MNGeorge

X2...nothing else even came close to producing like the Rage Tail Chunk. My rod for swim jigs is 6'6" MH fast action casting.

OK, cool. Thanks for the info.

If it's like most whites, it "fades" to yellow.

In order to get my boat on the trailer, I have to drive it on, and I do mean DRIVE it on. Rarely have to winch more than few inches, but a good heads up...thanks.

What's the over/under on how many weeks until we see the first "pre Pure Fishing" Flatt Shad, Koolie Minnow and/or Magic Swimmer ad on the flea market forum? ;D

What would you estimate the RPM's to be at top end?

There is no real photo of the bait, just a picture of a bag full of double tail grubs. The narrative says there are 4 different baits in the series...Devil's Spear, Two Timer, Craw Fatty and Pit Boss. I'm assuming the double tail grubs are the Two Timers.

Just got my Pro Guide issue of Bassmaster Magazine and Dick's has an ad on the back cover featuring, among other things, a new soft plastic from Berkley called Havoc. Did a websearch and didn't come up with anything particularly informative...nothing about them on the Brekley website either. Does anyone know the story on these new baits? Are they going to be a Dick's exclusive?

3 inches per handle turn may not sound like much of a difference, but when you're trying to reel in from a distance as fast as you can to make another cast, those 3 inches start adding up pretty quick. I'm down to only 2 reels with 6.4 to 1, all the rest are 7.1 to 1. You can always not use all the speed you have...I'd go with the faster reel.

They discontinued a bait called "Flap Jack Craw" due to patent issues. It was their best bait IMHO. I sent an email asking about it and was told the Raptor Tail Jr. will replace the Flap Jack Craw. They are making them now and anticipate they will be up on the website early next week.

spots within spots

Given the 2 choices, "sick gill" makes the most sense to me from a strictly marketing standpoint. Most anywhere one can find Bass, one can also find Bluegills...not so with the Tilapia. For the "match the hatch" crowd north of the Mason-Dixon Line, Tilapia, dark or otherwise, probably doesn't do too much for them. Just my $.02.

I fish the upper Mississippi for Smallmouth almost exclusively and have for almost 30 years. In the river, good spots will almost always produce action more than once or twice per day. It is my considered opinion that river Smallies are naturally more aggressive than their lake bound cousins so the time it takes for a spot to recover is much shorter on a river than on a lake. Sometimes a presentation change may be necessary the second and/or the third time around, but we know from experience the fish are there...we just need to find the right trigger for that particular time.

Switched to all yellow braid a few years back because I could no longer see the green stuff. I use a fluoro leader with everything except my hollow body frog rig. Happy with the switch and would never consider not using a highly visible braid.

While I can't say I will never buy anything from them ever again, similar, though not quite so bad, experiences have put Cabela's well down my list of places to buy tackle.

I just like buying tackle, always have and likely always will. That said, I have become a bit more discriminating over the years largely due to the fact that 90% of my fishing is done on the upper Mississippi River for Smallmouth Bass. Anymore, it has to look like it will fool those river Smallies before I consider buying it.

Looks better to me than some factory Perch patterns for sure. Nice looking bait.

I shipped 3 reels to DVT before Christmas. I packed the reels in their original boxes and then put them inside the shipping box with some bubble wrap. I just shipped 3 reels to a guy yesterday that had no boxes. I wrapped each reel individually with enough bubble wrap to not only protect the reels but to also fill up the shipping box. In either case, make sure you use a good quality shipping box and tape it up thoroughly.

The ones I have are also as Francho describes here. Never fished this color before but bought some on a Black Friday sale...sorry to hear they aren't any good. :) Gone through countless bags of Beavers and never had a bad bag yet.

Hard to pick just one having learned so many useful tips from this site. There are two that immediately come to mind that both have produced very well for us...using JJ's Magic and fishing the Fat IKA rigged backwards and weightless.

65

Just checked TW website...no Hardytack Craw.

All my baitcasters are REVO STX's except the reel on my slop rod which is a Pflueger Summit.

Had some success with river Smallies on their Food Chain Tube.

Reaction Innovations 4" Boom Boom Tube in Big Texan and Magic Craw Swirl.