lovecranking

I'll agree with others on slow, poor service. For instance, if you place an order on a Monday and have standard UPS shipping, you can go online on the following Friday and see that the order is still in the processing stage. And I'm surprised at the small selection of lures & colors for any of the big brand names that they sell in the catalog. I like Lucky Craft lures and BPS's Lucky Craft line has very limited selection of lures & colors in their catalog. I can go online to Northern Bass and they carry all of the Lucky Craft lures & colors. If a small store (compared to BPS) can carry the entire Lucky Craft inventory, I don't understand why BPS has such a small selection and even smaller color options for Lucky Craft in their catalog. When you look in the BPS catalog, BPS seems more interested in showing & selling their boats and telling you about all of their stores than really making sure that they are the best at selling a huge selection of lures by the top manufactureers that people are looking for. I'll give you an example of BPS limitations. I like the Rick Clunn 2.5's and 3.5's. BPS advertised both of the Rick Clunn lures on sale starting in their Spring Classic. Well I wanted to get some. I went to their store during the Spring Classic, not in stock...they don't know when they will be getting them in. So I called the BPS catalog while I was still in their store because the catalog also had these same lures on sale. The catalog stated they had none in stock & thought it would be at least a month or maybe more before they would be in stock. Plus the catalog said they wouldn't give me a rain check or honor the sale price once they were in stock. Well the BPS floor manager seemed surprised after he got on the phone with the catalog operator. The floor manager then told me he would give me a raincheck, keep an eye on when the lures did come in and would ship them to me at no charge. I thought that was really nice since I live 60 miles from the store. By the way, it's been a month and a half and guess what? BPS has no idea when the RC's will be in. Now if you were spending the money on advertising for the BPS Spring Classic, wouldn't you think you would make sure that those items were actually available both at the store and in their catalog?

I use a fishing journal worksheet in the boat. When I get home, I transfer all of the info into a fishing journal that I purchased from sportslogbooks.com. Here is the worksheet I use in the boat. Lake: __________________________ Day/Date: __________________________ Start: __________ Finish: __________ Weather: __________________________ Air Temp: ________ Wind: __________ Water Clarity: _________________________________ Water Temp: __________ People Fishing: ______________________________ Bar Press: ______________ Morning Qty/Fish Bait Map Location ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ Notes: ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Afternoon Air Water Weather: ____________________ Wind: _________ Temp: ______ Temp: ______ Qty/Fish Bait Map Location ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ ________________ _______________________ __________________________ Notes: ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________

I do change some of the Lucky Craft hooks but replace them with Lucky Craft red treble hooks (you can get any size treble from Northern Bass Supply). I think Lucky Craft has the best trebles on crank baits. I also like to replace the rear treble with a feathered treble like the chartreuse from Barlows Tackle or the firetiger Matzuo dressed treble from Northern Bass Supply. I think rear dressed trebles make a difference IMO.

I've been thinking about lures to use on my spring trip to Ontario, Canada during the last week of May. A bunch of posts have stated that lipless cranks are great in the springtime for prespawn bass. I've been looking in Cabelas catalog at the LC Live LVR in bleeding chrome. I'd like to hear what others who might have used this lure have to say. Do you think it's a good choice for prespawn smallies?

I've got the Quad 360 and agree with fishwhiz. It so easy and interesting to just watch what's going on under the water that before you know it, an hour has gone by. For years I watched Doug Hannon's underwater segments and finally decided to get my own camera. I first bought the Aqua-Vu DT-100 from BPS and took it out several times over a span of 3-4 weeks. I didn't like the way that the lense keep spinning. I went back to BPS and had no problems returning the DT for the Quad. When I took the Quad out, it was so cool to see what's going on in all four directions. The Quad was a great purchase and I use it all of the time. BPS is to be commended for taking back the DT because I wasn't happy using it. This is another reason why I go to BPS.

I found a calender chart of the moon charts on Lake-Link for anyone interested.

Every now & then I see mention of the different moon phases. I've never really looked into why guys think this is important. I'd like to learn about this subject & maybe try some of your ideas this year. I need some info on keeping track of the moon phases. Why do you think it is important? Also, how do you plan your fishing when you are keeping track of the moon phases?

kbkindle, I've had great results with the LC SSR chartreuse magic & cream soda crankbaits. If you read the description on the LC web page, they will tell you it's a non rattle crank. Well that is a misprint. They do have rattles & the wobble is fantastic. Where the LC RC's run 1-3 ft. deep, the SSR only goes down about 1/2 ft. I did replace the front treble with a LC red treble and the rear with a feathered chartreuse treble (I like the chart trebles sold by Barlows Tackle). I've caught some big bass using the SSR and think it's a great crankbait.

I agree with others, they are expensive but they do produce. I've caught more big bass with the RC's and the SSR's than any other crankbait. In the end it's your money and your decision. Also jasone you stated "there not the most durable lures made". What problems have you had with them? I still have the 1st LC I bought and have never heard of anyone having problems with LC being durable. I agree with roadwarrior as that LC's run true right out of the package and with avid that their movement is excellent.

I don't remember where I bought it but I use a telescopic pole that you attach to your fishing line to. You can get it down to 18', easy to work, gets your lure back and you don't have to worry about your lure getting damaged. I did buy it on line but can't recall where. I'll look on line later and if I see it I'll post it for anyone is intersted.

I like both Cabela's and Northern Bass Supply(northernbass.com) since I order most of my stuff via the internet.

I was watching a Bass Pro episode on the Outdoor channel. I think it was Woo Davies showing how to insert a rubber weight into a tube, to make it fall more naturally, to fish it Texas style. I've been checking around but cannot find the brand name of the weights he was using. Does anybody know the name of the weights and who stocks/sells them?

Which chip is the best choice or is there another out there that is better than these 2 chips? I've got a Lowrance LMS 334C iGPS and I'm looking at getting a new chip for Wisconsin & Ontario. I like the detail the Navionics Wis- consin Hotmaps Premium 2007 chip has but a guy at Bass Pro stated the Lakemaster Wisconsin chip has better detail. Anyone have either chip? Also looking for a chip for the Sioux Lookout, Ontario lakes, haven't been able to find any.

My problem with any of the Spro cranks is they don't run straight. I've tried to tune them & I even had the guy at my local bait shop try tuning them but couldn't. I love the way they look but what's the use if they keep popping out of the water.

I am looking at the megabass Anthrax 100 to use for topwater. Anyone tried it & what were the reults?

I was looking to order from another site and came across the Megabass Anthrax. I'd like to hear from those who have bought and tried this lure. It's different looking and I'd like to know if the type of action they are talking about in the description of the lure would have you recommend this lure to others? Any thoughts?

So where is the best place to buy the DD22's online? Who offers the most color selections online?

fivebasslimit, whittler & others what colors do you suggest for clear water lakes?

I've got the Legend Tournament Bass "Big Cranker" and "Topwater rods and think they're great! The Big Cranker is a 7' rod and I use it when I'm fishing using the big crankbaits like the Lucky Craft Flat CB20's. I don't think you'll be disappointed with St. Croix rods. I've had problems with only 2 rods over the last 15 years and St. Croix replaced both rods at no charge.

Need some help. I usually use the Lucky Craft Flat CB20's but would like to try some new deep cranks this season .I'd like to know if the Norman DD22's are good cranks. I'm thinking of buying some and would like recommendations on whether they are good cranks. What are your favorite colors and what colors would be good for fishing deep clear lakes?

Go to northernbass.com, they carry all of the Lucky Craft colors & lures. They usually run a promo where if you buy like 7 or 8 LC lures, you get one free. I've been buying from them for a couple of years and they're great people to deal with.

I've never had a problem using the speed clips and think they're great. My friends & I have been using them for almost 10 years.

I use the Falcon FTO & they're great. Once I start fishing, I use the plug rug (it's a rubber mat I bought at NorthernBass.com) to keep the cranks in one place & also from getting tangled up inside the boat.

It might have been a mistake...how about favorite topwater bait (and drop the crank) and the newest one you've tried that you would not recommend. Sorry for the confusion.

I'd like to hear what is your favorite topwater crankbait. I'd also like to know what newer topwater crankbait you've tried and had very poor results with. The LC Sammy has been a great lure for me from the 1st day that I used it. I've also tried the LC B-MH Topwater Buzzbait but have never had much success with it. This year I plan on trying the Cavitron buzzbait. I also saw the Megabass Anthrax topwater crankbait. I've never seen a lure like this one and would like to hear from anyone who has used it. Any good?