Brad_Coovert

These are very versatile baits that everyone should have a few of. They work great on a Texas rig weighted or weightless, on a C rig, Wacky rigged, on a jighead and even on a drop shot. My preferred ways to fish them are on jigheads like Spot Removers or Screwed Up heads, on Crigs and weightless in shallow weeds. Brad

If you wanna leanr about all their is to know about walking a bait, look for any videos, books or articles on this method by Charlie Campbell. No one can come close to ol' Charlie when it comes to walking baits. He was a true master. Brad

There is a problem with all suspending baits. The water temperature effects how they suspend. It is nearly impossible to manufacture a perfect suspending bait. I have had the same bait sink very slowly, suspend or rise very slowly with changes in water temps. How cold is your water? Might be part of the problem. Could be bad baits too though. Brad

I love the Staysee 80 and 80 SP's, especially parallel to steep banks. I just toss 'em out, reel 'em down a bit and then fish the same as any other jerkbait. Good luck! Brad

I gots lots of favs in the lipless crankbait department. Cordell Spots in 1/2 and 1/4 oz. Lucky Craft LVR Mini, LVRD7, LV0, LV200 and LV300N SPRO Arukushad Brad

Like any product, you'll get varied opinions. There are pros and cons to any product. I like several of the Lucky Craft baits, but not all of them. The Pointers are excellent jerkbaits and well worth the money IMO. They have saved the day many times when other jerkbaits would not get a sniff from a fish. I also will not be without my LV0, LV200 or LV300N lipless baits as no one else has anything comparable to them and they have been great fish catchers at the right time. The Flat CB MR and DR series have been great baits fro me in cold water when nothing else worked. Just a few examples of some of their baits that are worth the cost to me. Brad

I like Owner Mosquito, Gamakatsu Wacky or Reaction Innovation wacky hooks. Brad

I love creature baits, especially on a Carolina Rig. I know the bass in Barkley love Crigged creatures. There are tons of of great creature baits on the market. Brad

Between Yamamoto, Lucky Craft, Spro, ZOOM, NetBait, Buckeye, Reaction Innovations and a host of other brands, I have a wish list way to long to type and well over $20K. I guess wholesale wishlists don't count? Brad

Jigs are a great year-round bait, but they can be hard to learn how to fish. The jig bite can be a hard one to detect as many fish hit on the fall and your only clue might be a slight line twitch. IMO, the best way to learn jig fishing is to head out with nothing but jigs and trailers in various sizes. This will force you to use them in all kinds of water/structure/cover until you get some fish. Keep at it and don't quit if you don't catch too many, these are great baits and you'll eventually do well with them. As for jigs, there are a ton of styles. Lots of jigs are made for just wood, rocks or weeds and have heads designed just for those applications. Other jigs are more universal. Booyah makes a good all around jig for a lot of applications. They are not too expensive, have strong, sharp hooks, a good weedguard, a good paintjob, good skirts and removable rattles. They have standard jigs and finesse jigs. They have plenty of colors to take care of whatever water conditions you are facing. I prefer blacks, browns and greens. Those colors will do it 99% of the time. Toss in a white jig for some fall fishing as well. If you're fishing jigs in cover, IMO a 7' MH rod is the lightest you should use. 14 lb. mono or braid is minimum for jigs in cover IMO. If you're fishing more open water or with smaller finesse jigs with lighter hooks, you can use lighter tackle. Good luck! Brad

The bass fishing season is all about water temps. Forget the calendar. As far as buzzbaits in cold water, I got my butt kicked by a buzzbait in cold water in a tournament once. If there are some shallow bass, they may react to it. Brad

I thread mine 100% of the time. The reason being is I had many, many fish take just the trailer and I missed them. I started threading and the hook-up rate went up. Brad

The Flappin' Hogs are good baits, but they were discontinued for legal reasons. They will most likley come back on the market, but not for a while. They sold out very fast. I have ONE bag of blue/blue flake left. I may just keep it for a memory. Or, I may give it away in a bait drawing. Brad

Though it has a hollow body, it will take a while for water to leak in around the hook, unless the bait gets torn badly by a fish or in cover. Brad

My top Pointer colors are Ghost Minnow, Chartreuse Shad and MS Amercian Shad. Brad

Baitfish imitating plastics will work in cold water. Like any bait, you need to put them where the bass are. I personally do not throw too many soft baits in cold water, but when I do, I'm usually pitching around wood or using a Crig and usually after I have located fish holding areas with other baits and the bite has slowed down. I have a friend who uses the shad colored Ring Frys on Crigs in the fall and he does quite well on them. Brad

The Ring Fry is a great bait. The usual colors will work. They are great on a Crig, but they can be Trigged, flipped or fished weightless or wacky as well. Good baits IMO. Brad

GYCB Flappin' Hog Discontinued. :'( Brad

Lipless baits and sound. Noisy, for example an LVRD7 - rattles Quiet, such as an LV300N - no rattles. Subtle, such as an LV200 - metal plate. The old one knocker spots are one of the most coveted lipless baits on the pro tour. Brad

55 degree, very stained water. No and No. Spinnerbaits, jigs and crankbaits close to cover. Brad

I could not beleive that I'll be getting fish on this lure on November. About 20 last Friday and in about 4 hours.....what a blast, they were not big but they were agressive I used to be just as surprised, but it is really no surprise at all. After a few years of serious fall fishing, I have learned to ignore the calender, the bass ignore it, so should we. Water temp is the calender to the fish. As long as the conditions allow for feeding up shallow, shallow baits will work. Brad

Correct, suspending baits have an optimum water temperature (density changes with temperature) in which they suspend nearky perfectly. Otherwise, they may rise or sink. My LC's and Bombers suspend much better than my Husky Jerks. The Husky Jerks have required added weight to get them to suspend as well in the same conditions. Brad

I fish Husky Jerks and Pointers as well as a few discontinued Bombers that I hoard everytime I see them on eBay or anywhere else. I prefer the Pointers in tougher conditions as they have a very subtle wiggle when sitting still. I've always done better with them than my other baits and I always try each one to see which one does better. Right now, my susoending baits are Husky Jerks, Deep Husky Jerks, Pointers, Staysee and some Bombers. As far as Husky Jerk colors, I use all of the chrome based coolors. Brad

Fall is actually a good time for topwaters. Bass are seriously keying on baitfish in most waters in the fall and a topwater is just another baitfish to a bass. Have one tied on for schooling fish or searching for active fish. Along with crankbaits and jerkbaits, a topwater is always ready in my boat and I will always try one. Some days they work, others not. Brad

More to consider on the forg fishing is your tackle. Weak rods and line will lead to failure. I personally use a 7'6" flipping stick and heavy braid. Good hooksets and no lost fish. You will miss fish on a frog, but the right tackle will get the ones you stick into the boat. Also, frogs are big bass baits. Big fish like heavy cover, especially thick, overhead cover like weed mats. I've caught some noice fish on frogs and most hits are viscious. Sometimes I miss fish just from being caught offguard by the huge explosion. Good luck! Brad