Bass_Fanatic

I would follow up the spinnerbait with a pointer or a fluke. Alot of times when they are following a spinnebait, they will hit something a little slower and more natural. Sounds like you are catching some good fish, just not the numbers. Im not sure what it looks like in Toro, but where Im fishing the 1st hour and a half of daylight fish are busting everywhere. There is just a ton of fish in the area, but alot of them are 12-13"

I've had both and prefer the Minn Kota. I like the progressive take-off so it doesnt throw you out of the boat. When fishing Toledo Bend in 30+mph winds you have to kick the TM up to 80% and without the progressive take off, it will straight up throw you around, but Minn Kotas dont jerk like a Motorguide. That being said, the Motorguide will do a bit better ripping through grass because of the same reasons.

To an extent...Catt you know that a Spook is much more "effective" around here (Toledo Bend) from April-October than it is from November-March. Not saying you cant catch em on a spook then because I have done it, but it isn't a "premeier" bait for those conditions.

Its according to what you call a "broomstick". I have a Powell Endurance 714C (heavy action) and have used it for jigs and t-rigs and liked it, but it just fishes hollow bellys better. I also have a Dobyns Savvy 734 that I am using for Jigs and punching mats right now. It is a great jig rod for weights up to 3/4 oz, but it gets overpowered after that. It is really too light to punch with, but its all i got lol. I throw my T-rigs on a 7' MH/F St. Croix Avid. I am about to get a Dobyns Champion 766 FLIP. It looks awesome, feels awesome, and hopefully fishes awesome. It is closer to what I would call a "broomstick" than the rest. It is rated for up to 2oz baits.

I understand your excitement...Im the same way. When I order a new rod, Im constantly checking the tracking number to see where its at and waiting on the UPS man.

Mine seemed tip heavy at first too. Its a really finicky rod that has to have the right reel on it to feel good in your hands. I finally put a Curado 50E on it and it now fishes like a dream.

I've had a white/black back Bandit 200 crankbait for probably 10 years and it has saved me countless times.

Not a "killer" deal, but a good one for sure. They are quality rods as I have a 7' MH/F model and it is a super versitale stick!

You obviously dont HAVE to, but I would highly recommend it. Im an avid crankbait fisherman and I just seem to catch more fish with a 5:1 gear ratio and it has alot less resistance on your wrist when reeling.

Tournament fishing can drive you crazy. Last year I finished 4th in my club of 50 guys and went to the Best 6 tournament and we won a boat valued at $28000. Everything just seemed to go right that year. If my gameplan fell through on tournament day, my back up plan always produced. This year has been the exact opposite. I had to get towed in one tournament. I had to leave early and go to the hospital to get a treble out of my leg that had wrapped around my achillis tendon one tournament. I got DQ'd one tournament for leaving too early. We could launch at any one of 3 separate launches and the group of guys at my launch was told that we left to early, so DQ for all of us. My boat broke while prefishing the day before one tournament. So I know what its like to be in a slump. Our slumps are a little different, mine being terrible luck with hooks, boats, and rules, and yours being with catching quality fish, but it will turn around. Just keep doing what your doing. It will come back I promise. At least that's what Im telling myself!

Haha...a bunch. The last day I was making enough "last casts" to get to 100!

LOL!!!

Thats weird...I have never done that and I have thrown them 1000's of times. Did you leave em in the sun and they got hot and soft?

Awesome day...congrats!

I fished three days last week and caught 44 with a 7lb kicker, 60+ with my biggest going 4 1/2lbs, and 101 with my top 5 weighing in at a little over 20lbs. The first day I caught all fish on a spook worked over grass in 8 fow. The fish were coming up schooling pretty good and they were killing the spook. I thought I would never get the 7lber in. Once she inhaled the spook, she dug down so deep in the grass I had to troll to her and luckily she was still buttoned. I also lost another 7+ that did the same thing. The second day I caught about half on a spook and half on a LC GDS MINI crankbait. They would come up busting the top of the water and I would catch 5 or so on the spook, then when they would go down I would catch a few on the crank. Not a whole lot of size that day though. My biggest was 4 1/2, but my 2nd biggest was probably on 2 1/2. I caught a TON of 1 1/2lb fish. The third day I had 42 in the boat before 7:30 on the LC crank. A cold front had blown in and the fish were no longer schooling on the surface, but they were still there. I caught about 10 on a spook later in the day also. At about 10:30 the bite shut off for about 30 minutes until I tied on a LC Pointer (ghost minnow). I caught a fish my first 10 or 12 cast with that thing. No real big uns, but had 5 fish over 4lbs. Not too bad. 101 total that day. That makes well over 200 fish in 3 days of fishing (mainly by myself, I was by myself twice and the third time my partner only caught about 20). It has been a good week... I'll be back Wednesday and Saturday this week!

I use to be a guy who bought bombers, bandits, and strike king cranks until I bought my first Lucky Craft this spring. I now have about 15 LC baits and they absolutly catch fish. The components are better (rings, hooks) and they just seem to find fish for me. Of course this is just my opinion, but I would get rid of my 100 bandits, bombers, and strike kings for 25 Lucky Crafts any day of the week. Go buy a LC GDS MINI Ghost Minnow and see if you dont fall in love! If you do buy cheaper though, I prefer the Bomber cranks over the rest.

All of em would work, but the Cumara will probably work best. Plenty of backbone to horse fish out of grass and soft enough to cast a frog well.

The weighted part of the hook is on the belly of the hook. It isnt inside the plastic, but underneath it. The hook is exposed, but it rest on top of the bait and is pretty weedless.

*** . com has Falcon Caras on sale for $100, they are regular $200. You wont find a better rod for $100.

Its a Lucky Craft jerkbait...like a Rogue.

The crankbait Im throwing is a LC GDS Mini Ghost Minnow. It dives 6-7ft I think. I have been catching fish in 7-11 fow with grass. When the topwater and cranks slow down, a Pointer will catch em. I will be there Wednesday (hopefully), my cell is 318-308-5818...Josh

Dobynns Savvy, Powell Max or Endurance, Shimano Crucial. Cant go wrong with any of em.

Bearing count is overrated. Bearing quality is what matters. You cant go wrong with a Citica E or a Curado 50E, but TW has the Pflueger Patriarch on sale for $110 and its a heck of a reel.

The front definatly didnt hurt the fish...caught 101 today on spooks, cranks, and a pointer. Had 42 in the boat before 7:30. My top 5 pushed 20lbs. It was one heck of a day of fishing. Fished Indian Mounds to the south Housen boat lane. I will be back possibly Tuesday evening and Wednesday if i can find someone to go with. I like the idea of the emergency numbers, only problem is, I live 2 hours from Toledo, so I could only help if I was on the lake that particular day. But I would be glad to share my info with some of yall. I had to get towed once this year already.

I wander if he has recieved any money from colleges yet...