islandbass

Well said and true and it's still ture today. I am a lamiglas fan and their rods are at least from reading posts from here and there, you could get the impression that they are not as well known outside the west. The lamis I have are not from the Excel series as no local dealer in my area carries them yet (kind of ironic since I only live 2 hours from their HQ but on the other side of the coin, salmon and steelhead are king here, not bass) I have held mojos and they are alright, but I would take a Lami competitor rod over a mojo any day. The excel is price wise very close to the competitor. If the excel's blank is half as good and it could be better as the competitor rod, the $90 price or so for the excel is a steal of the deal. Skeet reese rods blind me and that's only from photos! ;D I reckon my point is you'll get great bang for the buck with a Lami fo sho.

Well, not for much longer. You are going to find our that CX and even CXX will have memory up the ying yang really soon, probably just as bad as what you have discovered with 15# yozuri. I use 12# yozuri on my curado and it's not that bad. On the plus side, other than memory being ugly or unsightly, it does not affect performance.

There are UL rods out there that are much longer and therefore can afford you longer casts. You just have to loook for them. I have a 7' two piece UL rod from Okuma. I have seen them as up to and passed 9'.

If you've seen my crankbait paint jobs, trust me; you have nothing to worry about. ;D Look forward to seeing your pics.

I finally got to feel these rods and I too walk away pretty impressed at how they feel in hand. However, this impression goes only for the casting rods. They felt great and at this price point it is practically a steal and a half. I cannot say the same about their spinning rod counterparts. They did not feel the same in my hands at all. They felt "heavier" than they looked. If I were to buy one, I would only choose a casting model. I'd take it over a mojo too.

Wow, I remember when the guy first did the test. This is a local fishing forum for me. Great information to recollect.

Great job so far, string! That is very impressive for a first time. As one who also built my first one from scratch, I can say from experience that Marty's for weight locations is spot on. The lowest point in the bait is one of the better places to start. Keep up the awesome work! BTW, can you buy this cintra and home depot? I have never heard of this material.

Sea Guar Invizx, in 6# test, for drop shotting. I have not tried a limper (Which is what I want in my line) line. I have also tried the Cabela's house brand in the same test. Not too bad, and at $9.99 for 200 yards, that's a great deal when Invizx is more expensive.

I believe this is the model with the centrifugal brakes. As a shimano guy, this reel should feel at home in your hands. Have fun with it. 8-)

Unfortunately, it's never hit the water other than field testing. It work great and had a nice rip to it. My daughter thought it was kinda cute and I haven't seen it since. :-[

I think it can either spook or excite the other fish. There have been quite a few times when I was fighting one and other fish went into a frenzy following the hooked fish as if to "steal" what it caught so that it could have or eat it. I also observed that the chasing fish (those not hooked) were of about the same size as the hooked fish. Other times after I hook and land and release a fish, I go no other bites in that spot. Go figure.

Right on, FW. I basically use a dark soft pencil (like HB) and draw everything out. Then I take a thin brush and "dab" in the colors for the teeth and mouth. This one, you can see well the tongue, gums, and teeth. This was one of my first ones.

Ben, Holy smokes, that is awesome! I really like the eveness of the teeth and the eyes are killer. Well done! Thanks for sharing. The photo from the guy from Sweden is pretty sweet too. Super shark teeth! The depth of the texture of the paint job is phenomenal too. Wicky, You are right in that a set of shark teeth can look mean to us. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to scare fish: Yep, that is one heck of an ugly looking crankbait, and the shark teeth don't help it either. ;D I can't paint worth a darn. However, this fish hammered the living daylights out of it: That is a kiss Jimmy Houston would be proud of (click on pic to see the full kiss). Smallies seem to like it too: One can only conclude that beauty is indeed, in the eye of the beholder.

Do you mean one that you'd have to epoxy on? If so, mud hole. If not, Fuji makes a hook keeper that you can add to just about any rod. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=QDOGESTNY02NRLAQBBICCOFMCAEFCIWE?id=0011154311373a&type=product&cmCat=froogle&cm_ven=data_feed&cm_cat=froogle&cm_pla=0800707&cm_ite=0011154311373a&_requestid=1631 http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0030987318071a&type=product&cmCat=froogle&cm_ven=data_feed&cm_cat=froogle&cm_pla=0800707&cm_ite=0030987318071a This is the type I use. I have seen them at walmart of all places.

I am a big fan of the Lami Certified Pro series. I have one of their rods, but not that one. They are super sensitive. However, if you visit their web page, they have a forum where you can ask them anything about any of their rods, and you will be answered by their staff. I wouldn't be surprised if someone asked about this model already. You probably found this place already, but just in case... http://www.lamiglas.com/forum/2 They work hard to keep their customers happy. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks! Toledo, I am going to try my scroll saw with a fine teeth blade and if that doesn't work, maybe the dremel and if that doesn't work, I have a coping saw. ;D

Given your choices, Compre in both areas. Of your choices, I have and only used the compre. As for the whippy thing, it does not mean that all of the models in the Compre line are whippy. I can assure you of that. My compre spinning rod is no where near being whippy at all. That is what I have and use and it can handle t-rigs and smaller jigs quite excellently. It has enough power to handle these guys with with ease. My dad caught them. His first time fishing for salmon and he lands two different species. 8-) 1/4 oz jigs and 10# line in the Compre 6'6" CPS66MH2B

I was wondering if anyone uses other materials for the crankbait lips that was not lexan. For curiosity, I am going to experiment with metal lips that I plan to make from thin metal but would like to know if anyone has tried this and if so, could recommend the gauge of metal and type. I found some fairly thin strips of metal that looks like it would work fine as a lip. I think the use of metal might provide me with a cheaper and more cost effective material for me but it is probably going to be heavier than lexan. Could the extra weight affect the lure's wiggle? I think that it probably will. I also bought a small sheet of lexan from home depot that I was also going to try, but does anyone know if this is the same type of lexan used for crankbait lips? On the package it notes that it is very tough. For those that use other materials than lexan, what do you use and what do you like about it over lexan? Thanks.

What gauge? Never create a jig myself. Attempting to. I don't know the gauge of wire as it came out of an old table saw motor. I have been using it for about 15 years and it looks like I have another 15 years of wire left. IB, I heat my heads 12-18 at a time in the toaster oven. That is a lot faster for me and I don't have to mess with flames. That is a great idea! If I start painting them on a larger scale, I will definitely go that route. I can see how nicely and evenly heated each jig head would be and you could use the same oven to harden the paint. 8-)

You would have to take their word with a grain of salt because they could be lying through their teeth. You know, there's this part of human nature where we don't like (or prefer not) to have others do better than us and for some reason it stings. Fortunately I am usually not like that. I'm with crankenstein. I don't ask for reasons to compare their performance to mine, but I would ask out of curiosity and as a fellow angler.

Another vote for the powder. I put mine in a place where I wouldn't forget it and it's driving me nuts because I cannot for the life of me remember where in the garage they are and I have a lot of jigs to color. One tip for your heat source. I know some folks use a lighter and it can be used well. However, I prefer and recommend getting some cans of sterno. You get a bigger flame to heat more of the head evenly and it eliminates the need to waste one hand to hold the lighter. You can practice on something like pencil lead until you get the hang of it so you don't waste good heads.

Depending on the size of the wood it's also a scroll saw for me and that's just to get the basic shape. Then a hobby knife to whittle away and sand paper. I don't have a band saw, but if I did, by all means I would use it. Haven't used one since I was in the 7th grade in my industrial arts class ;D

First let me say that I am a shorebound angler and I initially thought that I had to have everything with me on the bank. I learned that it was quite cumbersome which I was somewhat willing to overlook, until I started to realize that: 1) Some lures worked with greater frequency and success than others 2) I was lugging all of this stuff and maybe only 3-7 lure types were actually being used. 3) This junk is getting heavy! Why am I lugging around this stuff for nothing. I store at home the different plano boxes of hard baits and whatever lures and a bankers box to hold the bags of plastics. This helps to keep them out of sight and if you looked in my garage, you wouldn't even know that I fish. I also use a backpack and in it I now put the planos of the lures that I think I will need or plan to use for that outing. I have a small BASS bag that carries my plactics and a zipper cd case (by quantum that I bought at Walmart that cost about $4) to carry my drop shot/finesse stuff. You might or might not arrive at my findings, of how I used to carry everything with me and that's cool. But what I do take is everything I believe I need to catch 'em. It's more of a have a little bit of everything vs. bringing everything including the kitchen sink approach. ;D

Teacher: What's the capital of Alaska? Student: Juneau? Teacher: Of course I do, but I still want you to tell me.

Well done! I enjoy reading your reports. 8-) They always have good play by play and pictures.