DitchPanda

Not gonna be good I'm afraid. My local watershed is about as low as I've seen it so I'm praying for late winter snow and early spring rain.

The struggle is reel(see what I did?). I used to ice fish to get me thru and kinda scratch the itch\wet the appetite but after 20 years that don't cut it anymore. all that stuff you mentioned does help for sure but when we get way into winter...like we are now..I get a little more antsy and twitchy. The closer it gets the worse it seems..the anticipation gets the best of me.

We've had a few cold snaps but overall its been very mild. Today was 55..the next 10 days we have a day that only gets to 25...the other 9 days get up into the high 30s to high 40s maybe touching 50 again. Also we are bone dry here...have had very little snow...usually average around 35 inches a winter bet weve had less than 12 so far this winter.

The winter that is. Haven't been fishing in months...yeah I could go ice fishing but that's just not the same. On the bright side we are having a very mild winter..ever milder than last year. We had early ice out in 21..somewhere in the first week in March. If that holds true again this year I should have open water in about 25ish days. Fingers and toes all crossed.

Thumbs up

I don't mind a little craziness...unleash the kraken!

I've never tried em

It used to really grind my gears...now days not so much. In fact most days I couldn't care less. That said I'm a much better angler now than I was back when it ticked me off so it doesn't happen often. Usually in the open water extremes...like the week or two before ice up then right after ice out..outside of those times I almost always catch something.

True you can swim any type of jig. Go find a nice fishy looking weed clump and swim a 3/4oz football jig thru it..that's a fun experiment for you.

Yeah he ain't that bad..but not far off. Got on a popper bite one morning this past summer..think I caught 4 or 5 in like 10 minutes. He was throwing in the same area with the exact same bait..watching me work it then trying to copy it. Couldn't buy a bite. The shad went away and the top water bite stopped so I picked up a Ned and kept catching one here and there...he never put the popper down even tho I told him to. After an hour without a bite and me catching a couple more largemouth and a few white bass he finally got a swipe on the popper but she didn't get the bait. I threw in there with my Ned and I think it sank a foot..thump..nice 3lber. Thanks for calling her up for me buddy.

Not sure why I didn't think of it before but I have a bunch of booyah baby boo jigs..while not really marketed as a swim jig it has a bullet shaped head, a light wire hook and a compact build. Don't know why that wouldn't do what I want. Throw a 4" or 5" grub on the back..should work.

What time is it? Its peanut butter jelly time!

This...is...epic. Fantastic stuff my friend.

Yep I throw alot of jerkbaits and lipless that time of year..just looking for another option. Like I said in my post I'd normally throw a chatter or spinner but I have more confidence in that in water with some color to it. I like the subtle action of a swim jig in cleaner water. oh it definitely is..just want other options. Some years the weather can get abnormally sunny and warm here right after ice out...most years I'd throw a lipless or spinner/chatter...just looking at other options.

Are these a thing? I normally throw a spinner bait or chatter bait after ice out but my water has been abnormally clear the last year from lack of rain and runoff...and from all indications it will likely be that way again this spring. Anybody throwing a finesse swim jig in cold water? What jigs? Trailers?

Fisherman factory outlet has the supreme xt 30 and 40 size on sale for $88.88.

Holy crap..you find a good sale on the frittsides? That's a pile

Good choice

Rising..hands down..no comparison

Got a buddy that couldn't catch a single one if he had 50 fish in his bathtub

You suck..I don't even have that

For swim jigs I like a thin skirt so I do a finesse cut...cut all the inside strands off. For a full size arkie or brush jig I do very little trimming. For a finesse ball I do the lion manes cut. For a finesse flip I trim it right under the hook.

I like BASS over MLF hands down..part of it is nostalgia but mostly I like the 5 biggest fish limit format better. That said I still think MLF is worthwhile to watch.

I've heard that the texture is similar to shrimp..I've always thought about trying one but haven't got the guts yet to do it

Gerber folder, needle nose, mini bolt cutters ( actually used them last year twice)