A-Jay

X2 - Sometimes as a jig trailer - that glide is just magic. I've been looking for a bait with similar action but have yet to find one as good. When rigged weightless & "backward" they glide away from you and right Under / Into cover - great for fishing docks . . . A-Jay

Berkley Power Bait Beasts ~ A-Jay

Bummer - just stocked up on the 7 inch jobs ~ A-Jay

~ The assortment of jigs from Siebert Outdoors - ( this years Fishmas Exchange) ~ Norman DD22 HD Heavy Diver ~ Bomber Fat Free Shad DD Square Bill ~ 6th Sense Crush 300 DD ~ Duo Realis Jerkbait 120SP ~ Duo Realis Pencil 110 ~ Culprit 9" Fat Maxx ~ Yum F2 Mightee Worm and 10" Larry the Lizard - (believe it or not, that's a real bait name ) A-Jay

No but a very good percentage of them track correctly right out of the box. A-Jay

To stay on topic - I use cards and cash. The decision to use which one lies solely on convenience. And to repond to your view point Rootbeer, I'll tell you that I am passing on what I've seen. I am not taking a stand here for or againt gun control - I was referencing / making a comment to a couple of previous posts where members had mentioned they had been mugged. My viewpoint comes from living in 20 different cities / towns over the past 35 years or so. The places where CCW was very common place - muggings were a very rare occurrence. Your experiences, which could be different, are not mine. A-Jay

When you live in an area where the vast majority of society is CCW, and everyone knows it - this rarely happens to anyone. A-Jay

I think you're on the right track - Other than technical advice - you should make them the way you like to see them. I'll tell you that in many circumstances, I think No Music is OK. Some of the silly things we say or the strange noises we make are too classic to miss. All that helps capture the actual Raw feeling of the moment. A-Jay

The hubs are made from a hard / dense plastic material - they really are the way to go - and allow for endless variations of this type of bait / presentation. A-Jay

Very Cool Jeff ~ There's no stopping you now . . . . A-Jay

No issues with braid for me - I wanted to find out for myself what I liked. So I set up three different cranking out fits. A graphite rod, a Fiberglass Rod and a composite rod; all with the same reel. I ran them each for a while with Mono , Copolymer and finally Braid. It took a whole season, but when it was all said and done I had my answer. I prefer the Glass rod and the Braid - I've since purchased a second glass rod and have re-homed the others. And for the record I fish a 10 - 12ft mono leader. Good luck A-Jay

And there ya go ~ Won't be long before they'll all make a Monster DD line of cranks - A-Jay

Nice ~ ! And check out the massive Kype on that first fish - wow. A-Jay

I fish waters that are often full of overly co-operative pike. The ONLY hooks that have ended up in me - started out hooked into a pike first - never a bass. So I handle these fish carefully - every one. For me, pike over say 30 inches or so, I don't mess around with the boga - they are just too big and even though the boga affords you a little distance between the hooks and your hand, aside from the fishes brute strength and generally bad attitude, that length is such that I can't really get them high enough off the deck to handle them safely with a boga. These fish go in the net and rarely come over the side into the boat. I prefer to conduct all necessary hook removal procedures with the fish in the net. As I fish from a canoe, there are times when it's best for the fish and I take a little trip to the shore where all of this can be conducted with the benefit of stable footing. Once the fish is hook free - there might be a photo or two. Smaller pike I can and do handle using a net/boga process mentioned If you've never had a hook in your hand you might consider most of this as "excessive" but if you have . . . . . . A-Jay

I hope you're right. A-Jay

Well, I'm on the other end of this debate - I want the vendor to see my ID. In fact, I do not sign my cards with my name - I write "See ID" in that space on the cards. If my cards some how end up in the wrong hands, Joe Shmoe might get my ID as well, but what are the chances he's a handsome as me . . . . A-Jay

I don't like hearing that noise ~ . . . . Do you have Terry's home address ? A-Jay

The Net / boga combo approach noted above by Dwight is a very safe and effective method. After seeing it in action, it's one I've adopted as well. Keep in mind, we're talking about the 15lb Boga. This is not meant for plus 15lb fish and is especially not for long fish like big pike and musky. But for most of the bass us mortals routinely catch (Big O excluded) this works well. Previously I used the boga to initially grasp / land the fish while it was still in the water. This usually required a couple of attempts while all the while playing chicken with triple treble hooks, as in the cast of a jerkbait. Scooping a fish with a face full of trebles in a net is pretty safe for all involved. Then using the boga, grasp the fish with one hand while using pliers to remove the hooks. This is a high percentage way of keeping your trips to the emergency room down to a minimum. You can then lift the hook-less fish clear of the net, get a quick weight, a photo if you like and then the release; with very little additional trauma to the fish. The lure can then be extracted from the net Without the unpredictable complication of a wildly flopping bass involved in the process. I've only used a Boga, but there very well could be other models, with and without scales that would work well. A-Jay

I hear that - I am willing to be patient here - this whole deal is still fairly new, especially when compared to how long the standard tournament format has been used. So I think they'll massage it a little with each season. A-Jay

Thanks ~ A-Jay

I haven't heard much about these - and there doesn't seem to be allot of info out there on them . . . What the the benefits of this hook verse other after market trebles ? And what's the deal with the Barb-out principle ? A-Jay

Now That's a Blast From the Past ~ ! The Bass are - as usual Big O - Outrageous. And although the hair screams of Art Garfunkel, I never realized how much you look like Hall of Fame Pitcher Dennis Erkersley . . . A-Jay

My leader length is 10 - 12 ft. btw- my last trip to Lake Erie in November, the water levels were Way down. So low in fact that the choice of which marina to launch from was predicated on the wind direction as some of the boat ramps lacked sufficient water to launch safely. Might also be why the water temps could raise a bit quicker. A-Jay

Do you leave the line on the reels you carry on ? I've heard a few stories regarding the TSA's humans sometimes require the line to be removed from the reels for carry on . . . A-Jay

I use it all - cash, debit and credit cards. The cash back programs on cards, though not really that much, are OK. There is a convenience factor using cards that the users ends up paying for one way or another. A-Jay