Micro

There are shallow, medium and deep boxes. But the width and length is the same among models.

I few months ago I decided I was tired of carrying a Bass Pro bag loaded with seven 3700 Plano boxes to transport my jerk baits. And I was really tired of diddling around with hook bonnets each time I used a bait. Then I saw a nifty little box in my local tackle store. Looked like the perfect box for carrying all my jerk baits all at once. I checked it out on the internet. It was called the Special Mate bait box and it apparently is well known among musky fishermen. It got really good reviews. So I decided to buy one. For $45 I figured I couldn't go too wrong. The box is all plastic. It has a hinged lid with metal latches. It has 15 dividers in it with slots for 8 baits on each divider (120 baits). The dividers rock back and forth for easy access. The bait simply lays in the slot with its hook in a notch on the top edge of the divider. When the lid is closed, the foam on the underside of the lid holds the dividers in place so that they don't rock. It also locks the hooks in the slots so the lures can't fall out, even if the box tips over. The dividers keep the hook of the lures from tangling with each other. So hook bonnets are not needed. I am able to carry all my jerk baits and all my hard stick baits in the model that accommodates 7" lures. So impressed was I that I bought another for my crank baits. It accommodates 5" lures. Again, 120 baits total. The lid and bottom of the boxes are ribbed for rigidity. And boxes are designed to be stacked without out sliding off. There are models that hold baits up to 12 inches, and there are boxes with spacers without any ribs that will accommodate spinner baits and other wide baits. I plan on getting a few more. I need another for the rest of my cranks. And I want one for my swim baits, wake baits and topwaters. The two I bought allowed me to retire two BPS bags, sixteen 3700 Plano boxes, and many handfuls of hook bonnets. These are neat boxes. They seem well made and really work well at organizing your baits. Highly recommends.

Nice catch. Diascund looks to be at full pool. LCR is still about 7 feet low as of this morning. The grass is dying back and the bare banks around the lake are nicely covered in grass. I was curious if I would see you there. Just in case anyone is wondering, Diascund, LCR, and Waller Mill are holding reservoirs owned by the city of Newport News. Newport News' terminal reservoirs are Lee Hall and Harwood Mills. Water from these two are fed into the treatment plants. Lee Hall and Harwood Mills are usually kept full by pumping water out of the Chickahominy. When its dry, during times of heavy water consumption, and when the flow on the Chickahominy slows, water is pumped to the terminal reservoirs from Little Creek. The reason is because Little Creek has the highest elevation of any of the reservoirs and Newport News can pump it out easier. Little Creek will be refilled over the winter with water out of Diascund, and through natural sources. Some people bemoan the fact that LCR has been pumped pretty far down quite a bit over the last few years. This time two years ago the water as 12 feet low. The benefit is that the banks around the lake become exposed and the underwater grass dies. Dry land grass starts to grow there. As the lake refills, it starts to cover this grass which stays alive well into the late spring and early summer. The sandy and pebbly substrate makes perfect bedding for bass and panfish. The clear water makes site fishing bass easier. These attributes make LCR unique among the Newport News lakes. It's a different animal from any of the others.

The author of this article is taking some liberties with the facts. In most states (in all from what I understand) a child 4 years of age cannot be liable for damages or injuries because they are deemed to be incapable of negligence. In Virginia, for instance, a child up to age 7 is presumed to be incapable of negligence. From 7-14 they are presumed to be negligence-free, but this can be rebutted. From 15 on, someone can be negligent, thus liable. In the cited case, the suit isn't proceeding against the 4 year old for negligence. It's proceeding against the parents for "negligent supervision." A parent can be liable for the damages their very young children cause if the damage is caused due to a lack of supervision by the parents. The author of this article knows that but wrote it in such a way as to elicit disgust from readers. It worked. Creative reporting at its finest.

My favorites are the Deps Basirisky and River2Sea Bully Wa. http://www.***.com/Deps_Basirisky_Hard_Belly_Frog/descpage-BHBF.html http://www.***.com/River2Sea_Bully_Wa_Frog/descpage-RBW.html

I still have and use five of the All Star American Classic rods. That was the rod that was one step below the Team All Stars when they were American made. I have a flipping rod, a pitching rod, two spinnerbait rods and a spinning rod. They aren't the lightest rods, but they are rock solid and for moving baits they are tough to beat. I'm going to use them until they just wear out, which may be a long time.

I know they rent motors and batteries, but I don't know if they rent extra batteries. An extra battery would be helpful. Area wise, Little Creek isn't huge. But it has a helluva lot of shoreline. I've eaten up my batteries on Little Creek. As far as bass fishing, its as good as any lake in the area. It's sort of unique in being a very deep (for tidewater), clear lake. In summer time, the water gets crystal clear. It's made for fishing crank baits. The lake has very little bottom structure. Just grass.

Little Creek versus Diascund for best bass fishing... Either is good. But the lakes are different. Little Creek is a very clear, deep lake. Little Creek near the dam is 60 feet. The banks drop away very steeply. Little Creek has very little bottom structure. Except during the spawn, I like fishing Little Creek with crank baits. Diascond is shallower with more structure. I fish that the same way I fish Chickahominy or Lee Hall. I crank a lot less and use a lot more soft plastics.

They're good, no-frills rods. They are relatively light, sensitive, and very tough. Up until a few years ago they were made in Texas, now they are made in China, like just about every rod. For the money, you can do a lot worse.

http://www.jccegov.com/recreation/parks/little-creek-reservoir.html

Glad you had fun. Chickahominy is a great lake. I've gotten to know it very well. It's a lake made for jon boats and kayaks. I might not be able to go as fast as the guys with $40,000 bass boats, but I sure can squeeze into places they don't even try to go. When you decide to go back to the lake with your kayak, a great place to put out is the campground ramp at Ed Allens. It's right on Johnson Creek, one of the best areas on the lake and the place I consistently get big bass.

Skillet fried bluegill rolled in Bass Pro Uncle Buck's fish batter. Incredible.

If you want a bowfin, I suggest you motor out of Ed's and head to the dam. When you are looking at the dam, head towards the right end of the dam (the side opposite Rock A Hock). There is a small island of vegetation that as washed up and settled on top of the dam. I saw numerous big bowfin surfacing there a week ago. Drop-shot a live minnow down below that vegetation and let it sit. You will almost assuredly get a bowfin. Fishing live minnows a foot or two off the bottom all along the dam will produce bowfin. Bowfin can be found throughout the lake. But the above technique is your best shot at getting a decent sized fish or several fishes. When you call Ed's, you may or may not get an answer. The men that run it are outside of the bait shop, or in the Lakeside Restaurant a lot. The main guy that runs it is Ed's nephew. He just got married there 2 weeks ago may be making himself scarce for awhile.

I rarely ever fish there for stripers. Occassionally, I will get one on a crank or lipless. But I go there for bass. Fishing at Little Creek is free if you shore fish, and there is a small fee to use the ramp.

I keep the stock hooks. They've always been perfectly adequate.

Here's a sample of the hard swimbaits I own. Left column from top: Sebile Magic Swimmers in three sizes. Great baits. The top on is great to use with spinnign tackle. Koppers Blue Back Herring. Great action at any speed. Sinks nose first. Built like a tank with big Daiichi hooks. Mikey Jr. and Mikey. These are fantastic performers. Swim just below the surface. They are not topwater baits uless retrieved at a painfully slow rate. Middle Column: Spro BBZs, both sizes. The small one works extremely well on spinning tackle. It will catch anything, including bluegill. Jackall Giron. See the thread about that lure. Not so great. Strike King King Shad. Actually pretty good. Decent action and it doesn't roll like the Giron. On a slow retrieve, it will make a decent wakebait. River2Sea V-Joints. Very good baits. The top one behaves much like the Mikey. It has about 90% of the Mikeys action at less than 1/2 the price. They run about $8-$9. Rock solid hardware. Right Column Jackall Dagored. Not really a swimbait. More of a wakebait. Still a good bait. Excellent over submerged weed beds. Spro BBZ. Haven't used it yet. Reaction Strike California Classic. Despite all the bad mouthing, actully swims very well. Finish holding up well. Rock solid components. Not worthy of the negative reviews it receives on this board.

I don't fish there much. I think the stripers caught there are more incidental to other types of fishing. I know crappie and bass fishermen pick them up more frequently when the water is cold. If you want stripers in that area, may I suggest Little Creek Reservoir? This is a deep, clear man-made reservoir in James City County up around Toano. That lake is well renowned for producing lots of big stripers. There, the technique is to cruise around looking for balls of baitfish. You can cast shiny lipless or moderate/deep divers on the edges of the balls. Or, you can cast net the baitfish - usually blueback herring, and use those. The striper action can be fast and furious when you find these bait clusters.

I have several of them. They work well when retrieved at a medium speed. They don't have a lot of action when retrieved too slowly (they look lazy when you slow roll them). And they will roll over when retrieved too fast (means you can't burn them well). They work okay when jerked. The reason they work well for bedded bass is that you can work them over a bed and let them sink. They sink horizontally and rest on their hooks on the bottom. The bait is well made. I was the one that modified one to get a wider swimming action. My mod didn't work. But I was able to determine that this is one rock-solid bait. But performance-wise, it's disappointing for a Jackall. Jackall makes great baits. This isn't one of them. Its lack of action and bizarre behavior reduces its versatility. For a pure jointed swimbait, I say save a few bucks, skip the Giron, and get a Sebile Magic Swimmer. The Magic Swimmer has a better action at all speeds, and jerks better (it will actually turn around on itself when jerked). If you have to have a Jackall Swim Bait, one that works exceptionally well is the Mikey and Mikey Jr. The Mikey is a few dollars more than the Giron, and the Mikey Jr about the same price. If you want a swimbait that works about 90% as well as the Mikey, but sells for $8, the River2Sea V-Joint is a good choice.

What's going on is normal. The Winch is not a light bait reel. The STX will outcast the Winch with lighter lures. The STX has a shallower spool and when loaded with line is a lot lighter. It's easier to start the spool so a lighter lure will start it easier than the Winch's heavier spool. My Winch never did cast light lures well. It cast them, just not well. The Winch shines with lures 1/2 oz and over. The STX cast lures down to 1/4 well.

They'd be silly not to. You would be the big draw! ;D

I have way too much stuff. Rarely use most of it. My problem is I like to try new things. So I've accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. I don't tournament fish. So I'm not in competition with anyone. I go out and fsih old reliables to pick up some fish, then I'll try something unorthodox that may or may not work. But you don't know if you try. I usually take 5-6 rods with me on my boat, 1 or 2 when I bank fish. I fish for fun. If I ain't having fun, I stop.

Plus, he's from Virginia - the bass fishing center of the Universe . BassClary, we'll be expecting you at the Richmond Bass Fishing Expo in January.

The Pflueger/Abu/BPS/Penn/Browning/Lews/Wright & McGill lines are getting boring. Wonder how many times you can re-brand the same basic stuff.

I actually switched some regular trebles out for sure sets when I was having trouble with hook ups when fishing colder water. It seemed to me that fish were slapping at the bait and I was getting a lot of hooks in the gills and side of the face. Once I went to sure sets, my mouth hook ups went up.

It has everything to do with the cadre. I'm not sure how an officer gets a ROTC instructor gig, but I get the distinct impression that most of them are on the last leg of their own careers. That's my impression, too. Another bunch that have impressed the heck out of me are Warrant Officers. Of course, we know where they come from, too.