Your top 3 and bottom 2?

NJ:

1.  Shallow Crankbaits

2.  Shallow Plastics

3.  Jig and pig

SC:

1.  Medium Crankbaits

2.  Shallow Plastics

3.  Topwaters

Needs work:

Deep water tactics

Deep water tactics!

Hmm. Florida bass fishing. These are a go for me all the time:

1. Bottom contact weightless and weighted in and around cover. Plastics, jigs, etc.

2. Shallow running lipped cranks (all of them).

3. Single hook moving baits (soft swimbaits, underspins, etc).

honorable mention: jerkbaits. Don’t make the top 3 because I only fish these late Dec through Feb, but when the go, they go hard.

Needs work particularly as a Florida angler.

1. Lipless cranks. Guys in FL make a living on these and it’s just never been a confidence bait for me. Pick ‘‘em up junk fishing sometimes and it’s always hit or miss for me.

2. Walking baits and frogs. I know guys in FL that will throw a frog all day. I’ve always marveled watching guys like Ish make it look easy. Certain times of year when there’s no other way to reach a fish I’ve found and I’ve really made an effort to soak that frog, I might eventually get a hit. But, need to work on getting more confidence with these.

1. Power moving of all sorts, spinnerbaits, topwaters, lipless, chatters, cranks. This is all about angle of cast, speed/depth of presentation, and how effectively water is covered.

2. Target pitching and casting, but mostly when I am on a boat or yak with jigs and plastics, not really as much from shore unless there is obvious visible cover. From shore, I try to cover more water to find where the fish are holding.

3. Reading current breaks and drifting presentations through the ambush areas in currents.

Needs work:

1. Any and all dropshots.

3. Deep cranks

Hmmm…. Had to mull this one a bit, I am most confident in

Jerkbaits, any usable depth, variety of method, current or not, cold or warm, provided visibility and open(ish) water being key. I’m happy throwing them right off wood and veggies, tail weighted tracking current to rock, nose weighted jigging ledges, whatever at one time or another

Crankbaits, lipped any usable depth, provided reasonable element of visibility (I prefer silent runners), predicated on structure or sometimes long line opportunity. I’ll smash or bounce or fabricate cadence to mimic such near and around. These are often my first cast

Long plastics, not so much grub type, water be damned. T rig, C rig, pick your rig, floater, deadstick, it doesn’t matter. Once all I understood, but more of a fallback now. I’ve come to enjoy a more interactive power fishing mindset over the years

NOTE TO THOSE WHO MIGHT CARE – I’ve come to realize my idea of ‘finesse’ is opposite industry at large. To me, ‘finesse’ does not have to be ‘small’, two different realities. Anyone who moves a massive worm once every 20-30 seconds is finesse fishing. I don’t care what gear you use, and I don’t care how big it is. And anyone who ever ripped a .125oz flasher using light line and gear required knows the presentation is anything but ‘finesse’. Apologies on tangent, trust me much more to come when this absurd sales hype topic opens up… Serenity now… I’m in a happy place… All is well in the universe…

Not ‘confident’ in with exceptions

Spinnerbait, for the life of me I don’t see purpose of these. They cast horrible through wind, foul easy, hate current, they bend, they break, I don’t get it. I only fish them out of spite sometimes and find them not worth the trouble. I understand where they can excel, simply prefer other options is all

Alabama rig, with a twist of Cali style (3 hook legal), though typically use only one, sometimes remove others depending on what I’m thinking, cut wires to minimize presentation, etc. I’m usually watching sink rate here, dependent on depth, but again often not worth the trouble. They’re fun, but a hassle dialing for me, and permanent once complete which frustrates me. But in cloudy rainwater situations I’m throwing them

And I think I’m going to write midrunner propbaits? I think? This is not a no confidence thing, more of a I haven’t used them enough to extrapolate what they manage type thing. But in overcast, no current, and clear water I’m all over it. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong. Or not. But I do know easy to manage, easy to place, easy to store, reliable, and I plan to figure these better. Just not enough opportunity thus far

NOTE TO SELF – Got to get out more, dummy

I'll start with the weakest ones and number one is finding and fishing shell bars on the St. Johns river. I have spoke with those guys who say they are good at doing it and from what they say it's easy but i dare say without 2-3 months straight on the water its hard for me to fathom that i will get better with my limited time on the water. I strive to get better each time i can but i am going to have to have some dedicated time and some new electronics the size of wall mounted tv's 

the second technique would have to deep cranking 

Top 3.

1. Jerkbait. Snap snap pause. I started fishing jerks in 2012 and basically never stopped. This is the kind of fishing that makes me actually enjoy fishing because I KNOW for a fact that I did something to entice the fish into biting.

2. Small Swimbait (3-4"). A technique as old as time. Nothing beats chucking and winding.

3. Klash 9. I would say glide bait but really I only fish the K9. I have insane amounts of confidence in this magical bait. The drawing power. The customization. The ability to make it do what you want. One of my absolute favorite baits.

Worst 2.

1. Anything Bottom Contact. I've never done bottom contact...ever. Taking this next year to learn and devote myself to it. Looking forward to getting skunked a lot.

2. Crankbaits. Strange that I enjoy chucking and winding so much but haven't touched crankbaits. Perhaps its the fact that there are so many options and so little time to learn them all.

Top 3 best at:

Worm and Jig fishing

Drop shottin

Jerkbaits

Top 2 worst at:

Punching and Pitching- not my thing

Swimbaits - we don’t have the right lake dynamics

Some great responses. I make it a point to get better at one technique each year. Whether it be something I suck at or something I haven't given a fair shot. I always try to become more versatile, as well as sharpen techniques that have gotten "dull" over the years.