5-$10 range, where there are a lot of solid options -- Siebert, Booyah, War Eagle, Stanley, Strike King, Z-Man, Pepper have all been good value for me.

High of 70 expected tomorrow. I need to go check out the situation on some of the area lakes yet, but the residential ponds and the river are all open water. And I am off work next week...

Holy Fujita!

I have so many worms I will probably never use them all up for the rest of my fishing days. So new worms aren't really on my radar. As for colors, different companies make certain versions of colors I really like: Berkley Power worm in 4", 7" & 8.5" (Green pumpkin, pumpkinseed, motor oil) Culprit 7.5 (Red shad) Zoom Mag II (Junebug; Pumpkin-Chartreuse) Zoom Trick worm, Finesse Worm, & Swamp Crawler (Junebug, Green Pumpkin-green, Gourd Green) Mister Twister Phenom worm (Pumpkin Pepper, Pumpkin Green Pepper, Perch, Grape/blue flake-white tail) Mister Twister Thunder worm (RIP - discontinued; Pumpkin Green Pepper, Red/black core) Strike King 3x finesse 7(Pumpkin green flake) For senkos and other stick worms, I like the OG senko, Berkley General, Bizz Baits Sassy Stick, all in some version of green pumpkin

I don't get the hair-spiltting over gear and technique. It's like I'm hearing a foreign language. I'll flip (pitch, really) a heavy jig on braid.......or cast a 4" worm on a 1/16oz head. Spinnerbait, jerkbait, ned rig, senko, whatever,....no preferences, here. Whatever gets it done.

Yup, that's my experience too.

For bassmaster, go here and sign in, or create an account if you don't have one: https://bassmasterfantasy.com/ Then you can click on "groups" at the top and add yourself to the BassResource group: Group Name: BassResource Password: BR2024 There are lots of other groups you can join at the same time, and some of them give out their own prizes.

If you are doing Bassmaster Fantasy fishing, join us in the Bass Resource League!

I predict that if I make such a prediction, it will only lead to disappointment.

The Mister Twister "TwisterMite" -- I got a whole bunch of these in a "grab bag special" of random stuff around 20 years ago. I always forget I have them. Still available on the MT website, although I've never seen them in a store:

It's like mid-March here. Some lingering snow-piles, but most of it gone. Open water everywhere. River is flooding. High-40s expected by end of next week.

My range is pretty much small northern waters, when not iced over and when time permits, from a small craft, bank, or wading. Pretty limited.

Honestly, I have no idea how or whether I differ from anybody else. I go fishing to get away from people, and try to choose times and places with as few other people on the water as possible. if i see somebody fishing an area, I go find somewhere else. When crowds are unavoidable, most are usually fishing for something other than bass anyway. So I don't really know much about what other people are doing.