FryDog62

48 degrees at the ramp this morning, but the Berkley Choppo bite on top was still good...

I throw it on a Duckett White Ice 7’-3” MH. It has a softer tip and is usually a great crankbait rod... and with fluorocarbon line usually does a great job keeping fish buttoned up on treble hooks. Despite losing a big bass, it’s a great rod for cranking. Heck, it kept this scud missile attached an hour earlier!

Was on a West Metro Lake yesterday and flogged all the typical spots... nothing... went deeper.... a couple pike... finally at 15-18 fow just outside of the weed line with a DT14, I got a 15 inch, then a 17 followed by maybe my largest LMB of the year - estimating 22 inches - jumped twice, got to the boat, grabbed the net... and then gone...

I have the Pro-V Bass as well and rigged with the same jack plate as in the video below. I have it specifically to run on plane in skinny water that I’m familiar with. Relying solely on tilt/trim is actually counter intuitive - because you trim at an angle which actually digs the transom/prop down and defeats the purpose of trimming “up.” A Jack plate is the way to go in my book.

Let me know how you do with it. I’m also looking at ordering up some big swimbaits like the Hudd 68.

X2. Such a bland, typical color that Blends right in...

If they move in shallower and the baitfish are larger this time of year, here’s a good “reaction bait” that gets their attention and targets the bigger gals.

Annual Fall fishing trip to Red Gut Bay on Rainy Lake in mid-Sept - and I can’t make it due to a work commitment. Bought some specific smallmouth lures... see if I can still use them somewhere - -

Thx fishwizzard. Now if they could just come out with something that’s fluorocarbon (sink rate) and in the 8-12 lb range. Seems like Sunline is above and below the sweet spot for bass fishing - but they have the right idea!

This color would do well for smallies too - caught a lot of them on the 130 size but brighter colors like this might be even better..

I don’t know about everyone else but this has been one of the toughest years I can remember for frog bites. The fish I caught above were after I threw a frog for 90 minutes with maybe one boil but no real strikes. Switched to a popper and - Kapow - for the next 3 hours. I think I’ll Put Kermit away for the year...

In our area (MN) that means from ice shacks... ... I better make my reservations for TN or Fla soon..!

Not sure how many more opportunities for a Topwater bite this season, but so far still holding pretty good in the mornings...

The great compromise line that I have used is.... drum roll... Sunline FC Flippin Fluorocarbon: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-LNESUNLINE.html?from=basres Here’s why - - You have 30 inches of clear line followed by 12 inches of bright yellow. Tie the 30 inches at the hook for invisibility, and the high viz is above for you to see. You get a line that sinks uniformly and no leader knots to fail. The only downside side is that the smallest lb test it comes in is 16. If it came in 8-12 I would also use for a variety of applications besides flipping including wacky rigs, dock skipping, etc.

How well do you think the Hudd 68 would work trolling in 15-25 fow at slow speeds at that water temp? I’m fine casting but if I take a friend that would struggle casting a large lure, can it be trolled effectively?

Yes, the 50-58 degree water temps are what I’m targeting

I wonder if the bigger question is trying to mimic the baitfish in our area (Minnesota). We probably don’t have anything we’d need on the high end of the lure weight range. I have a 7-6 flipping stick rated to 2-1/4 oz and some Muskie rods to throw BullDawgs. We have very few 6-8 lb largemouth in my part of the world, but I really want to do whatever I can to increase my odds of catching one.

How deep/ fast do you usually use those two lures?

I’m interested in recommendations for large size swimbaits as the water cools this Fall. My hope is to target the biggest fish of the year. Some of the large swimbaits are the pre-rigged, jointed, one piece variety - and others are large plastic rigged on heavy jig heads. What brands, sizes, weights are best?

Sully, I’m planning on going out tomorrow morning... any tips? Hell, I’ll supply the boat, food, drink... let me know where to meet and I’ll take you !!

Great fish, 6.8 your PB? Very nice!

...and for the record - the Jitterbug still works quite well to this day. Many times forgotten about, but extremely effective.

I got out to a usually good West Metro lake this morning. Drop in temp in the long run is probably good, but today was classic cold-front fishing conditions. I think I caught about a hundred scud-missile Snot Rockets and lost $50 in tackle from break-offs from those little bassturds. The quality fish I did catch have seemingly moved deeper - from two weeks ago in 4-10 fow/weeds - to now anywhere from 8-20 fow and scattered. I caught most on slow moving Texas Rig/Pit Boss. If I had more time would have side-imaged and used Panoptix to look for structure/fish to drop-shot in deeper water. Next time, but hope I time the next front right too...

Heading out somewhere in the metro for LMB tomorrow... anyone chime in where they are this week? Depth, cover, lures..?

I get what you mean about the weight of a jig and Senko being similar, but there’s something about a wacky worm being hooked in the middle that seems to lose momentum over a front-weighted jig when skipping. I know, I should use spinning gear for skipping wackies but I have a 3 times surgically repaired right wrist and need to use my left hand. I’m just much more comfortable using my left hand with a baitcaster than spinning. Just trying to find the right equipment to do this. Don’t want to necessarily spend bank just to skip wacky worms, but it is something I do a lot.