Black Hawk Basser

I've had multiple blowups without hooking up. I also believe they are just missing it, or they're telling you that you need to alter something a little for them to engulf it. I've had several muskies take a whack at it, but no hookups at all on one.

All time favorite is the Storm Chug Bug. My 2nd largest fish blasted a Sammy so that bait has some sentimental value.

1/0 Berkley Fusion with the fluoro weedguard

Agreed. I invite the wind, especially post spawn. A calm summer day can be tough. When the wind kicks up, I head to the shoreline that's getting the most wave action and throw spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and 5" soft plastic swimbaits. Everywhere I fish has clear water, so anything to reduce water clarity is helpful.

I get checked about once a year, on average, in the last decade. Since the DNR rehabbed the local lake, there has been a larger presence of officers. Most of the time it is someone doing creel surveys, and of course, they ask for a license while they're at it. I've only had a near-miss experience once. My wife and I headed to the lake for some bluegill action, planning to use little jigs tipped with crawlers. We arrive at the lake, and I realize I forgot the crawlers at home. I send my wife in my truck to go retrieve them from home. Of course, I forgot my wallet, which contained my license, in my truck. It wasn't 3 minutes later and the warden shows up. I proceed to tell him the truth that my wife went to get the worms and my wallet with the license is in the truck. He then wrote me a ticket, and said that if I'm confident I had a valid license, then just tear the ticket up once he leaves. He said he would go back to the office and check on the computer for my license status. So, once he took off, I disregarded the ticket, and kept on fishing. From then on, I have made more of an effort to remember to keep the license in my pocket.

That is one of my choices for river smallmouth. Great performance, which is expected of Rapala.

Not in Minnesota, but very close to the border, are the Iowa Great Lakes. They offer some excellent largemouth and smallmouth bass fishing. There are also pike, but I don't think they contain the population density of pike that a lot of MN lakes would.

I fish Ribbits and other toads regularly with no weight, and they never "spin". They are upside down often, but I don't see much disadvantage there.

I'd have to say Doug Stange of In Fisherman. He grew up not far from where I did, so I'd love to hear stories of his days in NW Iowa.

It was noted in the article several times that Kerr mentioned that Long barely contributed to their catches in the tournaments in which they were teamed up. Except for the fish he apparently illegally hid in bags in his boat, only to pull one out later, acting like he'd just caught it.

I have had the same experience. They just don't have the nice, realistic looking shimmy like the Super Fluke. I have only caught one fish on the Magnum in Smokin' Shad color. Albeit, it was a nice 18" fish.

I don't think color on jigs heads matters that much. Fishermen care more than the fish.

What type of rod? I find that using a moderate action rod helps keep crankbait fish hooked. Extra fast rods tend to allow enough slack in the line to let fish come unhooked. The moderate action rod will not allow as much slack when fighting fish. Other than dull hooks or user error, the above would be my only other assumption.

I think the weakest part of my game is shaky heads and drop shot. I have barely tried either technique. I think I have caught a fish or two on a shaky head rig, but nada on drop shot. I'm not ashamed to say it, though. There's 50 other ways to skin a cat(bass).

I can't use that dang tool either. I learned to whip finish with my hands.

I use the Ribbit and just use a regular 4/0 EWG. I do fine hooking up with that as long as I pause a second before setting.

I'd toss cranks and spinnerbaits. Or rip a jig off the bottom as you're strolling along.

I leave my stuff in my truck all summer. I don't co-mingle different plastic colors, so I never have any issues. I worry more about letting my gear get exposed to prolonged sunlight.

I'll chime in on the bluegill: Get some 1/32 and 1/16 oz jig heads and some 1 1/2" or 2" twisters, tubes, and other little plastics in that size. Sometimes just casting and reeling these hair jigs or plastics will work. Other times, it helps to put your jig below a tiny bobber and reel in much slower, with some jerks and pauses mixed in. Little inline spinners like rooster tails and Mepps can work when they are aggressive. 1/64, 1/32, and 1/16 oz hair jigs are great most of the time, too. I hand tie tungsten bead head flies that imitate things they really eat, like freshwater shrimp, mayflies & bloodworms. I rarely use anything for panfish other than what I make, because they work so well. You could search out "bead head flies" and find all kinds of options that will work.

Thanks for sharing your ritual. That's priceless stuff! In the summer, I generally limit myself to early mornings to about 11 AM. Or about 6 PM to dark. I don't do much night fishing. If it is overcast and/or windy, I will definitely go out any time of day. Sometimes, mid-day, I will tool around our local lake and hit all the shade-offering docks that I can. Another thing I will do in the hot months, when it is possible, is wade the local river for smallmouth and walleye using small crankbaits. Like above, topwaters are preferred. I really like buzz toads, since there is a ton of surface slop on the shores in the lakes and ponds I frequently fish. If that doesn't get bit, a weightless fluke fished near the surface, or something T-rigged to punch through weeds would be next. I really despise the heat and humidity, so when it is very warm, I tend to stay in and work on hobby stuff. But, sometimes the itch is just too much and a guy has to get out there.

I like to run my spinnerbaits high in the water column, but usually as slowly as I can retrieve without letting the bait drop deeper. There are times when burning one will work best, but I've found that a steady, pretty much moderate retrieve is a higher percentage method. I got onto a spinnerbait bite the other day in about 15 feet of water, and I had to count down to 4 or 5 to get it at the level that the fish would commit. I gathered that the fish were suspended off the main drop off from the bank. If I kept it high, no bites. If I let it drop lower than a 5 or 6 count, no bites. The point is, you will have to experiment at different depths and speeds each day. The same applies to nearly every other lure category.

Bass Pro Shops 1/2 oz black/red double Colorado spinnerbait w/Berkley Grass Pig Jr (California) This has been my go-to when there's wind and/or clouds for 3-4 years. I even got a 21" walleye out of a gravel pit with it on Saturday.

I've caught, frozen, and later thawed and cleaned dozens of bluegills and crappies. This is almost always through the ice, so the fish were really never exposed to above freezing temps. I have kept whole walleye in the fridge overnight and cleaned the next day. The obvious key is to not give bacteria much time to proliferate. When it's this time of year, I could see that happening really fast if the fish is dead for some time before getting it into cold temperatures.

You may have a point. This spring, I started making my own bass jigs with eyes. My catch rate on them has been fantastic so far. It seems that I've had much better success on these than I've previously had with jigs sans eyes. I will say that bluegill are probably the most prolific forage around here so that could be why. I love a belly weighted Berkley Grass Pig. Perhaps I ought to throw some eyes on those and see if the bass' infatuation with them increases.