J Francho

Peacocks are Cichlids.

I just didn't scroll down far enough....just saw the "no name" lures. I see the "refurbs" now. I'd be very skeptical.

What would make you think these were "refurbished" Lucky Crafts? They don't even look like LC, and the pictures don't even match.

You had the fish in your hand, so you'd know better than I. I believe you. Still doesn't present any compelling evidence that the fish is better off with the hook stuck in its gut.

Don't sweat it man, glad you mentioned your story. More reason to get the hook out while you can.

Could be because spinnerbaits and plugs have weight on them that allow the fish to "throw" the bait. And they are rarely gut hooked. Though it does happen. I had to use the through the gill method for this toad:

Was this to me? No chance. Actually, no. You replied when I was typing. I've seen what you described as well, and it usually happens when a bass takes bait intended for panfish. The hooks are small enough to pass, and cause damage later on. Intestinal peristalsis eventually pushes the line out the vent, just like when a cat eats tinsel from the X-mas tree....

Do you really think that hook passed through the fish's digestive tract, only to be lodged in its vent? Have you ever filleted a fish, and seen its digestive tract? The fish was probably foul hooked in the butt. GET THE HOOKS OUT. Period. Its not opinion, its fact. Seriously. The procedure linked above is a simple one, and should be carried out on any deeply hooked bass.

Too small. They work great for their intended purpose, with thinner plastics. Try the Gama 2/0 Wide Gap Finesse hooks or the new Owner Wacky Hooks. Both work very well. Also, think about using a snell connection with fluoro (if you are using that). It is very strong and reliable.

In that case it probably wasnt broken off. Anytime a fish swallows your bait, you should cut the line above the eye, and remove whatever plastic you were fishing. The hook will eventually rust and the Bass will be able to digest the hook. This is totally false. Next time you are at the lake, scoop up some lake water in a jar, and put a hook in it. Report back when its rusted away. Better yet, eat one, and let us know how that works out. I know I sound sarcastic, but you really need to remove the hooks. last year, I came across several fish with the same type of EWG lodged in their craw. They were emaciated, yet hit lures with great ferocity, suggesting that they were willing to eat, but could not swallow the food. The hooks were probably there for weeks, probably left by a Senko rookie. I removed them using this method: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1128002349/22#22 Get the hooks out, otherwise that fish is doomed.

Where did you buy them that you paid $30 for them? TW sells them for $25. You can find them for less. There are two versions, one called "suspend," which doesn't actually suspend, and the other is a called "Hi Floater." I've only used the former. They do best for me in cold water, with very light rod input. Truth be told, they aren't my favorite bait for early spring - that distinction is held for the LC FLash Minnow, based simply by results in my local water. I guess I don't understand the beef with them, if they caught fish, and all behave consistently. The hook thing, well that may have more to do with gear. Thinner hooks penetrate easier, but they do bend. Oddly, I've bent more hooks on my big Sammys than any other bait. They get replaced with Owner Stingers. I don't have a ton of MB stuff, but I have enough to know they work, and I certainly don't feel ripped off, LOL. In fact, I think all my LC, MB, LC, Deps (even those stupid looking Basyriskis), OSP, Zappu, Keitech, and what ever else is floating in my bags was all worth it. You want to talk about ripoff soft plastics? LOL, I have a list. BTW, if you took some decent pictures of your MB stuff you don't like anymore, you can probably recover a good portion of your expense selling in the Flea Market here.

Going back and rereading the story, I see the girl did suffer a loss. The city owes her a left sneaker ;D

No prob. I used to admin a forum of about 40K members and these questions popped up all the time. What was cool was that some of the long time members took the reins, and always helped the new guys out with the forum software.

yeah. Wah wah wah, crybaby!!!! I hear you, though. BTW, Visions aren't supposed to suspend. I feel the same way about other lures. X-Raps are one that comes to mind. I bought a few, caught the hell out of fish - big fish too - so I went out and bought a ton more, in just a few colors. To my dismay, not all them are alike. In fact, their behavior is very variable, nothing like the consistency you see with a Pointer, Flash Minnow, or Vision. Jezz, even the cheapo Smithwicks are more consistent. You also have to realize that TT is as much about collecting unusual or rare gear as it is about fishing. I mean, its not called BassResource, LOL.... ;D

Click on User CP, then Posts. Choose the number of posts from the droplist, and click GO!

I have a Zillion on it now, but I think I'm going to put either another new Sol or my Alphas Ito on it. The Sol feels a bit more balanced on it. I've yet to try the Alphas on it.

Teaser....So far it has been great with unweighted Senkos, Flukes, double Flukes, light t-rig plastics, and even though I have two good cranking rods, it works really well with lipless cranks. I just ordered the next power up, LTBC70MHF

I actually debated this a few weeks back. After saddling them up with reels, line and bait, I left with one LTB. The Mojos actually felt worse than any Premier I'd used. Not my cup of tea. The LTB Teaser on the other hand is a dream to fish with.

Depends on your budget, but for general purpose, like finesse plastics, grubs, drop shot, tubes, and the like, any medium/fast spinning rod from 6-6 to 7' will do. Think about the $100 to $120 range for a spinning reel that will last you years. For cranks, topwater, and jerkbaits, I like baitcasting gear, and that's where it gets tricky, more complicated, and much more subjective. Personally, I use a Kistler Drop Shot Special and a Daiwa Capricorn spinning reel for the finesse stuff. For cranks, TW, and jerk baits I use various St. Croix Avids and Diawa reels (Sols, Alphas, Zillion).

Did you catch fish with them?

I don't use any hookset. I use moderate action graphite rods for cranking. When the fish hits it, I just keep reeling with even pressure. You're really just leading them in, rather than fighting them.

Yep, I love them too. Its funny, we've been using various rigs very similar to the modern drop shot for decades. The only real difference is the length of the drop line, better hooks and sinkers, and the trick with running the tag end through the eye. My grampa called it a "tightline" rig. If you used a snelled hook dangling off the mainline, it was a "catfish" or "bottom" rig. The newer hooks and weights make it a very versatile terminal rig. If you fish the Great Lakes, and don't use it at least some of the time, you are missing fish. I forgot to mention one more method, probably because I'm not so good at it. The Dangle. I know of guys that use this to catch suspended smallies feeding on schooling bait. They locate the bait with their graph, and using the narrow beam, "fish in the cone," dropping their bait near the edge of the bait ball, in the middle of the water column, like 17' down over 40 FOW. This is a tough one for me, and all I've caught with it is a little pike, LOL.

Those are two outstanding fish! Nice work, all around.

Yes you have, LOL.....I post it all the time. It was also up here (yes, I'm bragging!) http://www.versuscountry.com/bassspawnmap.aspx?rid=3986 (scroll down)

Look up Rich Zaleski Drop Shot, and you'll find one of the best articles on the subject. Here's what I use a drop shot rig for: Deep water. Instead of waiting for an unweighted plastic to get down to the fish, the DS rig expedites the bait through the dead water. Dragging. This keeps your bait out of the slime, or away from the zebra and quagga mussels that will tear it up, or worse, nick the line between the hook and your rod. The weight and tag line are sacrificial. This also works in current, very similar to the bottom bouncing drift techniques used by trout fisherman in the Pac. Northwest and Great Lakes tribs. Pinning a bait. This allows you to keep a bait in action, yet still in one place. Absolutely deadly for spawning bass (see below). A similar method is to use magnum gear for mat crashing. The weight of the sinker pulls the weedless bait through the canopy, while leaving weightless, once settled. You can pretty much use any rod, reel, line, hook, and bait with this, though most application involve finesse plastics. Here is the 2nd biggest SMB I caught with a drop shot 4" Power Worm: