TheBaitMonkey

Things are starting to get warmer here in Northern Illinois! Water temps got up to the mid 40's at a little lake by the house today and I was able to snag a couple of solid ones, this one being the big bigger one at around ~21".

The big girls are starting to move up to feed. I caught this ~21" on a vision 110 then a 19.5" a few casts later this afternoon -

14lb FC Sniper

Here are a few of my favorites! Nose Hooked - Hook: Owner Mosquito Light Size 1 - Baits: Big Joshy’s Goby - Color: Bass candy and electric oil 4.5” Roboworm - Color: Aaron’s Magic 3” & 4.2” Megabass Hazedong Shad - Color: Green Pumpkin Shad (if I could only have 1 drop shot bait for the rest of time it would be the 3” Hazedong) T-Rigged - Hooks: Owner Cover shot in 1/0 up to 4/0 - Baits: 6” Fat Roboworm - Color: Aaron’s Magic and MMIII Zoom Ol Monster - Color: Green Pumpkin (in the late summer months through grass I catch big ones on this worm) Zman Long Shotz - Color: Goby Bryant and Twilight (hated these nose rigged but T-Rigged the hook helps them lay horizontally perfectly, they last like 20 fish)

Got this bad boy in the mail today. Excited to give it a try this spring!

Open water season is here! This little guy is ready to be slow-rolled this weekend barring tomorrow's cold temps adding a thin ice layer.

I'm still pretty new to FFS but from the research I've done and from watching guys like Josh Jones, Millikin, and watching pros in tourneys it appears one of the most productive ways to catch them with FFS is to - Graph first using your side imaging to mark different cover like brush piles, rock piles, etc Scan around with FFS and find some shad/baitfish in the area near those brush piles Keep the foot on the trolling motor following those baitfish around for as long as it takes When those baitfish you're following coincide with the structure make the cast to the brush pile Repeat What ways have you found to maximize FFS and how have you been using it?

Yea, I was on the fence between 15lb and 17lb but ended up on the 15lb side of things. I’m sure both will work equally well but I plan on throwing crankbaits on the rod too and I was hoping to get some additional depth from the smaller diameter.

Got a few smaller swimbaits and a small swimbait combo (Zillion 1520 with a Megabass XXX Mat Bucker) to play around with this year - Valley Hill Boogie Back RTF Bluegill S-Waver 168 Magdraft 115 Silent Killer Spro Chad Shad (on hold at TW, but pumped about it!)

I don’t know if it helps but if it makes you feel more confident it could help put an extra bass or 2 in the boat. Here’s an interesting video discussing how bass find their nests using scent that looked at a somewhat recent study in Canada. Not exactly the same as eating but still a good watch -

Getting ready to get after some smallies this spring -

Those are some deals! I’m a sucker for those Savage Gear Gills. Nice find!

Thanks for the review, just ordered one!

Has anyone tried them yet? The bait monkey has me itching as we’re getting close to ice out.

Those Savage Gear bluegills are money - I like them more than most of the more expensive weedless gills like the Hudd Gill. Another solid one is the Hudd 68 weedless in the Perch color, I've had a some good success with it in previous springs-- not sure if you've tried that one but it has the tail from the 8" Hudd Trout on the body of 6". This warm weather has me itching to get out especially after watching all of these guys down at OH Ivie in Texas catching 10+ lbers this spring

He just posted this 19lber. I need to move to Texas - https://www.facebook.com/100052246008812/posts/pfbid0mxviBYp7okQpES5KsTNCAPNmVfdqKRWz43ms1T6Z1ipBZFk9QGm6doQKLpAqdTrVl/?mibextid=tejx2t looks like it was rubber lmao!

Hell, even I want to eat that!

Id second both of these baits. I hammered them using both last year including a couple 4 and 5 lbers on the RTF 4” bluegill in the bream color. They’re money!

I bought these and used them on some mid 30 degree days and they worked pretty well, I would keep some Hot Hands in my pockets too -- Simms GORE-TEX Infinium Half-Finger Glove I like that they keep your hands warm enough while still giving some feel by having your fingers exposed. They're meant to fit pretty tight around your wrist which is supposed to keep your hands warmer.

That's gonna launch 'em!

I haven't casted mine a whole lot but when I did I used an old H action rod that I didn't care about damaging. I have used something like this kite rope holder with a lot of success in that past and I would toss it out --

I had a lot of success bomb casting a dropshot along weedlines in the late summer and throughout the fall. The most productive way was slowly reeling in a 3" Spark Shad or a 4.2" Hazedong Shad with a ~2' leader rigged weedless with an EWG hook and a 3/8 oz weight. The heavier weight helped the swimbaits have the right action, 1/4oz seemed to work too but I didn't seem to get as many bites once I went below 1/4 oz since the bait didn't get enough resistance.

The JDM monkey has hit me pretty hard recently. Just got a Poison Adrena in to pair with a JDM Exsence and a Certate LT, now all I get to do is stare at them all winter and use them as fidget spinners until the newly frozen lakes thaw out ?

time to stock up! I’m looking at getting another spinning reel but can’t make up mind up on which one. What reel did you get?