islandbass

one thing abot them is their price, about $90.00. This is very smart to target this price point. The yellow and black contrast kind of hurts my eyes, but I think I will look into the crankbait rods. $90 is easier to part with once there is more information available on them.

Sounds like the top of the line is somehow buried under a loop or two of the line. The easiest way to confirm this is to remove the spool completely from the reel and undo the line til you get to your knot. Then wrap the line back onto the spool and put the spool back into the reel. It can happen, although infrequently, usually when the top of the line is already under a loop of line underneath it and you feed the line through the line guide.

It's a solid rod, with great warranty. It is also sufficiently sensitive to get you around. If you seen my crankbait post, you will see that I landed that trout with a curado 101D and you guessed it, a Medium action 6'6" Clarus. And a 2-piece version to boot! The Clarus line has a decent selection of rods to cover many techniques. They are stiff competition at their price point. 8-)

perhaps an intentional omission to catch the customer's eye with a rhyme? As a guess, I would think (t) rig and jig. Some companies clump those two in the same rod model.

Do you know the composition of the bottom? If it is really soft of sandy, better rods will help. Raul nailed some serious tips. 8-)

UPDATE: 06-26-09 Simply Unbelievable! 3:00 PM I got to my home lake (Steel Lake) to give my crankbait its maiden trial and to get its action on video for the archives. Although it was a bit of a challenge to troll the crank and film at the same time with my limited capability digital camera I managed to capture what I needed. Next, I tried to film a cast but wasn't too successful. I reeled the crankbait to about 10 feet from the dock and stopped to put away the camera when all of a sudden, an 18 bass comes out of nowhere and zips right up to my floating bait to within kissing distance. It stops, circles it like a shark and swims away. My excitement level shot up a bit. Next cast, nothing. After a few more casts, a school or about 10-12 baby bass come out to inspect it and turn away. The positive thing is that it has gotten the bass' attention but something was missing from the equation that prevented them from committing to strike. I rubbed some Megastrike on it, casted it out, and got a hit! Unfortunately, I acted like a dear in the headlights and the command from my brain to my hand to start reeling was left in the queue and not getting through. Bottom line was I lost this one. I had to pick up my son from school so this session was over. 8:00 PM Enter lake number two, Bradley Lake. I make it to the floating dock that was already occupied by a few people. I made a cast right next to some submerged grass and my son tried his hand at reeling one cast in. A few more casts (all of these cast in only about five minutes), SMASH!!!!! My rod slammed down hard and the two guys next to me immediately took notice. This time, instinct took over and not the deer in the headlights action that happened earlier. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I have been Iaconelli'ing it lately when I have hooked into decent-sized fish. I was shouting out things like, Yeah!! That's right!! Yeahhh (mental fist pump)!! My first fish on a homemade lure!! Yeahhh (mental double fist pump)!! Yeah (mental high five)!! That's right, baby!!! Yeahhh!!! I embarrassingly concede that everyone within a 150' radius heard me because a group of people suddenly appeared along the bank on both sides of the dock. I knew I had a good-sized fish on but something was telling me it was probably not a largemouth bass. A large, silvery-pale torpedo shaped body nearing the water's surface confirmed it. It was a trout. A big trout! I was not targeting, but I will take it. I observed that the trout hammered the belly treble quite aggressively, such that it wasn't going to come off. My Shimano Curado 101D and Clarus trunk rod made short work of this most excellent battle. The gentleman next to me was kind enough to offer his net and assistance. I carefully guided the trout into the net. I removed the treble, took two photos, measured her, revived, and released this beauty as soon as I could. She swam away just fine. She measured 20 and I give a best guess estimate weight of maybe 3 lbs. My heart was still pounding and my hands were still shaking ten minutes after this blessed experience as a million thoughts coursed through my mind: 1. The first fish off of my first homemade crankbait. 2. The first fish I ever caught out of Bradley Lake after numerous attempts through two seasons. 3. The biggest trout I ever caught in my life. 4. Holy Smokes! The trout bit all the way through to the balsa! This lure making journey has really come full circle, from inspiration to conception, from to construction and examination and culminating into a hooked and landed fish. My son reminded me that I promised to take him to Krispy Kreme for a treat, and who would I be to disagree? After all, this was definitely an occasion to celebrate. A photo of the lake; You can see the dock in the background. Lastly, I would like to say it was a pleasure to meet Tom and Chris who were also fishing on the dock. Thanks for bearing with a long-winded story, but I am unable to keep it contained. -ib

That looks really good. I just recently got inspired to make a crank bait. If I start getting inspired to build a rod, it's going to be your fault.

Beautiful work!!! So do you give painting lesson? Lord know I need them. ;D

Darnet, I was at my local cabela's and while they didn't have those rods on sale, there were a bunch of lucky crafts discounted as low as $5.69. Selected rapala lures were also well discounted. Thanks for the heads up.

If those are messed up, I'd like to see what your non-messed up ones are. Great job!

I asked that question on another forum and the solution on taking the picture was to have the fish still in the water, even possibly still hooked. However the person offering that solution was wearing waders, something I normally don't do for bass fishing. And it was still difficult. I too have laid fish or two on the ground but rarely now, usually the softest spot closeby. Guilty as charged. Don't know if the guy is a poser or for real, but I look at it this way... He has contributed to the benefit of our economy.

Its going to hit the fan when RW sees that. I hear sirens in the distance..... Quick! Call 911. ;D IMHO there aren't many Pline lines that don't have memory up the ying yang, CX or otherwise. Not a bad thing necessarily, but it sho is ugly to look at.

Update 06-25-09 I have really got to work on my painting skills, maybe even take a class. I am not proud of the paint job, but I am proud that I saw this project through. It is just odd that I can shape and carve the wood with ease but I can't paint worth beans. Here are some images of the finished lure. As for the shark teeth, it is my signature trademark on my poppers and prop baits. I thought it would be interesting to see on a crankbait. Painting was done with regular hand brushes and acrylic points. Oh well. I plan to make more when I have more time. I plan to paint rainbow trout, perch, and bass color schemes on future crankbaits. Anyway, thank you for tagging along on my journey. I hope it wasn't too boring of a ride. Thanks to everyone! -ib

always close, but no cigar. No way, jose, for me.

PLine's CXX is probably king in that department.

It is not a bad rod, but there are better at that price point. Look at Shimano's Convergence lineup. You will have the benefit of the lifetime warranty.

The basic mechanics of the cast are the same for both. You need to let the weight of the lure load the rod for spinning or casting. I think however, you answered your own question. Since you don't like spinning reels to begin with, you are subconciously sabotaging your willingness to learn. I think we all do that with something we really don't like. ;D If you really wish to be a well rounded angler (I am by way of my gut), it would behoove you to master the use of both reel types, or get a few pixies and chronarchs. ;D Just stick with it and you'll do alright.

I hear you and "feel" your pain and I am not certain if you are stuck on the shore or not, but all of the knowledge in your head and the advice given here isn't going to do much if you are fishing where the fish are not. The only thing I can recommend is not giving up. Good luck.

I'd get Yozuri in 8 just to make it manageable on a 2500 sized reel. If 6# breaks at 11.9 as RW periodically mentions, I reckon that 8# is going to break probably closer to 14#. That should be plenty enough strength. If I were close, I'd let her borrow my Compre Spinning MH as it would be perfect for your scenario. For lures, I agree with what has been recommended.

What's the lightest weight you can toss with it without issue? Just might get one once I know. I use a Cardiff. They have a 5.x to something. However the price of a C3 is enticing.

I've done it twice and it is a lot of fun. I wrote a short piece on how I did it. Any weight loss is almost negligible and any increase in sensitivity is dependent on the design of the split grip. If your palm is 100% still on the cork or other material, I do not see how that is going to help increase rod sensitivity other than insignificantly lightening the rod. If one wants a split grip for those benefits they've bought into marketing hype. If they want a split grip because it looks cool and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, then proceed by all means. ;D Rapala Spinning Rod When held, the palm is still 100% on the cork. Berkley Lightning Casting Rod The split is made such that my palm in on the cork and blank. PM if you want a copy of the amateur piece I wrote.

Wow! That's PIG with a Capital P! Congrats!

After nearly five seasons of fishing and never having been able to catch my first bass of any kind on a jig. Yep! I am so glad that I got that monkey off of my back. I caught a smallie and felt the take. Even though this was my first bass caught on a jig, I have always pictured and envisioned this moment. Instinct took over and I set the hook and brought the bass home. It was a fair smallie, maybe 1.5 lbs, but it was a first. I was pretty stoked and did a couple of fist pumps and placed it back into the water before I realized I forgot to take a picture. Doh!!!!! Oh well. I felt a few more nibbles a couple of other times but was unsuccessful at sealing the deal. Then I switched it up to the drop shot technique, one that I am fairly comfortable with and moved to another spot. I casted it out and bam! I knew it was a good one. After a nice battle with a few runs, the smallie was still quite feisty when I brought it to shore. I am calling it my personal best because I have never cared to hold such a statistic, until now. So two bass in about an hour's time, with a handful of misses isn't too shabby. Conditions: Approaching Low Pressure, Cloudy and some rain. Setups (trunk rods): Shimano Compre Spinning Rod, Rapala 6Sxi, 6# Cajun FC line, Local Plastic Worm Shimano Clarus Casting Rod, Curado 101D, 10# Sufix Siege, 3/16 oz gammy football jig and Sweet Beaver. I also used one of Gman's jigs but just couldn't convert from nibble to hook set a few times. -ib

Update 06-17-09 It works! I stopped by my home lake yesterday to see if the crankbait would work. I wasn't sure if it would work correctly and the creeping thought that it might not work was something I couldn't remove from my mind. With eager anticipation, I tied the Rapala knot for their cranks without a split ring and pitched out the lure. It made the typical plop, splash, dip and rise back to the surface that a crankbait does. Yes! Next, I walked along the dock and figuratively I was biting my nails as I watched the line in front of the bait become taut. The lure started wiggling back and forth. Yeeeeee Haaaahhhh!!!!!! That's exactly what I was saying along with a few fist pumps and Sho Ryu Kens. It was working, and working very nicely. It has nice and loose wiggle, reminiscent of a swim bait. It dove down deeper than I thought it would, probably somewhere in the 4-6' range. Other folks on the dock thought it was pretty cool too. Alright! I tried a few real casts and it casts as well as a Rapala DT6. Ahh yeah! I am very stoked about the how far I've gotten. I primed it with white paint this morning and have to come up with a simple color scheme. I'll be facing my biggest challenge and weakness Painting. -ib

Finally got the crankbait to balance with a piece of ¼ pencil lead. The bait seems to balance well in the water. I drilled a hole through the pencil lead for the wire for this crankbait. I will try though-wire construction for the next one. I will look into other materials for the lip and body too. Next step, I am going to epoxy the pieces into the bait, prime it with white and try to figure out how to paint this. It has been a challenge but rewarding at the same time.