papajoe222

I will normally start out small and slow. As I target deeper structure now, a blade bait is hard to beat, smaller/compact jigs with a subtle trailer like a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. I like to hit shallow bodies of water now as they warm faster, so for those I'll give a Mepps spinner and a smaller jerkbait serious consideration. If you're more of a soft plastics guy, a 4in. stick worm Texas rigged and worked like a jerkbait (you can go with a Fluke) or a tube bait on a light jighead can be worked anywhere in the water column.

Profile, for me, is much more important than color. If short and fat isn't working, I'll switch to long and thin before experimenting with color. When I do focus on color is when I start getting light hits or barely hooking on the rear treble. I'll vary my retrieve speed first, but changing color then has proven more effective.

Whenever I needed a kicker bass in a tourney, more often than not, I threw a buzzbait. Like jigs, they are big fish catchers and I'd want to cover water.

One of my favorite modifications. If it's a salted bait, I will scuff it to bring the salt to the surface, but I fish a lot of baits without salt as I prefer plastics that float.

I have three identical reels and two more that share the same platform. No matter what I do with, what I call the problem, one I can't get a smooth flow of line out of the drag. It will jerk as it first gives some line and then skip from a steady flow to a stop and go kind of feed. I've checked the drag stack, greased the washers,polished the surfaces, etc., but it still does it. Any idea what may be causing it?

Try it when you're 75. It takes me a week to recover from half a day outing. Speaking of muskie baits.........I've caught my share of LM on muskie baits. I've even used them strictly for bass fishing on more than one occasion.

The best season for me is 'open water' season. I've never had a bass come up through the ice for one.

I did that a few years back, just the hard baits. When I hit 24 spinnerbaits, I stopped counting, Spooks after 12, topwater, counting frogs, after 30. I have four categories of cranks and every one is in the three dozen or more. I don't fish chatterbaits, but I have around a dozen. If I were to keep counting I'd begin to think I have an obsession. That's an argument for the bait monkey and he makes so much sense, that arguing is fruitless anyway.

I have two that I rely on when they're making beds to when they're on them. The first is a small topwater. I like the Crazy Shad because those blades spin with the slightest twitch and if you let one sit above a bed long enough one of those blades is going to turn enough to elicit a strike. Prior to actually bedding, you can work it like a jerkbait. The other is a tube bait because of it's compact size, if a fish goes to move it off a bed, chances are good that it has the hook in its mouth. On a light jighead, I can work it traditionally, or like a Fluke.

I'm always on the look-out for another TD Sol or older Fuego. I picked up an older Alphas last September, but I don't know if it's more than 10yrs. old. Some of my baitcasters are more than 25yrs. old.

Both can produce based on the fish's activity level. However,the jerkbait will produce when the fish are neutral, while the flatside may or may not. That's what I'd start out with. For spots, I'd go with a smaller jerkbait or crank. Sadly, most flat sided cranks are around the same size, 2.25-2.5in.

I base rigging and more importantly the soft plastic lure itself on what I want that lure to do. If I want it on the bottom, moving slowly without much action, a pegged Texas rigged straight tail worm would fit the bill. Swimming something most likely would have built in action like a Rage Tail and I could rig it a number of ways. An action tail worm, can be rigged Texas with either a pegged weight for targeting brush or rock, or unpegged for yo yoing it. What I'm saying is; ask yourself where and how you want to fish a soft plastic bait and then choose a bait and rigging that will fit that situation the best. You don't need to know a dozen different rigs to accomplish that.

I'm not a fan of using a swivel snap on any lure that doesn't have the potential of causing line twist, like an in-line spinner, or spoon. I use snaps for ease of changing baits, but in the summer, I'd much rather tie directly to the line tie, or split ring. I fish a lot of deadfalls and chunk rock and retying frequently is a must. I get lazy when using a clip or snap.

I used this type of spinnerbait for the last few years on my big bass lake and it never failed to produce (when I used it). On my last trip there, a bowfin ended up with it and left me without it. I need to replace it, but I don't remember who made it. I know Booyah makes one, but I know it wasn't one of theirs. Anyone know of another company that offers them. I know I could make my own from a twin blade spinnerbait, but I really liked that one and would like the same. I thought it was a Hart, but can't find it on their site.

My deep cranking rod is 7'3" MH/MF paired with a Daiwa Fuego with 5.9:1 gears. I added a110mm handle and although I don't do much deep cranking anymore, I use it for 6-8in. paddle tail swimbaits. Unless you plan on doing a lot of summertime deep cranking, you can stick with baits like a DD22 and a good cranking stick will suffice.

A-Jay Is that Jeff in the bottom pic with you?

The week-end of April 12-13, 2016. Muskegon MIchigan. Temp. at launch time was 29 wind was steady at 23mph and it started snowing just after we put in. To say we froze is an understatement, even with the snowmobile suits we had on. First day, my son-in-law and I boated five walleye over 30in. The second day temps. were identical, but the wind died down to 15-18mph. The only thing we caught was a cold. We've been back a few times since. Every other time the weather was about normal for April, but only once did we get anything over 30in.

Now that I'm healthy, I'll be spending more time on the water than the last couple of years. I'm looking to get my first 7lb. largemouth and 5lb. smallmouth since 2004. It'd be a big plus if the grandson can top his PB, too.

Deep Little N Wiggle Wart (I know it won't get down to 12ft., but I'd start shallow and work down) Ratl Trap Rage Tail Craw on a belly weighted hook Any other two lures you're not afraid to loose : )

About eight years ago I purchased a cheap, BPS popper. After switching out the hooks and adding an oval split ring, it sat in one of my topwater boxes. On a rare night outing with my son-in-law, I tied it on his rod. That night, it was the only hard bait that produced and man, did it produce. So much so that it's the only topwater he'll throw. 'The Pop Special' he calls it. Go figure.

I fished strip mines for decades and found that the bass will hold in one of two places. The first is on or just out from the first stairstep, many times the only one, before that drop to deep water. The second is suspended just below the depth of light penetration. The latter is where vertical presentations really shine. Those fish don't do a lot of chasing and their strike window, when they aren't feeding. is small and any bait that you can present just above them will produce when a horizontal presentation is ignored.

I love when you post pics of your gear. I show them to my other half whenever I get that 'Don't you have enough' look from her. To the OP I remove almost all split ring ties from my hard baits and us a snap. A note to those of you doing or considering doing that, don't forget to retie just as frequently as you would otherwise.

I recommend two lures that are very similar; Strike King's Rocket Shad and a Little George. Both can be fished in a similar way. The big plus for these two is that they get deep quick and can be jigged or cranked. I find a Rocket Shad much easier to maintain depth with than a spinnerbait, which I always have trouble keeping at a steady depth with during a retrieve.

Before you decide what bait to use, figure out where in the water column the fish are holding. On sunny days, they may be high in the water column mid-day. On overcast days they could be suspended, or sitting on or close to the bottom. You'll need to experiment if you're fishing from shore using baits that target the different depths. Now is not the time to go big. Smaller spinners, cranks and jigs will cover the different depths. Fishing from a boat? Rely heavily on your electronics to locate fish. If you don't see activity, concentrate on cover on structure. If you do, choose baits based on their location. Suspended fish (middle of the water column) are the toughest to catch, so make your presentation as slow as possible with a small bait that will stay in that depth range when targeting them.

Like most of my hard baits, I have had three Fat Boys for years. They get limited use in the summer over submergent weeds, but when I do use them, they produce. Sorry to hear that future generations won't have the option to use them. LokiDawg, check out that lot of cranks you got from me. I think there may be one in the group.