Luke Barnes

I like this idea. I have a bag full of bandit squarebill I was given and would be fun to experiment with them. I wouldnt be upset in the least if they get messed up.

Ive never actually fished a whopper plopper. I use the Berkley Choppo and have caught the second biggest bass of the year on it. Having good luck night fishing the matte black one. I like the smallest Choppo, I cant remember the size. Its not a 60 though.

I used split shot for drop shot for a long time until I bought an Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp bass kit that had drop shot weights in it. Also that's the most expensive hooks I buy is Lazer Sharp and I have no complaints. I dont but trebles at all except once to replace ones on a few lures I found. I do have one lure that the trebles are stupid dull, but I think that's a defect and not the hook brand.

I'll give you that. As far as lipless go that's my go to.

Ive yet to replace a hook except when I find crankbaits when I'm out fishing and the hooks are rusted. Never really felt like I needed to replace them and alot of my cranks came with either VMC or other decent quality hooks.

In a Largemouth lake I fish, sexy shad tore it up. But at a smallmouth/largemouth lake I fished rip rap with a red craw squarebill and tore em up on it. So to me it's dependant on location, species, water clarity. Would I have caught the same fish if i switched the colors? No idea, but I know smallies like rocks and craws like rocks so that's what drove that decision.

Granted ive yet to throw the pipsqueak, when I do it will be on my 7' MH casting setup.

I know SK sells a smaller version of the Poppin Perch called the pipsqueak. Its pretty small. I think they sell the walk the dog style Pad Perch in a pipsqueak size too.

I saw those at BPS and they werent what I thought they would be. They seem really small. But they work well for dragging the bottom? I like the ideas you all said. Yesterday I kind of had this happen. I was throwing a weightless fluke and tossed it out and let it sink. When I flipped the ball and started to feel I felt pressure on the line and sure enough had a bass. It was out in the middle of the pond too. So I think I'm going to try this on a VMC Rugby Head just to get it down and stay down.

Has anyone ever put a soft swimbait on a shakey head or even t rigged and bounced and pulled along the bottom to simulate a baitfish pecking for food on the bottom? I just thought it might be a cool idea.

So from all ive taken away from this I'm going armed with a weightless fluke, Jackhammer with Zako trailer, SK Pad Perch in Sexy Gill for topwater since its overcast and breezy, Zako on a weedless underspin, and a shakey head probably with a mini rage craw. That should cover everything from deep to shallow and mostly baitfish profiles. Storms are coming so hopefully the pressure drops and it turns into an amazing day!

The pond I'm going to hit today has a weed line around the entire bank so a square bill would be a weed magnet, but a lipless maybe out deep would be ok, but that defeats the shallow thing! Ive got a weedless underspin swimbait tied on that I'm hoping will do the trick.

I'm going to have to dip some of my Moon Juice Rage Craws in chartreuse and give that a try. I'll start deep and work shallow. I just got a foggy in Hot Sauce and I use a Falcon Lake Craw rage craw or rage menace as a trailer. That ought to do great if they are feeding on craws.

So bluegill imitating baits it sounds like is what I need to be using. Ive got a couple ideas for what to use. Swimbaits and chatterbaits but for bottom contact baits I'm not sure. I'll use craws and see how that does.

These arent tiny lakes. They are straight up ponds. I can see because of the turnover. I didnt think about that.

I mainly fish ponds, big and small. All public and pressured. Some more pressured than others. During the summer ive caught 9/10 bass close to the bank. Do they move deep when it starts to cool? Do they still key in on baitfish, whether its bluegill or minnows? I'm just trying to figure out what to throw and where.

I fished it some yesterday and loved it. Threw a jackhammer for the first time too and liked it alot. No fish but still. Got a Lews Speed Spool LFS to go with it and tje rod loaded up nicely and casted a 3/8 oz jackhammer amazing! I like it has a soft tip but a meaty backbone.

So a finesse baitcaster?

So I ended up going with a MH/F and thought about all you all have said. Son I decided to give Yo-Zuri Hybrid a try in hopes it has more stretch than straight fluoro but less than mono. Its my first time using it and it seems my new rod has a good soft tip but plenty of backbone when needed. So i think it will work out well. Now if only I can catch a fish using it.. .

So ive been a fan of Yo-Zuri Topknot and that's the only straight fluoro ive used. But today I decided on Yo-Zuri hybrid instead of going Sunline or Yo-Zuri straight flourocarbon. Kind of spontaneous actually. I was set on fluoro but when the moment arrived I went hybrid.

Another acronym. What's BFS?

Whatever works for you! I can definitely see how that would be a good tactic. Ive heard quite a few anglers who like getting it into grass then ripping it out.

Ok good to know. So Sniper sounds like the best bet for what I need and want.

I looked and there is even more than just those two in FC. I dont understand why I guess. Like fluoro Night, shooter, blah blah.

I got looking at JDM reels after finding out what it meant. What benefit do those ultra shallow spools have?