hawgchaser

First off, you are about to have one heck of a good time! That is a beautiful river and the fishing is great. Now I am jealous... Anyway, I haven't fished the buffalo in years. They used to hit watermelon and pumpkin seed tubes and grubs. I have some friends that swear by X raps and other jerkbaits on that river. I have been tearing the smallies up on a watermelon Arkansas WartHawg but I am fishing a deep lake just south of the Buffalo. I will ask some better sources and post back up when I get some first hand accounts.

I will notice the difference in a lightweight vs. a heavier but it doesn't make any difference to me. I fish allday with extreme combos and they aren't nearly as light as some of my Loomis rigs. But I still like them.

I will take a good 6-8lb mono/hybrid line 95% of the time. Easier knots, more manageable on windy days (most days are windy on big water), I can cast light lures much further with mono, easy breakoffs, and less visability. However, I do like braid for one reason, it allows me to use light spinning reels( rated for 6-8 pound test) for everything. I use mono for bass and trout, then simply put on my spare spool of braid for hybrids, stripers, and redfish. I have a new Abu 701 series spinning reel that weighs 8oz. I was using 6 pound test this morning and will have 20lb sufix braid next weekend in Venice, LA catching MONSTER redfish. NOW thats versatile!!!!

Dang...There are a lot of Hank Parker fans!!! I like him too, but he doesn't make the cut for me. I forgot about Scott Rook. He owns the Arkansas River. I have fished a few tournaments against him and he pulls fish out of thin air. I would pay good money for him to show me what he does.

Its made with real bits of carrot...So you know its good! JK, I actually kind of want one

My brother has a bionic and loves it. If it were my money, I would get an extreme.....Fantastic reels. Quantum Code is also in that price range..I think about $70. I have 2 of them and have been fairly pleased.

This is one area that Quantum really shines. They aren't the only ones BUT they have external centrifugal braking control. You don't have to take the sideplate off to adjust the beads. You just turn the dial from free spool to 3,6, or 9. Great system! Now, you can do this with magnetic braking but I haven't ever liked that system as much as centrifugal.

This is a GREAT old fashion bait shop, privately owned and independent. 8-) They know their stuff in there. Do you know Billy? The first place I go when I am hitting a different lake in Ar is Rand R. They always have an up to date report. Plus they carry all the good baits you can't find anywhere else.

You may be surprised at how much nice a spinning setup can be. I can't imagine fishing shakeyheads, drop shot, flukes, and now even senkos on a BC. A spinning reel will allow you for much better distance with light lures as well as no backlashes when throwing into the wind. IMO you need both.

Extreme rods are just about all I use. I have 4 spinning rods and 6 bc rods(I think). I travel all over fishing for bass, hybrids, stripers, trout, crappie, specks, and redfish. These rods are tough as nails and you will be able to feel whatever is on the bottom. The only negative, for some people, the power hump handle makes the rod feel a little bulky. But I love the way they feel. You will be hard pressed to find a 60 million modulas rod with fuji guides and reel seat for that price. I usually post this link when I reply to these threads bc I think it says a lot about the quality of them. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1207490444/3#3

In some situations that may be true. But if you are fishing corridors and dead-ends in lillypads (which may only be a few feet wide - if that), or pockets in heavy cover, my experience is jerkbaits won't work as well as a surface popper. If I'm fishing open water over a weed bed, then a jerkbait makes sense. If I only have a small area to work - popper. If I have an open area to work - jerkbait. I think one really nees to read the water they are one. Thats true....There is also a lot of areas that a jerkbait wont get through. Try fishing a jerkbait in lily pads and really shallow water. PLUS sometimes those big gals just want a lot of noise and splashes!

Here is some info from Iaconelli http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/iaconelli_crankbaits.html

Well.......here I go with showing my ignorance ;D but when you say jerk bait, are you talking about zara spooks, devil horses, etc.... :-? Jerkbait would be a pointer, x rap, or rogue type bait. They aren't topwaters. Most of them dive from 4-6 ft. You jerk the bait to make an erratic motion. I prefer the ones that suspend but some float and some just dive. BTW. You need some of them

A lot of truth in that. I was slamming them with an olive X rap last weekend!....and I am leaving in the morning for a 4 day fishing trip. You can bet I will have a pointer or x rap tied on all day!

Most topwaters are lowlight only with the exception of buzzbaits. If I am fishing grass banks, a buzzbaits will work all day regardless of conditions. I have caught fish in the middle of the day on various topwaters but I only do that on big bass lakes fishing shallow water. A few areas to key in on: Deep water flats or just open water=walk the dog type baits like spooks, sammy etc Next to timber= chug bugs, pop'rs grass and shallow water=buzzbaits nighttime= jitterbug and any loud plug.

Are these from the same people that make trout magnets? I have heard they are really good. As for crappie, I have found nothing better than blakemore roadrunners. Pink, red, yellow heads with a white grub. But be prepared to lose a ton of them They get hung on everything! Bass Pro makes something similar called the triple ripple with weedguard.

Power Pro is hard to find, so unless you order it, you aint buying it locally, at least not here. Wal Mart even sells PP. So does Academy, Sports Authority, Gander Mountain...its sold everywhere.

Try doing a search, this topic comes up often so you may not get many responses. Basically, they will catch fish when everything else is. some claim they are really good for other species.

Jighead worm is THE go to bait for shutdown bass. I usually start off fishing a more aggressive bait like a jerkbait, crankbait, spinner, .etc... If the bite isn't there, the first thing I pick up is a jighead worm. They also work well in the summer months after the early morning bite shutsdown.

Honestly, I don't know. The Strike King, Zoom, and Gambler all look very similar. The Gambler has a little more movement in the tail BUT I think the scent may have something to do with it. I miss very few fish with the sweebo worms. The fish really hold onto it and nearly everyone is hooked in the throat. (Which is not great) but it seems like they really suck these things down were as the others, I miss some fish on them. You can see the marks on the tail where the fish never got hooked. Anyway, I like all of these worms but have had great success with the sweebo lately.

I haven't seen a lot of talk about these baits. They will catch a lot of fish though.

The Gambler sweebo worm has become one of my favorites. It has outproduced both Zoom and Roboworms over the past 2 weeks. I have been lucky to fish all but 5 days this month. I have used them at Greers Ferry, Millwood, a private lake, and several ponds. Gambler also makes a good jighead called the giggyhead. It is EXTREMELY effective BUT the worm comes off fairly easily. It usually stays on until it gets bored out after a snag or fish. However many jigheads do this. You may want to try the Sweebo worm if you haven't a;ready they are sweeeeeet! Plus they have a heck of a strong scent. Fish love'em!

I have seen the line and no it does not disappear in the water. however, I would not go any higher than 65 lb. I use 30 lb when fishing for hybrids and it performs well. I have been using Sufix and may just go to it exclusively. 80 lb braid for bass is pretty excessive IMO.

That would be a darn fine choice! I prefer a 7' ML for trout and obviously the Avid is a great rod. Have fun!

I really like these lures. Like others have said, fish them like any lipless. The only problem I had last week was keeping the crappie off of them. I caught a dozen crappie fishing a shad colored red eye.