softwateronly

Not catching a lot, but there's been some quality. Here's a few little bait/big fish. scott

@NeroXyn I'm shaking jighead minnows on BFS and M baitcasting with the tip down and slightly to the side and choppy on the reel. Took awhile for my body to get the cadence right, but it seems like I'm mostly reeling slack and the hits move it forward and roll it. Doing it this way does limit the speeds I can achieve with consistent roll, (slow) but I often put a quick turn or two in there in case I'm being followed. I often get strikes on the change of pace. I don't have electronics outside of a flasher, so this is fished in all the places I would fish other moving baits, mid column and just off the bottom. I think a small clip or loop knot is essential. Getting the plastic and jighead weight match is crucial and it takes playing around when I try a new to me minnow. scott

This time of year mornings on my water are a great time to find the open water shad chasers, maybe you can look to target them if your water has em. scott

EDIT: I missed a bunch of context that you already posted above and realize my comment isn't all that appropriate anymore. I fish out of an aluminum canoe November thru March when the bass boat is away for the sporadic ice. Wind is always a problem, but I grabbed a used transom mounted trolling motor to take some paddling away. Great decision for me personally, opened up a lot more weather and water I was willing to fish. Battery, charger, and motor should be under $450 total new, and used options seem possible. Getting the battery into and out of the boat is definitely worth considering as a drawback unless a Lithium chemistry, but then cost comes in. Something like this... scott

I have and fish lots of 7'6-7'9 rods, but really prefer 6'6-7'2 rods for working jigs and worms. 6'11 poison adrena M+/F 6'6 mc days360 MH/F 7'2 steez ags H/F scott

I've had this rod for almost a year now, and have been very happy with it and consider it on the level of loomis conquest sensitivity, MC Day's 360 6'6 MH/F. I strictly use it for bottom contact currently. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/product_info/language/en/products_id/74032/cPath/38_4055_170_7555/rod/majorcraft-days-360-d360c-66mh-shipping-is-required.html The MC Day's 360 6'10M/RF is a very similar action to the mbr and has good sensitivity. I throw a little bit of everything on this one, super versatile and one of my favorite sticks. https://www.plat.co.jp/shop/catalog/product_info/language/en/products_id/74031/cPath/38_4055_170_7555/rod/majorcraft-days-360-d360c-610m-shipping-is-required.html I've always been interested in MB p5 blade but unsure if it can deliver on lower than the low end of the weight rating. I bought both the Days 360 from shimreels.com with their always 10% off and free shipping, but they're currently out of stock there. scott

Schoolies are difficult, but my water is full of them chasing shad on large 25' flats from late July till ice in. I agree with all of the above advice, but want to second or third the metal baits and spy bait categories. Hopkins, little cleo, other jigging spoons, tailspinners, MB Makippa, and lots of Little Jack small metal jigs. I can spool my medium rods with these 7-20g little metal baits, and definitely pick off decent fish. scott

@papajoe222 Hard baits are not my thing, but Duo's spybait alpha has put LM, SM, and crappie in the boat this year. scott

Personally, I don't like a solid tip for jerkbaits. A crisper tip allows me to get sharper starts and stops which I think makes a jerkbait shine. Solid tips have been good to me for dragging and shaking jighead minnows. scott

https://www.tackletour.com/reviewarkbradtharpbhittay.html scott

The 3/0 will work, the 5/0 will be right on the edge at best. Bass short strike much less frequently than fisherman talk about it. They use a giant vacuum/crusher for a feeding strategy, they don't nibble, taste, and tear things. scott

What's wrong with using the 3/0? Do you have a pic of it rigged? I'm sure the very experienced here can give a best guess if there's enough room for a 5/0. scott

Grabbed a Used Conquest from them a few years ago, looked brand new to me w/ shrink wrap and pristine cork. I trust their ratings. scott

If the hook doesn’t go past the seam in the gambler the action should be fine. You can screw a little less into the nose so the hook point is further up the bait. I have lots of gamblers but not in 4.25”. Sorry can’t test it out for you. scott

I'm not around a lot of timber, but with what I know I agree with @gulfcaptain. Crappie and bream colored swimjigs with paddle tail trailers are a super successful constant for me and spinnerbaits do great getting through wood. Your water clarity sounds like either will be a good option and preference for one over the other could go back and forth. Check your line frequently for knicks and good luck! scott

I would slightly modify my hookset by continuously reeling through my sweep set and possibly consider changing line to braid to leader. scott

@MIbassyaker nothing brings people together like a gator in the North. Chicago needed a florida man to get theirs. https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/07/19/5-years-ago-chance-the-snapper-was-rescued-from-a-humboldt-park-lagoon-now-hes-thriving/ scott

I feel like a jig, swim jig, worm, spinnerbait, and frog can do everything for me on my water. But there's been many situations where I have found a better tool and most of it has to do when bass are relating to bait, ignoring cover and structure, and or I need a profile change that is hard to accommodate. Jerkbaits, small salt metal jigs, flutter spoons, tailspinners, jigging spoons, preacher jigs, spybaits, poop baits, flukes, and jighead minnows all have a place for me now and don't expect to ever be good enough with the mainstays to give these up. scott

I should have phrased all of that better, appreciate you taking the generous intepretation. Definitely agree with you on rod power, out of my biggest northern pike and brown trout, more than half were on a 7' ML avid and some screamin drag. For catch and release, I prefer not to spend more than a couple minutes before landing them if I have the choice, so I tend to stop around the ML designation even with BFS. scott

Scroungers need to move faster to get the roll. Shaking a jighead minnow is more of a clueless looking baitfish slowly cruising. Scottsboro finesse soft bill sniper head, 3/8 & 1/2oz, are my goto's. I feel like I can work 5-15' deep most effectively. These do make a good one two punch though and love 2 tone colors to highlight the rolling. I stroll on baitcasting, and it's been effective. scott

I have three combos under 10oz that are loads of fun to fish, but usually balance is most important for me. scott

Are you saying @DaveT63 hasn't caught a 6lb bass? on spinning gear? Or a misinterpretation of he caught hundreds of bass on M spinning gear, and most of his 6lb+ fish have come on M spinning gear? scott

I've been making it work with casting gear and now love it, catching loads of fish this year. Figured out a rod tip down and to the side with a choppy reel cadence that seems to hold a counted down depth. No FFS to verify though, but lots of open water bass. All sorts of weights and baits, none of them respond the same and a .5g difference in head weight can totally change the action, I have to test every new combo near the boat to get the rhythm. The only thing I'm certain about is a small clip or loop knot makes rolling much easier. 7'3 ML/F Abu Garcia Kurodai (BFS w/ stinger tip) 6'10 M/RF MC Days 360 7'8 M/RF MC Black Porgy scott

I'm not thinking about buying it, but I enjoy hearing others opinions of interesting rods from companies I like. scott