Originally Posted by dakota560
Alex I agree they're deadly baits when you have enough water to fish them properly. And yes all three reports the last week or so were wading from shore. Definitely helps cut down on the cost of gas, slip rental and insurance! Didn't change up the jig head much so not sure how much difference the jig color made, I suspect very little but can't say for sure since I didn't mix it up. You can see from the pictures, I used mostly combinations of white, chartreuse and yellow, brighter colors. Lighter colored Keitechs seemed to work better and ones with silver glitter even more so. All paddle tails. If the water was skinnier, split tails would have worked just as well with a plain hook inside and a small nail cut to maybe a 1/2" inserted in the nose of the plastic. Different way of fishing plastics when you have bait fish pushed into skinny water. In those cases, no steady retrieve just twitch, stop and repeat type retrieve. The nail makes it darts erratically like a wounded bait fish. Vert effective way to fish shallows or areas with high weed cover when weighted plastics can't be fished.
Fwiw, the Keitech I had the most luck with were the two shown below, 4" Easy Shiner Pro Blue / Red Pearl and even more the 4" Easy Shiner Sight Flash. To get more mileage from each, after a few fish or a pickerel ripped one up, I'd cut off an inch or so from the head and they worked just as well and when that got ripped up I turned the plastic upside down (belly up) to thread the ball jig and each worked equally well. Just a way of getting a lot more mileage out of each plastic. As long as the tail gives off that vibrating paddle movement and the plastic sits straight on the hook shank and swims straight, it works. Don't bunch up the plastic head on the hook shank, seems to impact effectiveness of the presentation.
Badger back to your point, they're great baits. Have done well with lmb, smb, and walleye on this presentation. Always keep a few packs on hand.
One other point, if there's bait around, seems like a higher water column retrieve worked best. Cast and as soon as the bait hits the water, start a slow retrieve. Fish right now with colder water wanted the retrieve slow. If the sun gets high or bait disappears or goes deep, work the weed edges so cast, give the jig head 5 seconds or so to drop and then start your retrieve the same way. You'd be surprised how the fish move within a short period of time based on sunlight, bait movement and even wind conditions.
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