IndianaFinesse

Keep it simple and stick with green pumpkin and variants for soft plastics, and don't worry about using the wrong color. Bass aren't going to decide wether to hit a bait or not because of its color. Some people disagree and say that you have to "match the hatch", and then go out and throw a pink trick worm or a chartreuse spinnerbait.

As soon as you can keep them interested in bass fishing for long enough to realistically catch a fish, little kids get bord easily. Start them off on spincast if they are very young, but do them a favor and don't buy them a plastic batman rod. An ugly stik is a good rod to start them on, when it gets dropped off the side of a dam or thrown on the ground it won't break.

Ice is out here, and the water temperature is about 45 degrees. Catching them on the ned and shaky heads, and a few on jerks. Last week the water temperature hit 54 degrees for a few days, which got the fish so shallow and active that I was catching them on topwater poppers.

No need to wait for clearer water for the ned rig, it is designed for and is best in stained water. It is effective in water with allow no clarity, I have had fifty fish days with the ned in water that has 4 inches of visibility.

Looks like a Kaharaba jig to me. They've been solid producers for me when the bass want a truly tiny jig (they're only about an inch and a half or two inches long), sometimes I use them to flip and pitch them up underneath docks after cold fronts with a spinning rod.

Decided it was worth dealing with the 25+ miles per hour wind for a two and a half hours today. Did surprisingly well, especially given that the winds kept me off of the offshore stuff. Caught 23 bass with five over fifteen inches, and my biggest bass of the year weighing 6.4 pounds! I thought I had a carp when I hooked it, cause it stayed on the bottom near the boat without going crazy or taking any runs. It bit on one of the "last casts" (there always seems to be more than one "last cast") just before leaving. Most of the fish hit half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 ounce head, and a few of them (including the 6.4) hit a 1/8 ounce shaky head with a four inch finesse worm, which was retrieved just like the ned rig except with a tight line. Found them on shorelines at the opening of coves in 4-12 feet of water, and the big one was sitting in 12 feet.

I own a two piece triumph (7' MF), and it is just as sensitive as the one piece model. It used to be that a two piece rod was much less sensitive, but the technology has advanced to where they feel exactly the same. It's a great travel rod, (I have a rod with me at all times) and is extremely durable. That thing has been dropped on riprap countless times, stepped on, closed in the garage door, and was once dropped on a riprap covered dam and tumbled down fifteen feet on the rocks. And I haven't even had to replace the tip.

Another vote for the pad crasher junior. It caught more fish for me last year than any other lure (except for half of a zinkerz). The pad crasher supposedly weighs 1/4 ounce, but it feels heavier than the pocket frog junior to me.

Did you mean to order the 190 size whopper plopper? Cause' it is like 8 inches long, weighs 2 3/4 ounces and sounds like a brick landing in the water. It's the original sized wp, wuich was designed as a musky bait. Tackle warehouse once accidentally sent me the 190 instead of the 90 size, and I was surprised at how big it was. Needless to say, I returned it.

Those bass are going to get even smaller if you put them on a scale.

Nice, you know your doing something right when they hit the head of a vision 110.

You know you can switch a spinning reel's handle to either side if you want to. I never have, I prefer to have my right hand on the rod for both casting and spinning (with the exception of cranking, or other baits typically moved with the reel), but if you want to switch you can simply unscrew the handle and the cap on the opposite side and screw the handle back on.

Even around wood? I have honestly never caught a bass on a dropshot, unless I am sight fishing for spawning bass. What size and type of jig/Texas rig are you guys using?

Pre-spawn: Suspending jerkbaits, jigs, "ned" rig, shallow and mid depth cranks, lipless crankbaits. Spawn: Half of a zinkerz on a 1/16 oz. mushroom head, 2.5 inch yum crawbug, a 1/32 ounce crappie sized tube, finesse jig, plus lots of other small sized stuff. I bring every rod I own when spawn fishing, so I can show each fish several different lures quickly, each lure only gets one unless the bass shows interest. Post spawn: Weightless trick worm, spook, ned rig, popper, senko.

Thanks for the reply. I wasn't planning on trolling with a several rods in holders, just one rod in my hand. I haven't spent much time trolling cranks for bass, but I plan to this year. The one time I did try it, I was disappointed with how little feel I had. I couldn't even feel if the crank hit a branch or ticked the bottom, which is a big thing if you're trying to follow a contour line with the lure bumping bottom. So I am considering trying braid to see if it helped the sensitivity.

What's your guys favorite baits for fishing offshore? I'll be mostly fishing in the 8-16 feet deep but no deeper than 20 feet, around brush and what not often. I am new to deep water fishing, so what specific models are your favorites?

Have any of you guys tried braid for trolling cranks? Seems like the extra feel would be beneficial.

My grandfather always hit em in the head with a carpenter's hammer before bringing them aboard, no pike or muskie came into the boat alive. I always thought the hand gun idea was kind of dumb because the bullets could ricochet back into the boat. I have never eaten a muskie before, but I have eaten pike. I actually like pike just as much as walleye, as long as they were caught in cold water. Fish have a much more fishy taste when caught in warm water for some reason, and if you don't believe me try a fish caught in lake superior and compare it to the same type of fish caught further south. There's even a difference between fish caught in winter and summer caught fish, I only eat fish caught in the late fall through early spring.

I have honestly never caught more than a dozen bass on chatter baits before, maybe I'm missing something and should throw them a bit more this year. I've always picked up a swim jig or swimbait in those conditions.

Am I missing something?...

What size and type of plastic would you recommend for fishing in 10-17 feet of 45 degree water?

Bucket D is rough, none of them have very good records in Texas.

I'm excited that I'm finally catching some offshore fish, the bass I've caught over the past few days are basically my first bass caught that aren't relating to something visible. But i've still got a long ways to go to even begin to understand offshore bass. Caught 15 bass (and one bonus 13" crappie) in a three hours this afternoon, with five over fifteen inches and a 4.3 pound kicker. The 4.3 only measured ~20 inches, but it had a seven inch bluegill sticking out of it's greedy throat which helped boost the weight a bit. Caught a couple of them on half of a zinkerz on a mushroom head, and the rest hit a 4" finesse worm on an 1/8 ounce shaky head. Found a couple more good underwater bars sitting in 10-15 feet of water and extending out to the 20 foot depth which produced most of the fish, again holding tight to brush on the break line. Any ideas for weedless lures to fish the brush in deeper 46 degree water? They don't seem to want a jig (at least not fished away from the shore for some reason) and the brush is eating up the zinkerzs and shaky heads a lot faster than I'd like. Or maybe that's just part of deeper water fishing until the water warms up enough to throw a jig.

What T-9 said, a flatland type reservoir near central Indiana. BTW, caught another 13 bass in an hour of fishing before dark in the same areas and on the same bait as yesterday.

@badgerboyng, there are several ways to retrieve the Ned rig, but the most versatile retrieve is called the swim glide and shake retrieve. I use it about 95% of the time. Here's a link to a post where I detail this retrieve and several others, plus other info on the "ned rig". http://bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/186214-the-basics-of-the-ned-rig/#comment-2099456 And here's another link to another helpful article, http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2016/03/a-ned-rig-primer-cutting-through-the-hype-misinformation.html