GetFishorDieTryin

If the Alberto knot is difficult for you to tie, try the Double Uni. Its simple, quick to tie and fairly small.

I think the most efficient way to fish the smaller sizes is on a ML XF. I would rather use casting gear, but any kind of stiff wind complicates things.

So youve been trying to wipe them out since the mid 70s?

Wow, you must have incredible endurance to catch all of those fish. I guess its a little different fishing with a net though.

You dont like the envy?

Im sure you catch of a bunch of them in the Amazon

The senko is the obvious one, but the bait they make that's really unique IMO is there swimbaits. They look like any other pogy style paddle tail but I haven't found another baits that fish like them. They have great action because of the soft plastic and the tail is oversized which makes them THUMP. They used to make them in 5" and they were awesome for stripers, but they discontinued them. They still make the 3.5 which are great 2 but the 5" was dynamite during the bunker run.

If you plan on fishing it fast use more weight then you would normally with a jig or shakey head. The heavier weight will help keep body contact. I really like the Biffle Bugs, you can keep the point of the hook in the rattle pocket so the point doesnt get beat up on rocks and helps with grass.

Tiny brushhog, 3" Dolive creature, Dolive craw, Reins fat rockvibe tiny paca chunk

For dead action I like a bunch of baits, depending on the size of the jig, fall rate and profile, I like the PB Jester, Reins Ring Craw, ACB Limit out Craw, TRD Hogz for small finesse jigs, Jackall Chunk Craw-the tails and this one is a real sleeper I never hear anything about but the Zoom Super Hog For a little bit of action the Riot Fuzzy Beaver/little fuzzy and Biffle Bug are at the top of my list, you can modify the BB a bunch of different ways. Lots of action baits are the usual Paca/Rage Craws/Chunks respectively, GrandeBass Mega Claw, when Im feeling rich I throw the Dolive Craw and Creatures.

As a kid I did really well on skitter pops on unseasonably warm Feb days, I got away from it as I got older. I was doing well mid Feb last year with a chatterbait. My buddy got a few here and there and with about 45 mins of light left he said I want to get a fish on a WP. His first fish matched my biggest and his second beat it by over a lb. What's old is made new again... sort of.

If I could take only 3 lures to the afterlife 1 would be a chatterbait and I caught my PB on a chatterbait in muddy water none the less, but the spinnerbait has outperformed the chatterbait in muddy water especially really cold muddy water.

Some fish are starting to get color, but the majority are still pretty bleached out so natural colors like Ayu or Tn Shad. For colors with flash I favor gold chrome with black back but its just my preference. For bold colors I like opaque white or sexy shad, a perch color and Ill use a red a little later when the fish start to prespawn but not yet. Ghost colors would be the last category, I dont use as much ghost colors for traps. JBs are a different story, a fish has up to 10 seconds to just stare at a JB on the pause this time of year, but a sinking trap is constantly moving. I think you should take a hard look at Ima's suspending lipless in ghost Ayu and foiled gill (hint, hint) They they work great in shallow water like ponds because they fall slower, but you can weight them to fall faster if you want to. The slow sink allows you to fish them like a CB, lipless or JB so there great for finding fish and or figuring out what mood theyre in. PM if you have anymore ?s

FC leader material is harder, less stretch and more resistant to abrasion then FC main line. You dont need leader material at all. If you want to go with FC, get a spool of 8 or 10 lb red label and it will last a long time. Connection knots are easy, look up Uni Uni connection (Double Uni) or crazy alberto and in no time you will be able to tie a good connection knot. Length of leader depends on your preference, could be anywhere from 18 inches to over 10 ft. You can use mono as leader if you want, the knots are a little stronger but it stretches and is much more visible to fish then the FC. Berkleys X9 or Power Pro V2 are both great. Try to get a bright color like hi viz yellow or hi viz green, that way if you dont feel the bite you can actually see it. As long as you dont reel in slack you shouldnt have problems with knots. I would also recommend manually flipping your bail instead of using the auto trip, that will reduce knots and its much easier on the reel.

The lipless bite is on now, Im in Salem county and I beat em down today on lipless, JBs and small keitechs. Water had a hard stain and lots of debris from the melt, temp was 36-39. Your a few hours north of me and as long as you can find open water you should be able to find something going on.

Zoom is one of the only companies I use often that calls it Rootbeer. Its not as popular as Watermelon or GP, but its one of my favs. As a kid I remember GP being like a goose poop green almost. Now its just more brown, and the watermelon has more green in it.

Some baits like square bills are designed to come through cover, the width and angle of the bait while its moving keeps the hooks from contacting the cover. If you slow down the angle becomes less steep and you are more likely to snag. I dislike trebles for the damage they do to the fish. Single replacement hooks are a good option, they hold better, are more snag resistant and dont cause nearly as much damage. It can be a pain finding the right size you need, but once you have a few different sizes you get a better idea of the size hook you need for a particular sized bait.

You pickup grass and debris from the bottom at the end of the retrieve even in the winter. The window where the JB crushes em in the spring can be small in ponds and shallow lakes. Try to have everything together ASAP,

That depends on the treble and what your snagged in. 15lb mono isnt going to let a JB get very deep anyway. Thats the shallowest running JB Ive ever used and it works really well for me in clear water.

JBs can be a pain to fish in ponds or shallow lakes, they can get grassed up easy especially at the end of the cast. Its not hard to snag one up and losing a 10 or 15$ bait sucks, so I hesitate to throw a JB in water I'm not familiar with. Floating or slow floating bait will help reduce snags and if you think your in a spot where you may snag the bait just wait until it floats to the top before you retrieve it. If your looking to get into some of the higher end baits the first company I would suggest would be Duo. The Rozante 77 SP can get down about 3ft, but you can fish it comfortably in a little over 2ft depending on casting distance. They arent very heavy 8.5gs I think, but the weight transfer allows you to bomb them. The stock hooks are as sticky as the G finesse trebles, but they are ligher wire so set your drag accordingly.

I used 12lb invizx all through the fall and early winter when the JB bite was really on and it did really well. If I just threw JBs on that outfit I would go to 10lb and just be on the ball checking the line for nicks or abrasions.

Shallow Shad Rap MB Flap Slap Duo Kabuki CR 50 SSR Lunkerhunt Impact Flat-one of the only inexpensive flat sided cranks that consistently produce for me, just change out the hooks. Ima suspending lipless crank

Surprised these dont get mentioned more often. Overall a really hard crank to beat.

Mend It is necessity for me with the amount of Keitechs I throw. Its not like a glue in an adhesive sense. It kind breaks down the outside layer of the plastic to the point where it bonds back together. If you add Mend It to a thin appendage like a craw antenna or a slender ribbon tail it can eat right through it. If you use a really small amount it may work on hollow bodies. In the case that it doesn't, you will still be able to use it on other plastics.

Don't get too wrapped up in custom colors. Don't get me wrong, there is a time and place for everything, but some my most productive baits look like they have been through a belt sander.