Cgolf

While I am newer to the swimbait game, I have found some lakes the bass are just bottom oriented and they rarely will take a moving bait up in the water column, but will follow one dragged on bottom. It is fun catching but frustrating fishing. I wish I knew why it was, but I just roll with it.

I had one break after slapping it hard on the water, the next cast the bait sailed leaving only the bill on the line. Maybe I haven't used mine enough, but that is the only failure I have had. Mine have to be 10ish years old, maybe more recently quality control isn't as good.

It is a really great color, but for my purposes I won't buy it anymore because I am super cheap lol. I worked really good for me last year on a slider and a swing head rig. The problem I found was it can only rigged darker side up and get bit. I generally am able to flip the menace over once the head tears and am able to catch at least 5 more fish on it. This is only an issue on an offset hook though, no such problem on a swim jig. Am I the only one that is so cheap they flip a bait over like that to get a few more fish? I will say a beat up menace does seem to whack them pretty good.

What got me too was they were mostly Riverside baits, some with the air pockets and some of the BPS catipiller type baits, stick, lizard etc. Basically the same bait type as the smash tech bubble fry. I gave them away when I didn't have a boat or really have enough fishing knowledge to know I was giving away some darn good baits.

Years ago I gave away some baits I wasn't using. Now I am kicking myself because I now have run into situations I could have used them lol. I have learned to not give away stuff anymore.

Its a little of both. I have my core presentations that I stick with. 5" Kalins, Tubes, Menace and Baby Menace, and RESs always tied on. That said last year I branched out and learned Jerkbaits and I caught fish on those when other baits weren't producing. I drug out the Gambler ugly otter, favorite before I found the menace, when the menace bite dipped and caught a bunch of fish. So for me many of these baits are confidence baits of the past in colors I haven't tried, or techniques I need to learn to put more fish in the boat when conditions change. It is always nice to find a gem to, because I do tend to get too locked into one presentation and will throw it no matter what trying to force the fish to bite it and am always a 1/4 step behind the fish before I catch up and change baits.

Thanks to the bait monkey I find myself with a lot of baits I bought for a purpose and then used once or twice or never used. So what I started doing this year was creating a list of baits to try and mark off once I used them. I also will circle the baits that catch fish. I did this for both my yearly fishing trip, separate baits packed for that trip and for my river and lake fishing around home. The goal is to not only use up some baits, but to gain confidence in baits other than my core baits. I bought all this stuff for a reason right;) It has already paid off in my trout fishing. My never used jointed and countdown Rapalas have done very well for me along with a cut down version of one of my favorite Ned rig baits from a few years ago. This may not be for everyone, but if you got some stuff you should try, this is a good way to get motivated to do it.

Many know this, and many can learn from it It is a great read! https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/history-of-midwest-finesse-fishing-and-the-socalled-ned-rig/375073

TW has been cutting back on their sales. I don't believe they did this sale last year either. Honestly with them having shipping delays already, having a sale would just make that worse.

So I do a combination of this and the alberto knot. I wrap the main line 7 times up and back like an alberto and then 4 or 5 wraps capturing the mainline to the loop like the video below. With this setup the line always gives at the lure when I catch a tree;) When I did uni to uni with the same line setup it would break at the connection. This year I have been putting a drop of loctite glue on the knot, to keep the tag end I can never cut short enough under control, not to secure the knot. I have used the FG. When I got it right it worked great, wrong, instant fail. The modified alberto I am using has never failed me and I can tie it in the boat while fishing no problem.

20 lb. I have caught bass on 20 lb fireline in gin clear conditions on spinning gear. That would be the lightest I would want to go for braid on a baitcaster.

Copy and pasted from the old standards thread. Generic 3-4" tubes on a slider head (many brands have worked for me but old Trigger X tubes were my favorite, soft but durable) Kalins 5" single tail on a slider head, jig head, or swim jig (new for me over last 3 years) Bandit 100 Yum small Crawbug on slider head Rage menace and baby menace

@Bluebasser86 Any idea why this was moved to tourney talk? This a very generic, mostly bass fishing show, admitting the In Fish/Angling Edge videos are very sponsor focused for as long as I can remember. Definitely not tourney fishing. Could almost be tackle with how much they talk about specific baits;)

Generic 3-4" tubes on a slider head (many brands have worked for me but old Trigger X tubes were my favorite, soft but durable) Kalins 5" single tail on a slider head, jig head, or swim jig (new for me over last 3 years) Bandit 100 Yum small Crawbug on slider head All the above have been used as long as I can remember and the top 2 even longer than that lol. Within the last 3 years the Rage menace and baby menace just need more years to be an old standard but are highly trusted.

Opened it up yesterday and found out they have seasons from 2016 to 2020 active. I think it is like 65 episodes. Something free to watch if stuck at home.

For me a fair amount has changed and a lot has stayed the same. Our day looks like this Get up and commute 10 steps to my laptop. Go into work if needed depending on project work work 8-12 hours Do Zumba with wife, She saw it on our super bowl weekend cruise and we started it this spring and it is actually fun and a good work out. Eat supper Walk to the creek to trout fish if the weather is ok Watch some TV Sleep Repeat We try to work in some walks during the day too just to get out. Also grocery shop for us and my parents every other week. We have gotten curbside food twice to support a couple of spots we like. Other then that it is above. Weekends Add a 1.5 to 2 hour hike on a little known path on DNR land where we see one or two families. We hope to get the kayaks out once the weather warms a bit, we don't want our first river trip to be in colder conditions. Pretty much stay around home and clean the house and eventually do some outdoor stuff. We have really cut back on our spending so i guess that is a good thing for us. Have a few drinks on the weekend but nothing excessive. Thanks to the walks and Zumba have been losing weight and hope to be in better shape for long days in the boat and kayaking. Just can't wait to get back to something resembling normal.

Hate to rain on the Edge parade because I really like the jig box. To me this seems way expensive and not hold a lot of baits. I will keep my sub 10 buck deep plano 3700 and use rubberbands to keep the hooks from tangling. The deep Plano I take on vacation holds 115 cranks which includes some deep divers.

Agree, this store/site if memory serves has this sale every year. Might just be in your state;)

Gotten one email for a 20% off Easter sale going on, wonder if others will follow suit?

Come on where is everyone else with the sales? If you all would find em the Dobyn's posts wouldn't be so bad lol. Actually surprised there aren't more then have been seen with everything going on.

I buy the small ziploc medicine bags that can be found at Walgreens, Walmart, etc in the area they sell pill boxes.

Due you change out the hooks or leave the smaller hooks on? I have left on the smaller hooks when I throw them What cracked me up is the silent version has much bigger hooks. I know the bait has super flat sides compared to other lipless cranks, and maybe that is why it is so hit or miss for me.

Also saw a post they they prioritized direct orders over SO orders. For me not an issue because I have some time before I need to use it so long as it is here before June I am happy. Also no tracking info or rod yet but don't expect it at this point. I think the response to the sale was more than Gary expected.

I have used the 1/2 ounce model and it seems to very hit or miss. When the fish are on it, it is a very good bait, but the bite is not consistent. I can throw a Red eye shad and get a more consistent bite. I did try the ultra tiny ultralight rippin rap and caught a creek chub on it trout fishing. The interesting thing was it tracked pretty well in strong current and I have to say I was impressed. Even though tiny, I may try it for bass this summer.

Do I have to pick 1! Depending on the year, Bandit 100 will always get me bit! My favorite right now is the rage menace but it is tenuous. The reason I would ultimately say the Bandit, is because baits like the spicy beaver has been as effective as the menace for me. No crank has come close to touching the Bandit at sticking bass for me.