Black Hawk Basser

I guess it depends on where I'm fishing, as mentioned by others. There are shore spots on larger bodies of water that just absolutely produce consistently for me year after year after year, especially pre-spawn. So, I find no reason to move until I've tried a few things with no results. I've gotten to know these areas so well that if two to three baits don't produce within an hour, then I know it's time to move on. I generally fish small bodies of water with a kayak; but, if I were bound to shore, I would probably move more often in this situation. When I am hitting the local river(some would call it a stream), I definitely don't stick around long. It's small enough that even after I've caught a few fish, I generally move on, as I've probably fished out the area to the point where it's worth trying somewhere new. I may return later in the day and see if fish have returned, though.

You can fish a Senko all year.

Good question. It's probably more a marketing thing than anything else. I'd bet that a dark red skirted jig would work great.

Yeah, do like Andy Duphrein on Shawshank. Write a letter every week until they get sick of you and finally do something about it.

Very good point. I lose a fair amount of cranks in the river going after smallies so you'd never see me throwing a $15 bait there. Other than that, I also believe I toss more money at plastics than hard baits.

This isn't exactly an answer to the question but I think nose hooking flukes with an octopus hook is overlooked for the added action it allows.

For reference, I'm in Iowa, where there is usually a prolonged period of cool water with a sudden increase in temps after one or two nice days. Prior to these 70+ degree days that spur more bass to move in little more shallow, I find that bass are really scattered. It pays off for me to fan-cast all over with search baits. Good choices for me are medium to small lipless cranks, spinner baits, Mepps style spinners, and jighead/twisters. I generally keep my rod tip high and reel as slow as I can to still keep the bait suspended above bottom. An occasional rapid turn of the reel handle triggers lots of bites. It may also pay off to fish really slow with a jig or plastic, but I find that covering water bags the most fish, even early in the year. The bass seem to surprise me every year on how hard they'll hit a bait before I expect them to be that aggressive.

A lot of guys here in the Midwest target mainly walleye and panfish. I think most walleye guys see them as a nuisance. Frankly, if you only would target walleye around here, you'd still catch more bass than walleye, so I understand the annoyance. I chase all species available, but due to the sheer numbers of bass in this area, it just makes sense to fish for them frequently. I rarely fish for a meal, so that's not a factor for me.

I'll toss in another mention for the Rebel Wee Craw and hair jigs. I have caught more stream smallmouths on a crawler under a float than any other tactic, especially at dams and mouths of creeks.

You're on to something. I have found that in the case of 832, the "20 lb" size is significantly harder to snap than the 15 lb. The 15 lb may in fact not break until 15 lbs is applied, but it seems the 20 lb size will break at much higher than 20 lb of force. There is a big difference, more than 5 pounds, in my experience. After I started really experiencing many more break offs with the 15 lb, I just have been using it for crappie and light walleye offerings.

I haven't ever used Spooks but I am partial to the Lucky Craft Sammy. My PB was caught with one. After that, I was definitely hooked. Topwaters are my first choice in fall, unless it's really windy.

Do I carry too much? Usually. Do I own too much? No way! I try to pack what I think I'll use, based on the time of year and body of water. If I catch most of my fish on the first thing I tied on, then I brought too much. If I have tried most of my options that I packed, then I didn't bring too much. It's a question you'd have to ask after each day out and maybe tailor the choices based on that.

Sleeper here...Bomber Square A. For me, they have outperformed cranks that are much more spendy. The 1 5/8" version is dynamite on river smallmouth.

I only use white/red or black/red, and one of the two will work most days they are on that kind of bite.

I've broken several cheap rods in the back of my truck, through my own ignorance. I've only broken two rods while fishing. One was a Cabela's XML Ti that I absolutely loved; I swung a 1 lb bass into the boat and it cracked below the stripper guide. I would guess it already had a hairline crack beforehand. The 2nd was a Abu Garcia Veracity. The top 5" snapped right off while fighting a fish...I still kept using it, and not long after, somehow the stripper guide broke off. I have since repaired the rod and am waiting to see if something else happens with the remaining guides, as they are extremely thin metal. Worst investment I've ever made in fishing.

Jigs do get a lot of big bites for me. Also, topwaters during peak times have gotten me some of my best fish.

I tend to agree with this opinion. No matter the technique or species, I find short strikes are indicative of a presentation that's almost appropriate, but needs just a slight bit of tweaking.

I'm partial to a soft plastic buzz toad. They work everywhere I fish! I can't say the same about other topwaters. A popper would be a close 2nd.

I can attest to the effectiveness of these. Only downside is, they usually don't survive more than several catches. I also like the BPS Humpin Toads, because of their durability, but they could be a little softer. I really want to try the new Yum version.

Small squarebill cranks catch a ton of dinks along with big fish in my local river.

Definitely. I was just floored that they gave you a hard time over that issue. Everyone that ships a product should protect themselves and the customer. I'm glad it worked out for you.

Agreed. Most topics on this site get way too far in the weeds. Pun intended. We're just bass fishing. It's not as scientific as bait manufacturers and their endorsers will have you believe.

That has to be damage from shipping. No one in their right mind would send that off looking like that.

I think the Moxi is great for "cross fishing". To me, it's sort of a hybrid of the classic twister grub and a ringworm. Having said that, I have not found that it is any more effective than the Pulse-R in my experience. It may hold up to punishment a little better than the tails of the Pulse-R, though. The Moxi is a little long for smallmouth where I fish them, so I chop the body down a little bit. In my local river, they generally shun most baits over 3".

I really like the Pulse-R and Moxi for river fish - smallies and walleye. I don't use them in my local lake because the dink largemouth rip the tails off so easily.