Jeff P.

I use the straight tail worms in 4" and 6" on a dropshot rig and really like them alot. My best colors for clear water are green weenie, aarons magic, and bold bluegill. These are all natural colors. Also for dropshotting, take a look at their Alive Shad.

I like using the baby brush hogs sometimes, when I want my jig to imitate a baitfirsh or even somewhat a lizard. They are not my standard trailer, I usually prefer a twin-tail grub, but some do really well with a brush hog as a trailer. Also try them T-rigged or even on a Carolina rig.

Another vote for the teardrop shaped split rings from Xcalibur. http://www.lurenet.com/catalog.aspx?catid=teardropsplitring

Do you remember what it was on sale for last year? If I remember correctly, it goes on sale for 30% off, and it was around $9 - $10 per spool.

I used BPS XPS Fluoro on several reels all last year and really had good experience with it. I found that it was easy to tie knots (I use the uni-knot almost exclusively) and I had no issues with break-offs. I also used Seaguar Carbon Pro 15# on my main jig combo last year and it was a very good line. I plan to buy more of the BPS XPS Fluoro during the upcoming Spring Fishing Classic, if they put it on sale again like they normally do.

Give the folks at Bass Pro Shops Rod & Reel Repair a call and you can order parts for all of the BPS reels. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CFPage?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&appID=40&option=2 If you don't have a schematic with the part numbers, they can supply that for you. Otherwise, if you already have the part numbers they can fix you up.

I use the Bass Pro Shops XPS Fluorocarbon line and am very happy with it. Last year during their Spring Fishing Classic they had it on sale for $9 - $10 per spool. I am waiting for the sale again this year to pick up several more spools. I use it on my jig setups, soft plastics, and also crankbaits.

I have a friend who uses a BPS Davit Fritts crankbait reel and he really likes it. They go for about $80 from Bass Pro Shops. Also it might be more than you want to spend but Abu has a new Revo Winch that is made for crankbaits/spinnerbaits. You can get them on Ebay for around $160.

I agree with this. I will throw a football head jig (1/2 - 3/4 oz) when I want to cover longer distances and drag the jig across the bottom, and I use it instead of a carolina rig when the fish are holding tighter to cover, or aren't quite as aggressive.

Very nice looking reel. I had a President bc and it was my favorite reel, but I switched over to using LH retrieve and had to find a different reel. I wish Pflueger made the President in LH.

I use the Bass Pro Shops XPS Fluorocarbon 10# for my crankbaits and I really like it. I like the sensitivity of fluorocarbon, especially for the deeper diving crankbaits. FWIW, even though fluorocarbon line sinks, I'm not convinced that the sinking properties of the line would overcome the retrieve on a moving bait like a crankbait or spinnerbait. It seems to me that the sinking properties of fluoro are going to be more useful with slower presentations like jigs and such. I use it on my crankbait and spinnerbait setups, but more for the sensitivity as opposed to the sinking characteristics.

Lee, Those jigs are made by the guys who run Hook, Line, and Sinker tackle shops in Bentonville and Rogers, AR. They are awesome jigs, and they have a huge variety of different sizes and skirt colors. They have round head and football head styles, and they come in different colors - black, brown, olive green, and an antique gold type color. I probably have at least 2 dozen of them, and they are top quality. Feel free to PM me if you want more info. Here are the phone numbers to the stores: 3706 N Walton Blvd Bentonville, AR 72712 (479) 271-8118 98 E Locust St Rogers, AR 72756 (479) 631-8118

Besides some of the different options you mentioned, my favorite type of structure to target for pitching is docks. As an example, we are seeing fish starting to make their pre-spawn moves to the shore, and having good luck targeting the outside edges of docks by pitching jigs and lizards. In the summertime, I still like to fish docks but I'll change the target to the shady areas in and around the dock.

Do you remove your soft plastic trailers from your jigs before you store them? Or do you just leave it attached and store the jig/trailer together in your tackle box? I've left some trailers attached to the jig but it seems that over time the hooks will rust (seems to happen if the plastic trailer has a lot of salt). Most of the jigs I use have barbs to help hold the trailer on the jig, and when I remove the trailer it tears the plastic making it hard to use again. Just wanted to get an idea of how some of you guys address this in your tackle storage.

I use an All Star TWS (Topwater Special) 6' 6" it is ML power. It has a moderate action but not as much bend as a crankbait rod. It works excellent for poppers and spooks. I also have used it to throw light crankbaits and jerkbaits.

I worked with the folks at Abu Garcia to find out if they had a gear kit for left handed reels. They have gear kits for all the Revo reels to turn them into 5.4:1 ratio (the kit contains a new main gear and pinion gear), but they only offer the conversion kits for right handed reels.

I most often rig them on a football or other stand-up jig head, but as you mentioned I'm fishing open water without any vegetation or other cover. I have had good luck a couple times with a hula grub t-rigged and dragged/hopped back to the boat.

Five Bass Limit, What model Revo are you getting the gears swapped out on? Do you know if the same process can be done on the Revo S-L by chance? Thanks.

If this can be done, I would also be very interested to hear the results. Especially if it could be done on a left handed reel.

Flukes (soft plastic jerkbaits) Buzzbait

My two standards that are the most productive for me are the chrome with blue back and orange belly, and the chrome with black back and orange belly.

I am looking for a new rod to use for throwing jerkbaits, mostly Rogues (3/8 - 1/2 oz) and LC Pointer 100 (5/8 oz). I am looking at the Shimano Compre Crankbait rods. These seem like they would be really nice rods for throwing jerkbaits, as well as shallow - medium cranks. I'm looking at the 6' 6" Medium Power/Med. Fast action, but also considering the 7' 0" also. For about $90 these seem like really nice rods for the purpose. Anyone else using these rods for jerkbaits/cranks that want to share your opinion? Shimano Compre Casting Crankbait

If you're comparing the two, I see the following differences on the BPS website: Curado 101D is lighter than the Revo SX (7.4 oz vs. 8.7 oz) Revo SX has a slightly faster retrive than the Curado 101 (27.5 ipt vs. 25 ipt) Revo SX has more spool capacity (12# 140yd vs. 12# 85yd) The Curado uses a 6-pin braking system, and the Revo SX uses a magnetic braking system. I don't own either reel, but I've handled them in stores. The Revo is a slightly larger reel than the Curado 101, so you might want to see if you can go to a store where they'll let you put both reels on a similar rod and see which one feels best to you. You mentioned the Citica being heavy. That's the only reason I haven't bought one. I'd give anything if they made a Citica 101. Good luck, I don't think you'll go wrong with either choice.

My favorite tubes are the Yum Vibra King tubes. I really like the texture they have and they have worked very well for me pitching around docks. I don't do much flipping in heavy cover, so I almost always use a 1/8 or 3/16 oz tube jig inserted inside the tube. I'll also t-rig them and use it in place of a worm to change things up. This year I'm going to try them on a c-rig, and I plan on using some foam earplugs to help them float.

Seems that there are very few options out there for a LH baitcast reel in 5:1 ratio. I really prefer this gear ratio for throwing crankbaits, but since I switched everything over to LH reels, I am having a difficult time finding one. The two that I've found are Bass Pro Shops Extreme 5.4:1 Shimano Curado 201 DPV 5.0:1 The Curado is out of my price range. I have a couple of the BPS Extreme reels in 6.4:1 that I like, so this is probably going to be my choice. Does anyone have another suggestion? Thanks.