MassYak85

Those baits do seem big at first but once you start catching 2lbers on them you won't think twice about throwing them. I would start with the rat and fish it near shallow cover (I am assuming you have the 40 size, correct me if I am wrong), even 1lbers will eat it no problem. I like casting right next to a patch of pads or a laydown, and after maybe 10 seconds once the ripples settle I walk it, pause, walk it, pause, and then steady retrieve it back to the boat if nothing appears interesting. Also, @j bab posted an awesome link above me, matt has some great videos on fishing big baits.

I like jackal a lot but still haven't pulled the trigger on those, doubt I ever will. I'm sure they're great but over 20 bucks for anything besides a swimbait is a no-no for me. Especially a nice snack size thing like the pompadour that could fit deep into a toothy critters' throat.

To be honest, this lure has surprised me. I've caught them in all kinds of conditions on it, I feel like sometimes it just annoys them so much they hit it regardless. So far it has produced best for me in the wind. As to how I fish it, a steady retrieve has been the best producer for me, I have had some of my biggest fish on it hit very close to the boat, but I have also had some success retrieving it with pauses built in. I like to bring it right by the edges of cover, docks, lily pads, you name it. I've caught some in shallow weedy bays, rocky points, steep drops, etc. But I've also caught them in open water 20 feet deep. That smallie I was talking about hit in 12 feet of water, just outside a cove where it drops into the main lake. I haven't fished it in any muddy water like the charles or anything yet, but I would imagine it would still produce. And regarding the size, I thought it was big at first but 1lbers will still get it no problem. I would say 95% of the fish I have caught on it have been hooked by the front treble hook. Good luck! I was out this afternoon from shore and got a short but really fat guy probably a little over a pound. Then another that probably would have been 3lbs if it was healthy, poor thing looked very skinny and might have been just over 2. Both on the 130 in perch.

Not completely straight by any means, should have worded that better, but bent up pretty good, not just out from the shank but sideways as well. I noticed that on my old whopper plopper that the hooks they used are considerably thinner wire than on the new ones, that coupled with me throwing it on my frog rod (7' 6" heavy fast) with 50lb braid, and having the drag tighter than it really should have been for treble hooks, I wasn't too surprised. But that thing fought like hell for the 10 seconds I had it on. I might end up changing out the hooks on that one.

Clearly the problem lies here. Try this. All joking aside I would say either - Try live bait for a little bit just to make sure the spots you are fishing can produce at least some fish - Try to get on an early morning topwater bite (if you can, you did say you can't get out super early) - Fish deep during the day, I know you are fishing from the bank but try to find spots from shore where the bank is steep, and fish can come up to feed while still having access to deeper water. We've all had days where we "should have been catching fish" but it just didn't happen. It is frustrating, but keep at it, the guys above have posted good advice. And remember, a bad day of fishing is still a day of fishing, it's good to just be out there.

I probably would have had a heart attack, I get on edge and my heart races even when tiny ones hit it near my kayak.

Was out for a little while before dark tonight. Had a big smallie CRUSH my whopper plopper around 8:00. Lure was about 20 feet from the boat when he just came up and pulled it under, I set the hook and he went crazy, jumped clear out of the water twice and then dove. I got him right up to the side of the boat and he jumped one more time, this time dislodging the lure. Pretty heartbreaking but still cool to see that, it was on a lake I rarely catch smallies at, nice to see a good on. I actually noticed that he bent the front treble hook a little bit, powerful fish. I recently bought another whopper plopper and it seems as though R2S has beefed up the treble hooks they use on the 130 size. They look like a different type of hook, bigger, thicker gauge too. Probably was a good idea for them to do that. I lost that smallie on the older one. The newer one also seems to have a slightly different sound. My old one has a slightly deeper "whop" to it. Not sure if that is just the tail being worn a little from fish or what. After the missed smallie, all I managed to actually catch was a pretty big perch on a Rapala DT14, and a crappie which apparently thought he could take on the whopper plopper but ended up getting foul hooked.

Great to hear! Sounds like you've got it down. That's one of the great things about this knot, it is NOT a weak point. If tied correctly it should NEVER break, period. Either a fray in the line, the knot to the bait, or the leader itself snapping should end up being the cause of a breakoff.

I got the fast sink ones and like them, I wanted them mainly to fish slow and deep (like fishing the edges of weedbanks before they drop off around 12-15 feet of water) But they don't sink so fast I can't still fish them over weeds in 5 or 6 feet of water. I'd say if you are mainly wanting to fish them shallow I would go for a slower sink model.

I got a 5" perch and a 7" golden shiner from them earlier this year. First impression was they felt reaaallllyy tough compared to other plastic baits, which had me a little worried about action at slower speeds. But let me tell you, the tail kicks at any speed, I tried to get it to stop, I couldn't. I was very impressed by that, and the colors are awesome too. Definitely my favorite swimbait that I have, top notch quality.

130 in the perch color has been good to me, I also bought a 130 in the Loon color recently but haven't been able to try it out yet.

I've had 18" pickerel choke 8" trouts, that same bait to the size bass you are going to be targeting with those lures will have no issue. There's plenty of Swimbait quality fish in the state. As for smallies, there are certainly Trophy class smallmouth in the state big enough to eat them, but I agree with what other said, something like a Hudd 68 might produce better.

I'll be interested too, with the Bass Pro in Foxborough. They are about 45 minutes to an hour apart so they might deem it worthwhile to have two stores. Although I am surethe people who shop there will still make the drive either way.

Thanks for the tips guys, I might go out tonight if I'm not too tired

Same here, but I'm only there for the summer. I honestly rarely shop at either Bass Pro or Cabelas, their selection is poor for certain things. Only reason I really go to Bass Pro is Stick-O's, Speed Shads, and Carbonlites.

NICE Smallie! Sounds like a pretty good day to me, besides losing your anchor of course. Spinnerbaits are definitely a go to for me in the wind. I might try and do some night fishing in my kayak tommorow, anybody have any tips for fishing once the sun goes completely down? I really have not done a ton of research into actual NIGHT fishing, just dusk itself. Do the bass key in on vibration and sound like topwaters or can they also be caught on stuff like worms? Just looking for a couple pointers to get me started.

I have the supreme and like it a lot, I would also recommend the 30 size like others have said.

I used to do this, but too many times I set the hook and the frog came flying back at me or someone else fishing with me, and one time I set the hook right into a stump, that hurt for a few days. To each their own though.

CenCal pretty much hit it on the head, definitely keep a budget, and do research into some good "diamonds in the rough" baits. Just because something costs more doesn't mean it will be any better all the times. Like he said, Yum Dingers, or Bass Pro Stick-O's or any of those type of baits will work just fine 95% of the time. There will be times when the fish just like something else better, but you have to ask yourself if it's worth it. I personally use the Stick-O's exclusively. I go through way too many on a good day to use an even softer bait like a senko that is 2-3 times the cost. You said you fish tournaments so having couple bags of senko's might not hurt if you feel you need them for those situations. As far as hooks, I also like gamakatsu's, but have used VMC too and like them. For breaking up your budget, really you are the only one who can determine that, depending on how you fish and what works best in your area. Definitely be smart about setting money aside for larger purchases like reels and rods. Keep an eye out for sales too, but if money is tight try and restrain from impulse buys. Be smart about every purchase.

I have to try that this year, I have really only ever nose hooked. But I am sure being able to fish it in thicker cover would do wonders this summer.

It seems to come with the territory of frog fishing. Sometimes the bass will turn the frog in it's mouth, or wrap the line around the cover you are fishing the frog in, creating less than ideal hook-up chances even with ideal equipment. I personally fish frogs on 50lb braid with a 7'6" heavy fast rod. I like the extra length for longer casts over pads. I fish with the rod tip at 11 O'clock so that when I see a blowup I can point it down a little and I start reeling until I feel enough pressure to tell me that the fish has it in it's mouth and didn't just miss it or pull it under and spit it out. If I feel the fish I reel down until the rod just starts to load under it's weight and then I set the hook HARD over my shoulder. Drag locked down. This is a fairly quick series of events, each blowup is different but it's usually 1-3 seconds after they take it that the hook gets set. I don't count or anything.

Depends on a lot of things, what line you are using (fluorocarbon will make it fall faster), what size and gauge hook you use, whether you use a weighted hook, and whether or not you are using actual Gary Yamamoto Senko's or another stick bait, since they will all have different material compositions, salt content etc. I just use the Bass pro brand stick-o's and on a 3/0 EWG hook I'd probably guess like a foot every 2 seconds.

I've had my eye on these for a little bit, I'm a big fan of Jackal and I am in the need of some more 4-5" paddle tails.... I can see where this is going. The Bait Monkey approaches. For those that have them, do they come in clamshell packaging like keitechs?

Favorite jerkbait < 6 bucks

Sometimes that slow fall of a weightless just kills them, but it's also not always practical to fish a weightless depending how deep the fish are.