Black Hawk Basser

No leader for me. I experimented for awhile with fluoro to braid, but I didn't find that it provided me enough of an advantage to continue. I rarely fish "snaggy" waters, so the break-off reasons don't really matter to me. If I applied more finesse tactics like drop shot or shaky worm, I may utilize a leader more often.

Welcome to the forum! You'll get a ton of good advice here. Frog related: Check out the myriad soft plastic "buzz toad" baits and try a couple. The Stanley Ribbit works great for me. I've found that the hooking and landing percentage goes way up fishing these in lieu of a hollow bodied frog bait. I just rig them with a 4/0 EWG offset worm hook and it works fine for me.

My homemade Do-It Poisontail Jig. Has the versatility to probe bottom, and to swim along. I haven't lost one to rocks yet, either.

When I bring along a net, have my pliers at-the-ready in my pocket, or have my phone camera ready for a picture, I inevitably don't catch squat. It's like punishment from the fishing Gods for being presumptuous.

Love the bluegill skirt!

I've found that as long as the skirt is primarily in the darker color realm, that's all that has mattered for me. My best colors, no matter what the water clarity is are green pumpkin w/chartreuse highlights, black with blue flake, and one called New Missouri Craw that I found on eBay. It's basically black with some chartreuse and brown.

It's interesting that one person may say they will lie, assuming that others will lie too. And someone else says that they tell the truth, assuming that others will tell the truth. That right there tells you that you can never trust anything you've heard at a dock.

I've never seen or heard any of these guys, and probably won't. I don't do much YouTubing as it is. One thing that rubs me the wrong way is the packaging of the baits. It's a ridiculously large bag, with a plastic tray inserted. I get it. Marketing, attractive looks, keeps baits straight, etc. But I feel like its the responsibility of anglers and manufacturers alike to do what they can to preserve resources and reduce waste involved with our hobby/livelihood. That packaging method is not a step in that direction. I know that they aren't the only maker that uses gaudy packaging, but this is the first thing about Googan that came to mind, since I don't know anything about the "squad".

Best: Start with aggressive tactics, then temper back from there if necessary. Worst: Wind out of the west, fish bite the best. ?

Swift current with current breaks. The local river has many low-head dams; right below them in the white water is where I catch the best quality fish with square bills.

I was recently told by local DNR that they are loosely encouraging anglers to keep some smallmouth out of the local river. They claim that the bass 'run the walleyes off' because of their more aggressive feeding attitude compared to walleyes. I don't know if I agree with that or not, because I generally catch as many walleyes as I do bass in that river.

Chatterbait may be another option. They come through vegetation fairly well.

The last month has been jig/chunk around and under docks and boats on lifts. Haven't had many long outings lately but the docks are great for a quick few bites when I get the itch.

Square bill, inline spinner, jerk bait, jig/grub

If you can access any docks - that is my saving grace all summer long here at my local lake. I can pluck a fish from under almost every boat on a hoist with jigs and T-rigged creatures.

Jump in my ice shack. I catch more numbers through ice than I do any other season . And a 9" bluegill on a noodle rod is a way better fight than a 16" bass on a MH!

I also fish mine like a crankbait, at a medium pace. I use the Biffle Hard Head and the Biffle Bug with some success.

I love that, @Munkin. Nice work.

Overall, I'd say watermelon w/ red flake is most effective for me where I fish.

I don't discriminate. I often try to have one rod rigged with a bait that will work for a number of species. Traditional bass fishing is impossible for 3 months here, so I ice fish for whatever will bite.

I've found that using a cut bluegill that I've caught the same time that I'm catfishing is most effective.

One weekend in April a couple years ago, I caught a few eater walleye at my lake. I cleaned them, and kept the rib portions for catfish bait to use at a public pond the next day. I didn't have that strip of walleye ribs in the water for more than 20 seconds before I had a 20" bass slurp it up. I shrugged it off, thinking that it was a random occurrence. I proceeded to continue fishing the rib meat hoping for some catfish. I ended up catching 4 more nice bass that afternoon on the walleye meat. One can assume I would have not done that well if I had been fishing a jig/craw combo or any other bass bait that day.

I choose to not hunt because it would severely hinder my fishing time and fishing budget!

Thanks for sharing! Wading is a blast if done safely, and I'm looking forward to that in the future with my little guy.

OP, definitely look for current breaks such as the downstream end of a sandbar. I'd fish all around it as they may be on the drop off from the sandbar to the mid channel area if they're aggressively feeding. If you find good areas, don't be surprised to catch a multitude of species depending on the bait you're using.