hawgchaser

Larry has to be one of the best fishermen around today. He makes lures for each situation and they nearly always payoff. He is simply amazing!!

Any 6:1 will do just fine. However, I use my burner reels for a little extra speed. Keep in mind, they don't always want it fast bt it gives me the option.

I think all the suggestions so far have been good. in that price range, Pflueger spinning reels will be very tough to beat. These are 2 really nice combos. You can darn near get them both http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_59170_100003002_100000000_100003000_100-3-2 http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10203893_100003002_100000000_100003000_100-3-2

I was on the same pattern and the red eye shad/Xr50 took over as the go to bait. I could still catch good fish on the jerkbait but the traps were outfishing them nearly 2 to 1. Try fishing a trap at several different speeds in the same locations and I guarantee they will bite!

This is one technique I have not explored. I just saw a short segment on the Bass Pros and the LC RC1.5 looked fantastic. So how and when do you guys fish these? What structure do you fish? What about in clear water? What action rod is best? Lastly, feed the bait monkey some ideas of good ones to try. I am going shopping pretty soon and will grab some of these.

I have 2 boxes full of traps and my favorite by far are the Xr50 and the red eye shad. The blue/chrome/orange Xr50, the "east texas special" red eye shad, and both in craw color for early spring. All of these except the first pic were on Xr50 in blue chrome and east texas special in red eye shad. We caught over 40 total and both baits produced. I have 2 boxes full of traps and my favorite by far are the Xr50 and the red eye shad. The blue/chrome/orange Xr50, the "east texas special" red eye shad, and both in craw color for early spring. All of these except the first pic were on Xr50 in blue chrome and east texas special in red eye shad. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1234555758

20lb Seaguar or 50lb Suffix Braid

The sonar technology has taken fishing to a new level. I can honestly say that rod/reels have become more comfortable but have in no way made me a better fisherman or helped me catch any more fish. I like new equipment but rod/reels are very overrated IMO.

Now thats a good year! And Lake Fork is a good place to find a PB.

Thats true for price BUT I like to support the local guys as much as possible. They provide the latest info on all the baits and lakes around here. They know where to go and what to throw. They also need our business to compete with the big boys. Don't get me wrong, I order stuff online and love Academy but I try to buy all my specialty baits at these local places.

I have heard that Daiwa's system is pretty good. I have thrown enough of them to notice. As far as set it and forget it, I do that with all of my reels with no external controls. However, now that I have 4 quantum PT reels, I have fallen in love with their braking system. If I am throwing a light bait and switch to one a touch heavier or especially in big time wind, the ability to quickly slam on or off the brakes has been fantastic. I can't imagine going back. But I have never liked magnetic bc they are so darn finicky. IMO, Quantum nailed this one.

Arkansas Rod and Reel in Little Rock, Ar The Tackle Box in Fort Smith, Ar

Thanks, It was a good one. We boated over 40 bass and found a drop off that produced fish for 2 straight hours. It was a small drop off from 4' gradually down to 12'. The bass would hammer the traps about halfway back from the dropoff. I was throwing a blue/chrome xcalibur and catching them left and right. My buddy was throwing a craw colored and a black/chrome rat'l'trap and didn't catch a single fish. I gave him a chrome/blue red eye shad and he started pounding them immedietly. These 2 baits produced all day. There is nothing easier than fishing traps and those 2 are great ones.

They are all good. It comes down to personal preference.

Great fish everyone! They are all caught on a huge variety of Baird as well.

Thats is one beautiful fish! Im drooling

51 but Im not sure I trust the gauge on my buddy's boat. However, thats the temp we start catching them on traps every year. The first pic is on another lake that is deeper and it was 45. The fish were hitting jerkbaits better there bt had started on the traps later this week. We moved lakes and it was all abot the traps.

Sorry if this has been covered(everything has been covered on here at some point) but what and when did you catch your best fish? I thought it would be interesting to see. Mine was late February on a watermelon brush hawg just before dark.

I used to be a shimano/all star only guy. I knew these combos were what I liked and thats all I needed to know. However, there is so much good gear out there, I started trying other stuff. I found that BPS offered the best value for me. Then they changed their reels to magnetic brakes and I was out. I very reluctantly bought a Quantum rod/reel combo last year. I shockingly loved it and now have 4 Quantum PT reels and 3 PT Energy rods. They are the easiest reels to adjust, are super smooth, and the rods are the most underrated rods around. I enjoy fishing with these combos more than my curados and citicas. In fact, my fishing buddy uses my 3 curados and 6 citicas. I still love the chronarch though. IMO Quantum has made leaps and bounds in the quality control department and offer some of the best gear around right now. So basically I stick with what I like but what I like changes as new equipment is introduced.

I prefer these gamakatsu hooks with the original senko, Yum Dingers, ***, and I'm experimenting with the ocho. I use spinning gear with 6-8 pound line. I like a 7'M action rod with some tip to it. My wacky rig is a 7'M American Rodsmith Titanium with an Abu Garcia 702 reel. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_58035____SearchResults

It took me 12 hours of fishing before I found any fish! Bt luckily I found them and found what they wanted. An XR50 blue/chrome, same in red eye shad, and an olive Xrap on windy drop offs. However, they are only on the points that lead into major creeks. The big fish are cruising these points. This lake does not produce many large bass. However, we caught several chunks and over 40 fish total. This first pick is last weekend when I finally found them!!! The rest are from this morning. I just thought I would share. This is the one from the weekend. It was caught on an X rap worked extremely slow. (My buddy talked me into this reel so I was showing him what it produced) This fish was like reeling in a boot...no fight at all. This was the biggest from today. She hammered and XR50 and did NOT want to come to the boat!! It was a fun fish. This is another decent XR50 fish. They would not touch another color. TThis is my buddy who broke his PB of 4.5lbs with this gal. I am glad I could get him on a bigger fish. It was the second best we caught today. And another nice one thatI personally thought was going to be a monster. This fish stripped drag like a redfish. I just thought you guys might enjoy some fish pics

I have really jumped on the Quantum bandwagon lately. I used to avoid them at all cost but their stuff seems to be top notch now. I want one of these rods pretty bad.....and yes I want it with a Tour Edition strapped on it

The best deal going right now and also one of the easiest reels to dial in. It has an external centrifigul braking system that I have fallen in love with. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=cat21406_feat&id=0030217115659a&navCount=0&podId=0030217&parentId=cat601360&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=OG&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true

Woo Hoo! My wife actually surprised me with an Accurist Pt Burner as well! She heard me talking about it with a friend so she bought me another. I'm loving these reels!

There are a lot of happy Sahara owners on here. I have one and I like it a lot. I actually really like the PT series reels by Quantum but I have not used any of their spinning reels...baitcasters only.