5bass

Went through my storage unit today and found a few old tackle boxes. Of all the old cranks I found, these were the only ones that I can't identify. I believe them to be made by Mann's but I could be wrong. Any guesses?

I wouldn't promote it, it's just my opinion. I played ball for a bunch of years growing up and I still love the game, dont get me wrong. I just think they play too many games to keep my interest for 6 months + Something I would be willing to promote is a pitch clock. I can flip every channel between pitches these days....I just don't have the attention span for a guy to tighten his batting gloves, knock off his cleats, get his shirt right, and adjust himself so he can just step back in, leave the bat on his shoulder and 'take' a pitch. Then after he has taken the pitch (and not done anything except take one step forward into the batters box and then one step back out) he has to readjust everything all over again? Come on. Life's too short. Watch Nomar in between pitches, it's brutal.

When the writers refer to 'creeks', they are talking about creeks that feed into a lake or reservoir. Here in the South we fish a lot of river fed reservoirs that cover thousands and thousands of acres. Amongst all of those acres there are many rivers and creeks that feed the 'lake' or reservoir. Some creeks are very small (not boat friendly), others you can blast through at 70 mph for a mile or more. These are the creeks they are referring to. In the fall a lake will turn over. This turnover is one of the signals that tells the fish that fall is upon them. The turnover creates less than optimal water for the fish to thrive so they seek out the clean water coming in from the creeks. I'm mainly talking about baitfish here but once the baitfish start to move into the creeks, the bass follow them right in there, so do the stripers and whatever else might be feeding on the shad. The further they go, the cleaner the water is. Thats how the big schools of shad end up stacked in the backs of creeks almost so thick that you could walk across them. Once the creeks water temp gets too low for them to tolerate they will move back toward the deeper water of the main lake and by then the lake has settled down from the turnover. Or if the creek they are in gets deep enough before they make it back to the main lake, they'll stay in a creek all winter. There are several creeks in my home lake that have shad in them year round. In short, if you notice the lake has turned over and the fish seem to have vanished, its time to find some cleaner water. In the creeks.

I agree in regards to the IMX but somebody has to try the new stuff.

They need to cut the whole regular season in half.

You been guzzling the Hater-ade again? You know you want one of these rods, stop playin'.

We fish spoons here all winter. Its probably the most dependable bait when the water is cold and the shad are bunched up deep. I dont even have to see fish on my graph to drop the spoon, just shad. The more the better. The bass eat shad all winter long and will move with the shad if they decide to move out. My partner and I found the shad in a small creek last winter that is around 40' deep down the middle. The shad stayed in there for almost 6 weeks straight. Every time we went in there, they were there. At times we could see the fish on the graph but most times it was just shad that we were seeing......a big black cloud would come across the graph. Sometimes they would be 20' down, sometimes 30', sometimes on the bottom. Once the shad moved out, we saw nothing on the graph. After we rode around for a while we managed to find them again about a 1/4 mile away in another small creek. The bass were still with them. All we do is drop a spoon down to just below the depth the shad are hanging and start the up and down jigging. Pulling the jig up through the shad will spook and scatter them, with hopes that the fleeing shad will trigger the bass to feed. Once you locate a good school, the bite is very dependable and the bass that hang tight with the schools of bait are generally bigger/fatter than normal. I catch some of my biggest bass of the year during the winter months with a jigging spoon. I always upsize my hooks and sometimes I even go to one hook (straight shank worm hook) on the bigger spoons. Who'da thunk that a hammered out piece of metal could catch so many fish?

I'll be ordering one casting and one spinning....just have to decide which ones.

Congrats Keith! We'll be waiting to see some pics of the little fellow.

When you build confidence in something during a practice period its very hard to pull anchor and move but it has to be done. Once you've established that the fish either are not there or are not biting, you HAVE to do something else. You can always come back and check your spots but finding something else is the most critical thing if you want to win a tournament. If you found a bunch of fish in practice and you know they are still there, throw a reaction bait and make them bite. The reaction baits have a way of getting things going when the more subtle baits just aint cuttin' it. I'll give them a bunch of things to look at but if I go thru 7 or 8 different baits and get no bites, I'm out. Sometimes you just have to let your instincts take over when things aren't going the way you had it all planned out. Plans crumble, patterns crumble, fish get lockjaw, whatever it may be, you have to adjust to be successful. Fish live by instinct. Try to think like a fish when things get tough.

That was not intended to be the definition of pitchin'. Docks are just what I mainly pitch at.

I agree, the spoon thing isn't real exciting but it's effective when the fish and bait are suspended deep. It's just one of those techniques that you have to learn although there's not much technique involved at all. Finding the 'right' school with your electronics is the hardest part. The dropshot idea is a good one. I can catch 'em on a dropshot but I'm not real confident with it yet on suspended fish because I'm always second guessing myself on whether or not my bait is actually in the strike zone. Now if they are closer to the bottom, I'm better with the drop shot. With the spoon, I dont have to be completely dialed in to the strike zone when I drop it, I just have to get it close. Because I'm moving the spoon up and down anywhere from 6 to 10' at a time, that movement compensates and covers up if I should be off in my depth calculations.

I know he bought some of them while we were at the Classic Expo. Freaky lookin' baits, no doubt about it.

Flippin' = 7'6" Pitchin' = 6'6" or 7'....the shorter 6'6" rod lets me get in closer to docks when I'm pitchin into 2" and 3" gaps plus it doesnt get in the way as much on hooksets when most of the rod is under the dock. Its just less rod to handle in tight spots.

Just realize what you've stumbled onto next time and make the most of it. Some people would kill to have over half a day to seek out a kicker fish. Worst case scenario if you do 'swing for the fence' and don't get the big bite is that you go to the weigh in with a solid limit, which you would've done anyway. At least you put yourself in a position to catch a kicker and possibly win the tournament. Use your 'bonus' time wisely and soak up all you can. If you get that good limit early, think of the rest of the day as a learning experience as you try to locate the kicker spots. The reason I asked about your bait choices was that anytime I am strictly trying to catch bigger fish I usually upsize my bait and go to deeper water that has some structure and preferably some cover on the structure. 95% of the time my bait of choice will be something that combs the bottom. A jig, big worm, deep crank touching the bottom or carolina rig. Good luck bighead, you fishin' another one this weekend? Be sure to give us an update.

This is how I did it: wet sand with 1000 grit paper wet sand with 2000 grit paper rubbing compound with buffer wax seal It was a lot of work but the results were great. You really need to keep the sealer on it to keep the oxidation from coming right back.

After boating 40 fish with none over 17" and knowing that what I had in the box wouldn't win, I would have definitely been gone from that spot.....a lot earlier than a few hours, more like one hour. I know it's hard to leave a bass catching marathon but during a tournament, sometimes it just has to be done if you want to pull off the win. You have to expect that everyone will be catching the schoolers in the fall. After you've got a solid limit, which you had, thats when you must immediately switch mindsets and seperate yourself from the pack....with a kicker. The sooner you go in search of the kicker, the better off your chances are of catching one or even more than one big one. In the fall especially, not saying it never happens but I dont expect to catch a kicker around any of the common schoolers. After I run the schoolers for a limit I will abandon them real fast in search of deeper water in places where big fish are known to hang. I tend to believe that bigger fish are loners or only hang with a few other big fish and that these fish never leave the main lake or main body of water. Thats where I would have spent the majorty of the tournament day, on deeper structure most likely with a jig tied on or maybe a big worm. If you have thoughts that bigger fish may move in, you can always go back and check the hot spot later, in between runs to the main lake big fish spots. It shouldn't take long to figure out if the big ones are there or not. If you continue to catch the small schoolers, move on. I'm interested in what baits you used. I expect on the schoolers you were throwing some kind of reaction bait. Crank, spinnerbait, soft jerkbait, etc....

Thanks for cutting me a little slack Keith. You've got to understand that I work with 4 Cowboy fans every day of the week. So this current 'slide' has been ammo for me.

....not to mention leaving his feet to do it and finishing with a forearm

Pointer 100 DD = bass magnet

I like the Pats but figured Denver would have their way with them. But a running game just magically appeared. I see that. And if they beat the Broncos I won't be mad about it.

Of those you listed, in my opinion I dont think there's a $150 rod better than the Falcon Cara period. As for the Mag Strike, I cant really make a fair comparison to the Crucial or Powell since I dont fish either one.

Whew! I finally found a Cowboys thread. I voted yes. Jerry Jones and Al Davis are good buddies and they think alike when it comes to running or more like ruining a team. Al Davis has run the Raiders organization straight into the ground over the past 5-6 years. If things dont change in Big D, it could happen there too. And Jones, he wants to get all these star players but he doesn't have anyone on staff that has the stones to keep those guys in line. Wade Phillips clearly is not that guy. Decent coach, but not a big enough disciplinarian for all the 'superstar' personalities. The Cowboys are circling the drain!

Should be over by halftime. Broncos should steamroll the Pats.