A classic summer bait, period. Must have several, and that color’s one o’ the best of all time:

Fish ’em deep wherever you want — brushpiles, grasslines, ledges. As always, use the lightest weight you can get away with. Here’s why Jason Christie likes ’em (vid).

“Blue fleck” and “black” are still gotta-haves for me. In fact that’s my go-to TX rig for dirtier-water lake or pond fishing in the summer — those worms in 10″ or 12″. My thinking is, the bigger fish like big, and the size and stank make it easier to find. Seems to work so….

Here’s the 10″ link on TW and the 12″ link. I’m still stupidly not a big gp fan so will stick with the darker colors even in clearer water…..

Also gotta shout out the 8″ Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Kingtail Worm. I haven’t fished it but Jordan Lee said after winning the Kissimmee Chain Bass Pro Tour tourney:

Also comes in 7″ but I happen to like the extra length/action of 10″. Biggest deal to me with this worm is the different-shaped tail = different action. Guessin’ that “BioScent” doesn’t hurt either…..

TW has all 12 colors, that’s ^ “sprayed grass.”

Why does Chris Zaldain do this — does he like losing fish? He a little cray-cray? Did he shave the bassin’ ‘stache??

Okay none of the above, he’s just not afraid to do it. Here’s how:

His gear:

– 5″ stickworm, whatever color you want

– #1 Trokar Pro-V Neko Hook

– 15-lb Seaguar Smackdown Flash Green Braid to 12-lb Seaguar Tatsu fluoro leader

This bait looks and feels reeeeally good in person. And it moves, if you know what I mean — it’s not stiff or whatever. It swims/looks very tasty. Factoids:

Here’s how to rig it:

Weedless = great!

95 mm (3.74″), 3/8-oz, gets down about 4′. That’s “ghost smelt,” one of the 8 cool and realistic colors — they’re NICE, like “BPB chartreuse smelt” [drool emoji]…or “hologram smelt”….

Gotta mention again that Hiroshi Nishine is a known bait-design master. Seriously. So this jerkbait ain’t gonna be like the rest of ’em, whether you dig that or not:

Learn ya a little more about it here with Jarrett Edwards:

Not 100% sure about this but pretty dang positive swimbait mad scientist Mike Bucca can’t design a bad bait. And gotta say the castable-with-regular-gear 3.75″ Baby Bull Shad is for real. Lookit those things!

If you haven’t seen the vid about how he got started making swimbaits, check it out. One of my fave quotes from it is where he’s talkin’ ’bout how he used to be a finesse guy but wanted to catch bigger ones:

He can tell you the rest. Check this — how realistically that full-sized Bull Shad moves IN THE AIR:

To fish the Baby Bull Shad use a M to MH crankin’ rod, a little heavier line (like 15-lb fluoro or mono) in case a biggun smashes it, and probly a little-slower reel.

Good all-purpose jig — head on it is good for wood and rocks, and you can even swim it through grass. Comes with rattles attached, which is cool, and you can take ’em off if you want. Word is Jason Christie usually prefers the 3.25″ size YUM Craw Chunk for a trailer.

Here’s a little of the jig in action, tho not with the Craw Chunk — full vid here:

Gayle Julian and his folks at Jewel Baits seem to like making stuff you can fish shallow without it sinking like a rock and yet you can still cast it well. One of those things is this jig. Check it:

TW has 4 colors including that one ^, “Okeechobee blue.”

This scrounger-type Dude head runs 1/4- to 3/4-oz, and there’s a 1/8 to 3/16-oz finesse version too. So if your swimbait head or ball head or whatever ain’t gettin’ the bites, or you want a different action, this is one option.

Any swimbait will work but the one that’s hotter than “far” right now is the Scottsboro in “natural light.”

In my experience Fish Head makes consistently good stuff.

Goin’ with M action because you might not need MH! My 2c is both these 2 companies make only GOOD rods. Real good, like:

> 7′ M or 7′ LMH Kistler Argon — Least-expensive Kistler rods on TW and killer. Or you could specify your own specs and get it built thataway by Trey Kistler’s softball team…okay kidding about the softball deal but I could see this happening:

> 7′ MF Alpha Angler TopHammer — Supposed to be a topwater rod, but it can do a bunch more like launch Senkos ‘n whatnot.

Droppin’ at the beginning of August so gitcha excited ladies! My wife and reeeeeal picky 16-yr-old daughter love the SIMMS stuff because — they say — looks good, feels good, fits and works like it’s supposed to. Pretty sure those are equally important to ’em so…figurin’ this rainsuit will be the same.

SIMMS talkin’:

Women’s Challenger Jacket: $199.95
– 2-layer Toray Waterproof Breathable fabric
– 3-point adjustable hood
– Center-front zipper with a waterproof storm flap
– Zippered chest pocket with removable sunglass chamois
– Interior zippered pocket
– Zippered handwarmer pockets with adjustable cuffs
– Articulated sleeves for comfort and mobility

Women’s Challenger Bib $199.95
– 2-layer Toray Waterproof Breathable fabric
– Adjustable suspenders, a side body zip and stretch-woven back panel for comfort and easy on/off
– Pass-through handwarmer pockets lined with brushed tricot for warmth
– Durable belt loops with a killswitch D-Ring
– Top-loading welted thigh pocket with plier/tool holster
– Knee-high side zips for easy on/off
– Articulated leg panels for mobility

Say it every time: You get what you pay for with rainsuits. Also challenge you to find someone who isn’t super happy with SIMMS stuff….

Man who DOESN’T?? This band for sure does:

HAHAHA after all those explosions anyhow! Okay talkin’ actually the new YETI Roadie 24 cooler:

Here’s a couple things I’ve learned about YETI stuff:

1. Often — not always — you can get away with a smaller cooler than you think. And it will be easier to carry.

2. YETI stuff works and is all high quality. I’ve learned the hard way on some “similar” stuff.

So…the 24:
– Is a good size.
– Is tall enough for a bottle of wine — I don’t drink but my wife loves her some wine.
– It’s LIGHT. Supposed to be 10% lighter than similar stuff, but feels like a lot lighter than that, and supposed to actually perform better — 30% better.
– It latches easy, which again not so much matters for me but my wife appreciates that stuff.

Cool vid about the new MotorGuide trollers needin’ to be durable to a) be part of Tour-level fishing and b) because Hack’s been known at times to flip where most people wouldn’t:

Hahahahaaaaa! I love that pic! Btw the new Tour Pro motors I THINK are shipping early August.

They look beautiful, they ride beautiful and they fish beautiful:

That pic ^ is the all-glass VX model, but I can’t wait to get my AVX 1980 glass-tin hybrid. Like I’ve said before, drives more like a glass boat than a tin one.

If you don’t have a bud or a friend of a friend with a Vexus you can ride in AND drive, here’s how to find the nearest dealer.

Got 4 minutes to learn how to keep your bassin’ rig runnin’ top-notch with Sea Foam Marine PRO? Plus learn a little about what older gasoline can do to your motor:

You can do pretty much the same for your tow vehicle or just daily driver too, with Sea Foam Motor Treatment — just pour it in. I do it about 1x/mo for all vehicles, and also use Sea Foam Spray through the top end about 1x/year — real critical for fuel-injected trucks (and cars).

T-H Marine has some genius products and this is one of ’em. I mean, if you have a personal watercraft or even a pickup truck and you want quick access to baits or need your baits to dry out before you put ’em back in the box, there you go!

Also need to mention that YOLOtek now has a phone mount for their PowerStick — so you can torture your buds with live feeds when they’re at work lol.

Wait…it’s never not BUFF time cuz of sun and weather and all, so you better BUFF! Plus it makes you look cooler on the ‘gram too so….

Put yourself together a “camo blue” kit like this-here BUFF, arm sleeves and gloves:

BUFF stuff is the original and the best (really) — plus they make some of their stuff outta recycled plastic bottles which is cool. Look cool, be cool and impress your relatives with the recycling deal = all good!

Just the facts Jack:

1. You and me, bein’ bass-heads, are rednecks. Your neck might be red, brown (like mine), ashen ghostly white (lol), covered by a BUFF or whatever, to me it’s just a term for folks who’d rather put their thumb in a fish’s mouth than pretty much anything else.

2. Redneck Lipstick is one of the best BBQ sauces on the planet. My 2c but I think you’ll agree once it slams into your tastebuds.

3. The company was established in Grubbs, AR — like in food = “grub” — and the actual company name is “Fatboy Happy LLC.”

What’s not to love about that whole deal?? If you don’t see any Lipstick at your local Wally-mart or wherever, git you some at the website…then do something like this:

– End of part 2 of 2 –