Dorado

This ^

Big crappie fan with artificials. Gold Beetlespins with chartreuse black dot body caught my PB this year. Strongly recommend the following: Bobby Garland baby Shad (monkey milk is my fav) Powerbait atomic tubes (grasshopper is amazing), Rapala ultralight cranks, Crappie Magnet, Powerbait grubs (pearl white) and 2" Kalins triple action grubs (Albino and John deere especially). I avoided getting too much into colors because it depends on your forage. We have Threadfin Shad and clearer waters where I fish so I'm partial to natural baitfish colors, like silver or pearlescent and light blues. One exception- spawn. I go with loud and aggressive colors (pinks and bright greens and yellows) because I'm trying to tick em off when they're guarding beds If if all of that doesn't work, pair a 2" black Shad Gulp!Alive! Minnow on a chartreuse roadrunner. This might comes across wrong, but if all that above doesn't work then there are no crappies. Good luck!

Right on. Yo-Zuri hybrid fan?

Is copoly good for top water?

Thanks for the report. Do you nose hook those tubes on your drop shot?

Great post! Gorgeous fish!

I would try a black and blue chatterbait with a Blue Sapphire Menace Grub as a trailer or junebug zoom superfluke trailer.

Boaters who get too dangerously close to my kayak. I don't get it

Couple months ago I would've said 'a baitcaster'. However, I spent every weekend practicing in my backyard by aiming for my kid's portable swimming pool. Nowadays, I've built confidence and can even pitch. Current nemesis is a football jig. I can't go one outing without snagging and losing it off the bottom and mostly within my 5th cast

Going to pick up some Kalins grubs in John Deere and Acid rain this weekend. Do you recall that color?

Hearing so much buzz about the 110s was like giving into peer pressure. But get this, Dick's had a buy 2 get 1 free sale so I pressed the trigger back on 6/13. They were backordered so far out that I finally got these puppies today and it's almost September! I actually forgot about the order until the package came to my door.

@WRB you've helped me a lot already since I've joined. You dish out some great info! I've loaded up on those Roboworm Oxblood with light red curly tails and they're awesome on a split rig for finessing Ponds.

Good info! Do you get snagged a lot on rocks with that 3/8 - 1/2 oz set up?

I can't wait to try this In my kayak soon. Regardless of those invasive species, my impressions of strolling are that you will still get snagged a lot on bottom structures. But, if that's the price to play then I'm willing to still try. Thanks for explaining that

Is it possible and effective to slowly troll (naturally drift without paddling from a kayak) a Carolina rig?

I fish night a lot at local Ponds. Black 3/8 oz Jitterbug is my favorite late summer - Fall. Winter and Spring, as long as it's not a full moon, I've had consistent success throwing a pearl white chatterbait with a white ice super Fluke jr trailer. White grubs are fantastic at night too so I think that contrast works. On full moons, I like using a black and silver sassy Shad on a chartreuse roadrunner or a black powerworm in various sizes

I have a bunch of NM buddies who swear by using white crankbaits for black bass at the Butte. Plus, you can always get the white bass interested if you want to catch something. Bomber Fat Free Shad in Pearl White or a Norman Little N in White Ghost come to mind Good luck and focus on islands and points!

Call me crazy but the FG knot is just fun to tie! I prefer it over the crazy Alberto because I get inconsistent knot sizes that run clunky thru my guides sometimes. Plus I had a crazy Alberto knot fail and break when I set the hook hard on a super Fluke (user error possibly). I have ever had a slip with the FG when using 12 lb powerpro and copolymor leader and I've practiced the FG enough that I can tie it at night with ease. After that initial granny knot, it's crucial to pull hard on the main line and leader tag end to tighten that coil. I pull so hard as if I'm almost trying to break it off. Then, I tie three more granny knots. Applications that I don't like to use the FG knot is with very small diameter lines when connecting 8 lb nano with 4 lb fluoro. Any recommendations here for a good connecting knot? If not, I'm just going to toss out the nano and go 100% 4 lb Sunline FC Sniper for my ultralight gear. That stuff rocks!

Thank you for that link. I learned a lot from watching that twice.

Wal-Mart sells Zoom Grubs and they are only 98 cents. It's the only place in town that sells em and they have such wicked tail action

Do you mind sharing that color ?oxblood? I like......

Thanks for chiming in and nice hybrid! I live in Phoenix and it is lawful to use live bait in community waters, except Tucson down south FWIW. Plus, there is a bag limit of 10 for sunfish at lakes with no minimum size. AZ is pretty lax compared to other states.

Line cutter or braid scissors in your fishing PFD that's easily accessible. Over the summer, I was trolling from my kayak and this jack wagon in a big boat zoom right next to me. I'm talking 15 yards and had the entire lake. My line got snagged on his motor and my reel started peeling braided line. Without having that tool handy to cut my line, it could've been interesting because he was hauling the opposite direction. Kind of like how bikers feel the utter lack of respect and etiquette with automobile drivers, as a kayaker, I feel that way about a lot of motorized boaters.

Good suggestions so far. When I fish riprap areas, I'm a fan of throwing finesse soft plastics (crappie Jigs, Gulp Alive minnows, tubes) on slip bobber rigs. When you know the average depth, you can adjust your bobber stop accordingly to hover over snags.

It's a fun debate. There are no crappies in this pond so that's why I originally eliminated that species. However, the canals sometimes introduce nonstocked species in ponds which explains why a random flathead could end up in a neighborhood pond. Either way, it's catfish bait to me