Cdn Angler

Size/species of fish where I'm fishing. + Water Temperature + Looking for fish vs. confident I know where at least some fish are + Tied to above: if perch or bluegill are the only thing nipping at my bait (or small bass) I may upsize to discourage them + Season and perceived mood of fish

Yes and no. For something like keitechs I because they are soft and kink easily. They then don't work right if the tail is bent. I bought a bunch of 13 fishing craws on discount and the clamshells are enormous. I took them out as I don't think the claws would get super bent out of shape.

Tubes are one of the only plastic categories where I really don't care. Any tube I've found has worked just fine so I buy what's on sale or is made locally. I don't feel like I'm missing out. Only thing to decide for me is size/colour. That said I have a large value bag of pour boys and have used those for awhile. Strike King Coffee tubes, Keitech Salty Core, Pour Boys, Berkley, Netbait, Set the Hook. All fine.

It's a big category as wakebaits can be tiny like a Manns or gigantic. Or fished super fast or slow as molasses. Loud/Quiet. For me the following situations: -prespawn/spawn fished fast. SPEEDWAKE is my bait of choice. - Clear water fished slow for SMB when extremely hot (Ima Roumba) - Dusk in summer (Spro Rat) - Covering water, particularly large flats (Speedwake, Manns, TH Kustoms etc.) In my mind they better imitate fleeing baitfish, when the water is calm, compared to a loud walking bait or other topwater.

If you are fishing fairly clear water a 3 to 5 inch swimbait usually works for me this time of year. Usually on a 1/4 jighead depending on depth I'm targeting.

I fish out of a kayak and Plano Edge flex box has been the best I've used to date for hard baits. Nothing has broken, you can customize the sizes, the dividers sit flush and it's waterproof. I use a small plano edge for terminal tackle, mostly with hooks/weights in tiny containers I bought at non-fishing hobbyist stores/BKK small plastic compartments. For soft plastics I am forever looking for an optimal solution. I've got a new idea for this year, but haven't tested it yet.

Xzone Swammer is durable, good on swim jig, many sizes. Not too bulky.

1. 5 inch Senko 2. Ned Rig 3. bladed jig 4. 110 Jerkbait (I like Jacakall Rerange) 5. 3.8 inch Keitech swimbait 6. 3.8 inch Keitech Crazy Flapper (Creature Bait) 7. 1/2 Oz Spinnerbait, White blades 8. 128 Walking Bait (R2S Rover) 9. 75 Whopper Plopper 10. Jig (Keitech Casting Jig, 3/8)

LMB - 6.2 - Duo Realis Rozante - tiny jerk bait SMB - 4.3 (tie) Whopper Plopper 110 White & Rapala J-11 perch

Similar idea to you SwampGal. I fish topwater a lot and if I am fishing a floating topwater and I know I'm going to be pausing to do something in my kayak (tieing something on, looking at my phone etc.) then I cast and kill the bait, then do whatever. I've had bass come and nail a non moving topwater that's been there for a long time (10 to 30 seconds) so I figure it's worth a try. Better to have a lure "in play" while I'm not then the opposite. Another one that I don't do any more. I fish some waters that get nearly zero pressure and bass will sometimes follow me around under my boat, I assume for shade. I've caught a few throwing a Worm at them, but now I don't target these fish. It didn't exactly feel like an accomplishment to get them to bite.

Can't go wrong with a Cotton Cordell Big O in 77 size. It's cheap (5-6$), it looks cheap, and the hardware is not great (bait itself is reasonably durable though), but that little dude just gets bit by anything that swims.

I'm in Canada and spring is mostly out of season for the spawn, but in general I've found red to be not terribly productive here. Mostly fairly clear water that I fish. The only red bait I've had luck on is a red Bill Lewis chrome rattletrap.

I fish topwater A LOT for SMB and LMB. This is my general thought process: Walking Baits (large) - if there's any chop or if I feel like bass are aggressive, particularlyif busting bait. Open water mainly. Usually River2Sea Rover 128. Great in low light. Walking Baits (small) - calmer water, clearer water/sunny, smaller bait, less aggressive fish. Open water mainly. I mostly use an Ima Skimmer or 98 Rover. I think the profile is more attractive in some lakes as long/skinny (I'm in Canada). Whopper Plopper - Anywhere with minimal pressure this is often first up. I like the larger sizes (130) if there is a decent chop, on any lake. Great for rivers for paralleling the bank or around cover, usually the 75 size. This has IMO the most drawing power of any topwater if fish aren't conditioned to it, so I often use it on huge oligotrophic lakes around here to cover water, mainly if fishing pressure isn't too high. Popper - Summer when very hot, targeting cover. Mainly use PopMax if I want bigger or Ima Finesse if I want smaller. The Ima I've had a lot of luck on when fish are being finicky (i.e. I see fish, but can't elicit a strike). If I feel like fish are eating bugs or tiny minnows the Ima is my go to. Prop Baits - Mainly River2Sea Lane Changer. Rip rip pause. This is new as of last year and I've had great luck when it is slick calm. Works well fished faster in Open water or target fishing. Profile is perfect for SMB around here IMO. Jackal Pompadour Jr. - Night Fishing Spro Rat - Low Light Conditions Wake baits: Speedwake (6th Sense) - this is my favourite bait for covering water as it can be fished extremely fast, but works well paused or slow also. Fish it when I know there are bigger fish. Bigger lure so works well with moderate chop. Very good in Spring. IMA Roumba - Clear and calm water, especially around rock. Works on active or lethargic fish so a good option if sunny mid-day, even in clear water. Mainly for SMB and covering water. Pike seem to love this bait, for better/worse. I find I have to fish this on braid to get it to work optimally. Small wakebaits that look more like reg crankbaits - moving water and reeled upstream. Buzzbait - Rarely use, haven't had good results. When I do it's usually an Evilution Grass Burner. I like being able to pause a topwater. Frog - Only if I absolutely have to and even then I'd rather throw a toad or light Texas rig if I can. Pads are the main place I fish a frog and fish seem to absolutely suck at actually hitting the target. That's my general thought process. I've seen some very tiny bug like topwaters that I'm kind of curious to try, but they always look flimsy/expensive and I don't know what I'd throw them on. In terms of colour I'm 70% white, 20% ghost/silvers (mainly very clear water in sun when calm) 10% green or bone. Around here anything mostly white seems to work in nearly all situations.

Smaller lakes follow the same general annual patterns as the bass still have to spawn, it's cold in winter etc. I fish a lot of smallish natural lakes amd some of the main differences I've noticed are: Establishing a "pattern" is often less straightforward. Let's say a bunch of bass are on some boulders in 15 feet of water. There might not be another place on the lake like that. It tells you something, but it's less clear cut. Or you might find 1-2 good docks. Whereas on big water I can zoom a mile to similar location a few times over. Similar to above, less variability, like very dirty water vs. clear. It's more likely the entire lake is consistent. Same for water temps (mostly). The other thing I do notice on many smaller bodies of water is that the whole lake will often seem to be feeding at the same time (or not). Whereas on bigger water I might see more random blow ups and fewer all out frenzys. So they run a bit more hot/cold.

Normal. It only goes down to about 3-4 feet I'd say.

AJ interesting that the profile of most your baits is so similar. Makes sense if you are targeting mainly SMB. I'm going to buy your a-rig setup as I suck with my current one. My winners for this year, measured by numbers/big fish: - 6th Sense Speed Wake - I am sold on this bait. You can fish it effectively at any speed and it gets bit year round. I caught two 4 lb bass on this bait in late June. - On Point Lures 4x4 - Spinnerbait with 4 blades, almost like a mini a-rig. This works amazingly well on active fish at the top of the water column, but you can fish anywhere in the water column. Good for SMB, LMB, Pike. Seems to excel in the fall. Got my biggest pike of the year on it. - Hybrid Hunter Jr. It is rare that a shallow crankbait is the deal around here, but I had one day when I thought it made sense and I caught probably 20 fish on the HH, including one of my biggest LMB (5ish). - River2Sea Lane Changer - Topwater Prop Bait. This thing killed it in the summer for SMB in clearwater situations. I was pleasantly surprised. - 2.5 Yamatunuki - White. I fished this on a tiny ned head in deeper water (for me so like 10-15 feet) and it caught a ton of fish and big fish. It seemed to do better than a ned rig in terms of quality of fish. - Zoom speed worm and local Chatterbait/Mini Max. Losers - Whopper Plopper. Just doesn't work like it used to around here. - Big worms/bigger creature baits. Maybe the conditions weren't right, but I feel like I did far poorer this year.

1. Texas Rig Creature Bait - Versatile and I can use a different weight depending on where I want to fish in the water column. Likely 3.6 Keitech crazy flapper. 2. Senko 3. Bladed Jig 4. 4 inch swimbait 5. Topwater, probably a popper that can be walked (Popmax or Ima Finesse Popper) I'm fairly certain one of those will always catch a bass on any lake I fish.

The only thing I can think of that I do that I never hear about is when fishing rivers with heavy to medium current, usually bigger rivers in shallow areas. I'll fish a small shallow crankbait, cast it and let the current take it with my spool open, basically until it is close to unspooling a 4000 series spinning rod. It's probably a couple minutes watching my crank float away. Then flip the bale over and reel it in against the current extremely slowly. I can cover what feels like hundreds of meters. This is usually a wading or shore thing, but I've done it out of my kayak too when I don't want to go down a set of rapids. There's actually one other "pattern" that I haven't heard of, which has happened to me multiple times. I've encountered areas where the fish will literally follow my kayak around like it's a floating dock, usually LMB in summer in clear water. Toss a senko at them and boom, fish on. They then seem to learn their lesson and I don't target them as it isn't exactly sporting. But I can't think of anyone else saying they've caught fish like that on multiple occasions. Third one, kind of stupid. If I know I'm going to be stopping to use my phone or to go rifling through some tackle, and I'm fishing a topwater, I'll usually make a commotion and then kill it on the surface while I do whatever. I've had enough scenarios where a SMB will explode after 30s to 2 mins of a bait just sitting there to think it just might work. It rarely works, but I keep trying.

The white blades/skirt combo has been my go to. Can't catch a cold on the chartreuse/yellow!

I've used River2Sea Bling for probably 7 years now and they are great around cover (grass, wood) and d**n near indestructible. I've caught a lot of pike, bowfin, muskie, and they are still going strong. Never had any component break in any way.

I'd also say going the Facebook Marketplace/Craiglist route is a good one, but it really depends on where you live. There might be a lot of fishermen, there might not be. From what I've seen it is hard to get people to buy HUGE lots of lures unless they are underpriced by a lot as the market is basically a reseller looking to make their own profit. The best way to maximize price with minimal hassle is to group them into lots based on type of lure, assuming your collection isn't completely all over the plac.e

This site is my go to for trying to find any info on what line to use for what. I can figure out baits in the water (usually), but line is something I don't want to get wrong. The wrong line is a pain in the butt and waste of money. Can render an entire setup inoperable on the water and I don't need that.

The Shadow Rap Shad has always gotten bites for me. The Duo Realis Rozante is also a good small jerkbait, but I find it only dives like 2 feet, versus about 4 feet for the SRS, which also comes in a slow sink if you want to get it deeper. The Rapala bait doesn't look like anything special, but it gets bit. I think it must be the profile/size, which is bigger than a tiny minnow, but not as intimidating as a Vision 110. And very slender. It's also fairly cheap.

I've literally never talked to anyone about fishing in my neck of the woods. I have zero friends that fish and I don't often see people at the ramp either.