skeeter76

I dont think there's an easy answer to that one man. On a lake dock there's a pile of variables - what part of the lake, what bank it faces, depth, bottom comp, etc... On a river there's always current - sometimes thats good, sometimes bad. In the end look for a dock thats different than the one to the left or right of it, regardless if its a river or a lake dock

Cold - 6 or 7inch osprey, ROF5 Hud trout, keitech 4.8 or 5.8 fat impact Warm - triple trout, wake jr, punker

Wait til there's wind..come back when the wind is blowing on that bank, keep your boat off of them, and grind away.

Bingo! Get the best you can afford and commit to learning how to use it to its potential. Especially if you're fishing pressured waters this will get you more opportunities at fish.

You dont need to see the beds, the actions of the fish will tell you when their mind is elsewhere. When the water is 52-57 I get fish really trying to swallow it. When the water gets closer to 60 degrees I get way more fish ramming into the bait, even ganging up on the thing, but not getting stuck. You might find the area of your lake where they spawn the latest and toss it around there. I started out yesterday with a half dozen misses and when I left the creek arm and started on some main lake I was able to get 3 prespawn fish to commit. Might work in your area.. Another thing I try and do is make as many casts to ambush spots as possible - not just spending my day running down a bank or casting it over a flat. Fish that are on those prime spots are there for one reason and I get way more committed bites on those casts. I'll cover way more water than most but when I hit a ton of spots like that I'm usually happy at the end of the day.

I lost a bunch of them on it yesterday too. A couple were solid bites that got into some thick stuff. The others just didnt hit it right. Around the spawn you get a lot of territorial bites, rather than fish trying to choke on the bait. I switched over to a wake jr and let the dual trebles give me a better hookup ratio.

For a line through bait I put a small tungsten sinker on my line between the bait and the split ring. It helps get/keep the bait down if you want a faster retrieve. I've had good luck with that this year anyways..

Missed it...My life sucks.

And if you use it a lot the finish on the coil part can rub off and leave rough edges. Some rustoleum can smooth it up for you.

I've been using a telescopic lure retriever, specifically the first one in your post, for about 5 years and its saved me a friggin ton of coin. I figure I get about 90% of snagged baits with it. The key is to get straight over the top of it and keep working at it until the lure pops. Mine's beat up and somewhat tweaked from use but its always on board. I had a lure knocker many years ago, the kind on a rope, and only got about half of my lures back.

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I was using procure trout gel. This time of year I'm used to the territorial bites but this is the first time I've used the sissy(small rising son, line through). I have it stuck in my head that I'll get more fish to eat the bait if I use a more natural pattern, and more curiosity/angry male bites if I use the bright stuff. I just need to fish it more to figure out how/when to make it work. Ali, when I tourney fish I always have a stinger on my soft baits but now that I think of it I cant remember catching anything on it. Its just something else to overthink I guess.

Looking for some feedback from others that have used the pink baits, specifically soft swimbaits. I started with a sissy Rising Son today and got hit on my first cast, caught a nice 4pounder on my 3rd, and had quite a few other bites that didnt stick. Its the ones that didnt stick that has me thinking. The spawn is going on where I fished it so I expect some goofy bites. Its just tough to get full confidence in the gaudy baits when so many fish dont completely commit. The early bites were in relatively low light conditions and they definitely wanted the bait. The later baits were less committed which led to my anxiety in using such a bright bait. I'm going to rig a stinger hook and give it another shot. It definitely has a place in my boat, just trying to refine the strategy a bit. Anyone else having success with them?

Welcome man... What kind of lakes do you fish? The answer to that will narrow down some good options for ya

I'd try speeding it up or keeping it closer to the surface so they dont get as good of a look at it. A faster retrieve might get the hook points started into the fish when it engulfes it too. I'm a hard bait glutton and 95% of my bites are within 18" of the surface.