Micro

Rage Tail Space Monkey on 4/0 EWG Gammy or a 4/0 weighted Owner Twist Lock. Space Monkey in bama bug or okeechobee. Cast out and retrieve slow to medium speed. They have plenty of action. Hooksets are a breeze - much like with a spinner bait, there is simply weight on your line and it's on. This is this year's top producer for me. I fish in muck, too.

I've got a bunch of Jackalls. Here are my thoughts, in no particular order. The Cherrys are very good cranks. They have very nice, detailed finishes, fantastic hooks and a really wide wobble. The Cherry Zero footer, essentially a little wake bait, is a very good bait when the topwater bite is on. The poppers are excellent. I like them much better than Lucky Crafts. Again, they have great finishes, great hooks, and they are exceptionally easy to work. They produce a nice and loud pop. They sit in the water with a slightly tail-down attitude. The Giron is decent swimbait. Again, the finishes are excellent as are the hooks (in fact, that's the case with all their baits). They have a very nice action. The only complaint is they tend to roll too much at high retrieve speeds. You can actually make them roll all the way over. They have a nice sink characteristic. They stay horizontal as they sink and rest on their hooks when they reach bottom. It is a good bed fishing bait. Jackall's jerkbaits really excel. The Squad Minnow is very similar to the LC Pointer. But the Squad Minnow tends to stop more quickly (instead of gliding to a halt like the LC). They look more erratic than the LC when you work them. My favorite is the Squirrel. It's a relatively small jerk. It's a deep diver. But you can work it very erratically. If you crank it, it has a nice, wide wobble. This is an excellent bait. I have several of the Mikey Jr swim/wake baits. I haven't caught many fish on them, and nothing I've caught has had any real size. But they look darn good in the water. They ungulate nicely. The Bonnie's are the equals of the LC Sammys, IMHO. The Dagored. I'm a bit ambivalent about this one. It is a real nice looking bait. But the action leaves a little to be desired. And if you jerk it to try and get more action, it will roll on its side. I need more time with this one. I have a bunch of the Aragon SRs. These are jointed crankbaits. I haven't had them long enough to do any major damage. But again, they look real good in the water. Very nice actions and they do click. The T/N70 lipless is, IMHO, one of the best lipless on the market (along with the Yo-Zuri Hardcore Drum). It has an excellent action even on a very slow retrieve. It sinks nose-first and nose-stands when it hits bottom. It flutters nicely if you lift it straight up. It is an excellent jigging, bed fishing, slow retrieving, or fast retrieving bait. If there is a lipless that does it all, this is it. All in all, Jackalls perform in a manner consistent with their premium prices. As Pantera stated, some work better than others. All are good, though, and many are great.

For applications needing an EWG hook, offset or straight worm hook, Gamakatsus are everything I need. I've never had any issue with them, whatsoever. For specialty hooks, I like Owner. Wide gaps with twist locks, shaky heads, mosquito hooks for drop shotting are all Owners. Never had any issues. For Wacky hooks, I like Gamakatsus better than Owners, especially in the weedless versions.

It's two Rage Tail Shads I cut apart, shaped with scissors, and put together with copper wire. If you do the squinty-eyes thing, it looks much smoother. ;D

Yeah, kinda look at it with squinty eyes.

I think Reaction Strike gets a bum rap. I was told my wooden California Classic sucked. But it swims extremely well and is holding up well. I've cast if far more than I was told it would last. If my local tackle shop could keep the Bluegills in stock, I'd try one. Everyone must have heard how bad they suck and bought one themselves just to see.

Obviously not a working model, but you get the idea. (Had to destroy two Rage Tail Shads. That's okay, that color bites anyways. ) Maybe with a hollow body, or with a slot on top for a hook point, like with a fluke.

Agreed the twitching bar is a gimmick. But the reel itself is apparently rock solid and a superb performer with really light baits.

Cart7 has diddled with his Patriach. He can answer.

I don't have the Reaction Strike. But I have a bunch of Girons. They are decent baits with good actions. One thing I don't like is that if you retrieve them too fast, they will roll. I've even seen one roll all the way over. The Giron requires a moderate speed retrieve. Stop and go is a good technique. One think I like a lot is that sink slowly and stay horzontal as they sink. When they touch botton they stop and rest on their hooks. Good bait, but a bit tempermental.

Sweet!

I went to BPS today, cash in pocket. I fiddled with that reel, gave it back, went back and looked at it again, then walked away. I've got to think about it some more. The reel is big. It feels bulkier than the Curado 200D. Not as comfortable. When the reel is mounted on the rod, there is a big gap between the rod and the front of the reel. When I palm the reel, my index finger sinks into the gap and the pawl cap rubs on my finger as it goes back and forth. Otherwise, the reel is, as Burley said, a tank. Nevertheless, I go to ponder it for a little while longer. :-/

I'm assuming you are refering to a spinning reel? Were you able to adjust it to your liking with your previous spool? Maybe there is oil or grease on your drag disks. You can take the disks out and clean any oil or grease off and reassemble. Use your exploded diagram that came with the reel.

Try to pay attention to your cast technique. You were obviously doing it right in your backyard. You are doing something differently while fishing. Practicing in your backyard is great and highly encouraged. But there is no substitute for learning the reel while fishng.

This was in store.

The spool is pretty shallow. I don't own one but I've heard it casts light baits exceptionally well.

Just learned the Daiwa Viento has been discontinued (maybe not new news). They are marked down at BPS to $169. If you were thinking about buying one, now's the time.

I fish the Swim Senko. I like it a lot. I use a weighted (1/8 oz) Owner Twist Lock 3/0 hook. I also fish them weighless on a Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hook. I like to fish them next to weeds and through the lily pads. They have produced a lot for fish for me.

I think you brought this up not too long ago. That is a Strike King. But the color is apparently not made anymore.

Mid 90's in southeeast VA today. Humid, too.

I read a review on the original and it stated that the thumb bar was only connected on the right side. So that when you pressed it, the left side flexed down causing it to rub on the right side scratching the frame. Long term durability was questionable. That was an old review. Those of you that have the old model, how has that worked out?

Not a single lure, but a single family of lures. I've gone out with just hard baits like cranks and jerks, and I've gone out with just soft plastics.

I wasn't really sold on the Instagage until I started acquiring Daiwas. They have the feature where you can flip the bar back up and reengage the spool without turning the handle. I find myself using that feature a lot. I really like it. And I've been wishing my Revos that I use for frogging and flipping had that, too. The Castaic's seems even better. It's easy to find and manipulate with my fat, fumbling thumb without looking at the reel. Other question: can the drag be upgraded in the Castaic?

This reel has fascinated me for a long time. I love the Instagage feature. I'm thinking of getting one, or two, for my flipping and pitching/frog rod. Any opinions on these reels? I know they are kinda dated but that doesn't bother me.

RW said "no babe pictures." He's gonna get you.