earthworm77

If you don't want to use lighter gear, simply slow down.....even slower than you think slow actually is.

I like to Texas rig them with a brass weight and glass bead on a 2/0 EWG hook. I make a hand dipped tube for my customers that is like 7 or 8 dips and as big around as a snow shover handel. These guys rig it on a circle hook, 3/0 and drift it in slow moving rivers for monster smallmouth.

Optima Blues

Maybe gimmicky isn't the best word to use, I just felt that reading the articles, I wasn't getting a ton of knowledge from them or I thought some of the writers didn't do a great job getting their points across. Just my opinion. Certainly not on the level of I/F or B/M

Practice throwing jigs into a teacup at about 30ft. That is how I learned to flip. I recently won a little side contest against 2 BASS pros doing it. Free cold beer is good! And it is on video!

I hate to see anyone keep a big fish but as long as it is within the legal limit, they are entitled.

Jigs Tubes Salty Stickbaits...I make my own, the FatZilla Spinnerbaits

Striper and crappie are my fave's

In Fisherman is good, Bassmaster is on a decline. I think Bassin is too gimmicky.

You guys can fight over it, I'll work on both....but my real passion is Suwannees!

It shouldn't matter but I do hear a bunch of pors talk about shutting their LCD's down when they stop to fish

Yep, check out a bait called the Madtom by Case plastics, you'll thank me later!

Bio- Craig De Fronzo grew up in Hauppauge NY on Long Island. Very early on he became interested in bass fishing as he lived in the middle of what he terms the Western Suffolk Big Bass Belt. This was a series of lakes that were all located in close proximity to each other. Fishing on Blydenburg, Millers Pond and Lake Ronkonkoma, Craig became a power fisherman and took what he learned on these lakes to Florida every Spring during his youth. Craig cut his teeth fishing Floridas famed big bass waters such as West Toho, Lake George, St. Johns River, Suwanee River , Lake Osbourne, the Everglades, The Big O, Kissimmee and others. In the early nineties Craig took a trip to the Ocala National forest and caught a 13.9lb bass on 6lb test. This was the turning point in his young angling career as he switched over to the realm of finesse fishing. Craig began to adopt all of the "New" West Coast methods and re applied them to his fishing here in NY. Not only did he discover he could get more bites when scaling down his tackle, he saw that he was catching far more large fish as well. He has documented through the NYDEC Diary program an outlandish number of bass over 5lbs all on light tackle. To date he has landed 21 bass over 7lbs on LI including 3 bonafide nine pounders. When he is not chasing largemouth bass, he can be found out in Montauk looking for big stripers. Nicknamed "The Surgeon" by several of his friends and club mates, for his meticulous eye for detail and scientific approaches, he was selected to be on Owner Americas field staff in 1995. Craig has written articles that appear regularly on River Smallies.com, Kevins bass site, The Michigan Fishfinder, Bronzeback.com, Bassininny.com and several for the Fisherman magazine and NYDEC Sweetwater Angler. He has had 300 articles published within the last decade. Craig is also the author of 14 bass fishing related ebooks. Craig has given several presentations on light tackle jig and tube fishing for the South Jersey Bass Busters and Suffolk County Bassmasters and New York Bass University. He is known for his technical approach to fishing and finding patterns. He is currently a police officer in NYC and was part of the Harlem Outreach program which taught inner city kids how to fish in Central Park. He worked with this program for the 5 years. Craig believes that confidence and his unorthodox approaches often give him the advantage out on the water. He is part owner of Micro Munch Tackle and is sponsored by Kistler Custom Rods, Sea King, Mizmo Baits, Kick N Bass, BBQ Team Coyote Roadkill, Jerky Hut and Mr. B's Tackle. He is on the staff of BassinUSA and Ultimate Bass and is a guest writer for RiverSmallies.com, Kevins Bass Site, BassResource.com, Illinios smallmouth Alliance, Michigan Fish Finder, BassAnglersonline.com and another site.com. Each fishing season Craig hosts a charity bass tournament dedicated in the memory of is childhood friend Tom Aylward who was killed in an auto wreck in North Carolina in 2000. The event draws some big name sponsors and 100% of the fees and donations generated make their way to the Aylward family. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Although I fish competitively and wear my sponsors colors proudly speaking with many anglers at the ramp, I feel my greatest attribute is being able to promote products and services through speaking to people at the seminars I do and through the many articles I write for various publications and websites. I am a staff writer for 3 of the biggest bass fishing websites on the net as well as several smaller sites. There is potential for my articles and ideas to reach over a million anglers a year, likely many more than that. I have been featured as a guest host of several TV fishing shows and have several invitations to do more. The possibility to reach large numbers of viewers exists. In 2005 alone, I've done 25 speaking engagements for national boat and fishing shows, clubs and websites. I would estimate that I've spoken before 3000 unique individuals at these functions. I have spoken alongside of such personalities as Jimmy Houston, Larry Nixon and Jason Reynolds. One thing I feel that is essential for me to work with any sponsor is the absolute belief in the product or service. Product knowledge is paramount to my success both on the water and representing your company. I have a degree in Criminal Justice and have been a law enforcement officer for the NYPD for over 10 years. I've seen and done it all. I believe that being a police officer has given me the great ability to be a public speaker bursting with confidence. My goal is to complete what is expected of me by my sponsors when called upon. I do my best to represent in a professional manner and I realize in truth that I am an ambassador to your company, a reflection of what your business is all about. For this reason, I commit myself to exhibiting conduct in a professional, courteous and humble manner at all times. While I don't feel that my tournament activity should be a large consideration for a position with any company, I list the past few seasons results to show that I am active in competition. Angling Accomplishments and Achievements 6-20-04 first place Loon Lake Craig DeFronzo- 14.69lbs 3 LMB 1 SMB 7-31-04 first place Upper Mills C. DeFronzo- 5LMB 18.79lbs 8-07-04 first place Hither Hills C.DeFronzo- 5LMB 18.10lbs 8-28-04 second place Bryant Lake C DeFronzo- 5 LMB 12.45lbs 10-24-04 first place Classic Forge Pond C.DeFronzo 10.37lbs 2004 Anglers of The Year: R.Fisher/C.DeFronzo: 74.40lbs Mr Bass Craig DeFronzo 4.89 Smallmouth Club MVP: Craig DeFronzo Classic Champs: R.Fisher/C.DeFronzo 6-15-03 second place Hither Hills 11.88lbs Craig DeFronzo 6-22-03 first place Maratooka Pond 9.55lbs Craig DeFronzo 6-28-03 first place Upper Mills 13.80lbs Craig DeFronzo 7-20-03 first place Forge Pond 11.96lbs Craig DeFronzo 7-13-03 first place Swan Pond 10.72lbs Craig DeFronzo 7-27-03 first place West Lake 12.69lbs Craig DeFronzo 8-10-03 second place Hither Hills 8.15lbs Craig DeFronzo 9-7-03 first place Forge Pond 16.93lbs Tom Aylward Memorial Event Craig DeFronzo/Paul Ritchie 9-14-03 first place Upper Mills 6.48lbs Craig DeFronzo 2003 films pilot episode of Lunkerville 2003 ESBA Team Anglers of the Year Craig DeFronzo/Rob Fisher 86.54lbs 72pts out of 80 for the 2003 season 2005 Seminar Series at NY Boat Show with Larry Nixon and Jimmy Houston 2005 Filmed second Lunkerville Episode Mr. Bass ESBA 2003 season Craig DeFronzo 4.89lb largemouth 2003 ESBA Club MVP Craig DeFronzo 6-2-02- first place Forge Pond 12.48lbs Craig DeFronzo 6-9-02 second place Zone 1 4.66lbs Craig DeFronzo 6-21-02 second place Swan Pond 7.87lbs Craig DeFronzo 7-7-02 first place Upper Mills 11.50lbs Craig DeFronzo 8-11-02 second place Forge pond 9.70lbs Craig DeFronzo 8-25-02 second Place Hither Hills 7.74lbs Craig DeFronzo 9-15-02 first place Swan Pond 7.59lbs Craig DeFronzo 9-22-02 first place Maratooka pond 9.50lbs Craig DeFronzo 10-02/ 10-03 -02 ESBA Classic first place 16.79lbs Craig DeFronzo 2002 Team anglers of the Year Craig DeFronzo and Rob Fisher 2002 overall angler of the year Craig DeFronzo 2002 club MVP Craig DeFronzo 2001 Helps establish Green Eyes Worm Works and Wicked Tubes, hand poured baits 2000 Forms Micro Munch Tackle 1995 Invented the proto type of the Micro Munch Jig 1995 co-Founder Harlem Outreach Fishing with Inner city Kids Program 1995 Runner Up Big Bass World Championship for NY 8.16lbs 1994 Runner Up Big Bass World Championship for NY 7.34lbs Pro Staff Affiliations BASSIN' USA Mr. B's Bait and Tackle Owner America Corp. Sea King Line Micro Munch Tackle Kistler Custom Rods Kick N Bass Jerky Hut Fish For Free BBQ Team Coyote Roadkill Mizmo Baits Micro Munch Tackle Blue Label Key Stats : Largest Largemouth Bass 13 pounds 9 ounces Ocala National Forest Largest NY Largemouth Bass 9 pounds 14 ounces Wildwood lake Largest NY Smallmouth Bass 6 pounds 2 ounces Hudson River Catskill Creek Largest LI Largemouth (2) 9 pounds 3 ounces Largemouth Bass Peconic River both Zone II Largest 5 bass Tournament total 22 pounds 14 ounces Mahopac NY 2000 Largest LI 5 bass total 32 pounds 4 ounces Millers Pond 1991

Pool and jacuzzi are acceptable tub is out unless it is jetted, sorry, dude, your girlfriend might be right on the money!

I am a big time skipping guy with spinning gear. I was recently challenged by an angler to a competition. He said he could be more accurate flipping than my skipping. I waxed him 22 bass to 1. This guy was an abomination to flippers everywhere. I labelled him DepthChargerman because his bait would smack down on the water in a loud commotion. It wasn't pretty.

I wrote an article on inlines, especially the Roostertail that i'll submit to Glenn.

Listen to RW, he knows!!!!

Funny story.....I drew a partner in a Tx several years ago who had a false leg. I had my limit very early and this guy only had a dink in the well. I kinda felt bad so I brought him to a spot where only one of us could fish while the other ducked to avoid trees and stayed on the motor. He dropped several fish right away and I made a little joke about his hookset technique. I told him he set the hook like a pansy and that he should set it like he meant it. Well, at about that time, I looked down to change speeds on the trolling motor when the boat rocked and I heard a tremendous splash, my partner had fallen off the back of the boat attempting to put more umph into his hookset. Remembering he had only one leg, I promptly jumped in after him. I grabbed him by the collar and brought him up, it was fairly shallow but this guy was totally dunked. I wanted to laugh so bad but I didn't want to make him feel bad. When I got his head up I saw he had a big grin and I just lost it. It was a funny site to see. Good laugh. And he missed the fish!

Try www.tackleunderground.com somebody will be able to direct you to the right place.

If I could pick only a handful and stick with them forever: Black Pearl white Roadkill Camo Black Grape Green Pumpkin Dark Pumpkin RedShad or Junebug I guess my hand has seven fingers!

This may sound ridiculous but I throw 1/16oz hair jigs in white for visible bass in the spring. Kills them! The trade off is the light line you must utilize but a 4 or 6lb Yo Zuri Hybrid is very strong.

I am a jig fisherman and built a tackle company based on my fondness for them .Very early on I learned to "weigh the line". This helped me determine if I had a strike on a jig. It is simple. A 3/8oz jig should feel like a 3/8oz jig when it is in the water. Learn this and get used to the feeling. Under normal circumstances, anything heavier or if you lose the feeling of that weightis likely a strike. You will uickly learn the difference between weeds and snags and strikes. I suggest getting on the water with only a box of jigs and cutting loose, you are less apt to switch to your confidence baits if you don't experience immediate success with them.

Take a look at Stamina. They have a couple of rat l trap type baits painted red/white/blue with united we stand slogans. Red and Blue hooks. About 2.99ea.

Shimano Stradic MGf Shimano Scorpion

not a problem