New and Improved for 2010.

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by keithdog

As far as lures go, I'm going to try more with rattle trap type baits. So many people swear by them, but I've never had much luck with them. I just bought a 3/4 oz Strike King Red Eye Shad in a chrome with blue back. Doing to give it a work out this spring. The main thing I'm going to be working on though is learning to use my new depth finder. I havn't owned or used one since 1984! Needless to say, they have changed a lot since I last owned one.

Keith, get some traps in the 1/2 oz range as well. When the water warms into the 50s and bass start the pre-spawn you can slay them with the Red Shad Rattle trap. Working that thing slowly over last year's dead grass and vegetation. As the water warms a bit more the Brown Craw pattern works well. The Chrome and Blue is a tried and proven schooling bass bait, and works pretty much anytime the bass are forageing on shad.

BB, definitely hone your pitching and flipping skills! A huge percent of the fish I catch on Jigs are caught on precise presentations and usually on the first drop. I would venture to say that the technique may have been largely developed around jigs then applied to other baits (I beleive that Don Iovino may have been the godfather of flipping and he probably used tubes! LOL).