fishballer06

Perhaps your issue is you're trying to do too much in too little time and not giving yourself the chance to actually figure out one pattern?

It most certainly matters. I suggest you go buy all your favorite crankbaits in the following colors: Threadfin Alewife Gizzard Shad Herring Shiner Smelt Sincerely, BaitMonkey

Try using a 3/4oz (or heavier) tungsten sinker. The bait has to be heavy enough to sink through that thick mat. Obviously, you need a stout enough rod, line, and hook for fishing like this. You can also fish over the top of them. Frogs and buzzbaits are a favorite of mine. Again, you need a heavy enough rod to handle a fish thats going to get wrapped up in weeds during the fight.

Literally impossible to say. Move onto the next one.

FWIW - Any quality painter worth his weight is probably going to charge you $10-20 per bait.

Christie sitting in 87th place with 51% ownership

You're probably going to tell me they're catching them on spinnerbaits next, huh?

Get your picks in today!

Things like trailers and blade types/size will cause spinnerbaits to "lift" as well. Just something else to experiment with if you're trying to get your bait down deeper.

I'm curious why you need to pre-rig 2-4 weeks ahead of time? Why not a day or two before? The plastic will be fine. I'd be more worried about your knots. I retie all my knots if something has been tied on for more than a couple days (assuming its fluoro or mono).

No need to flex. Some of us are less than half of that and we research every event. 😭

You have until Wednesday night to make your picks for Tenkiller. I will be leaving for vacation later this week, so I probably won't be around to remind everyone again. Good luck everyone!

How easily do these bend? And are they toast once they do?

I throw the snot out of a buzzbait. Here's what I'll say about some of my favorites. Cavitron - has the best blade design. That hole in the blade leaves a unique bubble trail and allows me to fish it slower than most buzzbaits. It also comes to plane (surface) very quickly. Another aspect of the design I like is the bent wire. I think this helps keep keep the hook a little lower in the water and increases my hookup ratio. The downfall of this bait is the lack of a trailer keeper and it kind of casts poorly. Accent Jacob Wheeler Finesse - the best all around buzzbait for the way I like to fish them. Has a compact profile and a trailer keeper. These things will cast a mile if you put a bulky trailer on them. Megabass Boa - This is my go to whenever I want a larger profile bait. This bait also has the holes in the blade. Only downside is I prefer compact buzzbaits personally. Crock-O-Gator - These offer such a unique sound because of the clacking head design. Quality bait but they take a ton of tuning to sound right and run true.

Way to revive a thread that's old enough to vote!

Don't be afraid to put a little clear finger nail polish over those eyes. It will keep them on there a lot longer.

I'm pretty sure my biggest fish for the past 5 years has been caught on a spinnerbait each year during the pre-spawn (shortly after ice off). To mix it up, both of my longest of each species have been caught on different lures. PB (length) Largemouth - swim jig (hand tied) PB (length) Smallmouth - Keitech on a jig head

Friendly reminder - 9 days til Tenkiller

Jitterbugs Devils Horse Purple and Motor-oil colored worms

Bass feed on the same foods everywhere they exist. Crawfish, frogs (in warmer months) and smaller bait fish. Almost every body of water is going to have bluegills and crappie, so you know they're feeding on those. Then you just need to find out what type of other baitfish are in your waters (shad, shiners, alewives, etc). Try not to overcomplicate it.

I picked solely based off history for Sabine. I had a good first day, but then 3 of my guys fell over 40 spots on the second day.

Congrats to Pat Schlapper for winning his first Elite series event with a wire to wire win on the Sabine River. We've got 3 weeks before the guys move up to Lake Tenkiller, so you've all got plenty of time to research. Can anyone hunt down Beagledogxxx? Our very own is currently 70th in the world for fantasy.

It's flooded right now and borderline unsafe to be on. This will be a snore-fest.

Final day to make picks for Sabine. Go do it now!

I'll bet you $50 the winning weight isn't half of what Fork was.