Attila

If you can switch over to a baitcaster it'll make your life a lot easier. It might take a winter of practice to get used to it, but you'll be able to fish heavier cover a lot better with it. That being said, the Quantum Throttle size 40 comes in with 13lbs of drag which will help get the fish up and out of the cover that you're fishing. I'd also suggest investing in a rod with a great parabolic bend. There's a thread on that pinned to this section I believe, so read up on it to see what I mean. Late edit - here's the thread on parabolic bends. In the circumstances you described above I went with a Quantum Smoke MH/F action rod and a Team KVD reel with 16lbs of drag loaded with 65lbs test braid. I've had no problems horsing big fish out of very heavy cover with this combo and feel that it'll get the job done for you. I usually use Daiwa products but found that the Quantum setup works just as efficiently for me when I'm frogging, pitching, or flipping the heavy cover I fish. Cheers, hope that this helps.

Rapala Shadow Rap and Shadow Rap Shads in yellow perch pattern for smallmouth along shallow weed edges on rock flats in about 5-6' of water. Spro Bronzeye 65 in midnight walker pattern for largemouth related to shallow docks, lily pads, and stumps.

I just used the improved clinch knot, never had any ill effects with it.

For me it's been the Shadow Rap and Shadow Rap Shad followed by the original Shad Rap. The best colour pattern for me has been either yellow perch or the original, darker green perch pattern as they match the forage up here in Ontario very well. I did pick up some Scatter Raps this year but because of the success I had with jerkbaits I never bothered fishing with them. I'm going to give them some dedicated time next season in hopes of seeing when and where they work best.

Yesterday was brutal...was out at dawn and the air temp was 32F on the button hence the jacket in my picture. Hit my first stop, a saddle between a mainland point and island and the fog was rolling off the lake. Wind was blowing in from the east... Once the fog cleared I caught a few on a jerkbait though nothing of any size. The frustrating part was that I could see 3 and 4 pound fish sitting in the 2-3ft water right in front of me but they wouldn't bite on anything...argh!

I've been using InvizX with a lot of success, but given the nature of your fishing, I'd go with AbrazX as you're probably encountering a lot of rocks and debris around that dam that you're fishing. I'd also practice your knot tying and keep the leader length as short as you can get away with. For me, I average about 5-8' of leader.

None that I'm aware of. If anything changes I'll let you know.

This season I really cleaned up and continue to do well with jerkbaits ranging from Rapala's Shadow Raps and Shadow Rap Shad to Strike King KVD offerings. I've caught fish close to shore but also had fish strike at the end of a long, 200' cast to an outside weed edge. All summer I was using a very aggressive retrieve, really jerking and snapping the lure that I didn't have to wait to feel a bite to set the hook as the fish would be hooked up in less than a split second when I continued my aggressive retrieve. About a month ago we went through a week of really cold air temps which were in the low to mid 30's so I decided to change my retrieve and incorporate a few more pauses into my retrieve and still had no problem detecting the strikes both at long and short distances. I feel that the key to my success, has been running braid with a fluorocarbon leader of usually at least 4' in length. The zero stretch characteristics of braid really allows me to feel a strike regardless of when it happens and allows me to get a quality hookset into any fish that has hit the lure, ranging from both smallmouth and largemouth bass to walleye to the bony jaw of musky. I think it's in that presentation where you'll find your success too.

I can't speak for the poster, but I just got the Rapala Floating Fish Gripper and am going to replace the hook with it by using a pair of pliers to open the circle at the top of the hook and removing it from there, then attaching the fish gripper.

Have to echo sentiments that you can't really change the action of a popper given that the pop comes from the design of the lure body itself. With regards to feathered trebles, I can attest that they do matter. I experimented a couple of years ago with a Rapala Skitter Pop, one with a feathered treble and another with a regular, undressed treble and the feathered version out fished the undressed treble 4:1. Next year I'm going to experiment with VMC X-Rap feathered trebles on the back of some of my Shadow Raps...will be interesting to see the results.

I can't speak for downsizing the Whopper Plopper as I haven't picked up any, but I can tell you that going from a Strike King Sexy Dawg to a Sexy Dawg Jr. did help me land more and bigger smallmouth. It also made unhooking a lot easier as I didn't have to worry about getting a treble hook stuck in my hand from a flailing smallmouth.

Ya, topwater is the shizzle. Nothing beats seeing the wake of a largie traveling in shallow water to beat up a hollow body frog or the toilet bowl flushing sound a smallmouth makes when inhaling a walking bait...:)

Rapala Shadow Rap and Shadow Rap Shad in yellow perch...they've been getting smallmouth, largemouth, walleye, and musky all season long. The other lure that I've not been skunked with this year is the Spro Bronzeye 65 hollow body frog in midnight black.

Though the belly isn't as big as @A-Jay's pb from the other day, this little guy sure put on the feedbag over the last few days...lol The structure was a rock finger between a point and an island with current coming across it from left to right, and then finally going over a small dam a little ways downstream. Caught a whole bunch tonight on the Strike King KVD 2 Hook Jerkbait in ayu pattern and the old reliable, the Rapala Shadow Rap in yellow perch pattern.

Fun last hour of sunlight and then a tank just after sunset...all bass released to fight another day.

Thank you to all who replied, your suggestions will be put to use next week when I'm out on the water!

Up until 3 years ago I fished straight Stren mono. I've since made a change to the following; Straight braid - flipping, pitching, frogging, walking style topwater baits Straight fluorocarbon - crankbaits, squarebills, spinnerbaits, finesse rigs Braid with fluorocarbon leader - jerkbaits, popper style topwater baits, senko style baits I experimented with just about every braid and fluorocarbon on the market, and decided that Power Pro Super 8 Slick was the braid that worked best for me and that Seaguar InvizX had virtually the same characteristics as the Stren that I used to fish, including stretch. Line stretch matters a lot to me as I fish my crankbaits, squarebills, and spinnerbaits on glass baitcasting rods. After the change from mono to the above I've noticed a higher hookup percentage, which is never a bad thing. I've recently tried Seaguar Smackdown braid on one of my jerkbait setups and my frogging outfit, and I believe I'll be making the change to Smackdown for all my braid related applications next year. I hope that this information is helpful to you.

Hi everyone, Yesterday I decided to try targeting some largemouth on a predominantly smallmouth populated lake. I found that the fish were holding under floating mats of vegetation that had been blown into existing structure, whether it be timber, lily pads, weed beds, or docks. The water depths varied from 1' to about 6' and as usual some of the areas had lead in cover while others did not. My first choice in lures was a frog and it really helped me locate fish in the mats that I found myself fishing. The bass would usually blow up on the lure but weren't able inhale the whole bait. I think a lot of this had to do with the thickness of the mats I was fishing. I would follow up with a punching rig and proceed to bring in whatever fish were located under the mat which made the day quite enjoyable. My query is this; when fishing mats situated in deeper water, like 4' or deeper, has anyone ever tried a reaction bait like a jerkbait or spinnerbait along the edge, and if so, were you successful? Or do you just go straight to the punching rig? Normally I'm not adverse to try different things but I didn't have a big window to fish so stuck with what was working until the evening jerkbait bite picked up. Thanks in advance for any feedback people can provide.

I shore fish and run straight 6lbs InvizX for drop shotting purposes. I've been using the VMC Spinshot hook which completely removes any line twist and will often fish with a 1/8oz ball shaped dropshot sinker as i'm in about 5-6ft of water most times.

Every area and spot I fish is 100% accessible to any person at any time. There are times when there are people there, and there are times when there are no people there. They see me catching, they see what lure I'm throwing, if they have it, they throw it and hopefully catch something. When I post on another site that I frequent, I don't bother posting locations. Rather, I post techniques and the structure or environment I was fishing in as it's more helpful to anglers to learn how to apply what I'm doing rather than giving them a specific location. Cheers!

Caught a whole bunch of these guys tonight on a yellow perch patterned Rapala Shadow Rap...fun times! Can't wait for the colder weather to bring the bigguns in shallow again. And a bonus twofer, a pair of rock bass hitting the Ripstop!

I'll be focusing on jerkbaits this fall...just like I've been doing all summer...lol Caught a number of healthy fish on the Shadow Rap and Shadow Rap Shad today, beautiful day to be out and about. Caught some bonus fish too, check out the other species thread.

Sorry, I have to disagree with you. InvizX has plenty of stretch and fishes a lot like mono. As well, this summer I fished Shadow Rap Shads and Ripstops on braid with an InvizX leader and at no point did the front of the bait get dragged down, as a matter of fact they rose just as advertised.

Agree with @J Francho; I've used 12lbs InvizX exclusively this season and not had any issues with it whatsoever and I'm throwing squarebills under docks and along rock and weed transitions. Biggest smallie caught this year from under a dock on a squarebill came in at 4lbs and 13oz and ran that line around dock posts without any negative consequences. I'd really encourage people to try InvizX; it stretches just like mono and as for castability I'd put it up against any other line out there, mono included.

Glad and happy to help.