3 minutes ago, RipzLipz said:

@MIbassyaker I really liked those Revenge BG spinnerbaits. Too bad they’re no longer made.

 

My last one 😢

 

It will stay in service until it falls apart.

I fished a lot of swim jigs this year.  More than bottom contact jigs.  The only time I didn't fish them was when the vegetation got thick in the summer, and the bass didn't want to come out from the mats.

A  lure I used more than ever was a  small soft plastic paddletail . I pitched worms  into wood cover a lot this past year and I fished a DOA paddletail on a 1/4 oz jighead while moving from cover to cover. Also caught a lot of fish with it by casting to deep water at the mouths of coves , letting it settle then pumping it back.

Whopper Plopper. I really gave it a go this year with minimal success. I know I’m late to the game with this lure but my confidence isn’t there. I’ll give it a shot again next year and see what happens.

#1: 1/4 oz Bettle Spin white with the tails dipped in Spike-It Dip-N-Glo chartreuse garlic.

#2: Orginal D.O.A. 3" Shrimp 1/4 oz pearl white 

 

Fished a lot of brackish water 

Zoom finesse worm, Roboworm 4" and 6", Buzzbait, Storm Chug Bug.

Nishine catfish senko thing on a carolina rig and free rig

 

Wacky Worm and more finesse fishing 

Buzzbait, Stick Bait, Bladed Jig, Frog, Wacky Worm

I did more cranking this year than ever before, but it was for muskie not bass. The Llungen .22 short was king of the hill by a long shot. Designed and originally manufactured by my guide buddy, it's one mighty little (by muskie standards) crankbait. It may have put more slimers in the net than everything else put together.

3 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

Whopper Plopper. I really gave it a go this year with minimal success. I know I’m late to the game with this lure but my confidence isn’t there. I’ll give it a shot again next year and see what happens.

They haven't been productive for me during daylight hours, but the loon 110 has been good in the dark at times.

4 hours ago, webertime said:

Nishine catfish senko thing on a carolina rig and free rig

 

That's a really great bait! 

 

I think people forget that where there's bass, there's usually catfish. And there's no question that bass will eat catfish fry! 

 

If you want a downsized catfish profile, Great Lakes makes one.

 

https://www.greatlakesfinesse.com/225-flat-cat

I fished "poop" baits and by extension high specific gravity baits a ton this year.

 

I ordered many of these baits by multiple manufacturers. No small feat (or cost! ) for what are mostly JDM baits.

 

I weighed all of the baits to know exactly how heavy they were (they're heavy! ) and I proceeded to learn how to fish these.

 

Not only did they produce, they were also great fun to fish! 

 

But more important, I think these high specific gravity baits altered my perception of what a bait is or can be. 

 

 

The drop shot was the ticket this season.  Fished it a lot and it caught fish.  Rocks, weed lines, offshore lay downs.  Also fished the football jig a lot.  I fished offshore a lot more.  And I don’t even use FFS!!  

34 minutes ago, Fishin Dad said:

The drop shot was the ticket this season.  Fished it a lot and it caught fish.  Rocks, weed lines, offshore lay downs.  Also fished the football jig a lot.  I fished offshore a lot more.  And I don’t even use FFS!!  

Honest question, how’s the quality of fish you caught on the dropshot? 

7 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Honest question, how’s the quality of fish you caught on the dropshot? 

Unreal.  Won me two tourneys this season.  Had big fish in one of them on the drop shot.  I was using a 6” finesse worm too.  Not a bubba shot or anything.  For some reason, it doesn’t seem to get me a lot of dinks.  I would often alternate the drop shot with the football jig, just to see what they wanted.  I would the. Throw a Neko as a follow up to see if there were any more biters.  I caught some bigs on the Neko as well.  

OG Tiny, Rebel Wee R square bill, Buzzbait.

 

I usually only crank and buzz bait here and there. This year these baits caught so many bass I lost count, and kept fishing them all year.

Weightless Texas rigged plastics when the bite was awful, fishing from the bank. Killed quite a few skunks that way.

Fished the Mini Max more this season.

Which was pretty easy, since I'd not throw them before the 2023 campaign. 

Just wish I got way bites with them.

I certainly expected to.

Maybe next year.

A-Jay

On 12/29/2023 at 6:51 PM, king fisher said:

I used a Pop-R more this year.  I didn't go fishing often but the few times I did the popper was a big producer.  A T rigged straight tail worm, was another bait I fished more than in years past.  A T rigged Zoom Mag trick worm caught my biggest bass of 2023. 

 

My list is practically the same as King's. I also used an Owner underspin with a Keitech a lot more. I've come to love that lure. It can be tricky to fish, like when a bass grabs it and swims at you with about the same resistance that the lure makes. I'll set the hook without really knowing why I did it. Something must have felt ever-so-slightly off. 

@T-Billy those are great lures. Casting and trolling they are not a let down. 
 

 

T rigging pit bosses. I never T rigged anymore before this year. Spinners. I am trying to find the magic with them. I did have one good day but, never get on that pattern.

1 hour ago, Susky River Rat said:

T-Billy those are great lures. Casting and trolling they are not a let down

For sure. The Chad Shad is solid also. Switching to it when they wouldn't commit on the 22 turned several followers into biters for me.

lipless cranks both jigging the 3/4 oz lucky craft LVO and cranking 1/2 oz rat L traps and 6th sense crush. 

 

Went back to fishing the ned rig. mainly on the smallest 1/10 size. on windy days i’d upsize to 1/6 size and crushed some smallies and large mouth on it mid summer.  Before, i was only throwing it in the spring for whatever reason. 

 

Also, threw spooks this year quite a bit and had some success walking the dog in top.  Buying that No.7 color from lure net got me started down that road. 

I know everyone is throwing them but Wacky is responsible for 80% of my fish in 2023......it catches.

On 12/30/2023 at 4:38 PM, webertime said:

Nishine catfish senko thing on a carolina rig and free rig

 

I keep eyeballing those. Did they perform different than a senko? 

 

New stuff for the year that worked:

6" soft swimbaits

duel 7+m deep crank

netbait 6" trick worms

shimano world boost jerkbaits