MassYak85

@Mr. Aquarium Do you have any recommendations for hair jigs?

I was hoping to get out a couple more times in my kayak but the weather next week looks like ice season might be right around the corner. I have broke ice at A1 once though so maybe I'll make one last trip out.

I saw the same thing on Whitehall last Sunday. Some guy was fly fishing from shore so I assume he knew what was going on as far the fly hatch.

I hit Whitehall on Sunday, not really expecting much with the weather being so turbulent in the days leading up, but hoping to be surprised. Let's just say expectations were accurate... Water temps were pretty much 50° on the nose, and the lake looked VERY clear (post turnover?). A lot of vegetation had died back but there were still some area of green milfoil. I tried to focus on those. What was interesting though is I did see a lot of trout activity near the surface, it seemed like they were feeding on some flies, which I was surprised to see a LOT of. I saw a couple swimming around at the surface in 20+ FOW. As a result I mostly tried trout swimbaits (9" slammer and a Hudd 68). I did get a good bite on the 68 but as luck would have it the fish came from behind, bent the tail back over the hook so when I set it there was no way I was going to get the hook to penetrate through the tail into the fish. Bait came back with some nice rash on it, rather than the slices I normally see when a pickerel takes a bite so I'm 90% sure it was a bass at least, no idea on size though. I also tried a lip-less crankbait around the remaining green milfoil, which I was pretty confident would produce something, but with no luck. Highlight of the day though was the foliage. Most of the trees were shades of bright orange and as the sun was setting it looked incredible.

? Just kidding, but so long as you are in good shape financially I don't really see an issue. You said yourself you've sold some, better than hoarding them.

Unfortunately no, if you start getting into the 2+ ounce range I'd look at dedicated rods for swimbaits. What type do you plan on fishing, the rod you want for jig hook baits like hudd 68's is gonna probably be a bit different than one that's ideal for treble hook baits.

I've been trying to find something that works for me for a few seasons now without much luck. I started with the waterproof route and like others said they are either insulated and not very dexterous or thin and cold. I might look for some cheap fleece/wool fingerless this year and try the nitrile glove underneath them trick.

S-Wavers are great baits, nothing wrong with them. Once you go above the 200 size s-waver you go up drastically in price as you go from large scale production lures to custom lures, or JDM baits (Deps 250 etc.). Other good swimbaits in that price range you have the gantarel, savage gear shine glide, spro BBZ (segmented trout and the rats) and some others. IMO the swimbait "sweet spot" is in that $50-$75 dollar range because you start getting into those custom makers like mattlures, bullgills, MS slammers, etc. that are amazing quality without going into that upper price range (200-300 plus for custom glide baits). As far as soft plastic there are lots of choices, even from custom guys, in those lower price ranges comparable with the Hudds. Real Prey swimbaits makes some silicon baits, 3:16 minnows and WRS are great. Look around though, there are good lures in just about every price range for swimbaits. You're generally getting what you pay for but when $30 is considered a "budget" lure in this category you are still paying a lot.

@Janderson45 Were you able to get under the narrow archway to get into the south section? That's the only part of the lake I've never fished. And have they begun ramp reconstruction.

x2 on the original Tatulas I actually use the 7'2" HF version but that's cause a lot of my worming is with big worms and heavy wire hooks. Lighter stuff I give the nod to my spinning rod.

Whatever will bite honestly. I usually just get some decent sized shiners and can get some nice bass and pickerel. Some guys, I like to call them the "swimbait fisherman" of the ice fishing world, will take MASSIVE shiners (like 8") and put them under tilts for pike and trophy bass.

It's a different kind of fun (at least to me) but I enjoy it. I make the switch to live bait for ice fishing though, 95% of the time it's with ice tilts when I go.

You mean you don't like your heart jumping out of your chest when a stress crack shoots across the entire lake ? It's definitely not for everyone, for whatever reason I just get a totally different thrill seeing a flag on an ice trap go up than I do open water fishing.

I have the 795 but like others said I feel it's more of a treble hook rod. But I think if you used braid you'd still have plenty of power for the 68's. Like @MattC said the Waver 200 is the heaviest bait I throw on the 795, I feel 4oz is probably it's true max not 5oz.

Look at the bright side, ice fishing season is just around the corner ? I usually take the few weekends between open water and ice season to clean my gear anyways so there's always something at least fishing-related that I can do.

What model reel do you have? I fish baitcasters most of the time and "finesse" is the exact opposite of how I would treat them. All I do usually is apply a slight amount of thumb pressure, but I put some serious "umph" into my casts.

I use the 40 size. Like you said walking them is an underrated attribute to this bait.

I tried one this year with similar results. I think I only landed 1 fish out of probably 10 bites. I normally have a pretty good hookup on frogs. Personally I hate Trokar hooks (really any cutting point hooks) and felt the gap on these are a little smaller than I'd like for a frog so I mostly just stopped using mine. If I try mine again I'm gonna try bending the hook out a bit and use them in sparser cover.

I have a couple of the original Tatula series rods and like the 7'2" HF as my jig rod so I think either would work well for you. I'm partial to longer rods so 7'3" would be my choice. 7'1" would probably be better for close quarters dock fishing if you thought you'd be doing that a lot.

Spinner baits, bladed jigs and swim jigs are always in my rotation when searching for active fish. The fish get to decide which one I stick with that day.

Let's think about this: Let's say a HUGE atmospheric pressure change happens (1 inch of mercury atm pressure change --> About 0.5 PSI). That same pressure change would only require the fish to move vertically in the water column about a foot to feel the same pressure change. In essence unless the fish is completely motionless in the water for days at a time they aren't going to notice atmospheric pressure changes since it pales in comparison to depth changes. I only pay attention to it in terms of how it relates to changes in weather. Often a sharp barometric pressure change can mean a front is moving through which can issue in changes in temperature, rain/storms/wind, or light levels (clouds). Those things are tangible environmental changes to the fish. Barometric pressure changes probably aren't...unless that fish has literally been sitting

Weather looks a lot more "Fall-like" going into the weekend and next week. Hopefully the consistently dropping water temps get them into that fall feeding mood ?. Water temps should be into the 50's by next weekend at least for the places I usually fish.

For the Spro rat try varying retrieve speeds from just a slow wake to cranking it down. Also it is a very good walking bait, it will do near-perfect 180 degree walks with very little forward movement, and don't be afraid to just deadstick it next to cover, got my biggest one on that bait doing that with intermittent twitches (like every 15 seconds). Similar deal with the shellcrackers, wake them slow or burn them down ticking the tops of vegetation but don't forget to let them sit a bit next to cover sometimes. The Gantarels are nice because of the duel line tie. You can either wake them up top or crank them down a few feet. But with any glide style bait you are gonna want to add in something "extra" in your retrieve. You will get a lot of followers just straight retrieving it but a lot of times they won't commit without some kind of change. The Gantarel will turn completely around with the right twitch of the rod and look at whatever may be following it. Don't wait until the bait is within sight to do this though, make it an intermittent part of your entire retrieve, or do it as it passes a piece of cover. As far as price, I still don't like paying that much for a lure (but I do it lol), but bang for your buck these are some of the best swimbaits to get your feet wet. Also, I know you said you are "tired" of throwing a hudd, but your goal throwing swimbaits is to put the odds in your favor for a chance at a big fish. Some days that is going to mean they want a soft bait.

I got a couple packs to try. I intended to use them as chatterbait trailers but they tail doesn't move as much as I would have liked, acts more like a fluke (the 4 inch one). The smaller 3 inch one seems like a good drop shot or ball head jig bait. Not sure I will get any more though. Like I said more like a split tail fluke IMO.

I put oil on the actual worm gear and then coat the shaft that the worm gear is in with some grease to help the line guide slide on it more. Like others said mostly preference, I just feel having a thinner lubricant (oil) vs grease on the actual gear helps keep dirt from getting trapped in it.