Oklahoma Mike

I've been having success on spinnerbaits, shallow cranks, jerk baits, and buzzbaits. The baits that I was killing them on just a month ago - senkos (both T-rigged and wacky), soft swimbaits, Ned rig, Neko rig - have completely died.

30-40 lb braid

Lucky Craft Live Pointer 95SR is one of my favorites for shallow water. http://www.luckycraft.com/luckycrafthome/Products/jerkbait/livepointer95sr.htm

Just placed an order.

Since I began using the Owner Twistlock hooks, I find I get a lot more mileage out of a Senko. I also throw all the torn up ones in a bag and take them back home at the end of the day and repair the ones I can with Mend-It.

That's my experience with, and I used both the 24lb and the 40lb and ran it for about 4 months. I'd still recommend trying it for yourself though, as I've seen other people on here who seem to like it.

Premature fraying/decay, line bow, wind knots, extremely poor abrasion resistance, low sensitivity. It does improve casting distance, but that seems to diminish fairly quickly.

AvidX would be my choice among those rods, and it wouldn't even be close for me. I don't like the guides on the E6X. I don't think you really get value from Loomis until you get into at least the IMX. As for Kistler, I am not a fan of their warranty. I also think the AvidX has the best sensitivity out of these choices.

Smackdown easily beats everything else I've used to date. Are you guys talking about the YGK G-Soul Upgrade X-8? I've been thinking about adding a spool to my next order and see how it does. They list their 25lb line at .0073 inches, whereas Gliss lists their 24lb at .007 inches. So comparable in size to Gliss, but hopefully a little firmer and more durable (Gliss just comes with far too many headaches for me). If anyone tries it out before I do, please post a review.

As already mentioned, I would add a lipless crank. And I can (and often do) throw all of these on spinning gear with no issues.

Braid is great for moving baits but not so great for semi-slack presentations IMO. For the techniques you listed, I believe FC is the far superior choice. However, I would not put Red Label on a spinning set up. I'd recommend either Seaguar Tatsu or their new Finesse line. http://seaguar.com/freshwater/fluorocarbon.html

Agreed, and do yourself a favor and pick up the 130 instead of the 90. Just seems to swim a lot better and put more fish in the boat.

I would recommend sticking to a couple different baits, and once you get a firm comfort level with those, then try some new techniques. Here's what I would recommend: 1. Spinnerbaits (including inline spinners): Cant get much simpler than this. Cast them out and reel them in. Try a fast retrieve, or slow roll it just fast enough to keep the blades turning. 2. Crankbaits: Again, just cast and retrieve. Areas with stumps and rocks try a squarebill, for open or grassy areas use a lipless. 3. Texas-rigged Senko: Develop your patience with this fish catcher! You will catch plenty of fish on these techniques and they are all very simple to learn. Watch a few videos if you aren't sure how to fish them - plenty of good videos here and on YT.

Caught the first 2 dozen or so fish of this year off one back in early spring. That $1 spinnerbait will catch em just as well as a $10 one. Best value in fishing, IMO.

I use them quite a bit and catch good bass on them all the time. Here's a decent one I caught just yesterday on a 3/16 Pond Magic in Okie Craw color: I like using them in ponds because I can also haul in some decent crappie on them while I'm at it, and I find bass of all sizes will chase them. If you want to beef up the bait a little bit, throw on a 3" Swing Impact for a trailer.

All that really matters is the color of the belly, and white or black is all you need there. However, want and need are two very different things. If you fish the PopMax lures for instance, you may decide that you want all those awesome-looking colors in your tackle box. Just tell your wife that you need them - she won't know the difference

Here is a great site with animated knots for you: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php#ScrollPoint Note that knots that may be effective on one type of line may not be good for another. For example, an improved clinch knot is great for mono but not so much for slick coated lines like braid.

I T-rig them weightless, or weighted, or wacky rig them weightless, or weighted Sometimes the conditions dictate which method I use, and sometimes it is just what they are biting. I've seen many times when they won't touch a wacky rigged senko but will destroy a T-rigged one, and vice versa. To limit yourself to only one technique is silly and will only cost you fish.

I use the Owner twistlok hooks, weightless, most of the time. If I want to be deeper I will use the weighted Beast twistlok, or the Owner round Ultrahead. Pas far as hookup ratios, I get really good hookups on all these. Maybe a slight edge to the weightless.

Came here to say pretty much this. If I'm in water with low visibility and want something with more thump than a Colorado blade, a bladed jig is the way to go. I also love throwing them during the spawn when I really want to agitate the little buggers into striking.

My recommendations would be the wacky and Neko rigs.

How would these differentiate from something like the Crazy Flapper? I often fish those as one would a creature-style swimbait.

A lot of everything! Can be hard to dial in on exactly what they want in fall weather. I generally use a search bait more in the fall than I do in the summer. What I mean by that is, in the summer time I will often throw finesse baits into areas where I just know fish are holding. I can look at the area and I just know I will catch fish in there - no need to go hunting for them with that search bait. This is not always the case for fall, as the fish can be almost anywhere depending on that day's conditions. So I will use a search bait a lot more. Of course, I will pull out the jerk baits once it cools down as well - I generally keep those put up for most of summer.

I love GYCB Senkos. I almost never by SK stick baits. However, I do not buy any other baits from GYCB aside from Senkos. SK has a pretty good lineup of cranks and spinners, not to mention all of the Rage Tail lineup. So even though I would really, really miss those Senkos, I have to go with Strike King here for the overall.