FCPhil

Open water: Mann's 1-minus crankbait. Around reeds: Jawbone frog (small) Around wood: black jig with grandebass mega claw trailer. Topwater: whopper plopper

Touché

I have a large jerkbait that is pretty difficult to work on the rod that I have. I was thinking of just using it like a crankbait with a steady retrieve. Maybe pause from time to time. Anyone know if this can be effective or would I be better off just sticking with a crankbait?

Last summer I hooked a channel catfish on a savage gear Shine glide down on the bottom. Not at all what I was expecting.

I'd suggest a Stanley top toad, black buzzbait, lipless crankbait (Bagley b-minus if you need a shallow running one) and a black and blue jig with a rattle on the bottom is not too weedy for it.

I made a glide bait about the same size as a River2sea S-waver 168 (6.5 inches) over the winter. Unfortunately the places I can fish are not the best bass fishing. I average about 1 fish every time I go fishing and rarely break the 2 pound mark. The biggest fish I have could was a 4 pound bass on a small glide bait. My question is in your experience does a bait the size of a S-waver 168 still produce a decent amount of smaller fish? Or with a fishery like this am I going to spend all my time grinding away just to catch 1 decent size fish?

I was eyeing the strike King wake shad. I wanted to ask if anyone has tried it and what they think of it. Does it stay on the surface when retrieved or does it dive down a bit?

I do raise the rod tip to keep it higher in the water and this works when the lure is closer to me. When the lure is far away even if I raise the rod tip the line still sags all the way down to laying on the water so the wakebait still dives. I have heard the Ima Roumba does what I am looking for but they are expensive and out of stock. Anything similar to the roumba?

What are your "secret weapon" lures? Lures that work really well but are not as common or are relatively unknown? I'll start it off: 1. Mann's 1-minus crankbaits 2. Bagley b-minus lipless crankbait (runs shallower than other lipless cranks) 3. Yum swimmin' dinger wacky rigged (that tail gives it action other wacky rigged worms just down have) 4. Jawbone frog (finesse sized frog you can still cast) 5. Whopper plopper (I know their not that secret anymore but man it works)

I have a few crankbait style wakebaits (their action comes from a bill as opposed to arms like a jitterbug). They all dive slightly below the surface when the line is laying on the surface. When the bait is close I can keep the line above the water and keep the lure on the surface but when the lure is far away the line lays on the water and the lure dives down. Does anyone know of an affordable bill style wakebait that always stays on the surface rather than dives?

Buy a medium-small frog and a whopper plopper (a bit pricy but it will be worth it, I have the ghost shad 90 size). Throw the whopper plopper where there is nothing to get snagged on and cover lots of water. Throw the frog in and around grass, reeds, wood, etc. Put some time into it and pretty soon you'll be hooked on topwater fishing. You'll probably be shocked how often you can catch fish on topwater lures. I fish pressured water in Colorado where breaking 2lbs is rare. I used to think topwater was a waste of time here so I never tried it. Now it's my favorite type of fishing and I catch fish all times of day both sunny and cloudy.

I found this frog at a pond I was fishing recently. I really like the size and it still casts well (the body is 45mm-50mm long). Can anyone tell me what lure this is? Does the belly weight look custom made?

Hi, I recently got a sample pack of 7.25 inch worms from a company called bass munitions. What I loved about the worms is that the plastic floats. When the worm is dragged horizontal on the bottom and stopped the tail will float up on it's own. Unfortunately the big retailers don't sell this brand. Anyone know another brand that has soft plastic that actually floats? I'm looking for a straight tail worm and a ribbon tail worm.

Thanks!

Recently I bought a lunkerhunt pocket frog from an online retailer. I didn't realize how small it was until I received the shipment. I really am intrigued by the size but at 1/4 ounce it is difficult to cast any distance on a baitcaster (only reel I use). Does anyone know of a hollow body frog that is still smaller than a normal size frog but a little heavier to cast than the pocket frog? Thanks!

I'm getting into making my own glide baits out of wood. I am planning on weighting them with lead inserts. Does anyone know how putting the weight in different locations will affect the action? I know it needs to be balanced to keep the bait horizontal but I am curious how the action will be affected by moving the weights closer to the joint vs. closer to the ends.

On Thanksgiving I caught my personal best bass on 5.25 inch Savage Gear Shine Glide. I'm looking for a topwater glide bait that is a similar size and weight (1oz, any bigger and I can't cast it on my only rod) but still affordable. Does anyone know any lures like that?

I often fish lures with treble hooks on 30 pound braid. I'm looking for treble hooks that are weak enough to bend out on a snag before my line snaps and I lose the lure. Rather than buys a bunch and do some trial by error I wanted to see if anyone knows ones that will bend with less than 30 pounds of force.

I bought the whopper plopper 90 in phantom shad. I have caught numerous fish of all size. The fact if floats makes it able to be stopped unlike a buzzbait but it has a realistic fish profile unlike a frog. This is what sold me on it and I'm glad I bought it. I recommend the 130 size. I have caught big ones on the 90 but I have caught plenty of dinks too.

The skimmer is my favorite topwater lure. With the rod point down reel slowly with continuous quick jerks of the rod and it will walk back and forth. You can get it to make wide strides back and forth with a slow cadence but what has produced best for me has been a fast cadence while slowly reeling. This gives it a tight walk back and forth with plenty of splash but it is still not moving that fast overall.

This morning I was fishing at a large pond in Colorado. Although I couldn't get any bites there were bass splashing right up against the shoreline in the shallows. It kept happening in the same places and it would be sometimes be for 10 seconds straight splashing right against the bank as shallow as you could get. Does anyone know what they were doing? Maybe something to do with the spawn?

Hi, I'm about a year into bass fishing and I am hooked on it, but I'm having trouble getting bites. I live in Fort Collins in northern Colorado and mainly fish ponds from shore that have weedy soft bottoms. Last summer I caught a handful of bass mainly on senkos but only at dusk. Last year I only caught three fish all summer during the day and two were overcast late afternoon and one when it was raining. I assume the water is colder here than most of the bass fishing world This year I am 0-6 on my fishing trips. Any advice on how or where to get a bite during the day in northern Colorado?