Willzx225

I was fortunate enough to talk to Coble about his crankbait preferences and he said that there is only one plastic bait he will throw with any regularity: The Speed trap. As for the WEC crankbaits, you have gotten a bunch of good recommendations. My favorite would be the Hickey. There are two different thicknesses though: Peepers tends to carry the thin Hickey (which I have the most experience with) and Simmons tends to have the thicker Hickey. They are both great baits and I agree you can't go wrong with 'Classic' as a color pattern. I recently purchased a Blazer but have not had enough time to learn its personality.

I prefer paca chunks during the warmer months and when the water temps get lower I go to a Zoom super chunk or super chunk jr. I try to match my trailer to the activity of the forage. Warmer = more active, colder = more subtle

I have some of the new Quantum Custom Shop rods and I think they are made very nicely. I think all the bad rap that Quantum has gotten has been for their older models. That being said, the newer lines haven't been out that long so only time will tell but I think they have made the necessary alterations. I would also highly recommend the Crucial 7'6" MH flipping stick. I have two of them and love them. I have even used them for mat punching with 1 3/4 oz weights and boat flipped fish up to 5lbs without a problem. They are an awesome rod for the money!

If the water visability is down to 1-2' I would throw a double colorado bladed spinnerbait. If the water is still rising I would focus on the backs of the pockets. If the water is falling I would focus my time on the secondary points that are leading into the spawning pockets. Good luck!

I would say that if you are looking for a frog rod to skip hollow frogs under over hanging cover then the Quantum would probably be a perfect fit since everytime you see Rojas fishing a frog he is putting it in places that aren't possible without skipping it. This is just my opinion and you know what they say about that BUT when you ask one of the very best frog fishermen out there to design a FROG rod, I wouldn't question it too much.

The 09 Energy's are great but the Tour PT will blow them out of the water. I have both and they are both excellent but the Tour PT is noticably smoother.

I posted something similiarly on another thread but I have two of the 6'10" KVD Spinnerbait rods (TKVDC6106F) and really like them. They have just the right taper for roll casting a spinnerbait to targets and enough backbone to move decent sized fish from cover. Overall I really like the ones I have and I am sure the Rojas frog rod will be perfect for Kermit. I do understand Reel Mechanic's statement that what is "perfect" for someone might be horrible for someone else.

I haven't thrown the Rojas rod but I have 2 of the KVD 6'10" Spinnerbait rods (TKVDC6106F) and they are really nice sticks. The taper is perfect for what it was designed for. I would recommend them based off of what I have seen in the KVD rod.

I've been using it for a couple of years and wouldn't consider using fluro without it. Also works great on depth finder screens and sunglasses.

Rob does make the Visious treatment for them.

I have the 6.3 and the 7.0 and love them. I too was hesitant on buying a high dollar Quantum due to all the bad press they had gotten in the past but they have really stepped it up with the '09 line up! Highly recommend them. The one draw back I don't like about the 7.0 is the shallow spool. I put 15lb big game on it and can cast a spook far enough that I can see the spool at the end of a cast. I typically like a higher speed reel for bottom baits and could not spool with 20lb and throw a carolina rig with this reel but aside from that it is great.

Quantum Superlight 6'10" MH w/ a 2500 Sahara 11lb Sunline Defier or 8lb Sunline Sniper Fluro

I have 2 of the 6'10" Spinning rods for shakey heads and LOVE them. I know Natural has some and spoke highly of them. They are supposedly Lamiglas blanks from what I've always heard but I can't confirm it.

Another cool one to check out is a guy based around Smith Mountain Lake. His clothing line is called Limit-5. He is a good guy and a fisherman as well.

I am a huge believer in speeding up your spinnerbait, especially in clear water. I also use glitter blades in clear water and think that has a lot to do with getting more bites. I only use trailers in the springtime as well but only in stained water and when I'm around heavy cover. I think that it helps draw the fish out of hiding. Another good thing to try when burning your bait is to hesitate for a split second during the retrieve. This allows your blades to bang together and will often trigger a bite from a follower. Another tip for working your spinnerbait fast is to close the frame some. By that I mean making it more streamlined so it creates less drag in the water. You can also work a spinnerbait slower by opening up the frame.

I bought a few of those from BPS in the mid 90's. I have done fair with them but not amazing.

zoom and berkley sell bulk of certain baits in certain colors

KVD always says that individual tournaments are just that:individual. So your next tournament is not effected by your previous event. IE You don't start off 7lbs behind the guy who won last time. Now here is where you will get differing opinions on how to approach your next events. I am sure they are located on similiar bodies of water and approximately the same dates as last year but, as you know, conditions will probably be completely different. I agree with fireant on using last years patterns as a starting point but I would use them very very loosely since fishing on history can bury you. Check those out in practice and either confirm them as options or eliminate them. Fish the moment and adapt through out the day. If your gut tells you to do something, do it! Don't fish certain spots and patterns just because they produced last year during the 3rd week in September. If that worked then the same people would win the exact same tournaments every year. I would go and spend some time with regards to looking at the weather for the week prior to the upcoming event, looking at a map with a clear mind and vision of where the fish should be in their seasonal patterns. Also, when I feel like I am struggling, I spend more time around the highest percentage areas (ie. bridges and the rip rap around them) with my confidence baits. And definitely don't force things. Fish what you feel confident fishing instead of what "should produce the winning stringer." I hope this makes a little sense b/c I'm starting to develop digit diarreaha ;D

420Angler - You may be making a mistake by not considering Skeeter. They have changed a ton since the 90's models and are one of the best riding/ handling boats on the market (skeeter and Champion are the two best imho). I rode in a Cat in the Elite series this year and was extremely disappointed in them ride wise. I never felt safe at anytime while on plane and I have riden/driven a ton of boats. I also fished as a co-angler in the BFL's for 3 years and rode in every boat out there and when I went to buy my first boat I only wanted a Skeeter. Another one of my friends, who is a huge Ranger fan and had a Z21 at the time, fished the Elite last year on Eerie and said that he rode in 2 Skeeters, a Ranger, and a Triton and the only boat that didn't get him wet was both of the Skeeters. The other two boats speared atleast 1-2 waves per day. I completely agree that it is majority of the boat handler but on the Elite level, they all have faced rough water before. On QC levels, I think that Ranger is a very well put together boat as well as the Skeeters but I have heard numerous stories of brand new Cats not being able to get up on plane in a reasonable amount of time. If you want an example just watch the Elite Series on Kentucky Lake where Russ Lane tries to get up on plane. He had it to the floor for atleast 5 or 6 seconds and it wasn't anywhere close to planing off. But this is all just my opinion and as you could guess I have run a Skeeter for 5 years now and wouldn't consider any others.

Jeff- Fluro stretches much less than mono does hence the reason why some people don't like to flip with it since it lacks the shock resistance that mono has. That being said, I still prefer it for all but my spinnerbait and topwater presentations ;D

Never heard of salt cuts either but could it be from the teeth on a bass that you probably just caught?

I have found alot of those same qualities in Sunline Defier as well. I've had 11lb on a shakey head rod since late April and it still has ZERO memory and has the same diameter of 10lb Berkley Sensation. it is awesome line. I am sure it is similiar to the Sunline Super Natural that Jake was talking about. I am very impressed with Sunline products just wish they were cheaper. Welcome back Snapper G - prove us wrong.

Thanks again guys for the responses. This is why this place is the best on the net!

I've fished Leesville a decent amount and it is definitely a challenge. I used to fish out of a 14' carolina skiff so I spend a good deal of time on Leesville during the summer months so I could avoid the crazies on SML. It definitely has some big fish ( I caught 8lbers on back to back trips one July on a carolina Rig) and you get to experience different water levels by the hour. I agree with 5bass that it is a great jerkbait/crankbait lake as well as a good jig lake. One thing that I did figure out though is that the fish don't move as much with the changing lake levels as they do on other, more stable lakes. So when the water gets high and in the bushes and looks like you should just cave their heads in flipping, they tend to be near the original bankline instead. I guess they know the lake isn't going to stay high for more than a few hours so they don't waist the energy. ;D

I have an 09 Tour PT (haven't owned a Quantum since the early 90's) and absolutely love it! I have had it for about 2-3 months now and it is still very tight and smooth. I briefly compared it to the new Chronarchs on the water a week ago and I'd put it on the same level as that! I know that is a big statement but I stand by it. I also put it above my REVO STX's that I've been using for the last two years.