Jig Rookie

7.8 for me--don't get bit as much, but it's usually a good one when it does.

Blue, Have you ever had any success creeping a Hudd on bottom during the winter months? I know guys who swear by that as one of their cold-weather big baits--I just got a Savage Gear Pulse Tail trout (Savage's version of the Hudd, pic below), and I was looking forward to dragging that thing come winter.

@snake95 I use the Booty Shakers, 7-inch, and they definitely get bit. They're more durable than the size Keitech you're using, they are a dense piece of plastic. Also, the Booty Shaker's got a ton of body roll to it, more than the Keitech. I love them, been sticking a bunch on them lately. I rig the 7-inch on a 10/0, 1/2oz weighted Owner Beast Hook, pic below. I'll fish them high in the column all the way down to the bottom, bumping it off rocks. Like any other bait, let the fish tell you how they want it. Definitely give em a shot, they're cheap and worth it.

From just the last couple weeks here in Northern Illinois. Those baits are both 7 inches; the gill-colored one is 2.5oz, the softbait is 2.8oz with the 1/2oz 10/0 Owner Beast Hook. Yeah, I'd say they hit big baits this time of year.

100% it will, I've got a perfect case in point. I just got back from a pond I hadn't fished in a couple years, since before I started throwing swimbaits. I hated the place, never caught anything over a pound-and-a-half, water's always chocolatey, less than a foot visibility. Decided on a whim to go out there today for an hour and throw the bluegill colored Shine Glide, told my buddy, "Man I bet those fish have never seen a bait over five inches," and sure enough, stuck a 3.59 (pics below). Unreal. Check out Swimbait Underground, in my opinion the best swimbait site out there and it's not close. You'll have to register, but there's a wealth of info. But yeah, I had never caught a five-pound bass before I started throwing swimbaits, and now I've caught three since last October. And I'm in northern Illinois. Down south you've got some MONSTERS swimming around in your waters, and I bet they'll crush big baits. Good luck man, PM me if you ever have any questions and I'll help as best I can.

One more Booty Shaker fish from last night. First time I've had one choke it this deep, in the last pic you can see the tail of the bait folded up way back in the fish's throat. He wanted this thing. Here's the pic of the tail folded up in his mouth.

Dobyns Fury 795SB (Swimbait), rated 1-5oz. It's cheap as far as swimbait rods go ($125 if I remember correctly), but I love it, and I'm a budget fisherman. Feels comfortable up to about 4oz, anything over that starts to feel like I'm taxing it. You throw big baits, or thinking about getting into them?

One more Shine Glide fish outta Busse Lake; this thing was a FOOTBALL, check the guts on her. Almost wanted to pick her up and tell my son to go deep!

My daytime go-to bait has been the Savage Gear Shine Glide 178. I don't catch a ton on these baits, but when I do they're good fish.

There we go.

I've been stickin em late night on the 7" Jenko Booty Shaker--this site won't let me load more than one pic in a post, so I'll have to go separately. For those of you who throw big baits, check em out. Cheaper alternative ($8.99/2-pack of the 7-inch) to the more expensive big soft baits. 10/0 Owner Beast Hook. Now it won't let me post pics at all, "due to low memory." I'll figure it out...

YES, that's exactly the one; the bucktail (?) on the rear hook is the same, and the shape. Thanks again all of you for your help.

Got it, thanks a million guys, that was fast! And Evan, yeah, "highly effective" is almost an understatement. Caught nine fish in a couple hours from shore, three on back-to-back casts. This thing gets it done.

I found this lure earlier this season at my home lake; it's a topwater, you can walk it or pop it, and make it dip down subsurface too. Took it out this morning and SLAYED with it, hopefully someone knows the name so I can direct my buddy to get one. Thanks for the help all.

1. Dobyns Fury 806SB ($130 on TW) 2. Savage Gear Magnum Shine Glide ($30) 3. 8" Huddleston Deluxe ROF12 ($31) 4. 11.75" Savage Gear 3D Rad Rat ($15) 5. Jackall Gantarel ($40) 6. Put the last $5 in your tank, drive to the nearest lake, catch your PB.

That's a...dirtfish??

...I have never heard of such a place... MONDO, nice fish!

Nice fish! Green pumpkin t-rigged senko for the win.

You cheeky kent...

"Kayak Bass Fishing" and "Southern Illinois Kayak Club"...? (Guessing)

I can't speak to the others, but I know my local Wally's still has Jitterbugs on the shelf. Fish it, if you lose/damage it it's an easy replace.

Thanks for all the responses, this is really helpful stuff. @Bluebasser86--yeah Russ got me thinking about having to adjust to what my boater is doing, something I hadn't really thought hard about. And I only plan on bringing four rods at most: swimbait rod, jig/worm rod, crank/jerkbait rod, and finesse. I do want at least a chance to win the thing ha. Re: buying a kayak--it'd be nice, unfortunately I'm in an apartment. Working towards my house, but for now I've got no storage. Besides, I cannot fathom sitting down and bass fishing, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I've bassed out of a rowboat and canoe before and it's just so awkward and cringy trying to throw lures/set hooks/fight fish from a sitting position, I really don't know how you guys do it. My first boat I plan to be a jonboat conversion (basically take a jonboat, put a couple casting decks and a trolling motor on it and call it a bass boat). I've been dreaming about it, and pricing ebay and such. @Swbass15--they're draw tourneys, so we draw for boaters at the meeting prior to the tourney. I'll be able to talk to my boater and have an idea of how he plans to attack the lake. First tourney's not til 4/20, I'm already chomping at the bit. Much appreciated fellas. God bless.

Inarguably true, no doubt about it. I'm just going through a stage I guess ha.

Thanks Russ--yeah that makes sense, I didn't think about how I'd have to adjust to what the boater is doing. If he's running and pitching the shallows it's gonna be pretty impossible for me to creep a big swimbait along bottom structure ha. Thanks for that input, I've got a lot more to think about.

Hey Resource, Long-time lurker, few times poster. I've got a question about tourney fishing--here's the skinny: I've always been a bank fisherman--39 years old, chasing largemouth since I'm 15, never bass fished off a bass boat (I've rented a rowboat for a few hours a couple times at my local forest preserve lakes, as you can guess it's not great fun for bass fishing), and I've never fished in a tournament. This year I've joined a bass club as a co-angler, about 40 guys in Northwest Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area, and the club has tourneys on local lakes (Delevan, Geneva, Miss River Pool). My fishing style is a big bait approach; I fish big swimbaits, big jigs, big worms, and frogs. I know how to fish traditional baits (senkos, t-rigs, spinnerbaits, flukes, etc), grew up doing it, but a while back I switched to fishing for those few big bites a day and haven't used any standard, traditional lures recently. My question is, does anyone fish tournaments with only big baits, or at least mainly big baits? My goal in joining this bass club isn't to win tournaments, it's actually just to finally get to fish offshore in big lakes from a bass boat--I've been throwing big baits from shore and dreaming about what it would be like to chuck em out on deep structure where I believe the true monsters spend most of their lives. But the competitive side of me still wants to have a shot at winning the tourney. I just hate putting my big stuff down to fish conventional, and seriously, swimbaiting all day off a bass boat in deep water is a day in heaven that I've only been able to dream of up til now. Do I have any chance of winning if I leave the senkos and flukes and t-rigs and jerkbaits at home and only bring the heavy artillery? Has any of you tourney vets ever done/seen anyone do that successfully? Thanks all for your help, this place is great. P.S. I've read the "Worst Things a Co-Angler has Done" thread, and yikes...please God I don't do any of the things I read about there, pray for me boys...