stk44

Thanks. I fish out of a kayak so I cant cover a ton of water, but it sure beats fishing one spot from shore. I am going to try sycamore this week and then try the docks and that point. Thanks again for the help!

Yep, I'll be fishing PIB. Yeah, 30 lb braid has a similiar line diameter to 8 lb test mono.

Yeah lol . I'm sure some of it is just one person recommending it to another person and that person never trying anything else, but I've also never heard anything bad about it. I'm going to try it out on my casting outfit for Erie and I'll let you know if I like it.

I have been using 12 lb co polymer for cranks (p line flouro clear) and was very pleased with it, until this year. I've fished double the amount of times as I've fished the previous 3 years and the flouro clear seems to hold ALOT of line memory. Due to all of the fame that yo-zuri hybrid gets on this site, I've ordered a spool of that to try out. You may want to give it a shot as well. As for jigs, t rigs etc. I use between 30-50 lb braid with or with out flouro leader. This seems to cover most situations I've been in. I wouldn't recommend throwing both cranks and jigs on the same setup, but that's just me.

Thanks for the advice. This is very thorough and I feel like I'm learning a lot with these in depth responses. I tried to fish all around 9 mile island today. We had a slight cold front and the water slipped from almost 60 degrees on Thursday to 56-57 degrees today. I fished every part of the island from 1-10 feet. I tried an 8 feet CB, a 3-5 squarebill crank, HJ 08 and HJ10, 1/2 oz spinner bait. No luck and I fished for about 4 hours. I started shallow flats along the island, then I fished the current seams at the drop offs. I fished every piece of cover that I could find- logs, lay downs, etc. Not sure what I'm doing wrong lol I'm going to have to give a jig n craw a try. I don't have many finesse jigs, would a 3/8 Picasso spider jig be effective for catching SM? Or would smaller profile be the ticket?

How soft of a bottom are we talking? I don't think a mud or silty bottom is what your talking about right?

Well, it's late prespawn, water temp is 59 degrees. I hooked into ( yes only hooked into...) 2 nice smallmouth on a 6th sense 50x in craw. The one was in about 8 feet of water 2/3 of the way down 9 mile island on the east side. The other was in a small barely visible island just 50 yards north of 9 mile island in about 12-16 inches of water on a tube. I'm going to try the channel side of 9 mile, I received word that that side is rockier. Would the bass spawn around the shallows of the island? Or would they prefer being closer to shore?

Get this: https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/catpage-OKUMSTORAGE.html?from=basres It is a tackle backpack. It's larger than it looks and has tons of storage. The back-bottom portion unzips and it can fit 4 standard tackle trays. It has a flat bottom and sits perfectly upright when you aren't wearing it. I can fit all my soft plastics, line, leader material, 4 tackle trays, pliers, fish grips, hooks, and a bait binder in mine. It is definitely worth a look. Just google okuma backpack

Catt, Do you always start out fishing a jig with rattles? I was just thinking to use a rattle for muddy water or flipping, and using a non rattle for clear water/ winter/ post spawn. Have you noticed any trends?

Let me know how you like them. I am going to buy some in the near future. I really like the Picasso spider jigs, the recessed "eye" is very effective.

Tom, I had my first fish on the black/blue spider jig. I love these!

I tried out the 50x in boiled craw- freakin awesome! I caught a few fish on it today, really has a good tight wobble, I caught an almost 2 lb LM on it today and some smaller ones. I'm going to a bigger lake tomorrow in my kayak and hopefully I'll do just as well.

That's what I heard too from my Dad's friend. I don't have any experience fishing such a large body of water. It's almost like a small ocean- pretty cool.

I have only used there lipless cranks. I have a 50x I believe, but I still haven't used it. Sorry I can't really help, but I'm sure A-jay can. He has a bunch.

I've fished for smallies on the river but not on Lake Erie. A family friend is going to call me when they start to come shallow. I can keep you posted it you want.

They are real good and take care of the issue. There doesn't seem to be a solution though. It almost sounded like during the assembly process, some of the faint rattles get secured too snug in the cavity of the crankbait. On the other hand, I'm not sure how a silent crankbait could rattle unless it was just mis-picked and packaged incorrectly.

Lol. I was posting on my phone and didn't realize which category I was in. I figured I would re-post in the right spot. **I'm a big fan of 6th sense too, I just don't want to keep getting incorrect lures for 9 bucks a piece.

I've had some issues with 6th sense's lipless crankbait line. They are great lures, but I've ordered silent ones that rattle, faint rattles that don't rattle, and much variance between the faint rattle. Has as anyone had similiar experiences with them? *They always make it right and get you what you need, but I've called twice already and don't want to seem like I'm just a problem customer. I've also left them an email with this same information.

I've had some issues with 6th sense's lipless crankbait line. They are great lures, but I've ordered silent ones that rattle, faint rattles that don't rattle, and much variance between the faint rattle. Has as anyone had similiar experiences with them? *They always make it right and get you what you need, but I've called twice already and don't want to seem like I'm just a problem customer. I've also left them an email with this same information.

That's what I was thinking, so that's when I tried some other moving baits what would typically have a faster cadence, like a lipless crank and a squarebill. I'll give it another shot tomorrow and I'll see what works. Thanks for the help.

My question was does anyone JUST swim a jerkbait. Everyone's a tough guy and a comedian on the internet. That didn't answer my question. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I caught one LM bass yesterday in 48 degree water swimming a HJ10. Water was lightly stained but overall pretty clear considering it has been muddy in the past few weeks. My question is, does anyone just swim jerkbaits? If so, with what success? The reason I ask is because I fished a particular area for about an hour and a half with a jerk-jerk pause 5-30 seconds ( and also a jerk-jerk-jerk pause 5-30) with no bites. It wasn't 'til the very end of my retrieve that I began to swim the bait in that the bass crushed the lure. I switched to a brighter color, I downsized, upsized, and switched to various moving baits and no luck after.

You don't always get the best picture with one hand, but if you take a pic and let her go quickly, maybe you'll have a chance to improve the picture next year...

Thank you very much for the help. I will pick a few of the spots that you've mentioned and fish them after this cold front passes. I fish out of a SOT kayak so I try not to fish much below 50 degrees or alone for that matter. I'll let you know how I do! Also, what do you think the best search bait is around the 50 degree mark? I was thinking to have a rod with a husky jerk, one with a grub and one with a lipless crank. Thoughts?

I haven't fished rivers much within the past 3-5 years and I'm trying to get back into it. Would someone please be able to point me in the right direction as far as fishing this area in the pre-spawn? Currently, the water is 50 degrees and it's your standard mixed and matched spring weather. Where would some typical pre-spawn spots be? I was thinking to fish the downstream points of the islands to start. What else is worth hitting? Also, where would the bass go in this particular area to spawn? This point SW of the islands may be worth looking at as well: Thoughts?