snake95

Yes, exactly! I thought both the bodies and lips looked very similar in packages side by side. Quick look - they look like the same bait! Maybe I was missing that the lips are a little different. I assumed there had to be a reason why the xd dives deeper and I couldn't see where that was explained.

Neither are hot off the press new baits, but they have a significant following for deeper cranking. Looking at the "Series" baits vs the "XD" series, the XD's are rated slightly deeper. Any other differences and benefits or drawbacks of these two series?

Their website is a good reference. https://www.fittlures.com/

If you are talking small bass in creeks I can't think of anything better that the YUM grubs that sell for less than $1.4 at pack at Walmart. My single best producing lure by a long shot, and when fished on a light Zman mushroom head there are so many ways to fish them. I like the good old white and also the more subtle green pumpkin and Carolina pumpkin. Sometimes get bit on the silver. I prefer the 3" for a Ned head but you can also go with the 2" if you have a tiny enough jig.

I'm just learning about jigs and picking a few out. Talking about skirted jigs: Arkie, football, finesse... Ignoring cost, why go with Tungsten? Obvious reasons: compact heads, better vibration transmission = better "feel." Of course, keeping lead out of waterways. What are the other reasons? What is the advantage of a more compact head? Interested to hear your thoughts on tungsten vs lead for these.

Fascinating. There are stores I've been to, where if they put a yellow sticker on an item and round the price to the nearest dollar, shoppers will descend like locusts and clear the place out. Others... things languish for months and months. In one store, I saw KVD cranking rods go from a clearance sticker from 2014, while retaining the ancient clearance sticker, go back to regular price in 2017. I couldn't convince the manager to sell to me at the clearance price. Last I looked the rod tips were snapped off but still hanging out at full price. Good work saving those rods from imminent danger!

That's interesting. The normal Walmart fishing clearance season is approximately late January and extending into late March. Clearance stuff will then languish throughout the year, scattered about within the clearance section and the fishing section. It can be interesting to see the prices drop throughout that period. I wonder if this rod was a fresh markdown or something that has been sitting around without a tag... I bought several of those rods a few years ago during a clearance and they've been well used.

Sounds like my experience. I was catching little guys on floating rapalas worked slow and paused on surface. Otherwise, T-rigged stick worms were the deal.

Thanks guys, we did well fishing ponds and canals. The vast majority of our fish came on stick worms.

I'm mostly a pond fisherman, fishing from the bank or small boat. I also like to fish in trees. I use a telescopic lure retriever and it has paid for itself. I also occasionally use a long tree trimmer to hook around branches and pull them to me so I can unhook the snagged lure. Sometimes pruning is needed too.

Thanks Tom and I appreciate your extrapolation to FL. I guess without the winter period in effect the same way as in cooler climates, the same general trends tend to prevail, but maybe in a more subdued way. For example, I know that jerkbaits and Alabama rigs tend to be strong winter baits in the SE - I assume this has to do with many factors including where fish are and their level of activity. Do the same "winter" presentations tend to be favorable in sub-tropical climates, and also a range of warmer weather presentations, or is there no such distinction for winter once you are somewhere very warm like SoCal or FL south of the Big O? It probably also matters that in this area most environments are ponds, canals, etc that tend to be shallow and don't have cooler deep water at any time.

Thanks for the confirmation, Mike! I am used to trying to fish to the season, even in north Georgia ponds. I had never thought about what the bass would be doing so far south before. I am a small-time bass fisherman and will be mostly fishing ponds around Naples with public access - I visit relatives there and take my kids out for pond fishing. In the spring I like to fish topwaters early in the morning, and also have good success on paddletails and stick worms.

I have fished south Florida on the Gulf side in April for the past several years. Seems like the bass are all over the place in terms of spawn transition at that time. Some on beds, some post-spawn, some perhaps pre-spawn. This year: planning to do some New Years fishing in a few days. With the water remaining so warm, what are they up to down there? Can't believe they are in true winter mode, hunkered down deep with slower metabolism and decreased activity. Is it like late fall mixed with pre-spawn fishing would be further north, with no winter "slowdown?"

Looking at the following: Dobyns Champion XP Swimbait Rod 7'9" Med Hvy 795 They offer two handles, one about 17 inches, the other about 20 inches long. Any thoughts on why to pick one or the other? I assume longer for longer casts? I'm a short guy and think I'd prefer the shorter handle for better accuracy. Am I off base?

Very interesting. I have had this experience by accident when fishing during hot summer GA weather. Have had bass pick up flukes sitting on the bottom. I assume you mean just rig on an EWG, toss in the general area where they might be suspended, and just wait patiently?

Spinning: braid to fluoro leader. All sizes, and all applications. Baitcasing: Mostly - braid to fluoro leader, mono leader for topwater or cranks. I also fish YZH straight for just about all baits, and mono straight, particularly for topwaters and cranks. I am not an especially serious angler compared to a lot of the guys on here. But bottom line, I have zero reservations about using braid to leaders with just about everything.

I think this is an issue for a lot of guys, and I remember what it was like when I was a kid saving up for lures. I still get down when I snag lures and have to break off. I would say that learning to fish weedless plastics has been one of the biggest steps I've taken in recent years, and suggest you do that too. Packs of YUM, Zoom, and Big Bite Baits are often $3 or less, and I haven't found a bait from these companies that doesn't work great. Another great inexpensive lure for me has been the $1.50 packs of YUM grubs that they sell at Walmart. You need jigheads for them, and I often use the smallest Z man Ned Rig heads that they sell at Walmart for this. They are not really cheap at about $5 a pack, but if you pick up one of those and two packs of YUM grubs you have a bass catching machine for less than $10. I think it is always a good idea to stick to the basic colors and popular baits: Zoom Trick Worms and Super Flukes and Lizards. Although I love to fish a $15 Whopper Plopper or more expensive topwater, honestly a weightless trick worm fished on a 2/0 or 3/0 light wire hook will work great as a topwater too. Also keep in mind what guys say about the sales. If you can get to Walmart or DSG in late January, or February, you might find some great deals on lures you couldn't otherwise afford. Good luck!

Appreciate the input. The cooler, late fall weather has me thinking about what I am going to do when the water temps really do dip down into the 30's and 40's, as our air has been lately. The bass are harder for me to find and catch from the bank in the ponds these days, and I know it will get tougher still. I am hoping this year to have more success at figuring them out in winter than I have in the past.

@GreenPig yep I blew it, meant to say mid to high 50's, and maybe I was sandbagging a bit. Good point. Thanks for the ideas.

@Catt OK, appreciate it and so noted. I guess the ponds are in the mid to high 40's here in north GA, and my best success in recent weeks has been on a plain old silver Mepps Aglia or silver buddy. They've been nailing the Mepps like there is plenty of life left in them.

@Hook2Jaw Appreciate hearing that from someone who knows my kind of conditions. Were you using a fishfinder to target them, or any other way of locating them? I've learned to pick targets in our ponds based on known structure or cover, but with the deep part of the pond I'm not sure if I have the patience to fan cast and slowly work a bait back. If that's what I need to do to get bit, I will do it, and might eventually figure out if there are some areas where they tend to congregate down there.

Catt - I misstated this badly. That's the internet for you. Experience, plus you and others on this site have taught me well that plastics are great baits for a reason. Unnatural is the absolutely wrong choice of words. I guess what I was trying to say is my confidence with moving plastics is strong. With slow crawling plastics, not so strong and my natural instinct is that in clear and cold water a plastic needs to at least act alive to be appealing. I think what you are saying is that plastic worms are the ticket, even for this condition, and since you put it that way I will give 'em a shot.

I am gearing up to fish some small impoundment ponds in winter, with dams about 20 ft - 30 ft high. I am in Georgia, where the water cools into the 30's and 40's in winter, and bass fishing slows down considerably in the ponds. In recent years, I have had success fishing shallow areas during warming trends. I have read lots of articles that indicating that the bass go down into the deepest parts of the ponds, particularly near the upstream side of the dam. I gravitate to shallow-water methods, but I am interested in methods to find and catch bass in these deep areas in the winter. I was thinking of throwing deep-diving cranks to get down on the bottom, or maybe drop shotting. Interested in hearing if anyone has had any success catching bass in the deep parts of ponds like this in the winter, and what approaches have been successful for these areas.

I don't have a lot of patience for slow fishing plastics. But when I have mustered the patience, sometimes I have been rewarded with decent bites. For example, I have "accidentally" let small grubs sit on the bottom, and then when I impart the slightest twitch, the grub gets slammed. I am trying to learn more about fishing plastics in cold clear ponds, where I assume bass will be less prone to strike something unnatural like a plastic lure. Looking for confidence in this method by first hearing that this is a viable method (or maybe I should be sticking with trying for reaction strikes). What is your success ratio slow fishing plastics in cold clear ponds, e.g.: Shakey head with worm OR Slow dragging a light Carolina rig OR Just slow fishing a drop shot? What baits do you like for this kind of fishing? Thanks for any encouragement on slowing down and suggestions for baits to try.

I think there are plenty of cheap lures that work well. Case in point: Cotton Cordell Spot and Super Spot. Very versatile lures for sure!