Ryan_Johnson

They all smell bad like that. I was really surprised that the Powerbait version probably had the worst smell. There's just a hint of the powerbait smell under the nasty plastic smell. It reminds me of someone with bad body odor that tries to hide it by spraying axe all over instead of taking a shower. The smell does seem to go away after having them out of the package, but some Megastrike won't hurt.

Why not? -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.

The head on that is very similar to the Berkly Realistix. It creates a heavy side to side movement, but I can't see how you won't miss alot of fish with that chuck of plastic in the way. Here's what the Realistix looks like.

The new video of the swimbaits and paddletails and other things that have a flapping tail are up. Also, there is new video of the senko style worms wacky rigged and some other new stuff.

I'll bet that the fish don't necessarily like the coffee, but they dislike some other smells that the coffee might cover up.

This is from the main story on Bassmasters * about the Hooter's girls following Charlie Hartly around. But the Grove City, Ohio, resident, who is fishing in his first Classic, couldn't help but smile in recalling the cheers directed his way from the girls in the Hooters' boat. "One time they yelled, 'Go Charlie.' Then a little later it was 'We love you, Charlie.' And the best one was, 'Show us a big one, Charlie.'" That would be hard to concetrate. : ;D oops, trying to fish :-/

There are soldering irons that run on butane if you want to go that route. I'm not sure how much the cheaper ones cost, I bought mine from the Snap On guy years ago and use it all the time.

When I was down in TN last summer, we were fishing below the Douglas Dam at night. I was casting a rattletrap and never heard it hit the water. I started really in and felt something, so I set the hook hard!! A great blue heron came crashing out of the sky like a plane going down! It hit the water and started making all kinds of noise. The hook came off and when I reeled it in, there was a huge clump of feathers on it. Only then did I realize what had happened.

I'd cover the open water first with a Mattlures Ultimate Bluegill or baby bass. Then switch to a Rebel Pop R and run that down the weedline. Then burn a jig or Hardnose Frog over the pads. Finish off with a weightless 6" sluggo twitched throught the pads with drops in the open areas. Might tuck in tighter and pitch to those tree roots if there's enough water to cover their backs.

The split shot rig has the hook tied at the end of the line usually rigged with your favorite soft plastic. Above the line, say 18-24" up, there is a split shot weight pinched on. You cast the line out, let it sink, and drag it back in. The split shot keeps the rig down, acting as a downrigger of sorts, and the plastic will be following slightly above the bottom. The drop shot is a more vertical approach where the weight is at the end of the line and the hook is at whatever depth you want it to be. Tie the hook on with a palomer knot and leave the tag end the same length that you want the hook off the bottom. Attach the weight to the end of the tag, rig up your plastic and go for it. Just remember that if you'r casting a drop shot rig, it will be coming back at an angle and won't be at the depth that it's set. You can get around that by using a slip bobber, but real bass fisherman don't use no stinkin bobbers. Here is a what a drop shot looks like to give you an idea, this is also a good choice for a worm.

The same show has been playing three times a week, so the show that was onl today should be on again Friday at 2PM Central. They miss alot because they dont' wait for the lure to get off the pad. When they hit it, the pad lauches the frog up into the air. Either that or maybe you're like me and get too anxious with the hooksets. Heads up!!

I think Cabelas has a sale right now on the Bronzeyes, which I've used and thought they were alright. Haven't used the Bigfoots.

Use whatever color you like as long as light doesn't pass through it. The fish will be seeing the underside shape of it, and everything will mostly be the same shadowy black color until it hits the open water. A darker color might help it create more of a side profile, but all colors should have a similar "footprint" on the lily pad.

Just in case anyone didn't catch it, Hook N Look did a show today with the Rage Shad and had some nice underwater video. They also revealed something that I've never realized. From underneath, lily pads are translucent! Yup, they look like a stained glass window from underneath. Does that change anyone's approach to slop fishing? I always thought that the fish could hear the bait over the top of the pads, but not see them. My approach was to pop the frog or whatever up and let them thump down on the pad, let it sit, then slowly creep it over the side into open water where it usually gets hit.

YouTube??? To compare their buoyancy, just fill your bathroom sink with water, then drop a Zoom Finesse Worm and a Strike King 3x Finesse Worm into the basin. The Strike King finesse worm will ride high on the surface, while the zoom finesse worm will lie flat on the bottom (ditto the zoom trick worm)! It takes more weight to sink the strike king 3x finesse worm than any worm I ever tested. Though I mentioned the Berkley Powerbait Shaky Worm on another thread (Luke Clausen), its buoyancy is far behind the Strike King Finesse worm (4" & 7") and the 5" Zipper Shakin worm. Plus, they smell like an open sardine can : :-/ Roger I'm sorry, I thought you were saying that the Zoom stuff doesn't float, not comparing it to the 3X stuff. I haven't tried the 3X worms yet, but if they're anything like the craws, then I agree. Zoom 3X craw

The most bouyant worm I have ever seen is the 4" Strike King 3x Finesse Worm Hot on its heels is the Roboworm 5" Zipper Shakin Worm Thread either of these worms on ANY jighead and you won't be able to stop them from shaking and waving. PS: Zoom worms are great worms, but not for shaky worming. Although zoom calls them floating worms they SINK even without a hook. Roger My video on youtube totally disagrees with the Zoom comment. The Finesse Worm and trick worm both float their tails. Another good shaky worm that hasn't been mentioned is the Berkly Power Shaky Worm. You can find them all over, and they catch fish. Video of that worm is also up.

I won't be. He's my pick for the Classic win. This kid should have a bright career and even if he doesn't win this one there is for sure one with his name on it coming soon. GO WOLVERINE!

Try out the Mattlures baby bass or the Mattlures minnow. Or go for the Castaic swimbait, Megastrike, Roboworms, Paca craws, or some soft plastic glue.

Thanks for the tips Matt. Alot of people have not used this type of lure, myself included. There were only a couple of packages with instructions, so rigging each one up and figuring out how to use it is an adventure. I know there are several subclasses in the group, and I had planned on breaking them down for the website write up. paddletails and solid bodied copies-Basstrix, Money Minnows, Poor Boys, Hollow Belly, etc. Misc swimming style baits- Lake Fork, Yamamotos, Reaction Innovations, Gambler, etc. Swimbaits- Castaic, Storm, There should be some others showing up this week from some other companies. I'll see if I can get a 3:16 mission fish to test out. -Ryan

One of the reasons that I started doing this is that I'm sick of wasting money on false advertising and stuff that doesn't do what it's supposed to. If this helps people avoid the junk, then it's successful.

Sorry guys, I think I'm going to have to reshoot everything with a better camera. I tried loading them onto google, and the same thing happens with horrible definition.

I'm having troubles with youtube right now, so be patient. I have 61 videos to get on there, and the quality is good on my computer, but is horrible after downloading. I'm not sure what's happening, because I used the same camera as before. In the meantime, here's what I found out. Paddletails stink! Literally, they have a real strong plastic smell. Even the Berkly Hollow Belly had more of a plastic smell than a Powerbait smell. Next, these things can be difficult to rig, and they will tear easily. If you hook them offcenter, they swim funny- which might actually be a good thing. I would not expect to get much life from them, alot of them seemed like one fish baits. I rigged up all the paddletails on the same weighted hook that uses a corkscrew that goes into the nose of the bait. Poor Boy's Silly Rabbit and Rainbow Worms Bowfish are identical. The Silly Rabbit comes with a couple of weighted hooks and a different sticker on the same clear box. They both need more plastic over the eyes, I lost an eye on the Bowfish on my first pitch into the pool. The swimming action was good, with a strong thumping tail, slight body rock, and it falls nice and flat. Also, contrary to what other review sites said, the tail kicks great on the fall. The Fishbelly Kick S Shad didn't have much action. The bait is slender and has a small tail. I tried rigging it with different weights, hooks, everything I could think of. This thing just doesn't have much action. On most retrieves, the tail didn't move. The funny looking Gambler Brutus swims like a champ. Who knows what the fish will think of it, but that tail doesn't stop moving, including on the fall. The Lake Fork Live Magic Shad swims just like a fish, but the segmented sections don't look or feel very durable. On pauses, it falls flat with a tantalizing tail wiggle. The Money Lures Money Minnow split open on the belly when I tried to rig them up. I tried every one in the package and they all did that. I'm not sure if that hurt the action or not, but they did swim great. They did nose dive fast with a tail kick on the way down when paused. The Reaction Strike Fathead Jr. had a good tail wiggle. When paused, it nose dived slightly and fell slower with some tail movement. The Luck E Strike Bass Magic is the thickest hollow bodied bait. It swims with a slight body rock and a nice thumping tail. When paused, it does a spiral nose dive with no tail action. The Berkly Hollow Belly would probably be my pick as the best overall swimmer. It has a slight nose twitch, body wobble, and the tail has a faster flashier kick. When paused, this bait looks great. It noses down slightly and the tails moves so that it looks like it's swimming to the bottom. The Basstrix is the softest paddletail and the easiest to tear up. When it swims, the middle section of the body wiggles back and forth and the tail kicks fast. It's probably the nicest looking swimmer when it's moving, but when paused, it drops and does the nose down spiral with some tail kick. I'm not sure if there's a way to stop them from doing that. The Yamamoto Saltwater Series 5" Swimbait was rigged with a 1/4oz darter head jig. I think it might be too bulky and solid to use anything but an exposed hook. The design is simple but effective. It has an active tail with a sligh body wobble. The Yamamoto Swimming Senko is a combination of the Senko and the swimbait. The tail kicks quickly, and the worm section has a slight wobble. When paused, it drops flat with some kicking from the tail. The Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper has a solid body with a slightly cut belly and a groove on the back. The body doesn't move much, but the tail has a quick kick all the time. When paused, it nosed down and fell quicker than I expected, the tail kicke on the way down. The Castaic swimbait was the most realistic looking in and out of the water. I got the trout colored 6" bait, and it looked like the real thing in the water. When paused, it did the nose dive, but it looked like it was swimming down to grab something. The Canyon Plastics Swim Doctor is a solid bodied swimbait that comes with a hook. It is alot heavier than it looks. The tail has a tight kick and there's not much body movement. It nose dives with tail kick when paused. For the price of $12.95 per 1, I won't be buying another one. The California Swimbaits Tiny "E" is a solid body hand pour that comes with a small treble hook. It has some body movement with a wild tail kick. When paused, it'll nose dive, spiralled sometimes, and that wild tail doesn't move at all. The Berkly Realistix is a nicely packaged swimbait that has a strange plastic hood behind the head and a very heavy duty hook. The swimming action is a hard side to side body rock that makes it appear to have tail action. When paused, it did a spiral nose dive sometimes, and fell flat sometimes. I don't see how that plastic collar won't cause problems on hook ups. The Storm Kickin Slab is a cheaper priced somewhat realstic looking swimbait. The treble hook isn't small, and this tended to cause problems. On 10 pitches, 4 of them resulted in the treble hook snagging the line. After tucking one of the points into the belly, there wasn't any problems. The swimming action is nice, but seems to require more speed. When paused, it was unpredictable. Sometimes it falls on it's side and flutters down, and other times, it did a spiral nose dive which resulted in more tangled up lines.

I think that those are the heads of their paddletail tubes, but with a skirt instead of the paddletails. Same color patterns as well.

I love the Paca Craws! Only problem I have with them is that the claws rip off so easy, but they still catch fish with one dangling claw. Search on youtube for YUM craw papi, and see what you think. Paca craws and the Strike King 3x are also up.

The tip ups that we put out on a local lake for pike will end up catching about half largemouth. Most of them are 3+ and hit whatever minnow we have rigged up on it.