I can't wait to try out the rat and the 68. Hopefully next week. I can also see where this can get real expensive 

 

2 hours ago, Primus said:

I've never fished in Louisiana but I'm pretty sure that Shad is probably at the top of the list as far as forage goes , the Bull Shad would be a good selection . I've done well with this bait painted in a Golden Shiner pattern .  One bait that gets bit everywhere is a Matt Lures Hardgill, that is definitely another good bait to consider . 

 

 

Mattlures also came out with a shad version.  Go figure!  ??

Just looked at the Matt Lures Strong Shad. Man that thing looks real, but it is pricey. 

10 hours ago, Master Bait'r said:

 

 

While I don't disagree with you, that's not to say something that did match a local forage species more closely *may* be more likely to draw a strike. 

 

Then forget all that match the local forage base, THE ONLY FORAGE YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND ANYWHERE IN THE PLANET WHERE BASS ARE FOUND IS -----> BABY BASS.

I do best not matching the hatch. Our bass eat tons of baby bluegills, but for the life of me I can't catch a big swimbait bass on a gill bait. Caught lots of dinks to 3 pounders on gills, but no big ones. Now give me a big bone colored bait, or something in Hitch color, and I'll do work. 

Hard baits:

MS Slammer Wake Bait

Deps 175 or 250 Glide Baits

Bullshad for multijointed hard bait

Soft Swimbait - Miyagi Swimmer  

Rat 50 came in today.  It will be next week before I can try it out. Gotta decide which rod I'm gonna use to launch that baby.

4 minutes ago, Buckjunkie said:

Rat 50 came in today.  It will be next week before I can try it out. Gotta decide which rod I'm gonna use to launch that baby.

what do you have that can handle it?

If you are fishing heavy vegetation I would add the HuudGill in lieu of the Mattlures Hardgill. 

Tom

6 hours ago, Scarborough817 said:

what do you have that can handle it?

I have a Dobyns 806cb. A powell max 735 frog rod and a Dobyns 735c. Can I get by with one of these?

4 hours ago, Buckjunkie said:

I have a Dobyns 806cb. A powell max 735 frog rod and a Dobyns 735c. Can I get by with one of these?

the 806 should be okay just be careful when casting 

I have a buddy with a pond full of eager stunted bass and I loaded all my rods up with big bass lures hoping to catch the "biggest bass in the pond." Well, yesterday I got a good many bites on the Rat, size 40. It was overcast all afternoon. None of these bass were "big", but given the average in the pond, they were better than I usually catch there. Now I wish I had the size 50. I also tried a Savage Gear S Waver in bass pattern-no bites. I caught a good many on a gold spinnerbait.

 

I left him 24 bass and bluegills in his basket. The bluegills were caught on a 1/4 oz. Rooster Tail. This also caught a few small bass, which are fun on the light combo I was using.

The rain forced me to stay at home this weekend so it will be next week before I get to try any swim baits out. In the mean time, being forced to stay indoors caused me to order a Matt Lures soft shad swimbait and a Live Target shad swimbait. Now I'm looking at the Matt Lures bluegill.