WaskaCrank12

I am in year three of bass/boat fishing here in MN (but a peer in age with @FryDog62 ) - and I see all of these long/heavy bass in pictures (here and on social media) and think - What am I doing wrong ? - I have caught a 19.5inch LMB and a 19.25inch SMB (My PB's so far) but have not been able to land the coveted 20 inch/5lb trophy bass yet Your post and info. gives me good info. and perspective - that the larger fish I have landed were close to 2 decades old - the biggest small mouth I have landed had many battle scars and is the hardest fighting fish I have landed, that fighting spirit has served that bass well for almost 2 decades ! I might have to travel a bit (to different lakes here in MN or to a southern state) to find the trophy fish I am seeking - thank you for the info/perspective/humor !

Went out for a short period of time today (Monday) - wind was blowing hard (which keeps the humidity down, but makes for a rough ride and tricky casting) - I caught two LMB, one 14.5 in. , one 15 in. - but not even a nibble outside of those two bass - it was hot, I finished the gallon of water I brought with me - I might try going out again on Tuesday or Wednesday if the wind settles down a bit and the temps are not too crazy - My guess is the bass will be deep as the DNR intern at the dock today said the Walleye guys were complaining that they were catching more bass than Walleyes because the bass are so deep - I don't have fancy electronics so it will basically be casting and hoping, probably throwing heavier jigs or worms with a heavier weight - any suggestions ?

It seems many companies are suddenly pumping out the urchin-style baits (or at least putting their brand name inside the box they come in - many seem to be the same bait coming from the same manufacturing plant) - Are there specific urchin-style baits that people have found work well/do not work well ? -Has anyone tried the G-Ratt - Webber or Pop-A-Web ? (they list it as a "dice-style bait" but no sizes listed) -Has anyone tried the 6th Sense Abstract ?

-Learn when to hold them (keep using the same lure/bait) and when to fold them (switch to a different lure/bait) -Even if there is only a 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001% chance that a treble hook will snag something other than a fish - it will do so -Check your line, snaps, split rings, knots after each catch -You will destroy more soft plastics trying to get the bait/hook out of the fishes' mouth than the fish will from just biting it -Being on the water, sitting in silence, watching the eagles-osprey-pelicans and taking it all in is a worthwhile endeavor (and it's a bonus if you catch a bass or two)

Heavy rain, wind, storms have blown thru in the past week - lots of gunk in the water - along with the July 4th wake boat/PWC/recreational traffic the lakes are churned up - normally clear water has been coffee brown for a few days - hoping it clears up before the heat wave - Have you experienced this as well ?

@Jerkbait22 @Tackleholic I ordered the Teckle LilTanker in Blue Gill and in Matte Black - from *** - on sale for $16 each I felt it was worth it to give them a try since this is a technique I enjoy - and I found a video on YT from the owner/designer from Teckle talking about his design process, how an old (discontinued) wake bait he loved to use was the inspiration for building this one - I found it interesting - many of the Japanese lure makers are true craftsmen, artists, take tremendous pride in their work - not out to make the most $$ but to truly create/design/manufacture a high quality/fish catching lure (as an FYI, the video is in Japanese, with subtitles and is a bit long)

@Dooger and @Big Swimbait - not a great pic, but the best I could do - this is the CORE Tackle Hover Rig with the 17mm urchin on it - it has worked very well for me but YMMV I have only had 13mm/17mm urchins so I cannot speak to how it would work with bigger urchins

@Tackleholic - I purchased the Megabass Over Rev Crank - Burning Shad (the Burning Shad is smaller than the regular Over Rev Crank) from 7Palms lure shop (Japan) - as @BassinBrett has posted it looks like the regular Over Rev Crank is at Three Rivers Tackle - the only place I have seen the ORC-Burning Shad is thru Japanese shops

@Dooger - I have been using a CORE Tackle Hover Rig for the 13mm/17mm size urchin - it is simple to use and has worked well - just slide the urchin on to the hook (thru the existing hole in the urchin) and push it up on to the weight (the Hover Rig has a build in weight) - I then slide a silicone stopper (I use an earring stopper) over the hook and against the weight (I will look to take some pictures and post them) - similar to @Big Swimbait I had fish inhaling the treble hooks very deep and did not want that happening so I switched to the single hook Hover Rig and it has worked great

@Jerkbait22 - For the Buzz Jet Jr. I just use a slow steady retrieve the majority of the time or every now and then with an occasional pause in the retrieve, but when I begin the retrieve again I do it slowly so it is not a hard jerk/fast start, just slow/steady/pause/slow/steady/pause - my best success with it has come from casting it parallel to an above water grass/weed line or casting it to the above water grass/reeds and slowly retrieving it away from that grass/weed line - I have gotten some really explosive bites using the Buzz Jet Jr. in that manner **I also just ordered two of the new Teckle LilTanker and look forward to trying them out

I was able to get out on Friday - I did that because holiday weekends here in lakes country get overwhelmingly busy/chaotic, so I will not go out on Saturday/Sunday - it started out with big winds/gusts/white caps but then settled down a bit, cloudy and about 78 - I did not have much luck until I got around some isolated grass/reed areas - I then caught 10 bass, all 15 plus inches, with two of them being 18 inches - one was caught on a Senko, the other 9 on a D-Style Geelacanth - not sure why they were so attracted to that today, but it worked well - Happy and Safe 4th of July to everyone !

The DEPS Buzz Jet Jr. is the wake bait that has caught the biggest fish for me - I like the OSP Buzzin and CO-Buzzin, they are fun to use - I recently purchased a Megabass ORC Burning Shad but have not used it yet

I wear a pair of KEEN SOLR water sandals - they offer good grip (I had used Crocs but I slipped and went a** over tea kettle at the ramp, so I switched to the KEEN and have had no problems with slipping) but they do take a bit of time to dry once dunked in the water, overall comfortable to wear (I bought them on Amazon for significantly less than they cost if ordered directly from the KEEN website, YMMV)

Daiwa Samurai 8 is very good, but pricey, so I only have it on a few of my reels -- I also like Daiwa J-Braid Grand but only purchase it if I can find it at a discounted price Sufix 832 is good and on the majority of my reels, durable I just purchased some X-Braid (X8) to try but cannot give feedback on it yet

I started fishing just about 3 years ago (I am not young, just started later in life) - I initially bought yard sale rods/reels - one BC and several spinning set-ups - due to the ever present strong, gusty winds we have here I found myself endlessly having line issues with the BC and virtually no issues with the spinning gear - so now, similar to @Swamp Girl , I have 99% spinning gear and 1 BC rig - I have Ultra-Light thru Heavy spinning rods (the Heavy rods are inshore rods) - I have spinning reels from 1000 size to 4000 size - I use the MH and H rods to deep crank, power fish and when encountering cover (we certainly do not have "heavy" cover/vegetation like they do in FL/TX/other areas and no alligators that I know of ) - I recently landed a 36 inch Northern Pike on spinning gear and that fish had to be in the 13 to 15 pound range, tangled itself in the reeds and fought like crazy - I hear what @gim and others are saying and understand that having a variety of tools in the toolbox is best and makes sense - yet I, like @SJS , have found spinning gear to be effective and my majority tool of choice for now PS: @Swamp Girl is living the life with that beautiful lake, a canoe and plentiful big bass