bagofdonuts

i have some frabil bibs and jacket. i think there actually ice fishing gear, but i have no complaints. didn't break the bank and have used them for several years. the padded knees are nice too.

I love to pitch and flip jigs this time of year, but sometimes wonder if i'm spending too much time with this technique and miss a more aggressive bite going on. As i only have a few precious hours, i want to be effecient and jig fishing takes time to pick apart the cover. I tend to get in jig mode not picking up another stick, then look up and the sun is going down. just curious how others mix in a more aggressive approach.

I'm skipping out tomorrow afternoon.

12-14lb sniper florocarbon is pretty nice for those applications, but if you occasionally throw a top water on the same set up I would go with mono. I like the pline mono, but like you, hate the floroclear.

you might mix in a swing head type bait every now and then. easy to slow roll and bounce along the bottom, hook up ratio is really good. makes a good search bait to combine with your texas rig. same creature baits or craws can be used on both.

This year i've gone through all my high speed reels trying to find the best one for pitching and have come all the way back to an old five ball bearing bantam curado as the best. Fancy breaking systems are not really needed. You want to pick up line quickly and have a smooth drag. I like a wider spool when pitching because its easier for me to pitch left handed while just keeping my thumb on the edge of the spool and i just seem to get fewer loops in my line with a wide spool. Make sure its comfortable, but you don't need a high dollar reel for pitching, I think it would be a waste of money. Oh, and be a line watcher. I see far more bites than i feel with the rod.

If your able to turn the handle easily but no line is coming in, it sounds like the drag might be loosened to the point it won't move. Try tightening the drag.

For me they seem to have seasons when one gets the nod over the other. I like chatterbaits during prespawn in the grass, but spinnerbaits on wood (in fact I always prefer spinnerbaits around wood). Swim jigs are most effective for me during post spawn when the grass has gotten thicker and when the blue gill are shallow.

Sk hack attack hvy cover jig is a good all around design. And it's hard to beat a rage craw trailer. I like black, green pumpkin, and pbj for colors.

Citrus shad is my #1 color for deep crankin in the summer. I fish a big muddy river, but it clears in the summer and the citrus shad bite is on. Always have one tied on July thru September.

I actually found a old Abu c4 wench in 3.8 when I was going thru some storage boxes the other day. I traded for it 20 years ago and have never used it. Can't wait to break it out this summer deep crankin.

I use a lews 5.4 for cranking and like it. Mostly just personal preference. I like to just toss it out and crank it pretty fast and just can't slow down enough with a fast reel. Had to get use to hook set though, got to reel until the rod loads or you won't catch up. I did like it for slow rolling spinner baits but my hook ups were much better barely reeling a faster reel. On the spinner bait bite they'll knock slack in the line and I missed a couple pigs before switching to a 6.4.

30 ft rope should be plenty. Just need enough so the boat clears the trailer before you pull forward. One tip I've learned that can save you a swim. Don't throw the rope back in the boat when you leave it to park, just lay it on the ground/ramp. If your boat starts to drift off all you have to do is reel it back in. I had to learn the hard way.

i use sufix. pline is also good.

I'll add one presentation to your clear ski's slick water conditions. Throw a hard head/swing jig with biffle bug or similar creature bait. Easy to fish- throw it out, let it sink to bottom, then real it back slow enough that it maintains bottom contact. When they bite just keep reeling till rod loads up and set hook. Hook up rates are real good, rarely miss one. best around rock. you'll be an expert in no time.

I really like the falco bucco rods, but would say they are on the lighter side. The mh has quite a bit of tip to it and makes a good all around rod, i use it for spinner baits, buzz baits, swim baits and trigged. I use a m action for shallow crankin/sq bills. I've had really good experience with them, reels seats great - never comes loose, no breakage, or any problems with guides.

The skitter pop is nice but I've caught more lmb on a chug bug than any other.

Tons of plastics. I tried to not buy any for awhile and use what i have, but i'm an addict. Just today I bought five packs of christie claws cause they were on clearance rack at academy. Like I needed another plastic craw.

Wild caught shiners are the ticket on the big o. They're expensive tho. You might try to learn how to throw a net. At 14 that skill would serve you well living in Florida.

Im gonna amend my reply. Im a big fan of norman cranks. But if i were starting from scratch, I'd go with bandits 100, 200, 300. Good fish catching baits, simple model selection, lots of colors to choose. And they carry plain black, something they don't see alot but kills.

Bass are moving shallow here. Been spending alot of time pithcing jigs under cypress trees. A few weeks ago all i could get bit on was a jig with a zoom chunk trailer. The bite has slowed on that combo. Yesterday no bites for 45min pitching with zoom trailer, switched to rage craw on same jig and boom it was on. Same cover, same area, same jig and the difference was immediate and possitive. Still getting a few misses on bites were I think they're just picking up the trailer. Looking to try an in-between action on one rod. Any recommendations.

better be stowing your secret baits in the rod locker.

Yes. two times I use them most is prespawn and summer.

What kinda water do you fish most highland res., shallow weedy lakes, rivers?

red bomber model a