Josey Wales

To expand on your what and why for spinnerbaits, I will start by saying I have many different brands.. But the brands you will find the most are going to be the nichols and the war eagles. why? let me explain As CJ stated beeing a Michigan fisherman we do encounter lots of bowfin, pike, and depending where you fish musky as well. If youve never encountered one before let me tell you they are not nice to tackle. While the nichols may not be as durable as the T-1, alot of their baits have a key feature that I look for and that is flash. Their hologram, and now Shattered glass style put alot of it out in the water. While this isnt always important to bass, I believe it to be essential for PIKE which I have come to enjoy angling as well. There are a number of combonation tourneys for Bass and Pike, as well as just Pike tourneys. War eagles are well built and one of the main features I like is that the skirts are built right in with the metal so you dont have to worry about that rubber deteriorating and such. However at roughly 2 dollars a pop on the 15th ill be swooping up those terminators believe me. Maybe some of the michigan guys should meet for coffee in front of BP before they open ;D

I have some of the Bitn titans lol... I got them at the Ultimate fishing show last year when the owner brought em to the show unpainted... I got like 6 of em for $1.50 a piece unpainted. I painted em at home and have had some success with them. The Titanium blade theory of lighter blades thumping better at slower retrieves is interesting. I seen him again this year and got a good laugh with him considering his product looked better in an actual package as opposed to a cluster of unpainted spinnerbaits in a cardboard box. I guess a booth at the show must be expensive. Good luck with them. I actually took one and cut the arm short to make it like a zorro short arm spinnerbait. It did fairly well at night. excited about the T-2's.. I live like 10 min from BP but unfortunatly ill be in georgia for the sale, so some buddies are going at opening and buying a bunch up for me.

Im assuming the action has to be more of the top water popping action. The water that this guy catches em on gets really weedy in the late spring to the fall. I cant argue with his results that he posts with it tho... He either has a specific technique for it, or he has pulled off one of the funniest inside jokes ever, cause I look like a fool fishing with it.

Up at Fletchers Floodwaters in Northern Michigan there was a board with various trophy fish caught during the year. a good 20% of the fish there were caught using this lure. Naturally I was caught by the impulse bug and bought one of these lures. It comes with no dirrections, and the individual that fishes with it wasnt around to ask on technique. basically how do you fish this bait? is it a steady retrieve? a cadence? Im lost and are wondering if any of you have experience with it.

I dont think ive ever spooled a spinning reel with flourocarbon due to what some here have commented on. #10 or above it becomes like roadwarrior said "wirey" Some interesting suggestions on conditioning it for a spinning reel however, that I am surely going to try this year. Ive never used the line conditioner before...does this stuff really make that much of a difference? How do you apply it? while you spool or afterwards? or other? I have spooled some reels with Vanish transistion, but I dont think this counts. And the stuff cuts like a knife. Good luck on the Trilene flouro tho... I will be following the awnsers you get closely as well. Good fishing.

I see that you live in Canton, MI. If you feel like a 30-40 minute drive there is a large camera shop at the corner of Telegraph and m-59 in pontiac. (the name escapes me at the moment) Ritz Camera or something. Ive been in this store and they have everything you can think of at every price range. And their product knowledge is excellent. I have a Kodak easyshare that I bought from there 2 years ago for like $250. Im sure they have cameras in your price range and the knowhow to get you what you need.

I use Baitcasting for just about everything. Spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, cranks, jigs, swimbaits, and topwater. I use spinning for say skippin tubes under docks, dropshotting, and some lighter jigs (chompers skirted dbltail grubs on a shaved down standup jighead) also have a spinning outfit for float and fly. Get out and try some different things and see what your comfortable with.

+1 Verbatim.

I like the T-1's and have a few... as far as the secret weapon goes, I meant that there is actually a brand called secret weapon, that advertise's and interchangeable blade system and realistic looking heads... also Bass Pro shops has a promotional sale on the T-2 spinnerbait on March 15th, where you can buy 5 for $10... I went to Bass Pro to see some and there were only T-1's and the stainless models there. Im wondering if there is gonna be somekind of special release of the T-2 on this date.. if anyone knows about this, im curious to see if my thinking is correct.

GOD I LOVE SMALLIES! Try a Big-O in the craw pattern... there are 2 out now, one is a brown and the other a red... 2 1/4 inch I believe. If you have time on your hands sandblast one and due a greenish blue craw... works for me, and I hope this helps. Tubes are always good, but better in lakes I think.

Your absolutely right about that... But why do people buy a sportscar that goes 200+ mph? to go that fast? probably not, but I bet it doesnt even flinch at 75 mph. Ill never use 24 lbs of drag on a bass... but ill bet that it handles 8lbs better then a reel that has a 10 lb drag cap.

I just use a weedless Jig... helps on the hang ups and gives you another fish catching option.

Ive been looking into the revo as of late and may take the plunge as well... You cannot ignore the 24lbs of dragforce you can put down with those things. I have different reels and no real complaints... A Calais, quantum energy pt, and the older curados... (green) I wont change my shimano spinning reels, but I think its time to retire the old green curado's and put that revo on a flippin stick.

This is just a general question as to the Brands of spinnerbaits you like to use. Im always looking for new things to throw into the Tackle box that I couldnt find here in MI. I Personally like War Eagle and Nichols myself, and saw the interchangeable "secret Weapon" spinnerbait in the store here and bought one... anyone have anything to say on it? Thanks for your input!

I would say for the money you cant beat the cotton cordell Big-O. if you can find them in the older colors the better, but up here in MI they seem to work real well in those sandy and Marl type flats in the craw color. Wall mart and Meijer had em real cheap a year or 2 ago. They are normally like 4-5 bucks but ive seen em as low as 2... I just bought a bunch up, sandblasted em and painted em all kinds of craw variations. Depending on time of year and the water im fishin. Hope this helps.

The Tube. The bait that looks like nothing, but imitates seemingly everything.

Spring ya say? Mother nature is a cruel old woman with a horrible case of dementia. I seen a Robin on Fri, he was wearing a scarf and holding a sign that said will work for earth auger. we had 50's and rain on Monday the 3rd but those days are seemingly long gone with snow and freezing temps as far as my DirecTV can predict. Ive got the cure for Mother nature and her partner Old man winter tho... Delta Airlines and about 25000 lbs of jetfuel taking me south in a week. Good fishing to those who have open water.

I love the Palomar knot. It is the best for braided line, and simple enough for flouro as well. But make sure to keep the flouro wet. I tend to use lots of FLouro leaders on braided and sometimes ill use a swivel inbetween to keep line twist down. In this instance I have to use something other then the palomar on the flouro side of the swivel due to not beeing able to loop the braid on the other side... Other then that... it is the simplest strong knot out there!

Never against hiring a guide, but perhaps I should explain the scenario in more detail while trying not to bore the hell out of ya =) Believe me when I say that im not bragging, but I seem to think of myself as a fairly skilled angler. While I know that fishing in the North can be different from the South in many respects, I also know that there are some simmilarities. Since I stopped my baseball career in the minors, my father has missed the certain connection that came from it. All his life he has detested fishing due to the fact that his fathers idea was just sitting in a rowboat for hours with a bobber and worms. While there is nothing wrong with this approach it isnt for everyone. I started in much the same way as a youngster, and since then have evolved my techniques and abilities to what I like to think is more of a power fishing style. Not just for bass either. However I am rambling and will try and get to the point here. basically I am visiting from the 13th to the 16th, and while I would love nothing more then to trailer the ole boat down and attack the lake for hours a day, the more realistic assesment is that because I am taking family allong my time will be limited. Ive basically conceeded the point that ill have maybe 3 hours a day, or even an evening to try and respark my fathers fishing intrests. He purchased himself a rod and Reel and one for me to use as well cause I dont want to risk mine on a plane. I would say that im proficient in most areas of bass fishing. My grass flipping needs the most work, but I dont run into that very much here in MI. If guides can be hired for 3 hours I am not against it, but I must also be ready to attempt a guideless blind excursion. He did say that his house there is on St Michaels Bay if that helps. Thank you again for your advice and patience in this longwinded post.

I am currently living in Michigan and was invited by my father to do some fishing down at this lake in GA. I can only take a limited amount of tackle due to the fact that I am making this a more of a family oriented trip then anything else. I will more then likely be taking my father fishing as well (who knows nothing about it or I would be asking him) What type of lake is this and what am I going to encounter? If anyone who fishes this lake would like to drop some suggestions as to lures and what im gonna run into I would greatly appreciate it. Just found this forum too... Looks like a great source of information.