Dens228

I went out today and tried to fish a large featureless flat of deep water without luck. I then switched to a squarebill and fished it in about 8 feet of water right where it drops off to 20+ feet and did extremely well. The squarebill dives to about 5 feet so the bass were sitting right on the edge of the drop and coming up to hit it.

I still look for small features that may stick out..........a rock, closer to other depth altering contours, and I use lures that I can work fairly quickly,,,cranks, swimjigs/paddletails, spinnerbaits, in that order. But tomorrow I'm going to see what happens with a hardbody swimbait. Haven't really used them so I'm going to see how I do.

Last year I caught a ton of bass on soft baits, Senko style and crawfish. This year I wanted bigger bass so utilized spinnerbaits, jigs, and cranks a lot more often. I did catch fewer, but not by much, and they were much bigger. That being said, I caught a ton, and 8 over 20 inches, on jigs with soft trailers..........so I guess the best of both worlds! I also caught one over 20 inches on a crank. But my PB by far was last year on a 5 inch Senko.

St. Croix AvidX rods Lew's reels

I fish a few quarries that are very deep. That being said the deepest I've caught bass, and they were very large, were all the same day, early May, all three being over 21 inches and all three in different parts of the quarry, at the bass of rock walls, 22 feet. That is the only time I've caught bass there deeper than 12-15 feet. Normally once summer hits full blast the thermocline is at about 13-14 feet and I don't even mark fish deeper than that.

Sometimes they just want the jig. Today I couldn't buy a jig bite, got three decent bass on a Biospawn paddletail on an underspin hook.

The only thing I don't like throwing with the Smoke is weightless plastics. Lighter lures like smaller cranks and jigs, as well as t-rigs, I have no problem with.

I bought a Smoke S3 this spring, and two days later bought a second one. I absolutely love them but the one negative you mentioned is for lighter weight casting, I did have trouble with that. So I don't use them on those rods. Problem solved.

I started using Biospawn this summer too. They hold up well.

I would think you can't go wrong with either Strike King or 6th Sense. I'm currently moving towards all 6th Sense but have nothing against my Strike King cranks.

I saw the bass others were catching on jigs. In jig situations I had been using t-rigged. This year I vowed to always have a jig tied on. My wow moment with them came this year back in May, on my kayak when I was using a jig/crawfish trailer in 20 feet of water and caught a 23 inch 7 pounder. It was my second bass over 20 inches since I started back fishing in 2015. That same day I caught 2 more bass over 20 inches and another at 18 1/2. So, first two years I caught one bass over 20, then caught 3 over 20 inches in one day on jigs. I had 9 this year over 20 inches so far, 8 on jigs and 1 on a crankbait. Not bad for a relative rookie in northern Illinois. I should add that jigs also appear to be good at catching crappie barely bigger than the jig! LOL

For the most part I follow those rules........but.............I'm not afraid to switch it up if I'm not getting fish and it has worked out well. More so using the dark in clear water than the other way around. I don't think the bass around here have been reading the articles. I use Keitech and Biospawn paddletails. I'm actually really liking the Biospawn.

I was in the same situation as you and made this the summer of jigs. After trying a bunch I settled on 6th Sense, their swimjig and their hybrid, both in 3/8 oz. As said above, I go with Black/blue and a natural color in both. I figured keeping it simple by narrowing my choice on the water would help and it did. I'd say my top 10 bass this summer were all on a jig with either a crawfish or paddletail trailer.

I tend to do best so far this year at and within an hour or so of sun up hitting 3-6 feet of water near rocks, in the areas the sun hits. Depending on cloud cover I then tend to move to the deeper water right next to the shallow spots I just fished. The edges of underwater channels are paying off for me with cranks and swim jigs.

I have two baitcasting rods, Avid X's. Both are MH/Fast and I use them for just about anything except my frogging.

I usually only purchase rods and reels from BPS. 99% of the time they are the same price as anywhere online. I like to feel and hold them before the purchase. Lures on the other hand I pretty much know what I want/like and find them much cheaper online.

It's not just tournament guys. I was out in my kayak Sunday where the was a family of three also fishing in kayaks I was having some above average luck working a narrow underwater channel when they decided to get a little closer. As I was reeling in, taking a photo of, and then releasing a nice bass they a came to within 50 feet of may kayak, one to the left of me, one to the right, and one in front, and proceeded to fish. The son appeared to be about 10 years old so I didn't want to say anything figuring dad was obviously an a##h### and it would probably escalate verbally which I didn't want to happen in front of his yound son. What I did was switch to a swimjig and cast all around dad's kayak. When he looked at me I just gave a little shrug and kept casting. He got the message and they all moved away. I was actually video recording with my GoPro and have it all but decided to not make a Youtube video out of this one.

I use the Ragetail craws, but I may get a couple different colors of Yum to see how they are. At that price why not???

Mine would be don't be afraid to change colors and depth. I don't get to crazy, a dark and a light, work the column and find the fish and what they want. Today I went out with a 2-5 ft and an 8-12 ft diver. They wanted to hit the 2-5 foot. As luck would have it I got the color right on the first try.

My combination is a St. Croix BassX MH/Moderate, it has a bit of the whippy tip which gives me a good cast with weightless plastics, I've paired it with a Lew's BB-1. I really like the combination

A paddle clip to hold my net, the Anchor Wizard.

I use them all the time, but with the screw lock. I use them with paddletails and Ragetails. Love it.

I use the Anchor Wizard but without the chute. I run the line through a trolley.

I broke my second Mojo Bass this morning. The first one was my fault when I gave a yank to free a lure from a rock. Today's broke on a hookset. I love St. Croix but I'm not spending anymore on the Mojo. Those are the only two I've broke in my life.

I was up in northern Wisconsin for a week in July. At night they got me through a fairly thick hoodie. My back was chewed up something fierce!