Jake the Cake

I'm with ww2farmer and pretty much my entire arsenal is Berkley/Powerbait/Gulp and Yum. I have two packages of Netbait Paca Chunk because I think they perform well on a drop shot and two packages of Z-man TRD for the Ned Rig. Honestly, not a GYCB in the bunch (Don't hold it against me).

I'm not sure off the top of my head what brand it is, but the pops and I throw them on swinging jig heads. I've had a lot of success with the 4" size mainly in shallow waters. Good bait right there!

I caught a good number of 2+ lb bass this year (yeah, bad year for big ones) but the most memorable 2 or 3 of those were caught on a Storm Chug Bug - Bleeding Shad color, while fishing a bridge on Table Rock Lake. They'd hardly let my popper hit the water before they were jumping out at it. We had to have caught 15 or 20 bass in half an hour. Great time.

That's a stock picture of the Meramec River which I fish a lot, but it no doubt looks like the same color as Mark Twain. I've found most of my Midwest fishing is in waters like these. Have you experienced the same? Or am I just good at finding muddy waters, lol

I gotta get that Mikey. Went to Gander Mt yesterday and got a ZX Waking Minnow to satisfy the bait monkey. I was about to order the Mikey and Mikey Jr but couldn't justify paying $7 in shipping for 2 lures. Guess I'll just have to get a big order going because I can't find them in stores anywhere. d**n nice fish you got there!

I've done searches here in St. Louis and not come up with anything. If they're out there then they're being kept secret for some reason. The closest I can come to that are second hand sports shops or local bait and tackles.

I couldn't handle it either so I called up the pops and said "grab your boat we're going fishing on the power plant lake!" Then I immediately ran to the store and bought Yum Bad Mammas in Junebug color, 2 new jigs for the Bad Mammas, a BX Waking Minnow, a BX Minnow, 3 spools of line, and a Gander Mountain Vortex because they were on sale. What's that about self help groups?

No joke, I laughed for about 5 minutes. Literally tears were coming out. Hilarious.

So, the new (and first) baitcast setup arrived today and I realize the only line I've got is #10 and #6 fluorocarbon (Berkley Vanish). I've been doing some research and it looks like Mono is going to be my best choice for the way I fish, but then I came across what Berkley calls "super line". It's a very strong small diameter braid and sounded pretty enticing. How is this going to affect my baitcaster? Should I just stick with my plan of getting some #12 mono?

I'm currently about to order 2 of those. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that product video!!! If they look half as decent in person as they do in that video, I'll be rolling in large bass this spring.

Problem was that Kroenke lives in California and wants to be back there. The city was willing to put up almost $500 Million for a new riverfront stadium but the other parts of it were to come from private investors, Kroenke, and the NFL. The NFL was going to have to pay $200 Million but they decided that was too much (their limit is $150M or something) so the proposal was deemed void. Kroenke went on record saying he tried to reach a deal with St. Louis but nothing could work so he packed up and went to LA. The only negotiating he did was "how much can St. Louis pay me to stay here without me paying a dime?" Unfortunately our city budget can't hold a flame to LA's budget and Kroenke knew it. He also said the STL economy wasn't fit to support a football team. Have you seen the Cardinals and Blues stadiums? we sell out almost every game every year, and the Rams were hardly ever "short" on attendance. Kroenke doesn't need to be a sports franchise owner, he buys cheap teams after they win championships and hopes they keep doing well without any actual managing on his part (Avalanche, Nuggets, Rams, Arsenal - European soccer, Rapids - American soccer). All of those teams have gone downhill because he doesn't want to step up and fire coaches and GM's and get his hands dirty. He just wants to sell tickets and merchandise and sit back and collect money. He's cancerous to every team he touches. Sorry for the rant, but I just had my hometown football team ripped away from me because of a greedy owner that doesn't care about quality fans (you know, the ones that made him millions of dollars while he was here).

Lol, you just blew my mind. I'm starting to come around to the idea that bass just aren't smart or they are just incredibly hungry all the time.

Really? I'd have to say the 4000 model is a bit bulky, but outside of that I haven't had any problems with either of them. I guess for that price there's bound to be some inconsistencies

I have two Shimano IX reels (4000 and 2000) that you can find at Bass Pro $15 each. I've used them for 3 or 4 seasons now and never had a single problem. I also have a Plueger Trion which has worked just as well for a couple seasons, but at 1/3 or 1/2 the price I find it hard to beat the IX series.

Fair enough. That's quite a few votes for rats in the Midwest so I think you've all got me convinced to try it. I know how to pick out fish lures, but I'm guessing with rat lures I should just go with a typical gray or brown? Lol, not so sure about the chrome or purple making the cut.

Those fish just ate my PB for breakfast.

You all seem pretty confident in the Spro Rat, I might have to give it a shot this spring. So many lures to buy!!!! Mikey Jr, Live Target hollow body Bluegill, Lucky Craft Wake Crank, possibly a rat (which is still blowing my mind that Bass are attracted to rat lures).

I like the dressed treble hook on that Lucky Craft wake crank and the Live Target Bluegill is looking pretty nice too. Seems like they're all within a few dollars of each other so I've got some more research to do. Either way, I can tell you I'm getting that hollow body bluegill after seeing the videos of how it flops around!!!

I don't know how a rat would go over here in Missouri, but I just checked out that jointed wake bait and then stumbled across the hollow bodied Blue Gill. That's getting bought for sure. Thanks for adding another lure to my "must have for spring" collection, lol.

I'm looking for a jointed wake bait, with a bill, and no more than 4 or 5 inches. It looks like the Jackall Mikey Jr seems like a good choice, but before I go spend $20 on this I'd like some opinions on it from anyone that has used it or similar products. Mainly focused on it putting off a quality wake, but would also prefer it to be jointed for better "S" action.

Lol, now that's fresh pork

Welcome to your new favorite website!

Red-Green-Chartreuse tri-color tube with a 1" Gulp minnow

I have a pistol grip rod with a Zebco 33 on it that was my first rod and reel after my Snoopy pole and it still catches fish for me every year. Granted it's been downgraded to my backup's backup for panfishing, but it still gets use every now and then! 25 years and counting!!!

I do love some Mepps action! I've found here in MO that finesse seems to work better for me so that's why I go with the Rooster Tails. A bit smaller to entice even the finicky ones. If they're hitting hard I'll usually upgrade to a Mepps to see if I can weed out the dinks. Agreed though, anything in a river with a set of eyes seems to love a Mepps or Rooster Tail