snake95

I use black sammys with yellow stripes (archer bee) and have done well on them in North GA ponds this year. I have been using a larger 1 oz size (128 maybe?). I wound up with this bait because it was cheap, not because I thought I needed the color. Kinda ugly, but the bass didn't think so. Threw it during post spawn and small bass hammered it no matter how I fished it.

@SC53 gotta ask what your success has been like with those livetarget swimbaits. Hope that doesn't get into the realm of threadjacking...

That's awesome!!! How much time did you spend dragging?

Agree with the above about low-light conditions, although like all fish, surprises occur. I have some experience catching them, though there are some guys on here that are experts. I used a lot of live bait for them, mostly shiners or other minnows, and sometimes crawlers. I know leeches are also popular but did not use them. We typically fished close to the bottom for them. If I were you I would search for walleye rigs. You will find lots of rigs with spinner blades and beads for crawlers, and bottom bouncer or dipsey sinkers. Also look for walleye jigs - another popular live or dead bait presentation, and you can also use curl tail grubs. Yes you will get snagged and break off. I have caught them on various rapala cranks, particularly the original when they are shallow in very low light in the spring or fall. Also caught them on ballhead jigs with grubs. Another common thread for walleye lures is bright unnatural colors, pinks, chartreuse.

My intro to soft plastics fishing with guide in south FL was using a senko (Gamblers' version, of course) T-rigged with a 3/8 oz or so sliding bullet flipping into cover. Sure worked well!

In my experience, as a kid, I used to catch craws by the boatload in a cool clear stream with a gravel bed in Ontario. I used a simple wire minnow trap. I had never seen a craw before and didn't realize they lived there. I put a minnow trap in the water to catch minnows. I might have got one or two chubs or shiners, but tons of craws. I didn't use bait. They just piled right into the minnow trap. I can't be the only one that caught them in a minnow trap?

Not exactly what you have in mind but x zone lures makes a leech: https://www.xzonelures.com/site/shop/detail/pro-leech I have some but have not tried them yet. Northland had one in their riggin line but apparently they are discontinued. Fleet farm still has some old stock: https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/northland-impulse-riggin-leech-black/0000000076783

@Mobasser great post and resulting thread. About the critter craw - I have seen these and was not very interested - because they don't have the large flapping claws you see on so many craw baits out there. I guess they are like the Yum crawbugs - not a ton of action, but effective anyway. Will give them a try.

Totally understand. I have carried long reach pruning shears to cut out baits that are too high to reach. Have had some nasty looks until I explained I was protecting birds from the sharp treble hooks.

Thanks. Today I tried a Bomber Fat Free Shad fingerling (8-10 ft rated diver). Threw into a relatively deep pond channel on a different pond. The bomber did not make it to the bottom so I could see how it dug along the bottom. Intercepted by a nice bass before it made it down that deep. It was a short trip but will continue to experiment.

Apologies if this belongs in the terminal tackle and lures section... Over the past 6 years I’ve learned a lot about pond and river fishing, in places as diverse as warm canals and clear ponds of south Florida, ponds of Georgia, and cool clear rivers of eastern Ontario for smallmouth. Thanks in large part to Glenn’s site, I can really catch em’ shallow from shore! Now, I am spending more time near home in GA ponds with a jon boat and started profiling the bottom with a Deeper fish finder (yes they make contour maps!) It is August here and the Deeper showed me where the deep channel (about 14 ft) is in our closest small pond, and registered fish down there. Bottom is relatively featureless but the fish finder shows fish hanging suspended above drop offs. Would appreciate hearing about what you suggest to target these bass and also the learning process of transitioning from shallow fishing to fishing deeper waters. Obviously, I need to get down to them. What would be your first choices? -Drop shot and Carolina rigs? - seems like it would get too deep for the fish apparently hanging a few feet off bottom. -Deep cranks - not an obvious pond bait, but might work? Again would likely grind bottom if working right. -Deep fishing cranks/jerkbaits/spinnerbaits? Ideally, targeted to a few feet above the drop offs. How do you learn to dial in to specific depths? I plan to upsize my weights to get down to depth faster. As always - thanks for any suggestions, guys!

I tie on when I start fishing. I can tie a leader on in under two minutes and a terminal connection in under a minute easily. If I have confidence in a knot I tied late the day before, I might - maybe - fish it again at the start of the next day if I’m in a real rush. But normally I’ll cut and re tie.

Good haul Angus and good if surprising news. This means fishing gear clearance is happening at Walmart stores nation wide. In case you don’t know the pattern, every store will vary to a degree in terms of what is on clearance, and what the price drops are. Prices will drop down in steps on each clearance item, until everything marked for clearance is gone. In some stores, and on some items, the initial cuts in price are modest, and it may not seem like the deals are great. Occasionally, the initial cuts will be substantial. However, the price cuts indicate what is marked for clearance and sometimes that first drop in price is enough to drive sales. The drops in price usually occur across the board on all clearance. To my knowledge, there is no way of predicting when the drops will occur. However, the timing of the price drops seems to be consistent from store to store. In some stores, clearance stuff will hang around long enough for the prices to get into the dirt cheap range. In general - similar stuff will be on clearance from one store to the next. For example, this might be the year KVD 1.5's are being sold off, among other things. However, the sale items will not necessarily be identical from store to store, so you might get chart/black back 1.5's for $1.50 in one store, but no red craws, where it is vice-versa and the next closest store. Walmart clearance has tended to happen in March-April.

Yes mono backing used a spooling gadget line coming off bottom pretty sure it is not line twist per se, but I am open minded about it. Will do some experiments soon if I can to see if the checklists provided fix things.

@Choporoz hm good point. I just looked and definitely left a tag. That might have been it. Terrible! I will admit I thought wind knots were a myth that might just happen to other people and never paid attention to them. The problems seem to be due to line slowing down with connection knots in the guides. Thanks guys.

Yes always

To answer your question - I have had Amazon send me two rods instead of one at least once (twice I think). I have always tried to return them. They ultimately told me to keep them. To answer the more important question - IMHO the Gods of something, if not big bass, will look favorably on your choice.

Hard to believe this hasn't been covered, but couldn't find it... I have been fishing spinning gear of all sizes from the time I was a kid, and I rarely if ever have had a problem with spinning, have only read about others having issues. I have fished 10, 15, and 20 lb braid on spinning with no issues that I can remember, for the past 5 years or so. However, now apparently it is my turn. Gear: Daiwa BG spinning 1500 - new Dobyns Champ XP 682 10 lb braid - power pro and now Berkley X9 braid. When I cast, I am getting insane knots developing suddenly in the line at various points along the length of my rod. I could not have created worse knots if I tried! It happened with my young son and I gave him heck for it. Now I am sheepishly realizing it wasn't just him. I am almost embarrassed to admit I am having problems casting spinning gear, but I would rather learn what is causing this that keep fighting it. Could there be something different about the BG reel? Maybe it has to do with the light line? I can't recall when I have used 10 lb and when I used 15 lb. I just don't remember having this problem.

LOL I assume you’re not intending to be funny but it reads like stuff is stuck in the country of California and can’t get through to the rest of the US!

How do you like those Arashi cranks? Ollies has definitely been strong with the dark side of the force this year.

Just a quick follow up: I mostly fished with my 12 yo son when I could, where I could (as usual) - which mostly meant early morning jetty fishing. I mostly fished swimbait jigs with paddletails, and had two awesome 10+ fish mornings, which is more than ever in my experience. Relied heavily on Zman/TT Lures' stout HeadlockZ jigheads with 5" DieZel Minnows. Kind of sweetwater bass style but saltwater tough. We got on a pattern and ran with it. The first day with my boy he was on them - fish after fish right at his feet as A-Jay said, right in the foam where waves hit the rocks. He had the time of his life. Got lucky one day with the terns acting as my fishfinders and putting me on a school hammering the baitfish below surface. Thanks again.

Folks with kayak trailers: I am looking for a kayak trailer and considering rack options. For lighter kayaks in the 10-12 ft length range. I want to back my yak into the water if possible. What type of racks do you like and recommend? V-racks, J-racks, bunks, mega wings, others?

I am pretty much sticking with Zman these days. Love their stuff. The other ned bait that has worked really well for me is X-zone's Ned Zone, but I would not pick it over a good ol' TRD.

Maybe a little more finesse than you are looking for, but I like Zman big TRDs with the Zman Neko Shroomz, or just a broken ned jighead. I use size 1 and 2 VMC Neko hooks for this light presentation. You can rig them traditionally or insert the hook like a T-rig with the point buried in the bait. I have no idea why the hook up ratio remains good, but it does. Very weedless that way.

I'm with Team9nine. Also throwing a mushroom head. Probably a big TRD if only one choice.