TOXIC

For me.....Hands down a 5 inch Senko. There's just too many ways to rig it and have it produce. Neko, Ned, Wacky, Weightless Texas Rigged, 1/4 oz football head (hook exposed). At times it may not be the best but if I only had 1 bait, that would be it.

Healthy discussion. For clarification, I was talking more about finesse gear and baits than presentation. I also want to make a point that I don't finesse fish to try and give the fish some sort of sporting advantage. I do it because I get more bites and I have never had to excessively play a fish to get it landed.....well, the Snakehead I had to play a little more than normal? I am getting ready to head to St Clair for our 15th annual week long fishing trip and I can assure you there will be plenty of "Finesse" setups on the boat as well as wench reels spooled with piano wire. ?

That's the reason I haven't upgraded to the remote drain plug on my Ranger. I'll never forget to pull or insert the drainplug because I HATE crawling under the boat to put that sumbeoytch in or out. As for your situation, plug it in and get your answer. You've got a 50-50 shot!!

The only thing I change is the color of my bait. On St Clair the smallies bite better in the sun. Taking a Senko for example, they tear up a Green Pumpkin Black Fleck (297) when the sun is out. When it gets cloudy I switch to a Baby Bass (305) and the bite is crazy. I will admit, color can be very location specific though. And that is bassackwards from the school of thought to go darker with cloudy skies.

Rather than tie up a lot of threads stating my humble opinion, I thought I would start a new one to get some other opinions/clarification. Here's my question: Does anyone really "finesse" fish anymore? I'll readily admit, I'm old school in a lot of ways but every thread I read that has something to do with finesse fishing it has it's fair share of comments that include...braided line up to 50lb test and non braid up to and over 20 test . All throwing baits designed for finesse presentations. To me, that's not finesse, that's throwing a finesse bait on a heavy rig. Make no mistake, I have heavy setups with 35lb braid for fishing in the slop, bed fishing and dragging baits but for the most part, I use 12lb test mono/fluro on my crankbaits, topwater, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits but for "finesse" baits including; Senko, Dropshot, Ned, Shakeyhead, Fluke and a few others I use MAXIMUM 8lb test mono on spinning gear. To me and this is just my opinion, finesse fishing includes your line. It makes a difference with finesse baits (leaders aside). In 15 years of going to Michigan and catching 3-4-5lb hard fighting smallmouth, I have only had one breakoff due to line and that was due to my buddy wrapping the line around his hand while helping me land a big smallie. He thought it was spooled with braid. I have had the inevitable musky/pike bite offs as well but heavier line doesn't help with that. I fish the heavily grassed Potomac with these same setups. With the quality of line and drag systems on the reels today, why do we feel like we have to overpower the fish to that degree? I realize I'm not in SoCal and not fishing for that 15+ pounder but that's a pretty small population and I would upsize if I was going there. I've landed my share of 8 and 9 pounders on 8-12 pound test depending on the rig. Just for reference I attached a 14lb Northern Snakehead I caught on 8lb test mono and a weightless Senko on the Potomac, buried in the thick grass. Some bass as well on my normal setups. Is true finesse fishing dead?

Any tube I throw has to be triple dipped because I am usually dragging them drift fishing. Thin walled tubes are shot after 1 drift in sand/weeds.

Yep. I am a little different, I prefer to lip the smaller fish just because when lipped, the business end of the bait is stationary to my hand. The fact that it's close freaks a lot of people out so they won't do it. They do thrash a lot but with the distance so short, if I do get a hook it's just barely stuck. I've done the line trick to extract hooks on a lot of guys!!

Yes it works. It's an option on mid-size and larger fish. I don't do it on knotheads (smaller fish) because they have a habit of going ballistic no matter what you do.

If you want to see depressing....Go to Lake St Clair and Muscamoot Bay about the third week into the spawn. The fish's mouths look like hamburger. If we start seeing this when we are up there we will relocate out deep or change locations altogether.

Since you are new to the tournament scene here are a couple of tips that will make your boater happy. Even though it's a for fun tournament there are a few things to keep in mind. 1. Limit your gear as has been said. 2. There's an imaginary line half way between the front deck and you. Don't cast past it. In other words, your water is from the console back. 3. Be ready to move when your boater is. If he says "let's move" you should be ready to go in short order. That's sitting in the passenger seat with your PFD on. 4. Bring your own lucch, sunscreen, drink and PFD. 5. I won't get into the gas $$ thing but in more formal TX's money does change hands. You said this is a "fun" tournament so YMMV. 6. If you are comfortable doing so, help with launching and retrieving the boat is appreciated. 7. HAVE FUN!!

Lunch Money Tubes. Color? All of them https://fishingcompleteinc.com/brands/Lunch-Money-Lures.html

Color and style aside, I will say I tried for many years to avoid the high cost of Rx sunglasses. My eyesight was never bad enough that I had to have Rx glasses for driving or fishing and so I just bought quality manufacturers. I decided to "splurge" since my prescription program through work would pick up "some" of the cost and I found out a fishing friend was a Lense maker for a chain glasses company. They also carried many of the premium sunglass brands. Him giving me a 50% discount also helped. I must say, it was well worth the $$. I still ended up paying about $300 out of pocket after the discounts and insurance were applied. Per my friend, some things that he strongly suggested. 1. Poly Lenses. Many prefer glass but in fishing situations, even the best glass when hit with a jig will put glass shards in your eye. Not pretty. 2. Get a tint that works for your needs. 3. Get a frame that fits your face. Big deal!! A bad frame fit will give you headaches and make you miserable. I required wrap around style due to using them when running the boat. 4. If getting Rx, choose a manufacturer that makes their own lenses. I chose Oakley because the retail outlet where I bought them had to send them to Oakley to have the lense made. Even some of the top brands once you choose a Rx lense, they send them to the retail chain's lab to have the lense made. You end up paying big $$ for a frame and a lense that is only as good as the lab they sent it to. Just some things to consider.

The one thing that makes a difference in any lure is confidence!! If you have confidence in a lure more than likely you are going to catch fish on it unless it breaks or has major problems. You are not going to catch fish on a crank that breaks the bill off on the first cast or fills with water. I think we may all agree more than what it appears because we are blending terms. To be fair, we would have to compare them in their respective categories. 1. High priced JDM baits. 2. Custom built 3. Mid priced Originals 4. Store brand of Originals 5. Knockoffs Now what hasn't been discussed is the difference in blanks from different suppliers. If the supplier has quality blanks and you add a quality paint job and hardware you will have a good bait IMHO...But did you save any money? Normally that falls in the "custom" bait definition and is much more expensive. A true knockoff as I am referring to is a no name cheap bait with cheap components/hardware. I will say this, my friend that I mentioned in my post above who designs baits told me (and showed me pictures) that if you know where to go in the overseas market, you can walk through the door with ANY hardbait and in 1 week you can have 3,000 boxed up blanks. Bottom line it's your hard earned $$ spend it where you like.

I thought the old "Musky Eat Bass and Walleye" narrative got debunked? I am friends with Pete Mania on FB and I thought that I read that was not true??????

Bias or opinion? In my opinion, there is a benefit to buying the non-knockoffs (possibly less so with store brands) over copied blanks and I gave my reasoning based on my experience. Notice I never mentioned what bait company my friend (ex-Elite Series angler now on the FLW Tour) designs for because I didn't want to appear biased. As a matter of fact, I am sponsored by a different hard bait manufacturer altogether (also not named) and I have never thrown one of his baits or one by the company he designs for. The key for any bait produced for the mass market is consistency, every bait performs the same way with minimal tweaks. One of the biggest complaints you hear on crankbaits is that no 2 run the same from the same company, bills break easily, they take on water or crack, hooks are crappy, paint flakes off, etc. So, if a mass marketer has these problems it hurts business and they correct it. I ask you this....where is the cost savings made up in a knockoff bait? I know you can buy blanks from many outlets and have them painted, put on your own hooks, etc., but if you look at what that costs you are almost back up to the cost of a "big name" manufacturer. Now where you might get me (and I honestly don't have an answer for) is what the difference between a $9 crankbait (usually a US company) and a $25 crankbait (usually a JDM company).

Mirror glasses help reflect more water glare, thus why most of the saltwater fishermen have mirrored. When I got my Oakley prescription sunglasses, my friend who makes the lenses in a lab suggested mirrored grey because of the all around versatility of that combo. I use them for driving, fishing and everyday use as well. If I had an unlimited budget I would have at least 4 pairs of sun glasses. Amber for low light, copper for bed fishing and grey for bright days and finally 1 for driving. I don't have the option of getting that many pairs of glasses, so I try to cover as many bases as possible.

I have had many a fly fisher in my boat when I was guiding. I like the added skill it takes to put a bigger bass fly out there and even the smallest trout flies. I enjoyed fly fishing when I was a bank or wade fisherman. Beaded Nymphs, Clouser Minnow imitations, poppers and all sorts of other flies are a challenge to throw. I've used my 9wt to fish for Stripers in the bay off a charter boat (when I learned you don't palm the reel with a green running Striper). I was having so much fun the charter Captain even took my rod and caught a few. If you want to see expensive gear....go into an Orvis store or just look online for fly fishing equipment. Our passion for bass gear/baits pales to fly fishing gear. IMHO the allure of fly fishing is that it is much more of a "you against the fish" because it's much more complicated to put a lure where you want it, make it behave how you want it to and finally to hook and land a fish with line as thin as a human hair!! Add to that many more fly fishermen and women tie their own flies and the fly fishing experience is more heightened. Getting to the fish is usually much more difficult and there's an added set of skills in wading roaring rivers or being stealthy in small trout streams. I also know a guy who Musky fishes on Lake St Clair with a fly rod. To me fly fishing is another "part" of this whole experience we call angling and I want to experience them all!!

Could be.....but most likely a knock off is an inferior blank, possibly blemished and/or not as well constructed or painted with cheaper components like bills and hooks. As for cranks, many aren't sealed as well and may break easier, take on water or not run as intended, suspend as intended or dive to the depth intended. Some of the "flaws" might actually be beneficial to catching more but under normal circumstances I would highly doubt it. I have a friend who is a bait designer for a very well known mainstream brand and he educated me on bulk blank making in Japan and all of the in's and out's of that industry. It's crazy what goes on.

I don't know about the Super fluke but what "I" like about the DShad is the size and fall rate. It is much heavier than other baits that size. I can work it on top, let it dead fall or even drag it on the bottom like a tube. Plus it's made out of Senko material.

Bassmaster Classic Champ Woo Daves once told me that if Redfish would jump, he would never fish for another Bass. I love it when a 4lb smallie launches 3 feet outta the water. Get's the blood pumping.

Would help to know exactly where you are and where you are fishing in order to help ***** the local conditions. For reference, I was out on the Potomac river for 12 hours on Saturday and boated 1 lonely fish so that ought to make you feel better.

Well, I am very glad to see that so many here understand that a Senko is not an "idiot" bait as it's often referred to. There are soooooo many different ways to fish a weightless Senko, let alone all of the different ways of rigging it. Experiment with the way you fish it and build your confidence. Is it a magic bait? No. Does it work in all situations? No. But because I have the confidence and having thrown it for 30 years, I can make that bait work for me in a lot of everyday fishing situations.

Just to be clear....Don't confuse "Knock-Offs" with "Store Brand" baits. Big box stores like Bass Pro and Cabela's do not make their own lures. They get well known makers to produce and package them as their own. Many times they may make a different color but the bait is basically the same as the original manufacturer. I know this first hand from repping baits in these stores from the main manufacturers.

I have a Sage 5wt and a Scott Brightwater 9wt that I should probably blow the dust off and get them back in action. I just don't wade fish anymore since getting the 21 foot floating tackle box with 250 ponies on the back.

The reason I walk it off is that there is nothing more infuriating than making the first cast with a respooled spinning setup and even though you haven't overfilled, the line jumps off the spool like an Olympic diver!! You know you are in for a bad day when that happens.