softwateronly

My super limited opportunities arriving to a new lake in a new state have taught me that I need time there to figure things out. Personally, I think a week at each is kinda perfect, those are both big water in my mind and time on each gives you an opportunity to capitalize on any short term weather advantages/changes. Heck, I'd probably just camp out on Dworshak for the whole thing because there's not many places to go big baitin' for big smallies. scott

I had my best smallmouth year ever, mostly from shore on Lake Michigan, but did nab one 5lber on my small inland lake. I also finally grabbed a scale in late fall, so some of my "weights" are guesstimates and I promise to only have 2 answers next year. I caught 20"+ sm bass on the following; glf juvy craw in motor oil Siebert's WRB 7/16oz hair jig w/ a deps deathadder 3/4oz finesse scrounger head w/ a geecrack revival shad 3/4oz duh spoon 3/16oz jighead with a mooch minnow (5lbs) For Largemouth I had a decent year for "big for me bass," couple dozen in the 19-21" range, but none with a frame that felt like it was 6lbs. These are some of what I remember... 1/2oz Zorro booza bug jig w/ a d-bomb 4.8" bullflat swam on a 3/8oz football head jig 1 3/4oz duh spoon 3/16oz jighead w/ a rapala freeloader Duel Hardcore shad 75mm scott

I'm with @tander, my only add is that I often consider the hook when purchasing lures. I'm personally off no name hooks, eagle claw, and trokar, iffy on some mustad and vmc, faith in owner, gammy, ryugi, bkk, and decoy. This might not be the way, but it is a way that I haven't paid for yet. scott

Beautiful beast, congrats! scott

I have a champion 706cb and used to have a Fury 705cb. I prefer a faster rod for chatterbaits, though I rarely catch any bass when straight reeling. My best is usually hugging the bottom with a short chop reeling style combined with some dragging. All that said, I think my 706cb paired with braid to leader, would be able to get the job done when paired with a quality reel set, hookset. scott

I grabbed the 5 Finisher in early fall on an impulse order because of the discount. I'd like to think there's a place for it in my summer schoolie chasing in open water, as it didn't find a spot in the colder water version of it this fall/winter. Coaxing a convincing action out of it has been more challenging than I wanted though. Might be a worthwhile $5 gamble for you, even if I haven't made it work yet. scott

Looks like Xmas eve was my last day this year; only one bite on a 7/16oz finesse jig, but it counted. A feisty laker @ 15.5lbs with the net included in the weight. scott

Message me your email and I'd be more than happy to pass what Tom sent me back in 22. It's some hand drawings of his jig and his use of a finesse worm as weed guard to go along with the In-Fisherman article already posted in this thread. scott

I'm with @PhishLI if you're @6g, the alphas 800S is great. If you're under that weight, I've been really happy with the roro x27 in a Zillion with pe 1. Feels like I can cast anything from 3-20g. scott

I do use the loctite gel on most jigheads, but often forget to replenish it. The cone keepers are pretty effective as is though, I don't hate em. They also work well with TPE, which is nice because a mooch minnow on an underspin is really good in cold water. scott

The little cleo's are really effective tightlined. They kinda pick a direction and slow roll sink on an angle with a decent swivel. I often count down till the bottom or a bite. If it gets to the bottom, I usually do a double lift and reel and tightline back down. If it gets hit mid-column, I go a couple counts below that and do the same double lift and reel. I can get lost on a long cast and not know where I am, but my lake is mostly under 35' deep, so I can recalibrate with the bottom. scott

My underspin success is mostly finesse swimmers, 2.5-3.5." The northland tackle smeltinator in 3/8-1/2oz 2/0-3/0 has done well for me. The 5/0 version might be worth checking out. scott

Spoons probably account for about 50 percent of my bass from August till ice up the last couple years. Profile and rof seem to dictate effectiveness; 1.5" - 5.25" and anywhere from 5g to 1.75oz. If I were to rebuild my heavy metal box today, knowing my lake better, I'd make sure this is what I had. jigging//casting: Kastmaster - 3/8-1oz blue/silver and pearl Wareagle - 1/2 & 7/8 nickel and purple shad duh spoon - 3/4 & 1.75oz shattered glass, trout, morning dawn major craft jigpara micro standard - 5, 7, 10, and 15g in shirasu flutter: Acme little cleo - 1/3, 2/5, & 2/3oz in chrome lake fork spoon - 3/4 & 1.125oz in shattered glass nichols mojo - 1/2oz shattered glass luhr johnson krocodile 1/2 & 3/4oz in chrome tailspinners: Deracoup in both sizes blade baits: Damiki Vault in all sizes, 1/2-3/4oz being the most consistent size match to my shad I'd also have various extra swivels, trebles, feather dressed trebles, and short assist hooks at the ready to play with the rate of fall to convert slapping bass to biting bass. scott Side note: since rof is so important, I play with tight lining and slack lining the fall till I find what they like.

I use the Bruiser baits XGL for a dead/glide action and a gambler super stinger for a bit of kick. Both are 5.25" and I'm a sucker for GP/purple. scott

I learned about night fishing from this site, especially @Catt and @A-Jay, so definitely get into those threads. My experience is on a small inland lake where my boat is easily accessible and I can navigate the water relatively easily because of all the time spent on that body of water. Quick list of what works on my lake... - the weedlines in 8-12' fow is my sweetspot - though daytime summer seems to be about shad, nighttime feels like bass are cruising for juvenile crappie/bream. I tend to favor larger profiles. - "cruising" those 8-12' fow weedlines near deep water is what I think these fish are doing. The bite seems to live in windows, I often sit in a prime area and wait for them to come to me or hit on them immediately and wait out a lull only for it to turn back on. - if the summer night is 8hrs long, the third to fifth hours have historically been my best - my biggest July/August bass are usually night fish. - the darker the night, the more excited I am for big fish. - baits that move more water are my preference. Slow rolling a big swim jig with a 5" paddle tail is my go to and they will find it no matter how dark the night. - full moon nights, love to throw a chopping style glide or bluegill crank down if they're active, dragging a jig if they're still buried in the grass - I use the same exact lures at night that I do during the day; regarding color - I prefer to anchor, shield my stern white light from the front, and stay in the dark except to unhook or net at the boat. A head lamp (white) and a red light flashlight are all I seem to need. - trust no other boat on the water, so many bad decisions made by boaters and alcohol. - I bring less rigs with me at night to open up more deck space than my normal fishing - night fishing is also great in spring and fall, this is more of a reminder to myself Good luck!! scott

They are 1A/1B with my favorite thing to throw; 1/2-3/4oz DJ cali swim jig w/ a 4-5" paddle tail. The tip/backbone works wether I'm straight reeling, slow rolling the bottom, or dragging to set that beefy hook and turn them out of the slop. You really can throw anything from 3/8-1.5oz, treble or single hook. Magdraft, swim jig, grass jig, football jig, nichols duh spoon, lake fork flutter spoons, 10" worms, bull shad, bull flat, and mb vatalion are just some of what I remember tying on this year between the 2 rods. I don't unfortunately. Got an opportunity for a deal on the xtasy a few years ago, and skipped up from the champions. scott

I basically feel like the 755 and a conquest 904 are 2 versions of the same rod. And I love both of them. Now that I have both, I'm confident saying that if you're going to get one, buy whichever is cheaper. scott

With the xtasy, no not at all. It is sensitive and while probably not the best, it's really really good. With the champion/fury, yes I do have a harder time discerning what's happening, and tend to use them for moving baits only. scott

I don't know that expride model, but I really like the xtasy 755. Feels very light in hand, tremendous tip and first third of the blank to pin trebles or drive a big jig hook, and finally a powerful backbone that can turn anything I'm able to hook into. If you find it priced in the $300's and are considering it, I think it's a no brainer. scott

It's my opinion that no matter how cold the water is; you can jump off the bottom fast. It's how far the spoon travels horizontally that I like to limit when they're not chasing. I'll mix a big rip with small subtle lifts/flips to give them time to get to it. I'm pretty sure the magic of spoons in cold water; is the drastic difference in speeds between the rips, flutters, and sitting on the bottom, looking like a meal struggling to deal with the cold water temps. scott

Sounds good to me, I've done versions in just an open doc form for fishing road trips and for divvying up my rigs between the in-laws and my place. In terms of what rods throw what lures best? That info is in my head, though keeping the number 2's and 3's straight is more of a guesstimate... scott

@Swamp Girl and @scaleface You're talking about an owner flashy swimmer, right? Do you use the willow or indiana blade? scott

These are my biggest players and the time of year that they most delivered. I fished a lot of it all year long and caught fish, but certain times were the best times. I also had a week long SM run in early april when they wanted fast falling 5/8-3/4oz 3-5" white hair jigs or a 4-5" white/silver deathadder on a ballhead and in late July a 4" cover scat worked in deep weedlines was by far the most productive bait I had for the LM's. Neither really carried on after their window of dominance, but the bite on each is something I'm actively remembering because it was so intense. Prespawn: Inland LM - 1/2oz zorro casting jig w/ D-bomb or sweet beaver - 3/4oz DJ Cali swim jig w/ 5" gambler big EZ or 125mm D-walker - Duo under walker - 3/16oz jig and freeloader minnow - Duel shad 75mm Big Lake SM - 1/4-1/2oz 2.5" tube; sk coffee and glf juvy craw, goby and motor oil being key colors - 1/4-3/4oz finesse jigs. Deps, raid, catch co, seiberts, jewel, keitech all were players - 1/4-3/8oz jig and mooch minnow - 1/2-3/4oz finesse scrounger; revival shad, 3.75" shad shape worm, 4-5" deathadder (the more subtle S swim of straight tails was a revelation) - 1/2oz smeltinator underspin; mooch minnow and 3" easy shiner Postspawn: Inland LM - 3/8-1/2oz football head w/ a 4.8" Bullflat slowly swam mid column - 1/16-1/4oz jig worm; quiver worm and boosa worm top producers - 3/16-5/16 texas rigged worm; 7-10" straight tail and swimming worm - Duel hardcore Bullet 5m+ Big Lake SM - 1/4-3/8oz free rig; 3.5" dolive beaver - 1/16-1/4oz jig worm; quiver worm Late Summer // Early fall: Inland LM - 3/8oz kastmaster spoon - 10g major craft jigpara - 1/2-3/4oz deracoup - 5-11g jighead mooch minnow Big Lake SM - 5-11g jighead mooch minnow - 1/4-1/2oz 2.5" tube Late Fall // Early Winter: Inland LM - 3/4-1.25oz duh spoon - 5g jighead and freeloader minnow - 4-5" lake fork flutter spoon Big Lake SM - 1/4-1/2oz 2.5" tube - 1/4-3/8oz jig and mooch minnow - 3/8-1/2oz ballhead jig w/ 2.5" mayor, 3" juster, or 3" easy shiner scott

Also 35% off on everything else. But $75 for free shipping. scott

@Bazoo mustad has a sale; 1/4oz 1/0, 25pk for 8.99. https://mustad-fishing.com/us/products/bjhb?Color=Lead&Size=7g+1%2F0&Pack+Code=25 scott