retiredbosn

I use the chatterbait in off color water and at night. I have success with slow retrieve, yo-yo, or just jigging it like any football head jig. The bait is good and exceptionally good at particular times, but just like any other bait there is a time and place. Tight lines

Strike King Bitsy Bug with the trailer of your choice. I have used Zoom ultra vibe craws, and Zoom swimming chunks, various craw fish trailers and just ordered some Paca craw trailers. I personally like using the Bitsy bug jig in shallower water and will go to a 1/2 to 1 oz jig for anything over 15-20 feet. If you are like I was you think that the bigger jigs are too big for smallies. I have caught 8" rock bass with one ounce Boo jigs and ultra vibe trailer. As far as how you fish them, I personally like baitcasting gear, MH pole a fast action. Cast it out let it sink and SMALL hops back, I like doing a three hop and rest routine. Or just drag it on the bottom, remember a little movement on the pole can provide more than enough action on the lure. Watch how the craws move and try to imitate that, that is why when I am actually jigging I do a three and rest. Seems like that the crawfish here when swimming away from danger do three quick darts and then a glide.

For my money it is the BPS Crankin stick, on sale right now for 40 bucks. The sale ends Jan 31st. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_98029_100002006_100000000_100002000_100-2-6

Sitting here in freezing cold WV and thinking about the short drive to SML. Fished there for the first time last summer, got lucky and hooked a striper, and now I can't wait to get back. I just don't know when. What month this spring is a good time to drive over, FWIW I live about 1 1/2 hours away so it isn't that long of a drive, I'm just wanting to know what time of the year I can get started.

Read the descriptions very, very carefully. Don't skip the fine print. I thought I was getting a great deal on a Pflueger President once. The guy had pictures of the Pres, stats from the Pflueger web site, everything said he was selling a President; except for one tiny sentence in the fine print at the bottom that read "model is purist". I was ticked and did get my money back, but be forewarned. And be wary of blurry photos. I hope you reported that guy to Ebay. The will ban people from selling and trying to cheat people. Things like that just shouldn't happen. The best deal I got on Ebay was a Suburban for half of wholesale. The best deal I ever made was selling a 66 uncut Bronco, paid 900 sold it for 4200, I was unemployed at the time and the money came in handy.

Don't get me wrong, I catch plenty of fish on CB's, I know they are a very versatile lure. When me and my brother go fishing, live bait is not allowed, no gulp or powerbait, nothing. We joke that it is cheating. I just think that focusing on scale detail on a CB for fishing purposes doesn't make much sense when you consider the bait as a whole. Come to think of it, I don't think any of my jigs have any eyes or anything of them either.

I've fished all of my life, but never paid attention to the equipment much, I was just as happy with a cane pole as my spinning tackle, time has changed. Anyway with that said until a couple of years ago I didn't know what a 2500 series reel was. If you are like I was you size spinning reels by the little bitty ones, ultralight and on up to the big uns. Anyway a 2500 series is the medium sized one. Good luck BTW taking children fishing is great, my four year old loves to bluegill fish. Also a crank bait is a Rapala type lure.

I think Ebay is going to Pay Pal only type transactions. If you pay using paypal (online bank, very safe) your transaction is insured against fraud, etc. Your money is safe, transferred electronically without the seller knowing anything about your finances. I would never pay with a check, (nothing like giving your banking info to a stranger) or credit card, use paypal or a postal money order.

If you like last years model, there is a guy selling them on Ebay for 129 bucks, shipping included. I purchased an Accurist PT from him last year and he is upfront, honest and good to do business with. The reels are 1st quality, NIB, a great deal, if I wasn't doing some experimenting with round reels right now I would buy one.

I have bought and sold several things on ebay. I recently purchased two LC Live Pointers for 19 bucks, last year I got an Accurist PT for 50 nib, I've sold everything from records, motorcycles, and vehicles. I've also purchased two vehicles on Ebay, if you are careful it is a good way to get products cheap. Always ask questions, make sure if it is a reel that it is truly new not a refurbished second quality, or blemished in anyway. Ask for reciepts so you can register for warranties, etc. I know that right now on ebay there are shimano Cardiffs for 77 bucks including shipping, Revo Winches for 139, Tour PTs for 129 including shipping all of these are nib and registerable for warranty, on and on. If you use common sense and talk to the seller you can get great deals.

Over at tackletour.com there are a couple of reviews comparing floro to mono, talks about the benefits and drawbacks of floro. I've done a lot of research this winter on the line types but have only used mono, this year I'm going to be doing a lot of experimenting with line. Good luck.

I'm always amazed at discussions like this, detail, line that is invisible, etc. I have a hard time understanding why we put so much emphasis on these details. Most CBs I have has big ugly hooks on them, not to mention a large bill on the front. My question has always been how can the detail on the CB mean anything when you have those hooks hanging off of them? Any fish that can see the detailed scales but miss the hooks, deserves to be caught. Additionally any fish that can see your line but miss the lip on the front makes no sense. I think that discussions that focus on the minute detail of the bait, but misses the obvious attachments to the bait are misdirected. The question I have is why does any bass hit a CB that has those hooks, diving bills, etc? Makes no sense to me.

I just ordered a 1/4 lb spool of 12lb test of Hybrid and an 1/8 lb spool of 15lb from Bass Pro, the 1/4lb was 5.88 and the 1/8 4.88, what makes no sense at all a 275 yd spool is 8.49. It is a great deal and if I don't like it, I'll just mail the remainder to someone on here.

What I meant was a second. All manufacturers will have part of their product that is pulled from inventory at the QC level at the factory. Either a blemish, a bad bearing whatever. The reels are refurbished and though technically new, I never trust that all the flaws have been found. Some distributors will re-sell returned reels, returned either by the store or the end user, some of these reels have flaws some don't. Some Ebayers buy all of this stock and sell them as new, which many times they are, but either a second quality or something like that. I always play it on the safe side and double check that the reels are first quality and not refurbished or anything like that.

Joe fly's are fine for small trout. The manufacturer uses regular thread to tie on the hooks and after a short time the thread rots, so you have to get new ones quite often. I have better luck with a larger inline spinner, I think #4's. I see that mepps is making a one ouncer this year that I'm going to try on some bigger trout, largemouths, etc.

All over the place on Ebay, just make sure to have the seller verify that it is a first run, not a second and that it is unblemished. I've been very satisfied with my Ebay purchases, but I'm careful about what I buy.

I guess I'm a little backwards, the softer the line the more nests I get. I like a little stiff line. After I spool a reel, I go outside and tie the end of the line to a post I have ready and walk the line off the reel and re-spool with quite a bit of tension, seems to really help relax the line and I don't get hardly any over-runs.

I guess I'm more interested in the straight Hybrid. Will I need to use a line conditioner to be able to use this line? How stiff is it? Like I stated earlier compared to say XT or Big Game.

I'm researching fishing lines still. I have looked at Yo-zuri's line and others, but keep coming back to Yo-zuri, the price is ridiculously low 1/4 lb spools for 5.88. The waterproofness of the line, the stated strength of the line, etc. I am somewhat concerned about some reviews talking about how stiff it is. So I can have a reference how does the regular hybrid compare stiffness wise with XT or Big Game? I'm looking at the 12lb test for cranks and small jigs, then 15lb for what I call my power rod, don't see any sense in going heavier as the 15lb breaks at well over 20lbs. According to tackletour however the H20 version of this line doesn't even have the breaking strength stated on the spool. I am counting on the information given on the Yo-zuri site as accurate. Is there any benefit to the Ultra Soft version? There is a lot of conflicting reviews on this line from being little difference in stiffness to being to milky. Anyway let me know what you think. I also have another line that I'm testing that I want to compare to the Yo-zuri.

I have two BPS Crankin Sticks, 7 footers MH I love the poles! I haven't lost a fish since switching to a dedicated crankin rod. I don't know how they compare to other brands but I like these a lot. Good luck with it.

FWIW I picked mine up for 85 bucks shipped, taxes and insurance included. Redneck, the ad says magnetic braking system, whether or not it is the same as stx I have no idea. A little heads up there are several Garcia's on ebay now, the last ones out of sweden for 50-80 depending on model, they are all half price. I dont know anything about the reels so I'm have no idea if the deals are good. I will say that the reels from Simmons sporting goods on ebay are all 1st quality and brand new. Thanks for the info. I had changed the name to try to get some of the Shimano Possee to let me know what they thought.

Thanks, I took a look at the pic and want one!!!

Micro, does the Abu have a recessed foot? Do they both sit at the same height on the rod?

I can pick up either at the same price new, but which one? The Abu has an extruded aluminum frame and more bearings. The other is a Shimano and some may not be able to give an honest answer. So putting product loyalty aside, which one?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they make some round reels in smaller freshwater sizes that are easier to palm? I think shimano makes a 200 size that looks pretty small, same with Garcia.