Black Hawk Basser

Probably when I came upon a meth head campsite at the river. ?

To me, those conditions during an Iowa spring garner increased bass activity in the shallows, with the sun contributing to the warming up of south-facing shorelines. I'm not afraid to throw moving baits in those areas, as I believe the bass will generally be active. Spinnerbait or a square bill would be the first choices coming to mind.

Drop shot

I'vee used 832 for years and love it. I have found PP to cause more wind knots. I'm pretty impressed with the Kastking braid. It's super affordable and haven't had any issues so far.

Various Max Scent baits and the ZMan Pop Shad thing.

Hey man, I'm in your neck of the woods. I went out yesterday in the frigid temps and FWIW, I did pretty well with a shad rap. I also got one on a ZMan TRD and one on a small jerk bait. I was just sort of drifting around on my kayak in 8-10 FOW in a basin area.

It's really hard to tell. The bass at my home lake definitely fight harder pound for pound than in the various ponds and pits around here. They are extremely toady, muscular fish. My best bass last year barely slurped up a frog from the surface and swam right at me. I had no idea it was a 21" fish.

My weakness has to be bringing too much stuff. Also, I tend to convince myself that a day will either be good or bad before I even try, which leads me to either disappointment when I do go, or I don't go at all because I think it will be a fruitless effort. I need to just get out and fish!

We are probably all "outthinking the room" when it comes to lure color choices. There are 0 rules.

Nice slabber on a #6 X Rap. 34° wind chill today! Spring has not yet sprung here.

Powerbait Chigger Craw or about any version of Zoom chunks. I use regular chunks when it's colder and go to the swimming or ultra vibe chunks when it's warmer.

I've been hesitant to grab a 110 because larger jerks just don't seem to get bit much for me. This one might get the OK next time I make a tackle order.

You won't be disappointed with the Pulse-R, or their Moxi which has more of a grub tail. Walleye guys swear by them around here and they just happen to catch everything else too.

I can't not vote for a jig since it's so universally effective, but I didn't catch on to them for years. However, throughout my life I have had the hardest time putting down the spinner bait rod so I guess that is my ultimate favorite.

Bass don't perceive color the way we do anyway, soooo...full send on the sapphire chunk! For what it's worth, one of my biggest jig bass was on a black/blue jig with a Zoom sapphire blue chunk.

Check out the B Fish'n Pulse-R, 2.45". The tail kicks even at an extremely slow pace. It puts most baits of this type to shame. The ribs may have something to do with it. I like Sassafras, purple/chartreuse tail and Stewart's Pro Blue. I rig them on a 1/8 to 3/8 ball head when current is higher and step down to lighter mushroom heads in the summer/fall low-water period.

I generally don't resort to panfish when bass aren't biting. I usually just keep trying to grind it out for the bass, hoping I'll learn something in the process. If I have the time, I'll leave wherever I am and head for the river and toss a jig/plastic or a crank since about everything in there will take a swipe at those. Addendum: I have been known to pull out the fish whistle from time to time.

I do quite often from July-September here in my local river. I wear whatever old athletic shoes I have at the time, and have a couple pairs of pants with zip-on/off bottom parts to turn them into shorts. I wear them as pants when I need to walk near nettles, which are thick around the river.

A sleeper is the B Fish'n Pulse-R. They are fragile but they work for every species that swims around here. It's my favorite river bait. I love(d) the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig, but they don't make the Havoc baits anymore. There is a now a grass pig in the Powerbait lineup, I believe.

I really like buzz toads over hollow frogs, but you often have to hammer it home pretty hard to get a good hook set. Still not so much as you do with a frog, though.

Sit in the yak, stand in the boat. If I feel like I really need to slow it down with a jig or T-rig, I will sit.

In my favorite pond, if I can get away with it, I'm throwing a jig. I only make the transition to plastics when emergent vegetation gets out of hand.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order: Bomber Square A (1 5/8") Rapala X Rap 6 B Fish'n Pulse-R and Moxi 3" tube on a insert jig head or Ned head Z Man TRD

It seems like the crappie bite loosely coincides with lilacs blooming here in Iowa. I know that a couple weeks after that, bass ought to be snapping at crankbaits and other fast-moving stuff.

I have had so many great days with a black and red double Colorado spinner bait. I can't help but "fish memories" year after year with that thing. I've gone through at least 4 in the last 6 years. I just keep going back to it.