The_Natural

I use Pline CXX for all my cranking. I use the 8lb for smaller balsa and plastic baits, usually in the 1/4 to 3/16oz range. Examples would be the WEC/Zoom Sweet Pea, Norman Deep Tiny N, Bagley Honey B, etc. For your average sized medium runners up to larger deeper runners in the DD22/DT16 size; I use 10lb CXX. I use 10lb CXX for most all my open water cranking needs. I use 12lb CXX for smaller shallow runners like the Bandit 100 and BDS 1, and go up to 15lb CXX for BDS 2's and 3's, and Bagley B2's.

Pointer 100 Chartreuse Shad Moonsault cb100 in Chartreuse Shad BDS 2 in Chartreuse Shad Moonsault cb250 in Chartreuse Shad These are in no particular order. I love my Sammies, but they came in at number 5 believe it or not. I just fish the aforementioned baits more.

Can't pick one...sorry . I use literally a dozen companies baits, and I love them all, from Lucky Craft to Zoom to Bagleys, etc. I love them all!

Bill Lewis Lucky Craft LVR d7 and d10 Lucky Craft LV500max Lucky Craft LVR mini Jackal TN/70 * Yozuri Hardcore Drum * *Indicates a bait that has not been fished by me yet. These baits were purchased this winter.

Oh yeah...I use 3731's for backstock plastics, which are 3.5" deep 3700's with no dividers. They work great, and I store them in my closet.

I use 3700's for hard baits and jigs, and fill each with a specific type of bait such as traps, shad medium runners, chartreuse/craw medium runners, shad shallow runners, chartreuse/craw shallow runners, etc. I use Tackle Logic Binders for my soft baits, and have a binder for each style of bait...worms, tubes, lizards, etc. Each binder has 8 bags, and in each of the bags, I can squeeze two bags of soft plastics still in their orginal packaging. I have two cabelas bags that hold 7 3700's each, a binder in each side pocket, and a 3600 size box in the front. I just grab 3700's with the corresponding baits/colors I will be fishing according to the conditions, and put them in one of my bags along with the soft plastic binders I will use.

It's definitely visible...I can see it in my little bait tank I use to test baits. Fluoro is just less visible, and anglers these days are looking for any edge they can get. Light passes through fluoro with nearly the same refraction as water, hence a 'perceived' invisibility to fish. I fish stained water, and could care less about how visible my line is...I fish fluoro because it is more sensitive and has lower stretch. The fluoro I use has low stretch anyway; I have fished with a few that were stretchier than Trilene XL. I think is is inaccurate to claim all fluoros have low stretch when compared to other lines...many are stretchy.

Five Bass- is that an early nineties Gambler? I rode in a rig seemingly identical to that over a decade ago in a Red Man event...fastest boat I had ridden in.

+1

Something that covers water fast- a buzzbait in the morning, and then moving to shallow cranks and spinnerbaits.

They don't buy any of their stuff if they are on that level, but do have tons of spare reels ready to go if one gives way. I prefish all the Stren series events with my uncle, a Skeeter Pro, and hang out with several of the other anglers. These aren't pro's that fish the Elite Series or FLW tour, but I consider them semi-pros; the equivalent to Baseball's farm teams. It's fun to hang out with them, and they give me a hard time for all my 'fancy' rods and reels. Most have never heard of Pixy's or Alphas, and really the only Japanese baits they fish with are a few Lucky Crafts. My uncle is sponsored by Falcon, and has been using the Cara's for years. I let him fish with my Loomis rods a few times, and he liked them, but didn't run out and buy any. His Cara's are sensitive enough to get the job done, and his Calais reels are on their third season. His buddy uses IMX's and Curados, with the curado being the most popular reel I see out there. Most of these guys don't chat in fishing forums, or stay on top of the latest and greatest. They just use what works, and end up doing well in the tournament if they have located concentrations of fish that hold up over the four days. If a reel breaks; they just toss it. They usually have several spares in the boat that are spooled up and ready to go. I realize you might think that with entry fees for the Stren Series being $750, they would want the 'best of the best' when it comes to equipment, but that isn't the case. I'm not saying this is fact...just my opinion based on what I see.

They use the same reels you and I buy, but go through a lot of them. I'm a little surprised by the answers...I think its a little absurd to think that they have these 'special' supertuned reels with all these custom spools and ceramic bearings; that sounds totally ridiculous. Pro's aren't tackle enthusiasts- They just use what they are given and get as many as they need. Do you think Denny Brauer is using a 'modified' Team Daiwa X-HSDF reel?! Come one...it's not his signature reel. Why wouldn't he just buy a Steez?! He said they work fine and has used them for years...he doesn't yearn anything more.

I've held and played around with one...seemed as buttery smooth as a normal calais, with the difference in cost obviously coming from the cast control. It's OT, but since a lot of others have thrown it out there...I wouldn't spend that much on a reel either. $275 is the most I have ever paid for a reel(s), which were my pixy's, with most of my reels costing about $250 (mg50s, Alphas). I feel the same a about rods, and have paid the same for about all of my GLX's. You are correct...actual production costs of the circuit probably aren't all that expensive, but R&D does cost a lot of money, and that is the reason prescription drugs are so expensive.

Out of the two listed, definitely the extra heavy. A rod with a 3/4oz max rating (verbatim with a loomis 3 power) is way too light in my opinion. I throw a 3/4oz weight most of the time, and will routinely go to a 1oz sinker when I fish deeper than about 25ft.

For $89.99 you can buy a Shimano Compre. I'm a huge fan of these rods, and always recommend these rods when anglers want a rod for under a $100. The Compre's are quite a bit lighter than the Extreme's, and have a lifetime over-the-counter replacement warranty. I fished with Compre's before I took the plunge into Loomis.

The Grandebass Mutant seems to be working for a lot of folks, and it looks similar. Looks like a good C-rig bait.

I plan on investing in some...I'm all for giving the bass something they haven't seen before. I have invisioned a dual threat with the swimming senko; letting it fall for a second to get the senko shimmy going...then pulling it a little to get the tail working, and then letting it fall again. I think these will be big...definitely the hot bait of '07 I'm predicting.

I'd go with the Revo.

I've probably caught the most bass since I started bass fishing on a Gene Larew 8" hooktail worm in tomatoe color, but they totally changed the mold and plastic, so I haven't actually fished that particular worm in over a decade. Hard jerkbaits like the Smithwick Rogue would be a close second.

Even if I'm just fishing laydowns or sparse cover, I want a rod heavy enough to move the fish away from that piece of wood FAST, to prevent the fish from wrapping me around anything. If the fish does get me wrapped around something, I want my line heavy enough that I don't have to worry about it getting sawed in half by a thrashing fish. And finally, if I'm pitching a 1/2oz jig, if my rod loads up too easily it is hard to effectively work the jig, and it wears out my wrist. When I fished club tournaments in high school 13yrs ago, my heaviest setup was a 6'6" medium heavy rod spooled with 14lb Trilene XT, which I used for worm and jig fishing. Breaking off some fish and having fish come unbuttoned was just part of the game I thought, until I finally bought a 7' heavy action rod. Solid hooksets and the ability to horse in fish made my bite to catch ratio skyrocket, and I couldn't believe I hadn't bought a heavier rod sooner. I also almost never fished true heavy cover, mostly just pitching to laydowns and fishing the occasional beaver dam. You don't need a 7'6" heavy action rod, but a St. Croix medium heavy or Loomis heavy action is minimal I think. I like fluorocarbon for my pitching, and opt for 17 or 20lb Vanish. If you don't like fluorocarbon, or think it is too expensive, I would recommend 15lb Pline CXX.

I'm more curious about the new Storm 'big bass' series of crankbaits. http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=90168&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=5&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=browse http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=90163&hvarDept=100&hvarEvent=&hvarClassCode=5&hvarSubCode=1&hvarTarget=browse

When the X-rap was released, it became the first jerkbait (or crankbait for that matter) with a feather treble hook that I owned. Traditionally, feathered trebles have come on topwater plugs, and I believe the Live Pointer and X-rap are the first subsurface hardbaits I have seen that sported feathered trebles. After my first experience with the Xrap was a very good one, I wondered if part of the baits appeal to bass was the feathered treble hook that came on it. Soon after, feathered trebles became available from several of the top hook manufacturers, and I added a few to my Pointers. After a full season of using them on a few of my jerkbaits, I have now added them to 75% of my hard jerkbaits, and really believe they are difference makers. There are several different feathered trebles available to choose from, and thought I would post some examples from different manufacturers. All the baits pictured are Pointer 78's, and the top one is sporting a VMC sure-set red feathered treble. The next pointer in American Shad is toting a white/red flash gamakatsu feathered treble. Following that is a Pearl Ayu 78 with an Excalibur rotating feathered treble in chartreuse/white. Next is a Ghost Sunfish Pointer with another VMC Sure-set treble, this time in green/yellow/orange pattern. Last is a Citrus Shad 78 with a chartreuse/white Excalibur rotating trelbe. I think all fans of hard jerkbaits should be experimenting with these...I really feel they give your bait more action, giving you an edge on the water.

I'm not sure. I called BPS's customer service and asked that same question, and the rep obviously had no idea about any redesign. The only way I knew they had redisgned it in the first place was when I saw the two new colors online, and noticed they were a different design. I just rolled the dice when I ordered, and the fact I ordered 8 of the baits and they all were the new style leads me to believe the old style is history. I'll update this whenever I get them wet.

I have a few of the XR50 rattle baits (traps), and they are good baits. They are very close in construction, sound, and action to the Yozuri Rattlin' Vibe. They have louder, higher pitched rattles than the Lucky Craft LVR's, and behave differently, so really the only comparisons that can be made to the Lucky Craft traps would be the finish and overall quality. The Lucky Craft LVR's have a more intricate construction, and a much more detailed, higher quality painted finish. I think the Lucky Craft finishes are what all the Amercan tackle manufacturers strive for, but have yet to duplicate.

I wasn't considering it's size; I was just referring to the type of bait. It's just not a bait that is condusive to my area.