djmax22

I could never forget the plastic purple worms with hooks, Mepps spinners and a floating rapala.

I use beaver exculsively as a carolina rig trailer. I have thrown the beaver weighless in a small pond to observe the action. It just swims along.

DD22. Lavendar shad and Slick.

Thanks for the report! Do you have any idea of the water temperature? It looks like I will be picking up a few of those this weekend as well. Nice.

Yeah I have a few of those Paca craws. I like them for my small jigs. I also have and like a wiggle warts from storm too. Many thanks everyone I have got some good leads.

I have got many items from BPS using a raincheck. Including a Curado, Terminator Spinnerbais, and line. They will write you a raincheck on the spot. Just be sure to tell them how many you want.

-because you end of confusing yourself and not giving anything a chance. You wonder about what you could be trying instead of fishing what you have. That is part of the problem. I tend to stay with something too long when it is not producing just b/c of past success under similar conditions.

The biggest body of water is the Lake of the Ozarks. Typically I spend a majority of the time fishing jigs and carolina rigs until the summer month when I break out the DD22s. Just trying to find another confidence bait and learn new things.

I havent tried drop shotting and I was going to pick up the equipment to try it this spring. Thanks for the suggestion. RW. I wanted to purchase a few new buzzbait and it looks like these would fit nicely into my collection.

Ok everyone, I am going to make a large purchase in the next week to fill several new boxes that I purchased. Give me a list of what a I should get. What I use the most: Several Eakin jigs, DD22, DT10s, 10' worms, Fat Ika and Senkos. Give me ideas of something new to buy. Color patterns with lure type would be usueful. If everyone could list 1-3 items I could really round out my tackle collection and expand my horizons. Thanks.

I have bee looking at these Falcon Boxes too. I am just interested in the boxes. I did a search on ebay and there is an auction on the V6 bag that includes 5 boxes. The item is new and no one has yet to bid on it. Current price is $25. You might want to check it out if you are looking to save a few bucks.

Thanks everyone. I will definetely get the GLX this weekend. Yes I will be using it exclusively for soft plastics. Now all I have to decided is between the 6'8'' or 7'1'' rod.

1) Eakin Jig with matching chompers creature trailer 2) Red shad Berkley power worm 3) carolina rig with brush hog/lizard/sweet beaver/French Fry 4) DD22 I use the above ~85% of the time.

OK everyone thinking about stepping up to the GLX. I have an IMX, but can you really tell the difference between the two rods? Is it worth the extra $100 to step up to the GLX? Of course my tackle shop says yes, but can someone here help me out?

I hate to sound like a broken record. I use the 7' St Croix Premiere Series Glass rod coupled with an old model Curado. This rod works great with lipless cranks and small crank baits. It really depends on how much you are will to spend. I own a IMX too, it is a do everything rod.

You will be very happy. Falcons are nice rods. My friend loves these rods and fishes exclusively with them. I like the 6'10" Eakins Jig special. If you fish with the jig I would say the 6'10" rod is the way to go.

I would get a 7'3" rod for Carolina Rigging. The legend tourny from st Croix can be had for around $200 at reedssports.com. I have this rod and it awesome. Since you like to fish plastic most of the time this makes the most sense. Or you could go with a small cranksetup. I have a glass st croix permiere 7'. It is a decent rod for small cranks, but if you want to throw the DD22 go bigger. THe carrot Stix 6'9" with parabolic bend has been mentioned in these forum before for fishing small cranks. I checked this rod out at cabelas two days ago and I came away impressed.

FALCON looks like they make several nice boxes for hard baits. I am thinking about picking a couple of those up for my Norman deep cranks.

Went to Cabelas and checked out the carrot stick. I was impressed. Very light weight. Could someone tell me what is the difference between the high end an lower end models. Is it the but end of the handle? Can wieghts be inserted in the butt of the handle to balance the rod? How would you comparre the sensitivity of this rod to a Loomis? Or should I just stick to IMX and GLX sereis. Sorry if it has been covered before. I have been off these board for awhile.

I have no experience with the Carrot Stick, but everyone seems to love them. I was in a similar situation as you two years ago and here is my two cents. Couple of questions: 1) How much crankin are you going to do? 2) What type of cranks do use? More specifically do you throw small cranks? Or do you want to throw DD22s? I first bought a Dave Fritts Cranking rod from BPS (I was looking at BPS cranking sticks as well). Go it home didnt like it, returned it and went with a 7' St Croix Priemere Glass Rod which cost me around $100 and coupled it to one of the older Shimano curados (the green one) 5:1 gear ratio. Total cost of this set up was around $200-$230. I love this set up for smaller cranks and lipless cranks. (note: if you are fishing around a lot of docks and hanging tress I might suggest the 6'6" rod). The problem is when you want to throw the DD22, which I like to do. Although this rod works ok for this application I would suggest getting something around 7'6" MH rod and 4:1 reel especially if you are going to be cranking all day long in open water. Your arms will thank me later. Hope this helps.

I go to BPS every year and I am one of the first persons through the door once the sale begins or I go the night before which is reserved for there reward program members. My advice is get there when the doors open. The best deals are on there EXTREME series rods. You can pick one of those up for around $60-70 (reg. rpice is $99). Bionics can be had for around $40-50. Last year the BPS crankin stick for $30. Aso they have a reel trade in program which is sweet if you are looking to get an upper end reel. So if you are looking for a new rod and reel then I would go. Other items on sale that are popular: BPS fluorocarbon line and Terminator Spinnerbaits. If you do not get there early you will have to settle for a raincheck for these items. These items fly off the shelf and will be picked over in a couple of hours. Items that I buy: Noman DD22 (bait monkey loves these) Eakins Jigs Gammy hooks 10' berkley power worms. Chompers 4" hula grubs to match Eakins jig. Boo-Ya Spinnerbaits (I like these better than the Terminators) All other items I tend to support the local tackle shops. Just about everything is on sale. St. Croix, Loomis and you upper end rods will not be on sale. Hope this helps.

I am suprised Rapala is running away with the vote. The DT series is nice and I use these lures primarily for shallow water applications. However, IMO the Norman DD22 didnt get enough love in this thread. In the summetime these cranks really start to shine. Another lure that I havent seen mention is the Wiggle Wart. All that lure does is catch fish and is one of my favorite baits to use in the spring.

I went to the St. Louis boat show this evening and found a St. Croix MH 7' fast action. A St Croix representive was there and we talked for awhile. All of the old sereis Legend series rods there were 30% off and I took the plunge. Picked one up for around $170. Seemed like a decent deal.

Budget around $350. Do you think I should step up to the Legend?

I am going to get a new rod/reel setup exclusively for soft plastics. I throw a jig 80% of the time when fishing soft plastics the other 20% a t-rigged 10' worm. I am thinking about getting this St Croix Avid Casting Rod AC68MXF coupled to a Curado 100. What do you you think about this setup for soft plastics? Do I want the XF action? Any or all other suggestions would be helpful. I have several BPS rods ( i do have once other Crankbait rod, St. Croix) coupled to few of the old Curados (3) and a Pfleuger President. Ready to buy a nice set exclusively for soft plastics. I heard that Falcon makes a good rod too.