lo-fi-hi-fi

One of the cooler features is the ability to set the drag on each spool, for different lines on the 300/308/408 models.

He's talkin' about whooooooooooooo!!!!?

You mentioned a lake... so this might or might not be relevant. If you've got decent current in a stream, a UL rig can zing a near weightless popper fly out into the current, where you can let it drift (maybe not as naturally as the fly-fishing crowd likes, but naturally enough) down a ways, and then retrieve. A "casting bubble" will get you more distance, but it always seemed to me to just complicate what can be simple. Same goes for a 1-2 inch worm, basically a curly tail without the tail (or a micro-ned, if you want to think of it that way). The UL usually has enough snap to cast really light lures/bait like that, even without a jig head. If you want depth, a crappie jig head is in my experience more than enough. As others have said, sometimes light and tiny is what the bass want.

Heddon Flatfish, sibling to the Lazy Ike, sorta. Even if you go down to F2 size (about as big as an elbow macaroni) they're slayers of bass. I believe they're made by Yakima (?) nowadays, though my sense is that they're regarded as trout & pike lures. I could be wrong.

If only I was still in Norman. I'd gladly give them to you, along with the other "never gonna use" lures I've kept!?

Put new hooks on the bottom two, though I'll never actually use them.* Not sure what happened to the hooks on the Spook. It wasn't near the water. It was in a tree. Weird. *I can't be the only one who seems to find only the lures/baits that he doesn't actually need!

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Serenity (2019)

The tiny one, I believe it's called the "Skeeter" size, performs well with SMB. I usually have to land a few bluegills with it as well, but that's a 1st-world problem.

Maybe the issue here is weight vs. air resistance. The feathers and what-not act as a parachute when you try to cast. A jig with a micro-grub is a lot more aerodynamic. To get more than 10-20 ft (not yards), you're better off, in my view, with a casting bubble, or a very light bass topwater (e.g., Heddon torpedo) with the rear hook removed, which you then connect a leader & the popper fly to. Better pic maybe, which gives a sense of the scale. Not mine, but I'll vouch for the red/white combo's effectiveness with bluegills:

Another vote for the fly-fishing approach on spinning gear: You don't actually have to use a bubble/float, unless you really need distance. With a UL rod and 2-4lb line (or less if you want to go full Richard Gene), you can zing one of the "popper" style baits 10 ft or more. The bluegills don't just go for them: they attack them as though they're settling a grudge.

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