Dooger

Unfortunately I’m a newcomer and didn’t know about Siebert Outdoors. For finesse I usually fish a Keitech or Strike King Bitsy jig. Usually 1/8 oz or 3/16 oz. Sometimes 1/4 oz The Bitsy jig I can pick up for $2.29. Going finesse make sure you have a sturdy enough rod to stick them. Below is picture of 1/8 oz

A couple of suggestions: Keep a P bottle in the boat! That way you don’t even have to get out of the boat. Inflatables are great and comfortable. But when the water temperature starts to get cold I start wearing a good manual life vest. Last, as we mature we should take somebody with us for backup.

I have been running 12lb Tatsu for my crankbait fishing. But most of the time I’m fishing Square bills. “and for smallmouth” You need to adjust your drag accordingly as mentioned above,but I haven’t had any problems with breaking. And the Floro should get you down a little more.

Dep cover scat is what I think they are called. Yamamoto the bass love them, but they don’t last real long.

Good Luck! Getting around for my retirement league fishing this morning. Will look forward to seeing the results! Stay Hydrated!!

If you’re running skinny you’re getting after them 👍 You broke your skeg it must have been a pretty solid rock. You might need a push pole. I carried one in my boat. They come in handy once in a while. Keep putting the work in!

The Japanese have been fishing this baits for a while. Surely they have a way they like to rig these baits. Thanks for all the replies!

I have saw it mentioned that frogs hooks are hard to find. I think that Walmart sells frogs for $3.00. Probably one of their frogs would donate its hooks towards the cause.

Thanks for the picture! Believe it or not I do have some Hoover rigs. I believe 1/8 oz I will have to experiment . My friend just today was fishing one with a Zman Shroom Pro head. He said he missed quite a few fish. But caught a solid 17.5” smallie . He usually fishes for the big girls.

Local Dicks Sporting goods Local tackle shop I like that Tiemco Hedgehog. Looks like it could be the ticket. I guess just finding any would be the hard part.

Big Swimbait thanks Very informative post! I wasn’t aware that treble hooks would be a problem…I’ve never fished the bait. I see frog hooks are mostly out of stock. Maybe better off buying a frog for the hook. Will check out the Zman hooks.

I guess the big question is…What’s the best way to rig theses baits? Treble hook,Frog hook, shakey head I got a Yamamoto uni I’m going to try. Once I figure out how I want to rig it. Any pictures?

What’s breaking, your braid or your leader? Is your leader knot holding up?what leader knot do you use? I have fished 10lb braid on ML rods and have a tough time breaking it. Going to medium rods 15 lb braid would be fine.

I would try adjusting your drag some if you liked the hooks you were using. Worth a try….

For a couple years I used power pro 10lb for fishing a Ned TRD. And it held up good. Got 2 years out of it fishing 3-4 times a week This year I’m dabbling with Power Pro slick V2 10lb, Seaguar PeX8 18lb and TactX 20lb. Probably TactX is my least favorite this year. Has Given me casting problems ,but has held up.

Couple nice smallies for the way the fishing has been!

Been brewing with a Technivorm Moccomaster for about 20 years. Still going strong. Hardest part is finding good coffee.

Seaguar Tatsu for leader 10lb also, been experimenting with Seaguar Bounce for leader

I have been avoiding going down that rabbit hole. 🙂 Good Luck! I hope you get into some fish.

I have couple of St Croix Mojo Glass rods that I use for cranking, they have a Shimano 4000 reel on them. They are about as heavy as I got for spinning. I picked both of these rods off of market place…cheap.

Got some Tatsu off of Amazon $29…200 yd. It was like a 4 hour sale. Now the same line is listed on sale 15% off for $39 . Have also seen lots of plastics on sale for a good price.

I guess you could skip the gym on snow days. That’s a pretty good workout!

I have experimented with quite a few kinds of braids. Seaguar - Smack down, Tact X camo braid, PEX8 Power Pro and Power Pro Slick V2. I like the Power Pro Slick V2 for longevity and casting distance. Tact X kind of difficult casting sometimes. PEX8 probably the best casting but not impressed with longevity. Usually buy stuff when it goes on sale for a pretty good discount.

When you run one of them aground they don’t off push to well 😃

Nice upgrade! With not much rain in June you could be giving it a real test come July. Running in to skinny of water, you yourself can get bounced around a little…be careful! Last year with the river a couple feet below normal. Some guys quite running certain sections because they was afraid of getting thrown from the boat. Will be monitoring how it does…might be something I will add to my boat.