snake95

Cool thread. I'm a newcomer/weekend warrior but I'm as interested in learning about the old stuff and how/why it worked as I am about the latest and greatest. There is a lot to learn from the old masters. I came across a pile of older Ditto baits, mostly "gator tail" worms last fall at a pawn shop in Georgia. Had no idea what "Ditto" meant. That lead me to find the following article about Terry Scroggins making his own from Ditto molds, and giving away kicker tail worms at an event last year. Yesterday I got to actually talk to Terry about his tinkering and he gave my son a pack of his kicker tails at the Classic. Sure, the pack of baits was cool but what was really priceless was getting to talk to Mr. Scroggins himself about fishing the gator tail. Looking forward to fishing these classics in our local Georgia ponds soon. https://www.bassmaster.com/gear/scroggins-made-12000-worms-toyota-event

Saw you at the bar Saturday afternoon, tried to make it over to talk, but had a whole entourage of kids that I couldn't break away from. My second classic in a row with my 10 year old - this time brought two more Dads and three more boys. Thanks to your forums for getting me back into it 4 years ago, and teaching the kids what I'm learning. Will actually meet you next year!

Wanted to be the first to reply! I'll be there with my 10 year old son and maybe more of an entourage this year. Hotel booked, day off work booked, ready to roll!!! Look forward to meeting you at your booth - we've been throwing Cavitrons a lot this past year!!! Best of luck and have a great expo!

@Russ E and @Bluebasser86 thanks guys, sounds like you are covering a fairly broad range of sizes between the two of you. I will get some and try it out.

@TOXIC being the resident GY Senko expert, would you mind sharing a few tips about this? Thank you.

Noticed this line recently at a local store and have been scanning through the threads to learn more about it. Found some experienced proponents like @Russ E and @Bluebasser86. Very interested in hearing more experiences with it. I've been using Yo Zuri Hybrid over the past several years based on recommendations a few years ago on Bassresource. I use it sometimes alone, most often as a leader with braid. As a weekend warrior, I've been happy with it for those applications. How does High Seas compare to Hybrid and what are your impressions about abrasion resistance and knot strength? (things I like about Hybrid) How do you feel about how it handles at different diameters/lb test?

Great shots, very effective illustration of the difference @J Francho Thank you for posting them. Always interesting to learn about the history of bass lure development and what has happened to companies that were pioneers and as they would say these days "influencers" of their craft.

Assume that these are one and the same? Sounds like the original company kept making them and remains a staple of economical jigs at Walmart? I'm sure like anything you can get a JDM version cast from Palladium or Kryptonite but is there anything to detract from the modern versions of Arkie's Arky jigs?

I use 3/4 oz lipless in about 3 ft of water - bank fishing in ponds. On the good side: I can cast so far I wind up covering a huge amount of water per cast. One the negative side: I have to burn that guy big time or it will get buried in muck. Not recommended if you don't know exactly where the snags are first: but if you do get bit - it will be one of the bigger bass in the pond and they will hit it like a freight train.

As a Walmart aficionado, I have this much figured out: Right now, we are in stage 2 of a 3 stage clearance process for their fishing gear. In general, for the stuff that they've earmarked for clearance, prices were first marked down about a month ago, as some guys have observed, and then dropped one level about a week ago. They will drop again, probably in another week or two. Not every store has managed to re-label everything that is on clearance yet, but they are getting there. The general "themes" will be similar between stores: items that are being marked down include certain KVD cranks, in certain stores, etc as noted. Specific items and amount of the markdown at each stage will vary from store to store.

I regularly fish "bubblegum" weightless T-rigged Zoom trickworms and flukes. Fishing for LMB in stained to muddy GA ponds. Have "heard" smallmouth like brighter colors, but no question our small water largemouths love pink baits.

Finally made it to an Academy. Almost all fishing clearance was gone by this point, except lots of gammy weighted hooks in the 5/0-7/0 range (I think) and a handful of SK french fries. Obviously, this was a nationwide thing and they have sold out most of the gear at this point. Worth calling them if you live a good distance away. They seem to way be more responsive and helpful on the phone than most big box stores, and you can find out if anything good is left in clearance before making the trip.

When it comes to Walmart, sometimes that works. Sometimes, if the SKUs are different and they ring up differently, you have to get lucky enough to get an associate both willing and able to adjust the pricing to the lowest. That doesn't always happen.

I learned to fish the Ned rig by reading posts by @Team9nine and Bluebasser back in 2016. I followed all their advice, and have them to thank for experiencing several of the best bass fishing days of my life. They got me to go to the source and read Ned's actual articles. Now my kids and I are out there with our 1/16 oz heads and ML Abu rods from the clearance rack at Walmart putting a serious hurting on largemouth in Georgia and smallies in Ontario.

There is one about 15 miles from my house. But with our traffic situation in the Atlanta area, it's a complete moonshot to get there. The Academy might as well be in Minnesota. I told my wife the next house we buy will be closer to an Academy.

To answer my own question - others might be interested: as of the week of Feb 4 they've changed to buy 4 get 1 free. Doesn't make sense if you are trying to actually clear out to effectively ramp up prices. Even the store personnel thought it was backwards. Pretty sure they meant the leftovers were shipped to a particular DSG or Field and Stream store - they aren't large enough lots (piles of senkos, rage craws - large by the scale of one store, but not by Outlet bait lots standards).

Cool. And which one gets the most bites in your case?

@RichF which bait caught the fish, the tube or the dropshot bait?

Actually found a DSG that had a decent 5/5 sale going: they were clearing out a surprising amount of stuff. Based on historical experience, the 5/5 will be ending soon. Back in the good old days they'd do a "blow out" of the dregs that were left, and some DSGs had some good leftovers. Will be interesting to hear when the 5/5 ends this year, and if the sales get better or just plain end. Also, the manager told me the leftovers go to a great clearance outlet in Minnesota. Where is this secret lure blowout clearance place??

Very interesting, thanks guys. I will pick up a few. @1201vilbig and @Columbia Crawthanks that's a very helpful explanation. I didn't think of hooking them on like a conventional chunk trailer, but I guess that's the whole idea! I'm not sure I'm experienced enough to really have a feel for that level of difference in action and to tell when it should matter -- but now I will now look/feel for it to learn.

I'm thinking of adding Terminator jigs to my collection. I know there are a million jig options out there, and have heard the rave reviews for Sieberts. As for a quick run to the local big box store - any reason not to pick Terminators over SK jigs? Or get some of each? I don't see any SK's with a similar head design, but maybe there is a range of opinions regarding different head shapes suited to flipping cover.

Yep, rookie question here. Both rage products get rave reviews here. I'm working hard on jig proficiency this year. They are both about the same price per pack. I've had good luck with the craw T-rigged. Talking about using as jig trailers here. What is the advantage of selecting the chunk over the craw, aside from not having to trim down the body? Thanks guys.

Medium spinning is what you have - I promise you will catch fish. Sure, there places with dense pads, but you won't be fishing 50 lb-65 lb braid with med spinning. I like John D's setup (heck, he lives there!) and that's pretty consistent with mine. I personally might upsize my braid a bit for the heavier vegetation areas - but that's just me. 15 lb is fine too. Take a couple of leader spools so you have options: say 12-15 lb mono to fish a buzzbait, toad, etc, early in the am, and 8-10 lb hybrid or fluoro to fish senkos and trickworms later in the day. Good luck!!!!

It's that time of the year! To me this is always one of the best sales. However, you get what you get when you get it: different stores have different items on sale, and the prices will drop by a few dollars every few weeks, until they hit rock bottom in March. The trick is to get what you want before there is nothing left.

I fish this area as a visitor every spring with limited gear. I find there are lots of areas with very clear water, even by northern standards. Its not all tannic. I think of sand, rough limestone, and grassy bottom vegetation. Lots of it. There is nowhere in the world where a senko works better for me that SW florida. My favorite/top producing baits include trick worms and horney toads. Have also done well on buzzbaits, ploppers. I would use 20 lb braid with 10 lb hybrid for med spinning. I also fish 12-15 lb mono and do just fine, too.