DitchPanda

I'm in the school of thought that finesse is more about presentation than lure size. Of course there are exceptions... Meaning a 12inch swim bait will never be finesse to me...likewise a TRD no matter what you do with it will never be power fishing. But in general finesse and power are based on presentation. For example a 3/8ths jig can be power if hopped or swam aggressively...but if your straight up dragging it polishing rocks to me that's finesse. Lipless is another good example...burned is power slowly hopped or wormed on bottom is finesse. Just my opinion.

That sunset craw is a cool color...the Cordell spot and the red eye both come in a royal red color which is very similar

Amen

So everybody knows alot of the typical go to red eye colors...chili craw, sexy shad, bluegill, orange belly craw, gold black back...but for you guys that throw red eyes alot do you have any odd or off the wall colors you really like?

I'm sorry about your loss...can't imagine. Sadness is one emotion that we all experience but also all deal with\process differently. I know you will never forget what happened to your son and I don't believe you should...I believe those memories no matter how painful serve a purpose...they help you remember and realize how important love is and how easy it is to take things for granted. What I do hope for you is that you always honor your sons memory but find a way to be able to cope with your grief while being thankful for the times you had. Obviously this is easier said than done. Story time for me: My girlfriend and I have been together since July of 2011 and have known each other for almost 15 years. Doesn't seem like a long time but when your both in your 30s that's almost half your life. So she has a twin sister with whom I've been friends with for the same amount of time. Her sister got pregnant in 2015 and everybody was excited at the prospect of a new grandbaby for her mom and also about the twins having a baby to pour all their love into. Both girls have worked in childcare since early 20s so to save they were excited is an understatement. Around Christmas of 2015 her sister started experiencing complications and in February she gave birth. The baby..Grayson..was several months premature and was also even more undeveloped because of the complications. Sadly the little guy wasn't long for this world...passing away hours after being born. It was devastating to everybody involved. My girlfriend was a wreck and because if her closeness with her twin it felt as if we had lost a child...the grief was almost unbearable. At the time I was working alot and I was on 12hr night shifts so my mind wasn't really right to begin with...so I didn't handle this well and it almost cost me my relationship. Her sister and her guy went thru similar relationship woes...she was so distraught that she held resentment against him and they separated for a short time. Over time everybody handled this how they had to and everyone's approach was unique to them. Out of this came one positive..everybody came together and now myself and her entire family have a much closer bond. My mom and sister have always loved Teri but now they treat her like a daughter and a sister. Nobody has forgot the heartaches and hardship and nobody ever will...but we are thankful for the things we still have and reverant of those that have gone before us. Sorry that was very long winded but I hope it was somewhat helpful. I pray you find the peace you need.

God I don't know why I never throw an inline spinner or small kastmaster spoon in cold water while targeting bass. We have a small set of ponds the south Dakota DNR stocks with trout every fall. My best two baits are kastmasters and inline spinners...can't even count how many bass I've caught while targeting trout.

Most of the guys around here are live baiters: jig n minnow, lindy rig or bottom bouncer with minnow, worm or leech. So outside of throwing a 3in twister and a size 5 shad rap I don't have alot of experience with artificials for walleye. That said I've caught them on a variety of baits while bass fishing...spinnerbait, cranks, jerk bait...those all make sense to me. Weirdest bait I've caught one on? Senko... Doesn't like like anything a walleye eats. To be fair it doesn't look like anything a bass eats really.

Perfect...this is the info I was looking for. I've caught them from shore until just before ice up but we usually have a little more water depth. With the drought this year my local is low..but this makes me think maybe that won't matter. Thanks man. I checked it out...some good stuff in there.

So ...lipless and spinner bait will work all the way til ice up? I know jerkbait and jig but I'm looking for other options. What water depth do you target?

Between me and my buddy we caught probably a dozen today and lost several more. All were on a ring worm looking thing with a forked fluke style tail...couldn't get much action on a twister. Got me thinking why not use a fluke on a lead head. Nice big easy meal.

I've searched and seen lots of stuff for ice out...but lets go the other way. For you guys living in ice country...what are you throwing the last few weeks before ice up? Also what areas do you find active bass that time of year? I ask cuz its unseasonably cold around me and is going to continue that way for a week or so...so I'm kinda treating this like late fall even if it turns around later

I may bring the fluke rod along tomorrow just to satisfy my curiosity

I didn't bass fish today but I hit a small local river...for sheer fun and numbers of fish it was awesome. Throwing soft plastics I caught carp, buffalo, red horse suckers , catfish, small mouth, sauger and walleye.

Anybody ever do this? Me and a buddy caught some walleye and sauger on a fluke tail bait today..he also told me that several he has cleaned had large baitfish in them. Got me thinking that a good old super fluke may work well.

I'm also not opposed to back reeling and have done it in the past. Now days I can afford better gear than I did in the past so I trust my drags to hold up and do what they should. I caught a carp close to 40lbs a few years ago on 6lb mono and let the drag do its thing. If its sufficient for a fish of that caliber it will hold up to any bass in gonna throw at it.

I'd say a weightless senko or trick worm is my most productive.

For anything I'd say a 2 inch white twister tail grub. I've had days when I've caught hundreds of fish in a day on them. For bass I'd say a spinnerbait or the past few years a swim jig. For big bass I'd say a jig.

I think color sometimes matters and sometimes it doesn't. In cleaner water especially when fishing a slow bottom oriented bait I think color matters. In most water clarities its more about profile than color. Dark colors show up in dark water...does it matter if its black, black and blue or junebug? Normally no. Never caught a bass on green pumpkin? Are you sure your fishing for bass? It may not be everybody's favorite but it is one you hear everybody touting...probably the most used color of soft plastic ever made. Regarding the lipless I believe that resembles a crawfish when they are hopped or yo yoed. Here's a question I have...you said you try to match forage colors. Shad colors for shad lakes...craw colors for craw lakes. Well my local lake is creek fed and often has a river run into it during high water. Because of this it has a good mix of gills, craws and shad...what do you do in that case?

Yes..yes it is. To answer the OP I'd say a 7ft medium heavy fast with 15lb copolymer. Either a spinner bait or a finesse flipping jig tied on.

Sounds good man..if i think of something in particular ill hit you up

I live in ice country as well and I never shut it down. I'm not a hunter but I'm a huge outdoor guy so I can't stand being inside all winter. I ice fish but I transition to targeting bluegill, crappie and perch. As soon as the ice is off ...usually march or early April..I'm back at it with a jerk bait and a lip less. Side note I caught a few bass last year in mid to late November..literally days before ice cover.

Yep I got some of the bill lowen ones from lure parts...just wanted to make sure I'm not missing something good somewhere else

So I decided to start putting together a few spinner baits so I can control the blade and swivel quality since very few companies are making what I'm after. I also ordered a few boss spinner bait heads and some bill lowen compact heads from lure parts online. Was curious for you guys that build spinnerbaits but don't pour your heads what brands are you using? Btw I went with worth spinnerbait swivels and hildebrandt blades...I've been making my own skirts for a few years now.

In the spring I throw full size 1/2 oz but in the fall I tend to prefer smaller baits. Kind of a combo of the bass being shallow at even lower temps and the shad being fairly small yet. Anybody else do this? I use mostly the spro aruku Jr, the small size red eye shad and the rapala ripping rap. Any other smaller baits I should be throwing?

Wind chill this morning was in the teens actual temp was around 28 I believe..to early for this crap