J Francho

I almost never use a rattle anymore. I used to, especially in off color water, but since I switched to hand tied jigs, I've forgotten to add a rattle. I haven't really noticed a drop off in bites.

Yep. The Avid is more sensitive and a bit lighter.

To the point of the original question, the sliding weight IS the main difference. Watch what a Texas rigged worm does on the fall and compare it to a shaky head. Goes back to my point about the T-rig being more about the fall than what happens on the bottom. The beauty of a shaky head is the precise control you have after it hit the bottom. Yes, you can peg a T-rig, and yes there jigs like the Biffle head that swivel. There's a billion variations. Knowing why you want to use something can be the key to better catches.

Just an FYI, those outgoing calls from a call center are usually patched through a pool of outbound trunks. They rarely connect to anything or anyone, since the trunks aren't capable if taking an inbound call. Sorry to get technical, call center telephony is my job. And cold calling salespeople are VERY ANNOYING.

We do not delete threads unless there is a problem. Even then, we'd just lock it and clean it up. There doesn't seem to be a problem here.

Some of our Great Lakes tribs have opened up.

They're relative ratings, with no standard. I generally put a reel on the rod, and tie on a bait, and see how it feels. The lure ratings can be a good clue too.

It's actually a Cutco Fishernans Friend. Adjustable fillet knife, line cutter, hook sharpener. Pretty useful. If you don't know what you need a good knife for, then I don't know what for, lol.

It's ten times a better product than either if those. Seriously.

I have to say, and it's just a personal opinion from a klutz. Coiled anything in my boat is a recipe for a mess and things going over board, lol.

I posted a method to clean your bearings above. You can find Perfect Solution at Lowes.

I don't keep my confidence in a box or tied on a rod. Confidence is built through success. Success only comes with time on the water.

Pretty much everything bugs me at some point or another. I've conceded that I'm a cantankerous old fart, deep down. I generally ignore that inner grumpiness, and focus on something positive.

Silver Buddies, bud.

Yes, they are Avids. Both are matched with Daiwa Sol reels. The MM handles everything from peanut sized cranks up to about 1/2 oz. the MHM is for cranks 3/8 and up. About the biggest bait I throw on it is a G2 or 125mm Sebile Magic Swimmer. Right now, they are spooled with 12 and 15 lb. Tatsu.

It's the same, tournament or not if I'm in my boat. A couple dozen or more. If I'm a guest, four to eight. Shore fishing, one or two.

I used it for years, in 6# to 17# on various reels. It works, and it's the standard I compare everything else to. That said, I don't have a single reel spooled with it, haven't for over decade. There's better stuff out there, but with every little improvement in one aspect, there's a trade off in another. If it works, run with it. If you find some part lacking, do a little research, and try something different. Personally, I'll never be able to find one line to do it all.

After trying many different fluoro lines, yes Tatsu is all that. If it's too pricey for you, Invisx is a very close second.

Jerk bait, hair jigs, blades, and spoons.

I have both the AVC70MM and AVC70MHM, and they are great cranking rods. They cover 95% of my cranking needs, and I have five sticks dedicated to cranking.

All my weights are black.

Some lines that I like: Invisx Tatsu CXX Suffix siege Silver thread Excalibur YZ Hybrid

If you're a Spro guy, then the Pad Crasher is a good substitute. So good, it's replaced my Spro baits.

I have drop shot on a casting rod, but shaky head is spinning only, mostly because I stick to very light baits for it.

I take my Boston with me sometimes. My Shiba Inu stays home, though. She will jump off the deck without warning. Once, my Siamese cat was hiding in the boat and went with me, lol. He was actually pretty cool about it.