J Francho

Pretty much a drop shot lure for me. I've used them on slider heads as well. Great little bait.

You HS fans have been drinking the TT Koolaid. Have ANY of you noticed that it stains the gears, turns black and gummy in about a month, and bearings dry up in a few weeks without constant replenishing, or is this OK with you? My favorite are the guys that show pics of their freshly lubed up reels showing half a tube of the crap grease spooged into the level wind worm gear. You guys ever actually fish with these reels? That level wind would bound up with junk sticking to the grease. I may not have as much experience as David, but I can guarantee you I have broken down and rebuilt hundreds, if not a thousand more reels than 99% of you. And, yes I gave HS a chance. It sucks. So does Reel Butter. I've said that Silicote sucks too. Trust me.

I have literally caught over a thousand largemouth bass on CXX. Its not a "smallie specific" line. :

You got it.

Paul, thanks for the detailed responses to my off topic posts, and nice dovetail into Mr. Perry's writings

http://www.brooklynbillstackleshop.com/

That's $1 off.

1st off, fill the spool to within 1/8" from the edge. 2nd, use tension when filling the spool.

I would have mistaken that for an Atlantic (close cousin to the brown). The spots are relatively smaller than what I see in smaller browns. See pic below. Anyway, that fish shown above is nearly DOUBLE my personal best brown, and that fish seemed huge! I can only imagine.... (not my PB brown, but a nice 3 lb'er.

Unless the stock stainless bearings are damaged, there would be no improvement to smoothness going to a ceramic bearing. It would actually not be as smooth. Stainless for smoothness, ceramics for speed.

You would think that, but it doesn't get hung up any more than any other spinnerbaits I use, like Stanley, Terminator, Nichols, War Eagle, etc.

Use these: http://www.secretweaponlures.com/products/quickstrike.htm.

You'd be adding cover, not structure, to attract bass. Check your state laws, as its not legal in some states.

Muddy, you should get up here for some fall smallie action.

Hey John: we experienced just the opposite on the Chunk: The frog bite itself was almost non existent. One the back waters and slow pools of the susquehanna. it was about just like every other year. On our local ponds, the frog bite was literally non existent this year, very, confusing. Especially since your location and weather is not far off from here. :-/ My 3rd 6+ this year came on a black frog at the "lunch pond." Noel Good and I caught a pile of frog fish on Port Bay, two weeks ago, where the weed eater had removed all the weeds. We just walked them over what was left. I can't explain it. Perhaps because I do so many types fishing, maybe I'm doing something different? I don't use a log, or go back to look at old reports. I just fish what's dealt to me. Now there are a couple of lakes where the weedlines are as perfect, health, and as strong as ever. I can't figure that one out. Many others are pretty weak in the weed department. Fishing in all has been super.

Get a flipping stick if you're flipping heavy cover. The rods listed above aren't even close. You want a longer, XH, moderate-fast to fast rod for this.

I hate the rule as well. You get further penalized when a fish dies in the well since you cannot cull it out with a bigger one. They also lose weight fast when dead, and pollute the well so bad, you run the risk of filling the others with ammonia poisoning. You are better off putting the dead fish on ice. I know some guys that won't put a fish in the well, since they know it won't live to make it to the scales, and isn't big enough, so they toss them back. This last tournament, we had a big fish going south fast, and we babysat the livewell for the last three hours before weigh in. It was alive at the weigh in, but never made it back to the lake. One of the guys in the club took it for his father to eat. I guess I just don't understand what part of holding fish in a livewell makes you a better fisherman than the rest. I mean, we should do everything in our power to release the fish in the best condition as possible, but why are we measured on this? Incidentally, its a 4 oz. penalty in our club. Very often, it's usually better to keep the fish, and accept the penalty, than to try an upgrade/replace fish before its dead. Finally, if you REALLY want to reduce the mortality, take a look at the Please Release Me products in the sponsors section. They REALLY do work.

Its just a suggestion. Both will work with both, but I think you will find that the LTB is a little heavier than the G. Loomis in the power department, despite them both being rated "MH."

20# Power Pro is too limp, it will foul the hooks easily. Personally, I use 10 or 12# P-Line CXX for this. Works much better, no fouling, and is every bit as strong as 20# braid. There's really no reason to use braid to detect a strike, since if you don't know you have a fish on a topwater, something's seriously wrong with your vision. As an alternative, you could tie a leader, using some strong nylon mono, or the copoly line listed above.

I haven't noticed any difference in the topwater bite, and in fact I'm doing better with frogs than ever. Some of this might have to do with my skill level being reinforced by lots of frog bites. overall, this year has actually been one of the best years for fishing, and I'm looking forward to a great fall. Yes, weed growth is down, in particular, one lake, its completely void, and pea soup, but if you look at my last report, there are fish there. Tons of them.

What kind of line?

I use cranks ranging from old PeeWee Warts on up to monster DD22, DT20, etc. For the peanut size, up to about a DT06, I use an Avid AVC70MM, saddled with a Daiwa Sol, spooled with 8# P-Line CXX. For bigger cranks, I use an AVC70MHM, same reel and line, but go up to 10#. One small crank that I've had quite a bit of success with is the Daiwa Peanut. You can find them for really cheap (like $2), and they work fine, but I like to change out the hooks. I use Owner ST-36, a #6 on the front and a #8 on the tail. This way, the hooks don't foul up on each other.

Thanks. I've been working with EU customers all week. Their emails all look like that post, LOL.

The Daiwa is of MUCH better construction. Its really no contest. If you had the two taken apart next to each other, you'd laugh out at the Pinnacle. Seriously.

A meaningless poll. I don't care what is more popular, most recommended, etc. All I care about is results. CXX gets them for me.