The_Natural

That 'prototype' Lucky Craft that Kelly Jordan had tied on looks identical to the New Lucky Craft Slim Shad. I just saw some at Cabelas.

I forgot to add that I was amazed that E21 chose to wrap and put red aluminum trim underneath the reel seat; I've never seen a manufacturer do that. I'm speaking of the small section of exposed blank underneath the reel seat. It's one of those things they didn't have to do, but I noticed

Just picked up the rods. I have to say, the fit and finish is excellent; they are built very nicely. Neat and tidey guide wraps and perfect epoxy. I dig the red aluminum trimmings on the reel seat and handle as well. You can tell it's 3.1ozs 8-). I stole my new Core's from my XMG 50's just for some pics. Here they are in all their vegetable glory! Very nice aesthetics...attention to detail is great.

There's no shame in my game! I liked the looks of those bright orange sticks from the get-go. Me likey some bold colors 8-) 8-)

I want another crankbait rod(s), and while my CBR's are everything and more than I want in a crankbait rod; I just want to try something different. The Carrot Stick offers a couple of moderate action blanks, but even the fast Carrot blanks seem more mod-fast. Couple that with a lifetime warranty and they have the resume' I require in a rod. I've decided to put Scorpions on them with Bassart handles and cork knobs. I want to buy a few Scorpions before they quit making them anyway. Not the mg...the dark burgundy original.

I don't think it can match the 'Croix LE in terms of sensitivity, but the steez rods are sensitive enough, and are just stupid light. Very refined rods...

I aready sold it . That pic is a couple of months old, and there are some bulk spools of Trilene fluoro in that spot. I bought that Yozuri when BPS had it for $6.88/1,000yds. I'll impulse buy, and then just sell it if I decide I don't want it.

Caught in a tournament, too! I'd never be so lucky... http://flw.flwoutdoors.com/apps/fromreaders/story.cfm?id=1116

Do you guys know how he won the Classic? During practice, he found an empty bag of Culprit red shad worms floating in the water, and thought the package might be from a local. Bryan started throwing the red shad Culprit and it accounted for the majority of his bass. Truly amazing and tragic at the same time...

Give that Boogie bait another try...it is the only 'chatterbait' style bait the has produced for me (I use the golden shiner color). I would say the Rapala twitchin' rap is the bait that gets passed over routinely in leu off regular jerkbaits.

My go-to pitchin' bait is a 5.20 beaver in the color 'Big Texan' rigged on a Chompers Rock Walker jighead. I have caught countless toads on this rig, including my biggest bass of '07. Here is the jighead... http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_51886_100010006_100000000_100010000_100-10-6

That video highlights the Luck E Strikes awesome swimming action, but the heavily weighted hook they are using causes it to nose dive. I've found that a 1/8oz weighted hook provides the natural action I desire.

Jigs and soft plastics get fluorocarbon (Berkley Pro-Grade) most of the time, while spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and all other moving baits get Pline CXX. The Berkley Pro-Grade for the first time combines the qualities of being soft and abrasion resistant. However, I can only wish any fluoro had the strength and toughness of CXX; the stuff is just stupid strong. If you complain about the memory of CXX, Burley will ask you (in the words of Borat) if your vaujine hurts 8-).

X2 X5 or so...didn't count how many people agreed with this. I'm not sure Raul has handled one, but I have, and Raul being telepathic felt the rods action through my hands (seriously...just ask him). Very light weight rod, but no matter which one I picked up at Cabelas; they all seemed like they were moderate-fast action.

Very close race between the Curado 100d and Daiwa TD Advantage 153HSTA, but the Curado gets the nod due to it's line capacity and weight. I just have never needed significant line capacity and the Curado 100 holds the perfect amount of line IMHO. The Curado 100 is also very light for an aluminum framed reel. The Curado 100 puts up a good argument against going with the mg50 as well.

I generally use the palomar for everything except fluoro. I admitteldly use the palomar while using the Trilene Fluoro when I am in a hurry...that line is so soft I can't distinguish the difference in the knots. I throw the silver/black backed X-rap the majority of the time, and it proves itself again and again. I feel that using a spinning rod and 8lb fluoro while working jerkaits give me an advantage. I've out fished my boater several times while working jerkbaits due to my bait running deeper with the light fluoro. Try it and see...

That's a deal! I've got about 60+ boxes that i'm not sure where to put. Just stacks and stacks. Have any extra room in your other closets?? ;D Not in that dinky apartment! That was my apartment 5 months ago...while in Norman when the wife and I were in college. I've moved to Texas since, and upgraded the space. That place sucked...I was almost forced to make it neat or I wouldn't get to keep it (wife). We want to build a house in Southlake but d**n is it going to be expensive! I get a tackle room as long as we have land for my wife to play with animals. She wants some random things like mountain goats. I can't wait for them to stand on my car!

If I am truly flippin'; i.e. the nasty sh!t...dense salad or super heavy cover...I use 15lb Pline CXX. I love the Berkley Pro-Grade fluoro, but with flippin' you are going for a reaction strike as if you were fishing a crank or spinnerbait. You want the bass to make a quick decision, and you want to haul him in pronto. I don't feel fluoro will benefit you in these circumstances. Granted I don't live in Florida, but I just moved to Texas and I'm still sticking to what I've spooled for years

You live in Lubbock...maybe I'll swing by sometime and make your fishing reserves something to be proud of. You provide the beer and I'll get after it. We may need to go to walmart to get some shelves.

Yeah...I have OCD...seriously. I've been diagnosed with it. Everything has to be in order or I feel restless. I actually enjoy organizing things. When I discovered the 4" deep 3700's, they made my backstock neat and tidy, and I can't express how much I love them. They are awesome! They keep bags of plastics very neat and tidy...you can fit 25-30 bags in each one.

I've seen them online, but haven't fished them. They appear to have a less exaggerated tail versus the Luck E Strike paddle tail tube, which I consider the gold standard at this point. I plan on ordering some and rigging them on a scrounger head...

I'm bored tonight, so I'll play. I have added another shelf, but the bulk of it remains the same. 'on deck' tackle...boxes and bags I use day to day and in tournaments. Backstock...used to refill the 'on deck' boxes

There is a long thread that has pics of everyone's tackle. I tried doing a search for it, but I'm not a fan of this site's search feature. If you try and seach for a thread title only, it doesn't just pull up the threads, but every single reply! Tackle Pics...RE: Tackle pics, RE: tackle pics, and so on and so on. Very frustrating.

Excellent line; it's made by Toray in Japan. It is one of the top couple of fluoro's out there in terms of strength and abrasion resistance. It is not quite as soft as the Trilene Pro-Grade, but is soft enough to cast effectively. I'm going to buy quite a bit when BPS throws it on sale in the Spring Classic.

Honestly, I only use 8-15lb. The 15lb breaks at like 27lbs or so. I'm not sure why the memory has a pretty big jump when you go from 15lb to the 17/20lb, but it does. Try some 15lb. I honestly don't notice the memory...I grew up using Trilene XT, and the CXX seems no worse.