Well, for a guy that has focused so much time for the past ten or eleven years on soft plastics, to give them up seems odd. I'm not really "given 'em up," but I haven't fished a Senko or Fat Ika in several months.

For the past two years I have been working on jig fishing and I finally "got it!"

As a result, I have been fishing jigs almost exclusively when I would normally be fishing soft plastics. I don't think I fished one my my top three producers, the Micro Munch El Gordo tube, all summer. Strange, huh?

#2 On most of my baitcasting rigs, I am switching from #12 Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft to #15 original Hybrid. The thicker line seems to resist kinks from those occasional professional overruns. I'm still using #12 Ultra Soft on the set-up I use most for repetative casting and fast retrieve, but my jig rig and heavy casting reel are spooled up with #15.

#3 More focus on hard lures, crankbaits and jerkbaits. I've also been throwing more buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. Maybe I've gone off the deep end!

#4 I have been captured by the swimbait craze. Although I have not stepped up to the big baits yet, I find myself gravitating towards the technique. Midday I'm torn between the jig and the swimbait, but I'm starting to lean.

I'm not catching more fish, but I'm using a greater variety of equipment and still catching better quality fish. I haven't given up size, but I have sacrificed some numbers. As the weather cools, I see myself moving more and more to the jig and swimbait when the target is largemouth bass. Hopefully, smallmouth season will get cranked up here soon and I won't spend so much fishing time "wasted" on the green fish!

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I'd call that a bit more than an adjustment. Sounds more like a paradigm shift.

I know what you mean about variety. It's one of things that floats my boat; using a wide range of tackle to catch as wide a variety of fish as possible.

Cheers,

GK

I think like many of us, you are just becoming more well - rounded in different techniques and baits. Two years ago if you would have told me I would have been fishing a jig most of the time I would have thought you were crazy. I seem to be gravitating towards bigger baits myself. Started out with 3/16 jigs, now I use 1/2 oz. or bigger most of the time. Most of my spinnerbaits have went from 1/4 and 3/8 oz. to 1/2 to 3/4 oz. My average size fish have went up as well. Good Stuff!!!

definately a year of soft plastics for me.   Wacky riggin senkos or jiggin tubes on the bottom ( Senkos have caught way more fish but the Tubes have causght the bigger ones by far)...I'm stuck to the shorlines right now so i dont have to many options for fishin Cranks (even though i still buy them all the time!)

Down here it 's small green fish, mid size green, big green fish or huge green fish, you can pick the one you like the most.  

I 've never seen myself as one bait kind of guy, as a matter of fact, I hate fishing soft plastics yet still, my best gear is dedicated to them, I like to cast and retrieve, move along and milk my way from one place to the other, soft plastics & jigs are a complement of cranks and spinnerbaits, kinda like sucking dry the last drop of water from the bucket, first I bomb them with different cranks, then come the spinnerbaits and lastly soft plastics & jigs.

But sometimes fish are not in the mood to take cranks & spinnerbaits so it 's time to pull out the soft plastics & jigs even though I really hate to fish with them.

You gotta do what you gotta do.

I seem to be changing from using Senkos, Weightless t-rigged Creatures, Fat ikas, and topwaters, to using Jigs, flipping baits, and spinnerbaits. I think I get alot more quality fish using jigs and flipping pegged bullet weight softbaits into cover then with the senkos/ikas. I feel I can always go back to the senkos and ikas any time I want and I am trying to put them into a category of when to pull them out. I think if I can learn to use every technique, and a huge variety of different baits I can put them all into categorys of when to use them. And once I have mastered all the techniques, and have them all imprented in my mind when to be used, I believe then I will be just as good as the pros  . But thats gonna take alot of time mastering all those baits/techniques, so it'll be awhile before you see me on tv or in any bass magazines  ;D. But moving on to new baits and techniques is all the better imo, once you learn how and when to use a bait you don't forget it, so learnin all the baits you can is definetly an advantage, never look at change as a bad thing, the originals are always there for the grabbing  .

Well, it's not really about catching bigger bass. All but one of my BIG bass have been caught on a 6" Senko. The difference is just more fun!

In addition to the lures I mentioned, the Senko Swimbait has been added and most importantly, the GYCB Kreature. The Kreature I had fished for a number of years, but changing the presentation to a "swimming jig" made this the bait THE MOST FUN I have ever fished! Using this lure as a swimming jig near vegetation resulted in the most violent strikes I have ever had! Fishing this bait under the right conditions is as good as it gets.

As far as numbers of big bass is concerned, I fished three Mattlures Baby Bass this summer. I caught 24 bass on these lures. One bait I lost on the first cast. On another I only caught six bass total. So, one bait was responsible for most of my biggest fish this year. Interesting, huh?

It is ALL about the fun. For this year, the Swim Senko has been one of the fun lures since SOMEBODY here convinced me to fish this thing weightless. I got half a dozen packs of GYCB Kreatures to try, but haven't yet.

You want some fun? try these.

http://www.flyshack.com/DisplayItem.aspx?ItemID=22294

Fish these on a spinning rod. Once they get wet, you can cast them quite well on light line. A split shot will get them deeper, but the fun is in the barely sub-surface strike. Bass try to kill these things.

Cheers,

GK

I'm all for trying new techniques and lures too.  The best fish of the trip isn't always the biggest!

This has been the year of adjustments I guess you could say for me, in the past Ive been almost exclusively a finesse guy and this year Ive began learning to become versatile. Before this year it was soft plastics, buzzbaits on early mornings, spinnerbaits and jigs occasionally. But in 07 Ive added several topwater lures to my arsenal, finally starting learning to fish a crankbait and rattletrap effectively. Become pretty good with the spinnerbait and jig. Still working on perfecting some of those presentations and tecniques. Just started fishing the swimbait, another for me to learn. Im slowly transforming from a finesse angler to a versatile one. Im also starting to see an increase in the size of my fish which is always a good thing. One of my favorite things about bassin is learning new stuff.

The way i look at it,you have to switch up or else you'll get bored of throwing the same thing over and over again.

I've been throwing cranks lately...which i'm not used to doing.

I want to get good at every lure out there.Next spring i'm gonna fish the buzz baits.I'm not ready for swimbaits...i don't have the rod to do it yet.

I love learning new techniques.

I thought this post was going to be your confession that you bought a Revo STX  :-X

A Revo matched up with a Kistler and braided line!

Now I'm set to begin my tournament career. Watch out little fish, here I come!

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Ahhh,  I see you have evolved into a jig fisherman.  Your plastics just sit there when the slow feed bite is on.  If its not then you go for the reaction bite on cranks and spinnerbaits.  

Yup same happened to me.

Ahhh, I see you have evolved into a jig fisherman. Your plastics just sit there when the slow feed bite is on. If its not then you go for the reaction bite on cranks and spinnerbaits.

Yup same happened to me.

Yeah...Remember those Fat Ika I bought from you? I was really surprised you were selling them...I still have them and a "few" other bags. For those that complain about the "longevity" of GYCB baits, I have found a solution: When you leave them in the package they last forever!

I still have some laying around somewhere too.  never been opened.

Now I just pour some plastics if I plan on throwing them.  I dont have hardley any plastics anymore.  Maybe 3 plano boxes.   The rest I just pour a days usage and leave it at that.

This year I have learned to fish a jig- I am a believer in the Eakins 3/8oz jig- great bait

I still have some laying around somewhere too. never been opened.

Now I just pour some plastics if I plan on throwing them. I dont have hardley any plastics anymore. Maybe 3 plano boxes. The rest I just pour a days usage and leave it at that.

Well, I still have a stockpile and I'll still be using them, I think....

Something else, I'm still using spinning tackle for all of my smallmouth fishing, but now that I have gotten away from the soft plastics for awhile, I have been throwing baitcasters exclusively for largemouth. That's another fairly significant change for me.

I dont smallie fish alot but I do love it.  Almost all of my smallie fishing is with spinning tackle too.  

Lately I've been throwing more lighter line for largies too. With the use of spinning tackle.  

I still dont use spinning for heavy line applications and never will.  Lighter presentations spinning is a must imo.  I prefer spinning but throw bc more because of structure.

I am ALL about spinning tackle, but for POWER FISHING, I use baitcasters.

Despite my advanced years, I've been bass fishing for only a couple of years.  Up until recently, I've fished exclusively with plastics.  On a recent trip to Toledo Bend, I decided to try using a 6" Zara Spook just for a change of pace.  What a blast!  This was my first time fishing top-waters, and to watch the bass explode out of the water when hitting the lure was priceless.  I caught my two largest fish on that lure.  One was 17" and the other was 15;"  nothing to write home about, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.