Cgolf

I have always used snaps for Crankbaits and never thought about the split ring. If one is there I connect the snap to it, if not I go directly to the eye. No issues that I can think of.

#1 Bandit 100 #2 Santone swim jig, trailer depending on cover fishing Ned rig depending on cover has been good this year too.

Lots of bass, a carp or two, and a handful of brown trout including one that was 21". Also finally cracked the 20" Smallie barrier on my River system which I doubted would happen.

Thanks for the retrieve tip when I take this thing to the lake, I would have bottom hopped it otherwise. Right now when I fish reasonably fast water that runs 2-3 feet deep I am always bouncing bottom, snagging a lot but catching a lot of smallies and trout. The only jig I So far that I have tried that may be an option is the fireball jig. With the super short shank the tail of the Zinker had a side to side swim like a swim bait. Also the hook gap is wider than any mushroom heads I have owned. We will see, I will do a comparison between the two next year. I should have a good supply of gopher heads under the in laws Christmas tree

When I got the Zinker fireball combo close to shore and out of the current it stood on its nose just like a mushroom head. I think there is so much flotation in the plastic that it will float any light jig head.

That was a good read, but was looking for different jigs styles that some have used successfully in place of the mushroom head style. The fireball fits it and works well so far, interested in other head styles that have been used that have wider availability. For some reason WI shops don't carry Zman (chatter baits only) or the gopher tackle products, and TW doesn't carry gopher tackle either. When I run out of stuff like jigs I like to try to give the local shops some buisness instead of ordering everything online

While I have some gopher tackle mushroom heads coming for Christmas I can't source them locally so they are a slight pain to get. I have been trying some other head styles in the meantime to see what works. Tried some crappie minnow head jigs which kind of worked but the hooks were very brittle and on the small side. Regular ball head jigs seem ok, but the Zman plastic hair the keeper, I will probably try the live bait version in the future and just glue them on. I did find a jig I really like, but need to catch a fish on it to be all in on it. The northland fireball jig has a short shank wide gapped hook that seems to work pretty good. I fished it for an hour today on the river and it came free of snags pretty well and I didn't lose one, did have to bend the hook back a couple of times after a snag. I did mis a fish on a tail grab, but the water temp was 38 so not hooking up was more the bite style and not the jig. The only downside is the smallest size is 1/16 oz and when weighed was actually 1/10 oz. I have started to weigh some jigs and found the weights vary quite a bit so I wasn't surprised by this. In the picture it should be the jig on the top with the trailer hook attachment. What other styles of jigs for the Ned rig has everyone had success with other than a mushroom head?

The golf reference cracked me up, I too chase and sometimes swear at a golf ball. I will give the TRD a shot next year, but man I did good this summer with the Zinkerz on the river including my PB Smallie. The only bonus for me with the TRD would be that if if truly floats better it may not snag as much, but if it floats too well I will lose the bottom contact needed to trigger the fish. Time will tell.

Really curious how they are in the water. For some reason I do a lot of post frontal fishing so I can always use another finesse SB option. They are bordering on having the banana bait shape so I am hoping for a wide soft wobble.

Here is the link http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/z-mans-finesse-t-r-d-and-2-12-inch-zinkerz-an-update/ Reading it, I am now questioning if I purchase any of the TRDs. I mostly use the ned rig for river smallies, so i may stick with the Zinkerz and enjoy the bonus of 12 baits vs 8. I am going to pick up a bag of the split tail trailers and give them a whirl if the weather cooperates.

I personally liked the old school RC10 thrown in there, from back when they were a California company:)

Bandit 100 Bandit Flattmax Xcalibur XCS 200 Are my top three and all get thrown often depending on conditions. Up and comers for me Strike King Shallow SB KVD 1.0 Bill Lewis Echo Have others I will be trying next year too. As far as the KVD 1.5 and 2.5 and Strike King Series 1, I have only a handful of fish on those baits, not sure why they don't produce for me, it isn't for lack of trying.

While all I currently own is R bend because to be honest is all I have seen in stores, I would much prefer closed loop. I like to use either Norman speed clips or quickswirl snaps for cranks and would prefer that for spinnerbaits too. While I don't change baits a lot I like the convenience of a snap when you need to change baits quickly when working an area.

I believe they did the gift cards in December right before the 25 days of Christmas sale. I am pretty sure it was 10% off gift cards. My wife got me one last year to get some swim jigs I knew would be on sale during the 25 days sale.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have always done a mix of smaller companies and TW. But this year I am truly in restock mode on variety of items I know produce and maybe pick up a small handful of proper swim jig trailers. Once I get the kid through college I can be a little less picky and pick up a bunch of new stuff to try:) As far as soft plastics go I am trying to keep the bait monkey in check there, I will at least keep myself from buying finesse worms, well unless they start to carry a certain color again lol. About the only soft plastics I am woefully short on are Zman baits. I need to stock up on some more options, they have done well enough for me this year that I want to try out more and local baitshops don't carry them. Thanks again, now we will have to see if I can actually stand the wait!

Quick question for you all. Am I better off hoping they do their deal on the gift cards again this year and then wait until the next sale, guessing Memorial Day vs taking advantage of the Black Friday sale? Fishing funds are very limited this year, but am hoping for a little extra at Christmas too that will also help out with the next order. I am pretty sure waiting is the best idea, but the sale right now is hard to ignore lol.

What's crazy with fire tiger is I have caught fish up here in water you can see bottom in 15 fow on a calm sunny day and in water with 6" of visibility. I think it mimics a little bit pumpkinseed and a bit of perch is why it works so well up here. I always make sure to have one either tied on or on the front deck within easy reach. As far as perch imitations, nobody really gets them right, so that is why I throw fire tiger so much. One of my favorite perch imitation bait is a Rapala minnow in brook trout.

Nice list, the rod setup will be beneficial for me. I have tried a couple of fluoros on a baitcaster and they either don't cast at all or are well short distance wise of what I can get with braid so I stick with that sometimes adding a fluoro leader if I can't get bit at all. Thanks for putting it together.

It didn't completely lose it, but it was less. What was interesting though was on the drop how it fell. The look of the bait chasing the jig could pay some dividends, but maybe not on a swim jig.

This was a blast to do and I learned a lot. I might have to try some other stuff this way too. It is cool to be surprised when a bait works way different than you thought. For instance I had thought the 3" Kalins had a stiffer tail and didn't work as good as the 5" so I didn't throw them anymore. Well this test proved me wrong and they will be used a lot next year.

Part 1

Part 2

Need to thank max redneck (shortened if instead of really screwing up the name) for this test idea. Will also add the links for parts 1 and 2.

I would second calling them to see if it will still be on sale for Black Friday. Since it is already on sale, that may be the price until they are sold out. I wouldn't count on them dumping the price anymore. At this point I would love to be 400 bones fortunate. I got a 100 dollar gift card for a bonus at work that I will use to get the discounted TW gift card if they run that deal again this year and then attempt to wait till their big Memorial Day sale to spread my money as far as I can. I am with the others, I get stretching a buck, but purchase, return, repurchase bugs me. They are a buisness and need to make money too. If they start to see people trying to do this they may either change their return policies to something less nice or offer fewer sales because people are exploiting potential loopholes.

I might have a third installment now lol. Do you let it float completely free on the hook, or use some tubing to limit how much the hitchhiker can travel?