Manly Studson

I don’t think so, because my scale accurately weighed the SK 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz tungsten weights that I bought.

I purchased a small 1/8 oz spinner bait and a 1/4 oz lipless crank bait—both of them by SK. But the actual weights were .25 oz and .46 oz respectively. Anyone else notice that lures are heavier than listed?

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions. The tips about using grubs and jig heads while avoiding treble hooks are good ideas. I appreciate it.

Shimano Curado 71 is my favorite. It casts light lures well, making it ideal for stream smallmouth. Paired with the right rod it can cover some of the functions of a spinning reel.

I vote Lew’s LFS too. Small, easy to tune, and it looks good. I’m not sure why I don’t notice more Lew’s users. Lew’s has been pushing their low-end reels in Walmart. But the Speed Spool LFS is still a quality item that you can’t get there.

I’ve fished streams in March with success—lots of smallmouth and spotted bass. But lakes are different. I can’t get a bite, and even now in April I can’t get lake bass to bite. My new plan is to fish streams in late winter and fish lakes in May. This may help me get a jump on the season.

I can’t imagine. I moved from the south to Indiana. Although it isn’t nearly as cold as it is there, the move did shave two months off fishing season. But I have heard that the fishing in MN is excellent. The winter may be worth it.

Last weekend was a downer. I fished Hardy Lake, and I could see countless numbers of bass in shallow water, but they had lockjaw. Is the spawn in full swing?

I’m not sure if anyone can relate, but I’m more accurate with a spinning rod at close range and more accurate with a casting rod at long range. On lakes I use casting rods, in streams I use spinning gear. I agree. The sound of fish on (spinning) is better than the sound of a cast (casting).

I recently purchased a Curado 70 with a high gear ratio. The reel is great, but if you throw a crankbait or spinner bait, you better reel slowly or your lure will break the sound barrier. Very fast retrieve. A 5 or 6 is much easier to fish with these moving lures.

The SLX reel is a good choice. The SLX rod is average. I typically find that combos have better reels than rods. In my experience, a $100 reel paired with a $100 rod is a solid setup. For example, a Lew’s LFS paired with a St. Croix Triumph or an Abu Revo paired with a Fenwick HMG. Find some of these on sale and your closer to $150. But at the end of the day, if you’re throwing light lures, then another spinning setup sounds good.

My sons want to begin bass fishing. They’re a little tired of catching bluegill. But they’ll lose a lure or two every trip with errant casts. Got any suggestions? Let them use the cheap stuff? Only fish open water? I’m excited for them. Just trying to keep costs down. Feel free to recommend kid friendly lures.

This is helpful. Thanks.

This is good to hear. I purchased one and will fish it for the first time soon. It is the most expensive lure I own. Besides the R2S WP, Rapala is probably at the high end of my price range, but have you noticed better longevity with pricier lures?

I’ve read other forums where you’ve mentioned the Rage Tale Menace. How do you rig it? How do you fish it?

I’m tempted to dive into a discussion about brands, costs, and quality of their components, but may I do that here? Will the site let me talk freely about brands?

You’re right about “duds.” I grew tired of cheaper lures not working very well. As far as replacing hooks and split rings go, is this necessary because of rust or some other reason?

The bite is strong in southern IN. I caught smallmouth, spotted, and largemouth in one day on SK bitsy flips last weekend. A warm winter and early spring had the bass biting in late March. Glad the season is here!

I work in academia and no one is a fisherman. For me it is like living a double life. In some ways it adds variety to life, though coworkers look at me like I’m a country bumpkin, when they discover that I bass fish. Few believe that it’s what I do in my spare time.

Will do. Thanks for the advice. Smallmouth and spotted bass were hammering the bitsy tubes.

American Legacy Fishing has Whopper Ploppers on sale.

Took my boys creek fishing last weekend. We hiked to a location that isn’t accessible by boat unless you put in 10 miles away. All of us caught our first smallmouth bass ever. We used SK bitsy tubes rigged weed-less on a size 1 non-offset ewg hook. But even that hook was too large for the tube. First time using tubes and first time catching smallmouth bass. Loads of fun.