Pond Boss Forums FISH & FISHING Sunfish-Including Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass Bluegill fishing - favorite lures & equipment

Haven't been here in a while though I should post more often because of the great replies to my past posts. Image posting was a problem but I'll give it another go, though I wish the forum had a way to upload shots right from my computer.
The following ideas and suggestions are opinionated - mine alone. They are not meant to be taken as gospel but only as suggestions based on years discovering the many ways to catch fish.

When it comes to catching fish on lures, two rules apply starting out:
1. larger lures exclude small fish from biting
2. smaller lures catch everything regardless the water fished

Finesse lures and presentations get it done. By finesse, I mean any lure that exhibits the slightest subtle movements. A 2" Floating Rapala twitched on the surface producing ripples is a finesse lure and presentation. There are an infinite number of finessee soft plastic shapes, but all require a light jighead or only a hook.

The most amazing and thrilling thing is to discover new lure shapes fish attack. Early this year a pickerel tore off the curt tail of my 2" grub. I figured: why not use it with no action tail? Dang if it didn't catch a slew of fish this summer!!!

I started to experiment with more colors and shapes:

Note: colors added using a soft-plastic dye.

I also melted together two grub bodies together for a different shape and waddle:


Jig head weight: 1/32, 1/24 oz.; hook size #6
Like the retrieve another posted, slight reel hand turns along with occasional rod tip twitches, making the lure slowly dart, wobble & pause.

Another discovery was figuring out how to improve the shape and action of a 2.5" Sassy Shad. I simply cut off the belly thereby creating a flat bottom surface but also shortened the lure by cutting off 1/4" from the front. It also caught fish! The shimmy of the body is much nicer.

The same jig weights were used but also a #4 hook for a larger length S Shad.

I also attached the Shad tail to a grub body using the candle flame method posted a few years ago:


Here's a final suggestion:
Use a light jig head and #1/0 hook attached to a Softie or Gary Yamamoto Kut Tail Worm. Both have an amazing action as they whip & pause back & forth between pauses:
Softie worm:
GY Kut tail: