Quick bps pit stop mini-haul; Rapala rocco, thunder cricket, and a nice find with some mustad alpha point size 1 straight shank finesse hooks. First time seeing these,  5-pack for $4.99, they ooze quality with a sealed eye and a great bent metal keeper, silly sticky sharp, and great package concept with a neat slide out insert, quick and easy in and out. Finesse nerds will want to check these out. I'll be using these for weedless dropshot fer shure.

Well I finally decided on a new tackle bag, well that’s if we count a decent sized duffel bag as one lol. I have been struggling to find a decent bag that I could carry most of my stuff in when I go out fishing. I have found a few but the price was a little higher than I liked. So I improvised.

 

2 jerk baits 

1 crank

4 packs treble hooks 

1 pack fat senkos 

3 3700 trays

1 deep 3700 tray 

 

I still need to figure out about a couple more trays to fit in the bag, probably end up with a couple more deep 3700 is my guess. I want to have one for plastics, one for my scale and extra reels. That’s about it, I fit 7 trays in the bag so far and a Plano hydroflow spinner bait box, there’s still room left. I had to retire my old bag it was starting to wear out and get a little bit small. Now once I get my boat sealed up and the weather is nice again I will be all set to go with one bag in the boat or beating the bank.

I can openly admit that I have a bit of an obsession with the Megabass Pop Max,

specifically the 'Respect' color line.

Well, snagged me a couple more recently.

"GG MOSS ORE" SP-C RESPECT Color #37 

 

GG Moss Ore is a nostalgic Guanium Ghost type color that has existed in the Megabass color lineup since the late 90s. It is a rare color that has been used sparingly and its name is straightforward but stands for moss green orange. At first glance, it looks like a natural color, but it is the only orange berry in the color lineup at the time, and it is more of an appeal-oriented color. The baitfish-like silver base and orange berry are a basic color scheme, but the transparent moss green on the back is a Megabass original element. 

 

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

Dems' purdy.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I can openly admit that I have a bit of an obsession with the Megabass Pop Max,

specifically the 'Respect' color line.

Well, snagged me a couple more recently.

"GG MOSS ORE" SP-C RESPECT Color #37 

 

GG Moss Ore is a nostalgic Guanium Ghost type color that has existed in the Megabass color lineup since the late 90s. It is a rare color that has been used sparingly and its name is straightforward but stands for moss green orange. At first glance, it looks like a natural color, but it is the only orange berry in the color lineup at the time, and it is more of an appeal-oriented color. The baitfish-like silver base and orange berry are a basic color scheme, but the transparent moss green on the back is a Megabass original element. 

 

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

Those are some very nice colors, that’s what I love about Megabass baits. There color selection and combinations are a work of art.

Weekend haul. Lews Custom Speed Stick Lite, Lews Speed Spin Reel, and a few other things I picked up.

I got a ride to my normal haunt, picked up 4 more jerk baits. I was finishing up my color collection, I needed to get more black, gold colors. I saw an ito shiner and had to grab it, first time ever seeing one in a store. I had to get another deep tray for soft plastics storage in my tackle bag. I don’t think that I need anymore jerk baits, I think that I have over 50 now lol. That doesn’t mean that I don’t want more of them though.
 

Extra 30% off clearance. Everything pictured was clearance receipt the h20 items. Sales like this feed the bait monkey... Needed 2 things that were both out of stock. 

 

3/8 oz Bill Lewis Hammer Traps and Bronco Bugs in the house!

 

Got the smallie magic which is like a ghost golden shiner and a red craw color.  Got one more of my beloved chili craw RES cuz I lost the one I had to some random wood underwater.

 

Really excited to free rig the bronco bug!

 

Anyone else tried the hammer traps yet?

 

4 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

Anyone else tried the hammer traps yet?

 

 

I have a few in my cart. I didn't see that Smallie Magic coloron TW. Looks good. The Pro Perch looks really good, too.

@Jmurphy87 Love those Dirty Jigs - about the only brand I throw.

@Pat Brown I see the show got you too....lol. 

1 hour ago, RipzLipz said:

@Jmurphy87 Love those Dirty Jigs - about the only brand I throw.

Yes they are good, I also really like beast coast tackle ones also. The ones that I really need to try are the siebert outdoors ones, they look amazing and everyone here says that they are the best ones out there.

Finally showed up today...

 

Local monkey trap has been on fire lately.  In about 10 days, my shop already raised the price from $11.99 to $12.99.    

 

Amazes me it took 3 years for Americans to catch on to the Drift Fry, and really it took Fujita winning an Elite Series event with them to jumpstart it.   

 

I'm not even through two baits, and I've caught almost 100 fish on them.    

1 minute ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

 

 

I'm not even through two baits, and I've caught almost 100 fish on them.    

 

You're killing me. Almost 2 months now with no fishing. I'm moving to Alabama. 

@Jmurphy87, my wife got me some of those perch largo shad for Christmas, haven’t tried them yet but soon 

2 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

I'm moving to Alabama. 

Ya but in July you'll be like this guy below.  @AlabamaSpothunter words are "you'd sizzle like a piece of bacon out there."

 

3 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

 

You're killing me. Almost 2 months now with no fishing. I'm moving to Alabama. 

Do it!   We always need another tackle warehouse in the state 🤣😎

 

@gimruis is right sadly, we become vampires in July and August.  90d nights are hardly fishable.   

 

Not to mention those northern fish seem so eager to bite once the season is open.   Those fish get to reset every winter.   

1 hour ago, TnRiver46 said:

@Jmurphy87, my wife got me some of those perch largo shad for Christmas, haven’t tried them yet but soon 

Yeah the only place that I can find them around here is one store, Dunham’s Sports, they never have a whole lot but sometimes they have different stuff. It’s sort of like fishing you know, the thrill of the hunt for the next new thing or fish lol. I have heard that they are a great cool water bait or trailer for swim jigs, if I remember correctly they have a very subtle action. But who knows what I can remember correctly anymore, been 6 weeks since I went to work due to medical issues. My brain is mush at this point.

1 hour ago, Jmurphy87 said:

Yeah the only place that I can find them around here is one store, Dunham’s Sports, they never have a whole lot but sometimes they have different stuff. It’s sort of like fishing you know, the thrill of the hunt for the next new thing or fish lol. I have heard that they are a great cool water bait or trailer for swim jigs, if I remember correctly they have a very subtle action. But who knows what I can remember correctly anymore, been 6 weeks since I went to work due to medical issues. My brain is mush at this point.

I love the 3" early in the season. On the screw-lock VMC Hybrig jig, it last's quite a while. The print on some of those baits like the perch and bluegill will flake off after a while, but it'll take a bit. 

 

If I run a paddle tail on my spinnerbait I'll usually opt for these. I don't like a lot of drag with my trailers, so they work well. They don't kick like a Keitech. You can cut the little flange off the tail area to provide a more aggressive kick tho, which I'll sometimes do when pairing it with a swim jig. I like the 3.5" and 4" for trailers or on a belly-weighted hook.

 

Like any paddle tail, there's many ways to rig them, obviously. The Electric Chicken color should be re-named Smallie Slayer IMO. They can't stay off that thing. I also love the Houdini color as swim jig trailer for mimicking bluegill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

19 minutes ago, NorthernBasser said:

I love the 3" early in the season. On the screw-lock VMC Hybrig jig, it last's quite a while. The print on some of those baits like the perch and bluegill will flake off after a while, but it'll take a bit. 

 

If I run a paddle tail on my spinnerbait I'll usually opt for these. I don't like a lot of drag with my trailers, so they work well. They don't kick like a Keitech. You can cut the little flange off the tail area to provide a more aggressive kick tho, which I'll sometimes do when pairing it with a swim jig. I like the 3.5" and 4" for trailers or on a belly-weighted hook.

 

Like any paddle tail, there's many ways to rig them, obviously. The Electric Chicken color should be re-named Smallie Slayer IMO. They can't stay off that thing. I also love the Houdini color as swim jig trailer for mimicking bluegill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the insight, I appreciate it. Those combos definitely look good 

4 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

we become vampires in July and August.  90d nights are hardly fishable.

Night fishing - big single Colorado spinnerbait & Jitterbugs.

On 1/4/2024 at 6:34 PM, NorthernBasser said:

 

I won't be putting the Concept A2 on that rod. Most likely it'll be a Curado 150 MGL. 

 

The Concept A2 feels nice in hand tho. For being 7.4 oz and with it's line capacity, I figured it may have a larger frame than it does. But it's a fairly small frame. 

The A2 is a great frog reel, it's drag works great when winching them out of cover. 

 

I found a heck of a deal on lefty 7 speed Daiwa Lexa 400 HD's a couple weeks ago. $200 a pop on Amazon. I picked up a pair. They're $329 everywhere else.

Got a couple 8'6" MH Prorex rods a couple days ago. I really like the pair of 9'5" XH's I picked up in Dec. They're a lot of muskie rod for the $. Daiwa's X45 blank construction, Fuji palming seat, and o-ring guides with a tungsten tip top. 

Dropped almost $400 on bucktail components and a wire twisting tool this morning at LPO.

 

The bait monkey is small Bananas. The Muskie Monkey is a full grown silverback.