madbass

Wayne, I was using a 1/0 and 2/0. From your experiences and mine, I think I will go to either the Mosquito type or Kahle type hook. I seem to have better luck with the "K" style hook.

Last week I was on vacation (fishing). I was doing quite a bit of wacky rigging with the Gamy finesse weedless wide gap hooks. I lost more fish than usual and I am wondering if it is because of the hook or the fact that it has the weed guard on it. The fish that I did get into the boat were mostly hooked (barely) in the roof of the mouth, not the corner. What is the recommended hook set with this type of hook? Any ideas or pointers on this?

Is it just me, or does fishing seem to get crappy when the DNR poisons the weeds? Two local lakes over the past couple weeks were "treated" with poison to reduce the weed growth. They claim it is to get rid of E. Milfoil. What a joke! Last I checked poison doesn't target certain species. So does anyone else feel that the poisoning has a negative effect on the fish bite?

Mann's, Daiwa, Mimic and Lucky Craft. Half of them were custom painted. There are a fair number of them in there, but they're not packed tight. Surprisingly, there were a half dozen Strike Kings that were unaffected. I wonder if pasting aluminum foil in the cover, shiny side out would prevent that (if I forget to put it away again!!!).

Just a warning to anyone who doesn't already know....While out fishing,(trying out different cranks) I left one of the clear boxes sit out on the floor for a couple hours in patial sun, but it wasn't a real warm day. The lid was closed but not latched. Some of the baits ended up deforming. Some expanded and split the paint down the spine, some had small bulges in the side, some actually had BB size dimples in the side. What's weird is, only about 20% of the baits were affected. I assume some might just be more sensitive to the sun/heat. Have you guys ever had this happen to your cranks?

I was a diehard user of Seafoam until 2 seperate mechanics told me about Techron (made by Chevron). According to them, Seafoam has some Techron in it. The Techron costs more, but you need to use less and it REALLY works well.

I have a 2000 Merc. 175 EFI. I would like to buy a service manual for it. Looking for opinions on Clymer, Seloc and Mercury manuals. I've been told the Merc. manual is best, but costs 3 times as much ($100). Any help or info on any of these would be appreciated.

See the blank horizontal lines on the screen? Is my GPS dead, or can this be fixed?

They are plastic. Any idea how to tell how old they are (based on the style of the words on them maybe)?

I have several of these and noticed the "Cordell" and the "Big-O" words on the sides are done 3 different ways. I assume they are different ages. One type is cursive and the other 2 types are not. Any info on these?

Maybe it's just an illusion in the picture, but the lip looks different. The one without the black dot looks like the edges are beveled a little and the front corners are slightly more rounded. I do like the coloring of that one better. The ones I bought are like the one with the black spot. My airbrush will take care of that though!

These are 3 pre-rapala wiggle warts I'm considering selling. I've searched all over, but cannot find the color name and number for them. Does anyone know, or know of a good source? I dont know if it shows in the pic, but the one on the right has a subtle purple color down the side. Also, since I cannnot find that info on them, could they be more rare colors?

Thanks for the replies. I was unsure about this rod because it seemed like it may be too stiff. It is a little bit stiffer than my 7'MF Pro Finnese-which I like for shallow/mid-depth cranks. But with what I'm reading about stiffer is better for deep runners, I think this will work well. I generally favor lighter action rods, so I'm not sure that I would like a MH, but the advice helps.

Looking for opinions on using a 7' med./fast Extreme rod for deep crankin. Anybody have any experience and/or useful input?

I have what looks like a Bill Lewis rattle trap with a lip. It has a round lip with a little ridge around the upper edge of the rounded end. It has been repainted, so there is no identification on it. I've never seen one before. Can anyone give me some info on this?

How can you tell if you have an original P-70?

How can you tell if one is pre-Rapala or not?

First off, the problem. We absolutely cannot get these brown buggers to bite! This is only my second season targeting smallies in the fall. We're fishing a gin clear natural lake. The water has been hovering around 60*. We see fish cruising or just hanging around on drop-offs 7'-12' down over water twice as deep. Also, off and on during the day over deep water (30'-60') we see small "packs" of fish busting minnows (we think Shiners) on the surface. It lasts for only 5-20 seconds each time. We've tried almost everyting I've read on here to no avail. Question, what water temps do smallies generally go on the best bite? Any thoughts or suggestions. I'm hoping this thread might become a good discussion to help everyone.

The hooks on short crankbaits like the Baby 1- keep getting hooked together. What is the best and shortest, short shank treble hook to replace with?

Conditions- summertime, clear water, natural lakes with bluegill and perch as forage. From what I've read so far, a wide wobbling bait with a square type lip is preferred. Which crankbaits do you think come through the salad the best?

I don't know if he still sells them, but I bought like 200 O-rings from this guy for $5 or $6. I have had good luck with his rubber O-rings. If your interested I can PM his email addy to you.

There are tons of items sold in plastic containers these days. Anytime we buy anything that comes in plastic packaging or container, I cut off any flat usable part of it before tossing it out. Many times this is stiffer than any sheet plastic.

Last year I started leaving my plastics in their bags. What I do to keep similar baits together is, use a hole punch to make a hole in the upper corner. Then put a binder ring thru the hole of a couple bags of similar type of bait. Hope that makes sense!?.

Medea Super Lube. I have had good luck dealing with Merri-artist. Listed under 'airbrush', 'airbrush cleaners'. It sounds expensive, but it lasts a looong time since you only need a drop or two at a time. I've had the same tube for a couple years now and used only 1/3 of it.

Also, be sure to coat the needle with the blue super lube that should have come with the brush when your finished cleaning. I put a drop or two near the tip and spread it all over the front half of the needle with my finger.