C. Saucier : Fishing Forum Posts

I honestly never use weighted wacky rigs, closedt would be neko rigs. But for weightless wacky rigging I use the Trokar weedless T137. Incredible hook and the bend in it keeps the hook centered on the wacky ring

My PB came years back (we’re talking flip phone days) on a Shad colored skitter walk on a bluebird day about 8lbs

I use 12-17lb for leaders on topwaters (try 30-40lb Braid to a 2’ mono leader via FG knot) you’ll be able to throw smaller baits more accurately and your baits will walk SO much better)

15-20lb for leaders on Carolina rigs for buoyancy and straight 15-20lb mono for tweaking cranking depths and buzzbaits too (I feel like for buzzbaits the stretch helps them get the bait a little better)

If it’s still on the roll throw your rolls in bread boxes or smaller ice chests. Great for keeping them sealed off from changing temperatures and air moisture

Isolated targets with calmer water I’ll throw a popper. More open water areas like covering points or areas with submerged grass, or if it’s choppy I’m throwing a walking bait. Seems like for me, buzzbaits and ploppers are cool really in both scenarios

VMC makes a nice clip for quickly changing lures, but the bonus is it works phenomenal well on the front of poppers to make them walk much better. Stay away from adding clips on frogs,, small as it is.. it’ll pick up grass

Like Jason said I’ve also seen fish spawning in 10+’ in gin clear bodies of water. Again, not all fish are spawning at the same time, in these scenarios if I couldn’t pick fish off by sight, I’d rely on prespawn tactics. Key players for me were making LONG casts with Neko rigs and jerkbaits, keep the boat way off your target , downsize your gear and start slinging. Cloud cover and shade are your friends.

Definitely dude, I keep it tied on year round like Pete said especially around the spawn but honestly just as the ULTIMATE follow up bait to missed fish. If I’m following up with it for top water it’s weightless, wacky or Texas depending on cover. If I’m following up with other lures then I’ll have it rigged neko style.

Rigging depends on cover, if I’m off the bank I have it rigged on my Dobyns drops hot rod, 10# braid to an 8# fluoro leader; if I’m up on the bank around thicker stuff I’ll have it rigged on an all purpose medium heavy casting setup with 30# braid to a 15# fluoro leader

At the end of the day it’s not about money spent on tackle, it’s confidence gained. I own some high end stuff, but for instance my favorite lipless crank rod is a 7’ Tournament Choice that you can buy at academy for literally $12. I get made fun of for it a lot from co-anglers but it’s the bees knees for trapping because the action of it suits my style of fishing.