corn-on-the-rob

I hate not being able to sleep before fishing or tournaments. This winter has gotten to me though, a couple days ago I dreamt that I caught and weighed a 15lber but it only measured 11 inches so I had to throw it back for the tournament. When I woke up I realized how absurd the fish looked, it was like some one took a frying pan to a giant basses face until it was 11 inches.

I consistently drop shot in shallow water as a productive technique. 5ft, 0ft, you name it. Give it a shot. I had a few colors but the MMIII was the color that I could use in any water clarity/conditions with confidence (purple stuff works for anything)

1. roboworm fx sculpins are awesome 2. Power bait minnows 3. tubes

It might be difficult to find guys on here from that specific of an area. Have you tried looking up public lakes on your DNR website?

I say stick with braid: 1. Use a leader if you are concerned with visibility. If you are breaking your leaders, you are doing it wrong. (obviously unless you are pulling straight back against a snag or aren't watching for nicks) 2. If using a bright braid, if it makes you feel better use a dark marker to color the last few feet of line up to the lure. 3. I use high-vis yellow braid on all of my set ups and am successful in all types of water. I use leaders on most rods but my jig rod is the one I rarely use them because if im in heavy cover, I could care less about line visibility.

It is my understanding that the palomar AND the Uni do not do well with fluorocarbon. The way the line tightens on the knot and the hardness of fluoro cause it to cut into itself under the right conditions which can cause seemingly random break offs. I would highly recommend the san diego jam as well, it is one of the strongest and simple terminal knots out there that works on ALL types line well. With fluorocarbon I believe the uni and palomar are in the 70% ABS (absolute breaking strength) range and risks the knot cutting itself while the SD is close to 90% ABS and the wraps set nicely which is huge. Now I am sure there are plenty of people out there who use palomar and uni "successfully" with fluoro which is fine but in my opinion I'd rather set myself up with the least risk possible especially because the SD jam is an easy 3 second knot once you get it down. I even used the uni-knot religiously (I still love it for braid and I don't use mono anymore) but it just wasn't cutting it with fluoro. Once I switched it was night and day, much more strength and no more odd break offs. Test it for your self, tie one end to a lure with uni or palomar, the other end to another with SD jam, pull steady or test impact (sudden snap pull), SD jam will win every time.

I like tubes/grubs (on lead heads and spinning gear), drop shot, and a lipless crank. Want each lure to fall or get the bottom as close to the wall virtually touching every time.

Smallie in my profile picture went 5.7lbs. Pretty uneventful, fishing on lake erie around south bass island. Fishing not far off shore in 20ft of water. 3'' watermelon seed grub. It was the size of fish that was small enough to still be able to completely launch itself out of the water when it jumped, but big enough to make you wonder how the hell it could. It was spring and this was one of the fattest fish I have ever caught, I wish I had taken another angle, straight up football shaped. Edit: I also hold fish pretty much against my body when I take pictures, no tricking the camera for me.

I like a shad and bluegill pattern skirt, But in most clear water I take the skirt off and use a swim bait trailer only.

A chatterbait has replaced a BIG spinnerbait in my arsenal. I still throw plenty of medium and small spinner baits (1/4oz 3/8oz) but if I want a large profile, flashy, weedless, I turn to the chatterbait now, usually 1/2oz.

I still have trouble with confidence if I throw Green Pumpkin in brown stained or almost muddy water. I feel like that color wouldn't stand out in those conditions even though others use it with success. I have always used watermelon seed with great results so never thought to use with red flakes.

I have a 6' 8'' shimano compre medium fast-action rod I use for drop shotting (the worm and jig model and is $99). Absolutely love the rod. I also like a medium for the semi frequent huge drum or catfish and even big bass, just enough power to have control of big fish and light enough to be effective in drop shotting.

Wiggle warts are awesome for that dive range

For sure, there are really many ways (sizes, styles, retrieves, etc) and I was using jig fishing as a very general term but mainly as a great craw presentation option. I mentioned that it has nearly infinite potential uses but was highlighting my particular set up and personal preferences. I did not mean to come off as incognizant of its potential uses and capabilities. After hearing you guys mention pork so much I may have to give it a shot this season.

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This past year I started creating my own stash of tackle separate from my dad's (the bait monkey thanks me for that) and I have the following boxes: - Drop shot (power minnows/roboworm sculpins) - Craw (trailers/tubes/beavers) - Worm/Grub - Paddle tails and Flukes I know it is only 4 boxes of soft plastics but I am at the point where during tournaments I don't want to second guess my self by overwhelming myself with too many options. Basic styles with basic colors makes it simpler.

I really can't think of a bait company that I would refuse to use, heck I think the discount generic baits keep up with the best of em (gander mountain brand, bps brand, etc). I may prefer others but that might be because I used certain brands first and gained confidence with them, not because they are actually better. With that being said, I do like berkley and roboworm for soft plastics and storm for cranks so far, but use plenty of other brands in combination with them.

Like someone else mentioned you can fish them anytime, anywhere, heck you can catch bass on craw baits while they are feeding on a ball of shad right in front of you. Don't be afraid to try other craw imitators like tubes and beaver style baits. Throw them on t-rigs a jig head, a trailer on a skirted jig, anything really. I like browns, greens, black/blues, orange and chartreuse at times. I like to keep it really simple compared to a lot of people. I have a set of flappin' craws and a set of more natural ones to use in any way I can imagine. A small set of tubes and beaver style baits and I cover the bases I need. If you are into throwing craw baits you pretty much have to get in to jig fishing. Pretty much the go-to craw imitating big bass catcher for many people. For jigs I keep it real simple. 3/8oz black/blue and 3/8oz natural craw are the only ones I carry for now and use different color trailers to highlight what color I want to present. Anytime you are fishing on or near the bottom, a craw bait will always catch fish. There isn't really a situation where I would say don't ever throw one, but at times when bass are keying in on sunfish or shad there CAN be better options. here are some of my go-tos: (the bottom row is either used as jig trailer or on bare jig heads)

1. Keep focus at all times during a tournament. (more than half my club tournaments it's a struggle to catch one fish the entire day so you better be ready for that one bite you might get) I had some bad hook sets because I was not paying 100% attention and lost potential tournament winning fish... 2. Trust your instincts. 3. as uncomfortable and unfun it may seem, get out of your comfort zone to become better. Force yourself to utilize techniques and lures you don't have confidence in.

I don't use pork ever (not discounting it, I just haven't gotten into it yet)but when its cold plastic, but no flapping claws unless it is both cold and muddy.

The flw circuit started requiring you to bring your own boat. Years prior they payed the pros to take the college anglers who needed a boat out. The coolest thing they have changed this year is that each qualifying event was limited to 50 (now unlimited) teams but now colleges can send as many teams as they want so no more fighting for which tournament to fish or for spots.

torture is right... I got 2 new combos and a bunch of new lures/plastics can't wait to try everything. Also eager to better in my club tourneys, lets go!

stren and trilene are both from the same parent company (pure fishing makes both products) I don't use mono any more sufix 832 hi-vis yellow berklley trilene 100% professional grade fluro

that there is a saugeye