Coherence

I've used the BPS jig kits...they are mediocre at best. The skirt bands rot off quickly, they will get yanked off if a fish takes them, and the hooks are of middling quality. I used them for several months, but eventually started phasing them out as the skirt bands failed repeatedly and one of the hooks failed me. Can you catch fish with them? Absolutely. Are there better jigs out there for that same money? DEFINITELY Siebert does make some outstanding jigs, and I have begun shifting my entire jig collection towards only Sieberts - they are just phenomenal for the price honestly...I will throw nothing but Sieberts from now on

Up until recently it was the chatterbait for me - I have a ton of them, and there have been entire years where I hadn't thrown one. Weather here as been exceptionally cool recently for summer and I have been tossing a chatterbait into the few remaining ponds that aren't completely choked with vegetation. Yielded decent results too - I'm starting to gain confidence in it if the conditions are right. Would like to see how it performs in spring.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/12403-jig-fishing-questions/ - jig fishing questions thread Decent starting place - tons of helpful hints/tips, should help you gain an understanding of jig fishing. There are also a couple of videos here on the site that show you a bunch of "how to"'s regarding jig fishing... I'd start with this one http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-videos/jig-fishing.html Tons of information between the videos and the forum link - should get your headed in the right direction if you take the time to read/digest the information available - good luck!

I use a tourney speed spool 7.1:1 for Chatterbaits, jigs, and sometimes crankbaits if I am burning them Currently have a super duty on my frog rod as well. I believe I am going to start transitioning all of my baitcasters to Lews as I can afford them - have never had an issue with any of these reels, and they are pretty affordable.

Congrats - awesome fish. Gotta love the adrenaline rush that comes with it as well haha

Forgot to mention which model it was - Long Mike with a Zoom Ultra Vibe Chunk in Green Pumpkin as a trailer

Snuck in some fishing early this morning with my buddy before my day of errands begins. Was out on the water around 06:45 this morning, it was slightly cool around 64 degrees when we started fishing. First pond we went to was absolutely choked with vegetation. While the top of the water was clear of debris, you only had between 8" and 2' of water to fish in. I tried a couple of the new baits I received in the newest MTB (won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't received theirs) but had no luck. We loaded back up after about an hour of no bites and went to another pond about 15 minutes away that we knew had no vegetation. Only problem with this pond is we have been consistently skunked there for the last year. I was not optimistic about my chances but figured we would give it a shot. Fished for about an hour alternating between Senko and Horny toads - nothing doing there. Swapped to one of my new Siebert jigs and started fishing out towards the middle of the pond. Each of us landed one fish on jigs - and while it isn't anything to write home about - I was doubly excited, it is my first Siebert jig fish, and it appears Siebert jigs have helped bust up our long lasting curse of being skunked. Anyways here is a picture.

Received my order today...been drooling over them for about an hour now... Tough decision ahead...go to work....or become very "ill" and take a sick day - fishing is a good cure for illness I've heard..and these jigs do look pretty thirsty.

Hey guys - just a fun prefishing report here, Was invited to Prefish a pond that two buddies of mine are fishing for their big bass club next weekend. We hit the water around 06:30 a.m. and began throwing Senkos up near the bank along the edge from the boat ramp. About 15 or 20 minutes of this produced no bites so we shifted across the pond to another bank. I flipped over and started casting out towards the middle and had a serious thump - set the hook..only to have empty line come flying back at me. Can only assume a Pickerel chomped it. After checking for any abrasion spots on the line I retied and got back out there. Failed to hook anything for awhile but the other two guys started getting small keepers on various green/green pumpkin colored senkos (had 4 in about 35 minutes). I switched to a jig and was tossing it out deeper. I started feeling some really nice grass down on the bottom (you know..the kind you just love to rip a crankbait through in the spring). No dice on the jig either...so I tried a chatterbait in green pumpkin with a few blue strands. 3rd cast with this and it felt like I hit a serious clump of grass...except my bait started to dive downwards - I sink the hookset and after a minor fight, land a 2lb 10 oz fish. He had absolutely choked the Chatterbait, I dehooked him, quickly weighed and got him back in the water because he was bleeding (no picture sadly, was more concerned with keeping him alive). Kept throwing the Chatterbait out, had a monster hit about 15 minutes later, but I set the hook and the line went slack - no dice. by this time we were out in the absolute middle of the pond, and one of the guys threw on an Xcalibur crankbait. 3 casts in he hooks and lands one 3lbs 3 oz (weighed, confirmed). 2 casts later he gets a small one I'd eyeball just shy of 2 lbs (didn't weigh). I decided to join in and tossed on my live target squarebill baitball. Took about 10 casts but I got a 2lber. We fished about another 90 minutes, but really it was just catching - every handful of casts someone had a fish on - all keepers. Turns out that grass was the place to be. Sadly I didn't get any pictures (the one guy asked not to be photographed with the big fish, and honestly I was having to much fun catching afterwards to really think about pulling out the phone for pictures). Anyhow, overall a great day. Above is the Chatterbait I was using. I have no idea what company makes this particular chatterbait, but I wish I did, it performs exceptionally well and I've used it for a long time now, so if anyone can tell from the pictures, please let me know. As an aside/slight gear review, this was my first chance to use my Kistler Carbon Steel rod which came highly recommended for chatterbait use. It performed perfectly, could feel all the tiny vibrations throughout the rod, and it was readily apparent when something changed about the way the chatterbait was swimming. Had it paired with my Lews Tournament Pro 7.1:1 - an excellent combo that I think will remain paired for a long time. Thanks for reading!

My specific clubs require that you fish no closer than 1 week prior to the event - I usually just operate by that rule period out of habit now.

I just placed my first order - bought a bunch of the storm series jigs and a dredge pack - Super excited to get these jigs, the quality looks unreal for the price.

Could grab him some hand made squarebill crankbaits or hand tied jigs from SiebertOutdoors.com - his prices won't kill your bank account, and they are quality work - as you can see for yourself here on the forum in several posts. I placed an order only a few minutes ago to split between myself and a buddy of mine who recently lost a tackle box - cannot wait for the items to get here!

I skipped a horny toad off the water to hard once and it bounced up over a low lying tree limb and back into the water, as I was trying to get the frog unhooked from the limb a bass came and obliterated the frog that was hanging about 3 inches out of the water. Fish was kind enough to break the branch for me when it fell back into the water and started to swim away so I was able to reel him in afterwards.

Only problem I've ever really had with jigs is when I was first fishing, I started using Dirty Jigs (which have a really thick stout hook in them) with braid, no problem with hook penetration etc. I swapped to a lighter wire hook when I tried a new brand and the braid was just ripping it out of the fishes mouth. Lesson learned, I paid attention to what line with what type of hook. Regarding weedguards, usually I just spread them a couple times and bend them a bit, maybe trim the end and most of them give me no problem. Although like the OP mentioned, I have forgotten to do so on occasion, took me a minute to figure out what was going on...eventually the light bulb came on though

I pretend that I use everything I own..but there are plenty of unopened or un-fished lures sitting on my boat at the moment...When I go out with my buddies and just fish for fun I usually bust out some random lures I have never used - sometimes they even end up saving the day. That being said..I still fish my confidence baits 98.7658502395235238940863460121% of the time (give or take the .7658502395235238940863460121%) It happens to all of us.

I had the opportunity to do some of the same on the Meramac River in Missouri about two years ago while I was on vacation. Was an absolutely awesome experience, and I think you nailed it right on the head regarding just how serene it can be. I've been wanting to find a local spot and get back to it again - it was absolutely addicting, one of my favorite days out on the water ever. Glad to hear the fishing was also a success, and good luck with your future wading adventures (I am sure there will be more now haha)

I use the 3.8" most out of all the Keitechs, I cannot get over how good those thing look in the water. I absolutely always have one rigged up and ready to go.

I keep all of mine in a Plano XXL utility box - throw all of my senkos (still in their packs) in one box, all my trailers in another, etc etc. I like them because they have nice latches, and are deep storage containers with no spacers to get in the way. I get mine from my local Dicks Sporting Goods for about $10

Sounds like you've gone above and beyond for quite awhile now if your co-workers and boss decided to get you a boat. Congrats on the new boat - say good-bye to you free time haha

Received a River2Sea S-Waver (as someone mentioned earlier) in one of my Mystery Tackle Boxes, seems like a decent bait for the price point between 12-20 bucks - Used it a few times, no luck with bass so far but I've gotten some decent chain pickerel on it.

It seems like you might still be searching and haven't decided on what to get yet.. However if I may share my personal input - I have an older 6'9 Fenwick HMG - AV and the Symetre 2500 FI (recently purchased). I fished this combo just this past weekend in a tournament. They are a great pairing for the price, and will serve you well no matter what size fish you are going after. I caught dinky bass with this particular set up this weekend, however I caught 5 Chain pickerel all over the 2.5 lb range the closest being just shy of 5.5 lbs and it handled them with no worries. I rely on and have complete confidence in my old beat up Fenwick on a yearly basis, everyone tells me to buy a St. Croix or a G. Loomis now that I am fishing competitively on a regular basis (seems to be a decent amount of brand bias out there). However, I stand by the old adage - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. TL;DR - Both items are excellent at the price point - have used the pair together and I approve with confidence.

If you get a chance - I've just started trying my hand at skirt making and would love to see the color chart - Rsmith0888@yahoo.com

*fidgets in anticipation of glorious visuals*

Epic report. Looks like you have an absolutely stunning area that you fish - great diversity.

Unless you have a family member or a good friend selling a boat, it is going to be hard to find a boat with all of that for $1500. Double your price point (I know that is easy to say, and hard to do) and you'll probably start finding some older boats that have a decent amount of the options you are interested in. I know a couple of people who have "pieced" boats together - bought an aluminium shell basically, slapped a trolling motor on the front, small outboard on the back, and use a large cooler in the middle as a live-well, but I'm not sure where they got the hollow body from. Keep an eye out on your local listings, you might get lucky and come across something serviceable that you can upgrade as you go.