Reel

The ones that don't work

No

Using a DC reel helps a lot, specially with jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, lures that are large for their weight.

You have to transfer waypoints. They are not on the map card.

Line conditionner is excellent stuff to use when making knots... far better than spit.

I use them for walleyes mostly but have caugh some bass on them. I mostly hook them on the upward stroke. Try to let them fall on a controlled slack line. That means that you are lowering them down with the rod the last few feet, they are not free falling. That helps feel the bite sooner and reacting sooner, with a more direct line pull. Still, not the easiest bait to use.

I fish surface lures close to weeds but in open water Like A-Jay a popper- Shimano World Pop a walking bait - Heddon One- Knocker I fish a frog in slop.

I throw a weightless texas riggged senko with a baitcaster. Rigged that way, the shape is slim and it's easy to throw with precision. A wacky rig senko is more wind resistant and I get more distance and precision with a spinning rod.

All the above suggestions were good but if the main thing is senkos, a rod around 7 feet long, fast, with a medium to medium heavy action is a good choice. A really light reel in the 2500 series makes a good outfit. For line I would go a bit heavier like 15 pound braid with a 10 pound leader. I use the Curado series of rods from Shimano with a Miravel reel to do the same thing. Such a rod can be used for other spinning applications also .

At the beginning of the season, most of the smallmouth I catch are looking down at food. I fish in an environment that harbors both gobies and craws and these two scurry along the bottom and both are brownish so this is what works. The relation between largemouth and gobies is not so clear. It is something to look at. Most of the largemouth I catch are perch oriented I think, It's a early season, mid-season deal. I don't have a pre-spawn, spawn, etc season. Bass fishing is closed.

Closes on May 10th, so that doesn't give us a lot of time.

I use a Zodias 7 foot 3 Heavy to do that.

Curado BFS

Like it was said, use 10 to 15 pound braid of good quality + a leader if you want (small knot) Fill the spool tightly to about 1/16 of the edge of the spool. The spool should be full. Make sure the line is threaded in the right way - in the eyelets.

The Prop A is made of plastic so it doesn't float as high but is still a good lure. Getting a good hookset with the Bagley can be difficult because you often see the strike. I was very popular at a certain time up north for smallmouth. You would get so many strikes that it was worth loosing a few fish. And yes, post spawn is the time.

Survey the marina you launch the boat at ( or the shoreline) and look at water color and temperature, depth any bait fish or bass are at. Like WRB said : This is really, really, important. Something to do before anything else. It should have an impact on everything else you are going to do during the day.

In that order : Expride .... Zodias .... Curado

If you've used a Spin Tail before, you know what I mean. It's a very special surface lure that is manipulated with hard jerks that make the bait dive about a foot under water. Then, it floats back up at a 45 degree angle with the propeller on the tail spinning. It's hard to get a good hookset.

I have used Spin Tails a lot in the past " They are high floaters. When a bass strikes them, because they are wood, the rush of the fish makes them rise and you get a lot of skin hocking (hooks barely in on the side of the mouth). With the Spin Tail most of the strikes are when the bait rises with the tail spinning, making this even worse. The stock hooks are OK when sharpenend, but you can find better and sharper. To keep from losing fish I would fight the bass with the rod down. I think that's the best advice I can give you.

For swimbaits, I use the Shimano Bantam

Just rod or rod and reel ????

I think the fish have changed. At least the food bass eat has changed. When the gobies started to appear, where I fish, we saw an increase in size of fish every year. That goes for smallmouth, largemouth and other species. Where a 3 pounder was a good fish 20 years ago, it doesn't even raise an eyebrow now. Gobies are easy to eat and are numerous. This is also true in winter when picking were scarce for smallmouth.

Jigs, chatterbaits, cranks I use fluoro, topwater I use mono.

I'm not a big believer... I try things ! When scents came out I gave them a good try. Set up two identical rods with the same lure ( weight, lenght, color ) and tried one with scent and one without, for crappie. In the same spot, ten cast with one, ten cast with the other. I would say that scent improved catch by about 10 to 20%. Better results when water was cold. No improvement in size of fish. Is it worth it ? Applying scent takes time and you are not fishing during that time. I do it when fishing is tough.

Try a Tiny Child Rig - Works well in weeds