Kdizzle

A variety tubes and a corresponding box of tube jigs in a number of weights and hook sizes, plus a variety of soft plastics, weights and different size hooks for split shotting are what I have on me at all times. I also carry stuff for wacky rigging stick baits, and ned rigs. I'll occasionally bring my jerkbait box on the rare occasions I break it out. I also bring line cutters, pliers, and hemostats for removing hooks from fish. And a couple different line tests of fluorocarbon for re-tying leaders since I use braid for my braidline on all m spinning setups.

#4 Gamakatsu EWG hooks are my main split shotting hooks. Love them.

We've had non stop rain pretty much for the last three weeks or so. The rivers have been way up and moving fast so I haven't been able to get the kayak out. I got out today to fish off the bank but put up a big fat zero.

I like to use a split shot inserted into the tube with a 1/0 Gama EWG hook. Its great for finessing around cover. I usually use a #5 Split shot.

Largemouth 5.75lbs- 3 inch Pit Boss in Watermelon Orange Flake(same bait that caught the fish in my profile pic too) Smallmouth 3.25 lbs- Trd Craw on a Split Shot rig in Drews Craw color. Rainbow Trout 3.54lbs- Get Bit Baits 2.75 inch tube in Green Pumpkin Red Flake.

I tie my own hair and marabou. Its a fairly cheap hobby if you buy lots of cheap unpainted jig heads and paint them yourself like I do(I don't think its really cost effective to pour your own lead). The materials I use are easily available for cheap on Amazon, and I live about ten miles from a blue ribbon trout fishery so there are like 10 fly shops, with all the materials I need, within a 10 mile drive. 1/8th ounce jigs, black marabou, and a bit of flash gets bit all year. If you like spending a little more money than Keitech Tungsten ball heads are perfect for it.

Drop shotting has never worked for me. I've tried every bait I've seen recommended and ran the gambit from lightest to heaviest weights but nothings come of it. I've found that if I use Zman drop shot baits on a split shot rig I get the same water column coverage, and catch many more quality fish as well as just numbers in general. As a finesse oriented fisherman it kinda makes me feel incomplete since I can't get any success whatsoever on THE most popular finesse tactic in the sport, but I've pretty much abandoned it. I use my drop shot weights for texas rigging tubes now.

Ive always found that they both tend to excel in the same conditions, primarily along heavy grass lines(note not actually in grass) where bass create ambush points. I think the primary difference maker is water clarity. Clear water will prefer a swim jig and stained or murky water will prefer a bladed jig.

This guy gets it. I change it out with a 1/8 ounce Hayabusa baby shooting ball football jighead if I get around a lot of rocks. If Im just poppin it around in current I stick to the round head.

3" Berkley Powerbait Pit Boss in Watermelon Orange flake. 5.2 pound Largemouth, out of what pretty much amounts to a creek.

Levi's slim fit boot cut jeans of course

Shut your face.

Spro BBZ 1 Rat Size 30. Got it for 20 bucks. Haven't caught a d**n thing with it.

I thought this was gonna be a thread about the color baby bass never getting bit, and then I was gonna agree that yeah that color sucks lol. Then I was sad that it was about pet bass, but still wanted to share my opinion about that stupid bait color.

Zoom Swimming Super Fluke on a 3/0, 1/4 ounce belly weighted swimbait hook. Twas a lovely largey. I don't know how I actually got her in since she was just snagged by the skin on the outside of the lower jaw. Cray cray

Definitely not too small. I get better hookups when i wacky rig with an EWG, but I only use a #4 and #2 Gamakatsu ewg hook when I do it. I never lose fish. I buy the bulk packs

Berkley Vanish has always done the job for me as a leader line. Its good for one fishing trip, after which I cut it an tie a new one. Their 8 and 10 pound test versions are my go to leader material. Of course if I were gonna fill up an entire spool with flouro I'd go for a more expensive option probably, but I don't so there you go.

Soft plastics with no action besides what you do to them work well for me this time of year. The water temp are dropping and so are the metabolisms of nearly all the aquatic animals you'll find in most of the bodies of water you'd fish in as well, so you need to match that with the action of the baits you're throwing. I wouldn't throw any type of top water because that bite usually dies off in early fall anyway, and the fish probably won't have the energy this time of year to hit. Realistic looking craw baits, and creature baits that don't kick a lot during the retrieve are great right now, and are pretty much the only thing I'm throwing right now. Oh and Tubes, lovely Tubes.

Once you start using it, you won't wanna switch back to a straight line. I promise. You'll get better hooksets with less energy needed, pretty much just pulling straight up when you feel the tap of the fish taking your bait. Plus the added sensitivity of braid with a flouro leader will have you feeling more of those taps period.

Seriously though, as soon as you find a knot that gives you confidence, and you become competent at tying it effectively through sheer repetition, braid to a leader is the best option for pretty much all spinning applications. The only time I use a straight anything is usually a Flourocoat line for when I'm flipping with a spinning setup.

My opinion is that I wish they would swim up the Mississippi and end up in the Ozarks somehow. I'd like to tangle with one, but don't wanna have to go down south. Unless or course its proven that they can have an affect on Smallmouth Bass populations, and then I wish that they would all be killed with fire.

Seconded.

6'6" Fenwick Medium HMG with my 30 size Abu Revo X. 15 pound braid with 8 pound flouro leader. Strike King Fat Coffee Tube on a 1/8 ounce tube jg or on a Mojo rig. If I ever had a confidence setup, its that right there. I'd chase river smallies until the end, whatever that may be.

I've bought all of my nephews either Silver Max or Black Max light action spinning combos and they all three seem to be able to use them just fine. I don't thinks it particular nice to subject a kid to one of those spincast reels lol. I have so many bad memory's of them from when I was a child, and the disappointment in my grandfathers eyes when he had to fix one for me after I inevitably tore one of his up.

In my neck of the woods, structure like laydowns and stumps in somewhat deep pools always hold the most value in terms of size and quality of fish. I tend to texas rig Pit Boss's, Chigger Craws, and Strike King Coffee tubes and place a size 7 or 5 split shot anywhere from 6 to 12 inches up the line from the bait and cast into the structure, and reel in slowly while popping the bait every 10 seconds or so. It produces a ton of fish for me. Wacky rigged Zman Hula sticks and Yum dingers either weightless or on a weighted jig head always produce for me too in or around cover. Cover is the key for Smallmouth in rivers that aren't what you would call wide, but not creeks either. The fish are either huddled against the bank or inside some sort of cover or shaded area.