Finessegenics

There's no set rule. Double willow will work shallow, mid depth and deep. Same for indiana blades or colorado blades. It's just easier, for me, to fish a double willow deeper because the bait tends to rise less (especially when it has small blades). Don't overthink this, just order something affordable for you. Is this going to be your first time using artificials?

Like Bubba already mentioned, doesn’t really matter but I like double willows because the bait is less likely to rise when I’m fishing it fast. I’m usually fishing in a large river system so I’m throwing in pretty deep spots where keeping the bait closer to the bottom is the ticket sometimes.

Ive caught them on everything but I’m starting to thin out my spinnerbait collection and focus on 2 colors; white and chartreuse. There’s some days they’ll go absolutely nuts for chartreuse or a firetiger-ish pattern. I don’t think it’s a smallie specific thing, I just believe that especially for spinnerbaits, color doesn’t really matter.

No, big bass are caught on small baits all the time but you're not wrong either in thinking a bigger bait usually gets a bigger bite. If you're burning them, even most 1/2 oz spinnerbait will be at the surface in 3-4 FOW, depending on blade configuration. Go with a full sized bait and start off with a 1/4 oz if you're worried about snagging or dredging the bottom in skinny water. I'd have no "magic" bait to recommend in this case but I've recently started using War Eagle spinnerbaits and I really like them. Take a look at their products.

Mini King or anything of a similar size https://www.strikeking.com/en/shop/wire-baits/mk

Mines looking very similar so far, we have the same picks for buckets C, D & E. I considered Hartman for bucket C but Downey has been pretty good since he joined the elite series and had good finishes both times he fished Guntersville, though they were in different times of the year. He seems like a really good shallow water fisherman and I’m thinking that will play a bit.

I bought some crappie plastics for the first time today. Honestly, they were meant to be trailers on my keitech tungsten guard jigs. Those jigs are tiny, and it was basically impossible to find a traditional “bass” trailer for them. Anyways, I tried the crappie plastics today for some panfish. I tried some on a 1/16 oz jig and annihilated some rock bass on them. Even had some smallmouth by-catch which I released instantly (closed season here). The Bobby Garland Slab Slay’r in 2” and 3” were my favourite. Just swimming or jigging them, they looked great. I could see the tail quivering ever so slightly and it just looked perfect for a crappie, or anything that swims really, to just slurp up.

Don't use live bait to specifically target bass but leeches are my favorite. They get a lot of use under slip bobbers for walleye but I like using them when drifting, on the lightest jighead I can get away with. Of course, a lot of bass get caught that way too.

I had a 6'6 M/F and I liked it. I only fished it for a few months before I damaged it (my fault so I can't say anything about its durability). It felt a little too stiff for what I was looking for in a M rod but it balanced well with my old shimano nexave. I don't think it's a bad option for the price.

I used to consider the ned different from a regular old grub and jighead because when I first started using a "ned", it seemed to work that much better. I argued with people that the ned was a technique of its own. In hindsight though, the biggest difference between my idea of the ned and my grub n jig was the weight of the jighead. Before this ned rig craze, I would have scoffed at the idea of using a 1/16 oz jig in some of the waters I fish. I was using 1/8 at the lightest and most of the time had a 1/4 oz ball-head with some plastic tied on. I saw people advocating the TRD with a 1/16 head so I gave it a shot and it changed everything for me. I believe switching to 1/16 made all the difference. The bait looks so much more natural in the water especially when making the bait glide. Two reel cranks then let it fall back on bottom and sit for a few seconds, then repeat. I also caught a lot of fish last year ticking the bottom with a constant retrieve. Any plastic should work but I stuck with the Elaztech stuff. It's worth it if you're not losing too many to snags. I was also a big fan of mushroom style jigs but I made the switch to ballheads because they were more affordable. Obviously, they work just the same.

I also chose both Logan and Jaye. The rest of my team didn't do too great.

If they are indeed bass, I’d try dropping a baitfish imitating plastic like a fluke rigged on a heavy jighead through the school of bait. I’ve heard that when bass are feeding around bait balls, some of them will wait below for injured baitfish that were stunned by the chasing bass to fall towards bottom. Never put this theory to the test but I figured I’d suggest it anyways. As already mentioned, a heavy jigging spoon would be great as well. Looks like an injured baitfish and you can bounce it off bottom.

I have the front load model and I’m a big fan. Just note that you can easily fill the bag with a lot more stuff than you need, and lugging all that around when bank fishing could be tiresome and tedious. It’s a good bag for a co-angler/non-boater or when youre fishing from a smaller jon or tin boat. If you plan on carrying it around all day on your back while bank fishing then I’d suggest something a little lighter and more compact. Also, read my posts about it in the following threads. I go into a little more detail about how I set it up.

That’s really impressive!

Not for the new “Drain The Lake” mode. All the guys I selected for the lake fork event are at the bottom of the list scratched out.

Hard to say without knowing what you'll be doing as well as how deep you'll be fishing. An assortment of 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz would be ideal. So I guess if you had to choose one, 3/8 would be the way to go.

No idea how this’ll go

I forgot to mention that there is an Eyecon 6’6 M/F. They’re sold out on st Croix’s website but you may be able to find them elsewhere. The blank is made with SCII, like the Bass X and Premier but it has a much more comfortable reel seat than both, at least in my opinion. I owned a 6’6 ML/F Eyecon and I liked it.

Take a look at the Bass X or Mojo Bass 6’8 M/XF. A little longer and a different action than you’re looking for but you’ll like it. It’s an XF but has a soft tip.

I’d take the 3/0 without a doubt

First off, welcome to bassresource! If you are worried about the quality of a 2 piece rod then I don’t know what you’ll say about the 3 or 4 piece options. A good rod is a good rod regardless of whether it is a one piece or two piece. What’s your budget and how compact do you need this rod to be when travelling? That can help us narrow down some options for you

For the purposes you mentioned, mine would have to be the Hack Attack as well. If you add “dragging” to the equation then any jig with a round head would be my choice.

4 guys fishing tomorrow. 3 22 15 50 48 Hartman just missed out on the cut at 50th which kinda sucks. On the flip side, Yelas was 90th yesterday and scraped by today to fish tomorrow. For DTL, 7/8 fishing tomorrow with two in the top ten. Not a bad start there. I’m really enjoying that mode and I think it’s a little easier considering there’s no buckets.

98th percentile for DTL and place 161. Decent start there. Anyone know if they're giving out prizes for that too lol? My regular team on the other hand....yikes. I have Walters in first and that's about it. 3 of my other guys are between 40th-50th so they're in a decent position to fish Day 3. Still, the standings are so tight that I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 miss the cut.

X4 on the Chatterbait. I bought some two years ago and did not catch a thing on them all season. Similar situation last season up until September. I threw them a few times at my honey holes and actually had a smallie follow but didn’t get a commitment. Put them down for a while until I was having a tough day fishing for largemouth. I said why the heck not and tied one on. Within a few casts I got one, which turned out being my biggest lmb of the year. I was just using a straight retrieve along grass edges. I bought quite a few this off-season in different colors.