Take the style quiz:

a) Honey badger don’t care man, I’ll fish in my jammies if I want to and shower later…maybe.

b) As long as I’m warm ‘n dry, don’t care if I dress like Seth Feider or Justin Lucas, just whatever stuff I can get my hands on fastest.

c) You fish like you feel, and you feel like you look, so I’m layin’ out my stuff the night before and will look like Chuck Norris headin’ to his own fishin’ weddin’ mang!

Congratulations, you got an A! Lucky for you, no matter what your style is — or, as my kids say to me, “You dress like a fisherman every day dad” lol — BassBlastin’ supporter peeps got you covered…literally.

The. Best. Rain gear. Pick your level:

ProDry Jacket and ProDry Bibs — The best, worn by the pros, but since you get what you pay for this is spendy at $600…each. BUT that’s because each piece is constructed from the skins of individual frogs from the rain forest on Pandora, made famous by that Avatar movie…which is REAL man! Don’t feel bad — the frogs in that deal are evil:

Challenger Jacket and Challenger Bibs — No one has any bidness pulling a cheap rainsuit out on a 5-figure bassin’ tub, period. The Challenger set ain’t cheap — $200 and $200 — and in my experience (it’s what I wear) is reeeeeeal good. Plus it takes a little beatin’ too which I only know because I don’t treat my stuff nice enough….

I gotta throw in the Simms Exstream Hooded Jacket. Light and warm cuz SIMMS only uses primo materials like Primaloft = synthetic warmth = stays warm when wet and dries quicker. Stand-alone or layer it. I wear it all the dang time this time of year.

BUFF stuff’s also practical and cool-lookin’ — and in some parts is a requirement for a) skin protection and b) gettin’ in Bassin’ Vogue. If — like me — your excessive testosterone is causin’ manly-man hair loss, then my recommendation is you BUFF your bad self with one o’ their merino wool hats/beanies. I like the non-lightweight ones for the outdoors/boat, and will always go with black or close to it for the most free heat possible.

If it’s on the colder side, I’ll wear a merino regular BUFF, the ones you have around your neck and can pull around your face — just like the sun one. For me, a warm neck = warmth — keeps that chest body heat in better.

If you need gloves, you gotta have ones you can actually fish in so take your pick of BUFF’s fingers, fingertips or full. Pictured are the FullFlex in “reflection brown.”

For me anyhow, here you go — in order of use on a feeshn trip:

1. 10-oz Rambler Mug

Keeps my morning coffee hotter than a clay mug, looks cooler than a clay mug and I gotta have 1 cup of coffee before I go anywhere so I can’t just jump in the truck and go. Smaller 10-oz size because I like having more than 1 cup in the morning but not too much overall.

2. 20-oz Traveler Mug

I like the handle! Better than no handle…for me….

3. 36-oz Rambler Bottle

My kids got me on these things. They each have one of these on/around ’em at all times (even at school) all day long. It’s the most water they ever drank. Is it because having a YETI is cool? Is it cuz the water in it stays cool and tastes better? Probably all of the above but I don’t care cuz they’re drinkin’ it.

When Chuck Norris was thinkin’ ’bout makin’ a comeback, he knew he needed his favorite crankbait to make a comeback too — the ol’ Xcalibur XCS square lip. And so the BOOYAH XCS squarebill was born — cuz it uses the EXACT same plastics and molds as the Xcal, just with better colors.

Okay not really but that’s how it shoulda gone down. A little more on fishing this real good and real AFFORDABLE bait in the fall:

> Your fave crank stick or a 6′ 6″ M-MH Mod F rod, 6:1-ish ratio reel, 12-15 lb fluoro.

> Shad colors like lucent shad (^), citrus shad or TN special. Deflect ’em off targets in the backs of creeks. Don’t get mad if you bust ’em up, that’s where they need to be!

I like “perch” too, kinda a cross between bluegill ‘n perch. Git you some more info:

Is this the greatest crankbait you haven’t fished yet? Well, the bottom line is pros love it. And they love stuff that deserves love, like puppies, Cinnabons, high-mileage flip-flops and stuff that helps ’em catch green-heads. Like this bait, designed by a guy who spent all his time as a kid fishing crankbaits: one David “watermelon” Fritts.

I’ll say this: The bait’s lighter and smaller than I expected but not too small and not too light. Personally I’d fish it on a 6′ 10″ ML or 7′ M Abu Fantasista Premier Rod, or pretty much ANY Kistler Magnesium Rod (they’re that good!) or the off-the-books/unofiicial Alpha Angler smaller-crank rod, where Jake “the maddest scientist” Boomer takes the 6′ 10″ MF DSR dropshot spin-rod and makes it into a casting rod. You can ask him to do that….

All that said, in the ICAST-ish issue this year David said he likes this for fishin’ his latest cranks:

Here’s a dude with the hot-sauce beard tellin’ ya more:

You don’t gotta be Hank Cherry to jerk your way around a lake! Here’s a couple pro-type dudes who like to jerk in the fall. First Clent Davis:

Here’s Brandon Cobb:

Brandon likes to start with “natural shad,” but Clent likes “clear pro blue” (pictured ^) in clear water and “pearl shad” or “ghost sexy shad” in off-colored water. Gitcha more:

Shad overall smaller this time of year? Check. Mike Bucca an evil genius? Not sure about the evil part, but otherwise — check. Never a bad time to fish this bait? Check. I really dig it man. That’s ^ “theadfin shad” but I don’t think it matters which one you pick. Just reel it like you’re a fish that want’s to get smashed by a way-bigger fish!

For this deal I like mono line — Sufix Advance Mono is great, just downsize 1 size from your typical because it’s burly enough to handle it — or real good fluoro. Real good = thinner but still strong, and to my thinking that means it doesn’t weight the bait down and kill its action a little like a beefier fluoro would do. Seaguar InvizX is great, or if you just got some birthday money you can go up to Seaguar Tatsu. Seaguar Gold Label I haven’t tried with it yet but believe it’s the thinnest you can get.

How you fish it: Cast it our and real it in, as slowly as you can stand it…maybe slower….

When’s the last time you pulled a Fat Free Shad outta your box? If you don’t own this bait in “citrus shad” (^) you are literally missing out one o’ the most fish-ketchin’ crankbaits of all time. No exaggeration. If that color’s too much for you, check “foxy shad” or “TN shad.” Tippage:

> Since this bait runs a little deeper you might want a little longer rod — like a 7′ to 7′ 6″ M to MH. Maybe a little-slower reel too — like in the 5 range — and 10-15 lb fluoro depending on the depth you want.

> …channel swings, humps, flats or other drops in the 10-15′ range.

Here’s former Bassmaster pro Frank “what accent? do I have an accent?” Scalish showin’ ‘n tellin’ ya ’bout it:

Berkley says this new bait has balsa-like rolling action, a tight tail and that weighed disc deal that helps make those Frittside baits all that…meaning plastic that acts like wood. It’s gettin’ pretty tough to doubt what Berkley says, not just cuz of their army of science-types…

…but because their pro guys back ’em up. Here’s what Bobby Lane says ’bout fishing the 5.1″ 1/2-oz version:

He likes 4 colors for fall: TN shad, purple glimmer (^), black gold and black silver, with the first 2 typically thrown in sunnier conditions. 12-lb Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon (Palomar knot), Abu REVO AL-F Reel (8.0), 6′ 10″ ML F Abu Garcia Fantasista Premier Rod:

Don’t think jerkbaits have to measure 110 to catch ’em but check me on that…lol. These 2 baits — like everything Hiroshi Nishine makes — are stick. They are good. Will your feesh like ’em? Only one way to find out!

If your bai’s on the smaller side, the 95 is your deal. If the baits’ bigger or you don’t care and just want a bigger bait, the 115 is it.

Several white and white-ish/baitfish colors to choose from includin’ “pearl white” (^). Lotta great colors and cool things about the bait — interesting that all Nishine hard baits come with a Nishine snap, so I always use it. Hiroshi is a DETAIL dude so….

Here’s Hiroshi talking about and showing the action of the 115SD — pretty sweet:

Why does Bill Lewis have 2 completely different lookin’ squarebills? Maybe blame Mark Daniels Jr — or actually maybe Bill Lewis head dude and master of hair-imonies Wes Higgins (we’re both hair-challenged lol) for darin’ to roll out Bill Lewis’ first LIPPED bait a couple-3 years back — the Echo 1.75. Then I guess MDJ got wind of it and wanted to do another few baits with this n that, one of which is the SB-57 (TN shad ^).

So you take a pro who knows his crankbaits and hook him up with a guy who knows hard plastics n colors cuz he’s been raisin’ ’em since he was a kid, and you got some good baits! The Echo is slightly longer and heavier than the SB-57’s 2.25″ and 3/8-oz, but it doesn’t get as deep as the SB-57 (3-6′).

Should also mention the Echo kinda rattles like a ‘Trap, but the SB-57 — which has Mustad Triple Grips — is silent…but deadly…lol.

Here again is MDJ givin’ the full rundown on his SB-57 rig:

End of part 1 of 2!