snake95

I routinely fly with fishing gear - both within the US, and back/forth to Canada. Do it a few times every year. I fly Delta and Air Canada. My experience over the last 5 years, travelling with gear has been as follows. Small hook packages and a few lures with singles and trebles: carrying a few in carry on has never posed an issue. Have never been questioned about them. Mostly I did not intend to carry on. Tackle bag, included in checked bag: no problems. Travel rods in cylinders: carry on, no problems. 2-pc ugly stick or similar rod: carried on as-is and put in overhead compartment, never any questions or issues. However, your experience and the actual rules may vary.

I fished in-line spinners sporadically as a kid. I was never really into them. I hadn't bothered to tie one back on since I resumed fishing about 5 years ago. However, I just experienced the best numbers day of my life. The only thing that I have ever done so well with is a Ned rig, but I didn't do any better. Couldn't have been simpler. Tied on a plain, silver number 2 Mepps Aglia on a med-light rod with 10 lb braid and a short leader. The setup was intended to fish Ned Rigs, but I tied on the Mepps on a whim, and never got around to taking it off. I was fishing shallow in Georgia ponds. Air temps about 60 degrees, stained water. Bass off all sizes were hammering the Mepps like it was their last chance to eat before winter. Cast and wind, maybe 6-12"inches below surface. Some bites seemed to come as I gave it a slight pause. Caught a dozen largemouths and a white crappie and big bluegill, in less than 2 hours. Lost a few bass when I didn't lean back on the rod fast enough against their lightning fast strikes. When do you like to fish boring in line spinners? When do they tend to excel? I have a feeling the answer is "whenever the water is wet."

Nichols lures. Based in Georgia. Made in the USA.

Update! I used them myself. I got several packages in a range of sizes. They are very soft, as you'd expect from a hand pour. I tried the 4" on a SK squadron head in crystal clear Ontario water. The pointed nose makes it a little hard to fit snug with a head of this type. Not nearly as seamless as a Kietech swing impact fat. I didn't get any bites. On anything. I tried the small 3.25" in olive shad on a small 1/4 oz VMC boxer head in a Georgia pond. The fit was much better than with the bulkier head. Slow-rolled, the booty shaker shakes along and looks good. Ripples in a realistic way so well I could see fishing it on bottom using a swinghead to mimic a pecking baitfish. Reeled fast, it had a tendency to roll and "blow out" on the small boxer head that is very noticeable due to the shape. The flat sides produce a lot of flash that seems like a realistic baitfish flash. I caught several small bass in a clear pond with the 3.25 on the boxer head. Two choked it on the fall after landing. Several came out of the shadows and tagged it and let go. Tried changing to a Keitech and fished the same area, but didn't get any takers.

? I assume you only fish them wacky? ??

I don't peg bullets with craws for the kind of fishing I do. I think the prevailing thinking is you peg a bullet when you want the craw and bullet to work together as a unit - i.e. the bait to closely track behind the bullet. Examples are flipping grass or punching weed mats. For general casting to targets and working along the bottom, you wouldn't peg the craw. The reason you might not see it as much with Senkos is they are generally a less favorable bait for applications where you'd peg.

I use a good old palomar and loop the tagline down through the eye. I am still new to dropshoting, and I think that Palomar is not the best for fluoro, but, I haven't found anything better for dropshoting yet.

Agreed. I think all the attention to realism is the biggest gimmick part, and I think the "trick" works best on newer anglers who think that the key to an effective lure is that the more detailed it looks to us when motionless, the more real it will somehow look to the fish. It's almost coincidental the company does make a few truly effective and good quality baits, although IMHO these are effective lures, well as also being very detailed, and not because of it. (Standouts include their hollow body frog, and their lipless cranks). Their cranks have also performed well for me, but the realism is a side-benefit that adds greatly to the cost. I think the cranks are worth buying, but it is not worth paying extra for the detail. I bought some early on as I built up my collection, and I'm glad it was only when they were on super sale.

I use every size from the tiny 2" regular swing impact on a dropshot to a 4.8 FAT on a plain 1/2 oz SK squadron jighead. I haven't tried the larger baits yet. Some day. I could only pick one it would be the 4.3 rigged on a 3/8 oz jighead.

@Jig Rookie thanks for the awesome and detailed response. I am amazed that the hook - even the huge hook - finds its way out of that mass of plastic and into the fishes mouth, but seeing is believing. I thought maybe you'd have to do some kind of fancy through-the-bait rigging with a threaded treble or something like that but hard to beat the simplicity of a regular swimbait hook. I was wondering how to rig some large Berkley sick fish and now I know how to do that too. Thanks.

Looking at picking up some Booty Shakers. They aren't a widely talked-about lure, but they look good. Over the past 4 years, I've used a ton of Keitech Swing Impact Fat's - in just about every size up to 4.8s - and especially 4.3-4.8. I fish them simply on a jighead or occasionally a belly weighted swimbait hook or flashy swimmer. I know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And I'll probably do it anyway and report back... Anyone else use Booty Shakers and how do they compare to the Swing Impact Fats? How do you like to rig/fish them?

Zman Shroomz 1/15 oz with 3" Yum grub, ideally brown or green pumpkin. Not for catching big ones, but the most reliable producer in any condition.

I've been called a little OCD, and less polite words for that. I'm an engineer and a perfectionist, and I like to tinker. But I agree. I did not know this was a thing. If you need to spend time and money to solder your hooks, maybe you need to buy better hooks? Or am I off base and this is an issue for flipping for monster bass in S. Cali or something like that?

I got a wild idea and put a 3.8 Swing Impact Fat in bluegill flash on the back of a black SK buzzbait and it has worked extremely well for me this summer, in light, and also night fishing. Probably not the cheapest alternative but hard to argue with success.

With the Ollie's store here it usually a crap shoot as to whether they will have anything in fishing. The last time I was there they didn't have a fishing section Ollie's is also hit and miss in GA. When it's good, it's great - picked up Sammy's for under $6 each in the past. This year has been lots of Rapala Scatter Raps, plus Shadow Raps and Shadow Rap Shads in discontinued colors at around $6 each which is not awesome. They have also had Senkos in oddball colors at $6/pack, which is not a truly fantastic price since Walmart and DSG sell them for about $6.25-6.50/pack just about everywhere around north GA.

This made me do a search and I dug up these previous comments from Tom about slip shot rigs. This should help answer your question. It sure did for me. One of the great joys of the past 5 years I've returned to fishing has been reading stuff like this from the top contributors to the site. Thank you, Tom. Got me thinking about what guys like Aaron Martens learned from these West Coast masters... I guess that's for another thread.

Agreed with @Dirtyeggroll, and I am as guilty as the worst offenders on here. I'm an absolute gear fanatic. I have those boxes and boxes he's referring to. I've really enjoyed finding the great bargains and got a lot of enjoyment out of the actual collecting. We joke about it on the forum, and to some extent, it IS harmless, if your personal and family budget can allow it. However, also consider your time budget. Fishing is the number one thing will make you a better angler - and if you can find a way to channel that time to make actual on the water time, your obsession with tackle collecting will subside. That's what I've found. That and looking after your health and those around you. Look at many of the best pros: Aaron Martens was featured in Runners World mag, John Crews is a fitness fanatic, etc. Anyway, the last thing I'm trying to do is pass judgement. I'd be the world's biggest hypocrite if I was. My pile still keeps growing - but the rate is diminishing, and I've found I feel healthier and I'm a better angler for it.

There are often posts from anglers that have hit a dry spell and get frustrated. Ups and downs occur with everyone, even pros and guides. So often anglers turn to this particular topic looking for or talking about "magic baits." My pet peeve is guys talking about "secret spots" "secret baits" "magic colors" etc etc. In bass fishing, there is no magic. There is however, logic and probability. Based on several years of fishing and reading and absorbing and weeding through tons of information (and misinformation) from You Tube, Bassresource, etc, I've realized that successful fishing is only in part to do with the lure. You have to be in the right place, at the right time, presenting a bait that the fish want to strike, for whatever reason. Roadwarrior's reference above is a good place to start, the senko is very popular because it is a bait that will consistently produce in so many conditions. However, even the mighty senko won't always get bites, even when fish are around. Some ideas to increase your probability of success: - Like anything, practice and observe, try different things, and don't get discouraged when they don't work. Every fishing trip is like training in any other sport. Experience leads to improvement. The more you fish, the more you learn what tends to work, when and where. A fishing trip with no fish caught still helps make you a better angler, even if it is discouraging. - In broad, general terms, lower light conditions tend to be better. - In general terms, cover and structure are good places to start. Try to match your fishing to the seasons, the weather patterns, time of day, etc. Above all else, read or watch to learn about the seasonal distribution and habits of bass. There are always exceptions - but really its all about probability - where are the fish most likely to be, what is their mood most likely to be (pre-spawn, post-spawn, summer funk? deep water? -- why are they gravitating to the spots they are? For example, there are reasons why bass are caught on topwaters in the warmer months, particularly during certain times of their year. Also reasons why some baits are more universally applicable over the full course of a year (ned rigs, dropshot, etc) than others. - When it comes to lures, consider general rules of thumb -- consistent producers -- plastics with muted and natural colors, and popular baits like the senko, the fluke, paddle tail swimbaits like the Keitech Swing Impact fat, and lures with a long track record, the original Rapala minnow, the Strike King KVD 1.5, popular spinnerbaits, etc. etc. The ned rig is simple and so often effective. - Match your presentation to your gear. OK, all that said, here would be my own favorites for general conditions - most of the year. But I just want to emphasize: there are no magic baits. You have to learn where the bass are and what they're most likely to be up to. 1. Ned head with TRD. Pick a natural-ish color. 2. Small jig with grub. Hard to beat the 3" YUM grubs from Walmart. 3. T-rigged worm. 4. Keitech swing impact fat on a 3/8 oz SK squadron head or similar head. 5. Rattling crankbait like a SK redeye shad or rattle trap. Good luck!

Drop shot. They work!

Speaking of pink buzzbaits, last year I caught stripers in Nantucket Sound on a pure pink Nichols buzzbait. Never heard of anyone fishing buzzbaits in the surf, but I had heard the expression show them something they haven't seen. So I gave those northern fish a dose of Georgia green bass bait. Does that count?

Smart. I will do that too, now.

Nice work @scaleface. These would also work well as a keeper for fluke fishing - nose hooked with CPS inserted (Tactical Style). I used to do this with plastic container lids, but inner tube is better yet.

Pricing on Walmart.com and Amazon.com is still lower than TW's with 15% off for 200 yd spools in the sub 12-lb sizes. Down around $30/spool when I last checked.

Z-man got me thinking about beavers with all those new models they were highlighting for ICAST. I mostly fish from the bank or small boats - I flip a bit, but I mostly fish soft plastics on T-rigs, mushroom heads, swim jigs and swing heads. Favorite beaver style baits? Aside from flipping, where the application is obvious, wondering how everyone else fishes them?

I've very done well on dropshot with small Keitech impact fats (2.8 and 3.3 inch baits). Remarkably successful. Also had success with chatterbait with a craw trailer fished very slow with pauses. Love to use buzzbaits and walking baits for topwater at night.