snake95

Yes - 25% off at DSG today. I figure if you have some staples or a rod or reel that rarely go on sale, this is a good time to buy. They will apply it on top of clearance pricing, but at this point in the year, the existing clearance is pretty well picked over, at least in our area. In my experience, they tend to drop the clearance prices just after Christmas. No special black Friday deals related to fishing in our local store.

I like the Missile Baits baby D Stroyer on a light T-rig. Retrieve is just crawl them through brush close to the shore.

Probably way too late to help out the OP, but I use a sonic toothbrush and baking soda or baking soda toothpaste. Just don't forget to take off your dedicated "lure cleaning" brush head, and then put your wife's toothbrush head back on once you are done.

I have the previous generation Tatula CT Type Rs - got on recommendation of folks on this site and have been pleased with them. However, I also like the Abu Garcia Revo's and the Gen 4 SX and STX have been on for good prices on Amazon this fall, especially if you are a lefty.

Coming at this as a small-time weekend pond warrior, for me, 2018 was the year of going back to basic plastics. Until this year, I was crazy about cranks, walkers, poppers and buzzbaits, with the occasional trickworm thrown in. Had very little time to fish this year, but made the most of short bursts. Springtime: senkos and Yum Dingers. I know. Boring. I guess the news there for me was that I overcame my lack of enthusiasm for them, and threw them in hot, pressured conditions in Florida and Georgia this spring and well into the post-spawn. I was very surprised at how successful I was by tossing them into flats where bass were either spawning or protecting fry. I learned to skip them under bushes all around the ponds, and did well with that. As a result of the success, Senko fishing became fun for me. Oh yeah: no matter where I'm throwing them, I almost always fish them weightless and Texposed, with a 3/0 to 5/0 worm hook or EWG. I'll use a superline EWG if I want the weight and have one at hand. Almost always trying to get bit on the fall, but found myself using them to pepper an area of flats where I felt like there might be fish. Kind of a slow way to cover water, but it worked. Springtime and all summer long: toads. It was the year of the toad. I killed them on toads all year long. I tried all types: Keitech, Zoom, and others. In the bright mid-morning in Florida, late at night in GA. Right off the bank, and in open water. Horney Toads with 4/0 and 5/0 superline EWG's. Honorable mention: flukes. Also "nothing special" but I had a lot of luck with weightless flukes worked near surface among lilly pads and along weedlines for largemouth on small ponds up in Ontario. Not a lot of strategy to it, but with the super-clear Ontario water, I started off with a subtle green pumpkin or Disco violet and never varied from those. Fall: night fishing with chatterbaits and walking baits. Had very little previous experience with chatterbaits, but they worked well for me at night with paca craw trailers. Also fished walking baits in place of buzzbaits late at night in very calm waters. That worked well too. @A-Jay I really enjoyed the post that started this.

Agreed. In my experience the VMC fastgrips penetrate well and hold well. I thought the point was gimmicky but it sure works great for me. Would never hesitate to recommend or pick up VMC fastgrips for myself. I like Owner and other hooks too.

Pretty sure Bluebasser meant the actual "double plopper" -- a species of its own -- as opposed to the double whopper plopper shown in the video. Made me watch the video.

I have seen it listed as 3/4 oz and 1-1/8 oz. Is there more than one 8.0 out there? Thanks

Otter, I would buy one or two and try them out. Honestly, you won't regret it. I prefer the larger size for casting distance. And... also get a Sammy or two to try. You also certainly won't regret that. Not sure how long your walking bait bite will last up in Ill, but go ahead and stock up. I will continue to remain a Heddon fan. Just recently I was using a saltwater Super Spook Jr in Chartreuse for night fishing in a pond and catching them.

Seems like there is a range of opinions on the Dawgs. I've found them easier to walk than a lot of competitors due to their shape, and they've caught bass in ponds for me. However, I also tried the Sammy for the first time this year, and as expensive as they are, I can see how it is easy to justify the relatively high prices. I'm a pretty cheap weekend angler, and mostly stick to baits under $10 each; but I can easily understand now why guys don't hesitate to fork out the $$ for Sammy's. I know they would be my choice if I needed more walking baits.

That looks awesome. Maybe I just haven't had enough coffee yet to see the obvious, but what method do you use to get the strands through the worm piece?

I didn't know that. I often foul-hook these guys in the summer inshore fishing in NE. So, I figured they were trying to stun. They WILL knock my spooks into the air. But back to black bass... I have had spots do the same thing, including tail hooking them - on walking baits! I have been fishing spooks in the dark of night but with artificial lights nearby here in the south lately. I've found they'll hit a bait and target it well if I add long pauses to my walking cadence.

Some dirt cheap lures that have worked well for me : cotton cordells of virtually all types (not super quality, especially hooks); and lots of YUM baits in the Walmart bargain bins, especially Dingers and their various craws and worms. Another super-effective cheap "numbers" bass bait for me is the white or silver or green YUM grubs in 3" - sell for about $1.50 a pack and absolutely deadly and versatile.

I have seen prices on the STX, SX, and Winch vary quite a bit over the past couple of months. I'm a lefty. I happened to catch the SX when the bottom fell out and it was selling for $76 (dropped to $68 before rebounding to $160-ish). The Winch is as low as 130, the STX at 140. These are, of course, real Gen 4 Revos sold by Amazon. Good deals. *** this probably belongs in the deals thread ***

Ha ha - it's cool, yeah much respect for RW What was on my mind was I saw recent posts by @Matt 825 and @Dens228 and it really got me thinking how I'd like to see some fellow anglers talk specifically about their experience from the recent newbie perspective. Common threads I'm hearing are :if you want to learn to catch on a jig, you need to throw them. Also, not catching the first few times seems pretty common, but the success will come. Also, learning to detect that first bite is the key. I'll work on those things. Thanks everyone.

Noticed a couple of guys commenting on catching their first jig fish on another thread and wanted to start a specific conversation. Particularly for anglers who are relatively new to jig fishing: What experience got you hooked on jig fishing, and/or "flipped a switch" so that you went from being a non-jig angler to throwing a jig with confidence? What response by a fish resulted in an "a-ha" moment? What bait were you using and how did you fish it? I'd especially like to hear from fellow bank beaters. I'm not normally standing in a boat flipping to heavy cover. I'm normally on the bank fan casting good looking areas or hitting targets and wondering if it would be worth it to be doing that with a jig.

I thought I saw some guys responding to a recent post that they never left plastics rigged, because it caused rust. I don't have enough experience to have really tested this out, but because of that, I took a whole pile of plastics off of hooks last weekend, thereby adding a bit of wear to each bait. @cgolf are you saying your experience is that there is no issue? Very interesting. FWIW I am honestly amazed by how long my plastics seem to last, and I'm changing them out constantly. I'm just a small-time weekend warrior, so maybe that is the reason. To each their own, but I keep used baits sorted in planos and/or buckets like you do by color, and periodically grab the plastics, a beer, and some mend it and have a repair session. Partly because I'm cheap, mostly because I hate to waste plastics, and above all else I have little kids and really enjoy the break.

Ok, cool. Good basis for comparison. I'm going to be up in Ontario.

Cool, where are you in terms of latitude?

Interested to hear when topwater effectiveness slows down for you in the fall in northern ponds and lakes. I find here in Georgia I can have good topwater days into late fall, and have even caught fish on walking baits and prop baits in late December. What have been the key factors you've seen corresponding to a topwater slowdown in the fall?

@everythingthatswims Thanks for the super review. Proof that sponsorship works, I've been looking for some maxscent baits since I read your comments, and the recent BASS tourney on the St.Lawrence. In terms of compact dropshot-style baits, I could only readily find the flatnose minnow and the smaller hitworm. Picked up green pumpkin and shiner flatnoses, and watermelon red hitworm. Planning to fish some clear Ontario ponds and fast smallmouth rivers with them. What is the action on the flatnose like? Stiff like a gulp minnow, or fluid like a Roboworm? Any rigging tips? Many thanks for the comment. Berkley has to give you credit for introducing the baits to me and my family!

Interesting post. I'm mostly a pond fisherman with my kids, but here goes: Senkos: "target" fishing - casting to targets and hoping to get bit on the fall. Examples: schools of bluegills, splashes from bass visibly attacking prey close to the bank ("follow up" fishing), targeting interesting looking cover, occasionally, fan casting spawning bed flats. Trickworms: weightless topwater, or just sub-surface T-rigged on bottom or swimming past targets. Roboworms: dropshot or weightless T-rigged. Ribbon tails: T-rigged, swimming past targets. Gator tails - just got a bunch of Ditto Gator tails. Should be interesting.

Good to hear. Missed the biospawn stuff in there.

Bonjour, Tom! et bienvenue sur les forums!

I'm focusing on the issue being the fine diameter of the braid. Obviously, you are tying direct braid-to-bait. Another crazy suggestion for you is to try using a fairly long fluoro or mono leader. The downside is you'll have to tie one knot with the braid: braid to leader. The upside is it will be one knot, and you can tie the knot in the comfort and light of home. After that, all your knots will be using the thicker mono or fluoro. As for leader connections, I use the Alberto personally. For simplicity, you can choose a uni-uni for a simple line/line connection. Another simple alternative is the J knot.