"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
.. .
Here are mine.

1. Rooster Tail 1/6 oz in powder blue w/ silver blade. 1/16th oz for
trout.
I caught my first bass ever on an inline spinner in moving water.

2. Zoom U-Tail worm in watermelon seed rigged on a 2/0 worm hook behind a
1/16 to 1/8 oz bullet weight. Can also be drop shotted very well. This is
the first bait I ever felt like I mastered or atleast caught fish because
of
my abilities rather than just blind luck.

3. Storm Thin Fin Silver Shad in Chrome and black or gold chrome. (no
longer
made) I caught my first fish over ten pounds (a 12 lb striper) on this
bait, but also it consistantly would produce decent bass slow cranked on
days when nothing else seemed to work.

4. Popper... Almost any color. Small or medium size. Popper. Yeah baby!
Did
you see that one blow up on it!?

5. Little bent metal fish shaped spoon. This is the second bait I felt
like
I mastered or atleast caught fish because of my abilities rather than just
blind luck. I had two or three patterns with this bait.

I would like to note that my largest numbers of bass and my largest bass
were not caught on any of my favortie baits listed above. Largest numbers
were easily caught on live threadfin shad freshly netted.

Largest were all caught on plastics, but not the one listed above.


--
Bob La Londe

1. T-rigged worm (color and size depends on the situation). The first
artificial I learned to fish as a youngin, and have always seemed to be able
to get bitten on it when NOTHING else in the box was working. I will use
t-rigged worms from January to December and get bit most of the time
provided I am presenting it right and am in the right depth to put it near
the fish. My favorite non-homemade types to use are the Cyberflexx/XXX style
of late. They last forever, and the fish don't seem to mind biting them if
presented properly. I do pour a lot of my own "other" plastics though.

2. Smithwick Devil's Horse/toothpick topwater (red/yellow small size with
rear prop only). My favorite top water bait. I find this works great on my
local waters since it isn't as loud and obnoxious as buzzbaits. Maybe due
to all the buzzbait/burned spinnerbait pressure my local lakes see. Mostly
do this during the warm months, up until late October here. A good backup
for this bait when fish are more skittish, would be a Spook, or Baby Spook
(in almost any color, depending on cloud cover and wind/surface ripple).

3. Rat-L-Trap. Seasonal, usually an early spring, late winter bait. Caught
the 5 largest LM bass I can claim to have caught in my life on this bait,
all in late February & early March. I prefer the basic chrome with black
back for typical early spring muddy waters. Clearer waters seem to like
chrome with a blue back. I have also had some success in "fish colored"
patterns (bass-shad-bream), especially of late with the "bleeding" series
that includes a red hook up front. This is a deadly pre-spawn bait when
"yo-yo'd" (not a steady retrieve) in cold water, in my area. A 1/4 oz chrome
trap yoyo'd in about 3 ft caught me my largest LM bass to date in February
of '03.

4. Jig, jig/pig. I am still learning to fish these, got turned onto them
late in life. The best bait I've found to skip under docks and platforms on
busy lakes where typical weekend warriors are just banging the banks with
worms or spinnerbaits. Whether I use a trailer or not is up to the fish's
mood, and will start without a trailer most times to feel out the
aggressiveness of the fish at that point and time. I usually prefer black,
black/blue, and reddish brown(crawdad) shades with these, unless the water
is stained or really naturally dark (tannic), then I will add a skirt with
strands of chartreuse in it. I will trim the skirt on occasion if using a
trailer, so the trailer's action isn't impeded and so it can be seen a
little better if it is a swimmer type. I've also added some with built-in
rattles to the armory, for those times when the water is stained up and I
want the fish to "hear" it as much as see it.

5. C-rigged soft plastic. Between the summer doldrums and late winter's
pre-spawn crankbaiting, I can usually find fish with C-rigs and T-rigs. The
lakes around here are man-made by and large, and have roads that cross them
(which means man-made bridges, rip-rap, etc) and c-rigged lizards and worms
are hot stuff around rip rap, and around fish beds in a second or late
spawn. Sizes depend on the lake (more pressure = smaller size) and colors
depend on water color for the day. My goto colors are dark (black, red shad,
methiolate, motor oil) but sometimes pumpkin seed and watermelon are the
tickets too. Basic curly tail lizards or paddle tail worms are my favorite
here.

Honorable mentions:

Rapala medium diving crankbaits. Usually in some sort of forage color, like
shad or baby bass. Good for finding suspended bass around submerged
structures that would otherwise be spooked by rat-l-traps. Great for me in
water shallower than 10'. I like the minnow style and the broken back
swimmer minnow style.

Stick worms. I've been trying to learn these finesse baits, for use in both
wacky and drop shotting - all relatively new concepts to me, and is a bait
that can be fished from 1 ft to the bottom IMO. Tried Senkos, Kinamis, you
name it. I just bought some molds and will be pouring my own this winter
since I have some new color ideas that no one else seems ready to offer -
and I can vary the salt content and make them fall at rates that I choose,
and can choose my flake size and color for those that I want some sparkle
in. This means outside of those Cyberflexx, XXX, whatever high-stretch
commercial baits, I'll be pouring all my own "other" softbaits now.
(Lizards, chunks, "pigs", paddletails, and now stick baits).

Smithwick Rogue hard jerk baits. Deadly late winter early/spring bait when
they aren't hitting noisy baits like rat-l-traps. I'm trying to learn to
apply soft flukes here, but have not gotten very good with them yet.

I haven't the talent really to say I can catch a limit on spinnerbaits, but
continue to try to learn their use. And is why they aren't in my "top 8" as
noted above...yet.