Bantam1

Rico http://www.***.com/descpageHDTLOBINA-LRICO.html

I haven't landed any over 10 this year but I have hooked and lost a few. I have caught several fish in the 8 pound range in nor-cal and so-cal. Maybe I've just been lucky

Are you sure the level wind is moving all the way from side to side? Does the line look like the red line? If it looks like the red line then thats pretty normal when you first spool the reel up. It tends to get more even once you go fish with the reel.

Just never give them slack and try to keep them under the surface. Grind them all the way to the net

I agree. I suggest trying to buy a welded boat over a riveted boat. They are more durable and tend not to leak. You can also build a nice deck and make the boat the way you want it.

Cumara CUC72MH for 12# and 1/2 ounce jigs in light cover. Cumara CUCX72MH for 15-20# and 1/2 ounce jigs in heavier cover. Crucial CRC70MH is a good all around jig rod too for a little less. This is what I use but my opinion is biased The Loomis MBR844 GLX is a good jig rod to add to the Loomis rods already mentioned above.

The Crucial rods are also slightly lighter than the Compre in the crankbait models. The other difference is the guides that was pointed out. For the money the Compre rods are tough to beat.

Welcome to swimbait fishing It can be the most frustrating thing to fish and the most rewarding.

You can' be afraid to lose one or get it stuck. If you want to get bit you have to put it in the water. I know it sucks to lose one. I lost 4 hudds in one day! I even lost a couple of 3:16 prototype Wake Baits while night fishing from the bank. :-[ Don't be scared, just chuck and wind

The problem I see is this area: http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t139/shimano2007/hookbend.jpg Several of the true wide gap hooks that you would need for this bait do not have enough bend like this. I have tried them all trust me. This allows the bait to ball up on the hook like many of us have experienced. Mustad makes a great hook I think its called the Ultra Bite worm hook? Anyways the bend is correct where I have the crappy picture circled. However the offset just isn't right to me. If I could put this bend on the Owner Wide Gap Plus hook I would be a happy man I just see this whole trend with most soft plastic baits, or any bait. No one designs baits around hooks. There are several hooks on the market. Why not set out to design the bait to work with the available hooks, or have a special hook designed for the bait? A company like Yamamoto has a good relationship with both Owner and Gamakatsu. Surely they could have a hook made for the bait that meets the expectations of the angler. Sure the hooks that are out work, but there are still missed fish and at a higher percentage than with other soft baits I use.

The problem is that the bait is just really fat and there are not many hooks that work with it. I am a Fat Ika fanatic and I have tried everything, sometimes you just miss them. You can let them eat it longer but then you end up gut hooking the fish :'( I have tried sliding a swivel through the hook and over the line to keep the bait in place. Slitting the belly works (where the hook bend will be), but the bait is a one fish bait after that. I use the Owner Wide Gap Plus in 5/0 and I fish this bait on 10-12# FC line. The bait seems to work better with a rod that has a slightly softer tip but lots of backbone. I actually designed the Cumara CUC72MH rod for fishing the Ika. The GLoomis MBR 843 works very well for this bait too. Practice is the next best thing to determine your hookset. This makes a big difference when they are lightly biting the bait.

We have Shimano addicts meetings once a week over on the Shimano forum ;D

I do the "match the bottom color" instead of match the hatch with jigs in clear water. Dark bottom on the lake = dark jig and vice versa. Swimbait color does not really seem to make much difference at times. If it has a white belly and a green back, more than likely it will get bit anywhere Then again it makes all the difference in the world on some lakes. They're bass and there is no rhyme or reason to why they eat or attack certain lures. When is the last time you saw a pink baitfish or a transparent trout? Those colors seem to get bit...

I'm sure paint thinner would work. I just peeled it off with my knife when i needed to eliminate some color. Its time consuming but when you have no life like me its not that big of a deal ;D

I guess we better get ready for an influx of reels full of WD40 in need of service :

I use Seaguar FC and Izorline XXX. Depending on the bait and where I am fishing I will use anything from 15-25#. I have had zero issues with either line. I do not have the heavy cover that the boys in Nor-Cal have either so I can get away with lighter line in some applications. P-Line is a great line but I feel that the Izorline casts much better and is easier to manage.

I have some old triple fish 4# that I was going to give them. Being my boss is ex Marine Recon I decided its best not to tick him off ;D Thanks for the help.

My boss and coworker are heading out to Lake Fork next week. I have been tasked with spooling some of their reels with fresh line. How heavy of line should I set them up with? Thanks!

So Cal. I did have to go to Alabama last week to catch bass because I suck at the local bite lately. I'm waiting for the saltwater action to pick up to

I use InvisX now and love it. Seaguar used to make the FC for P-Line so I was told. I used to use the P-Line until I used the Seaguar. I never looked back I do use Sunline for my light line applications though. I use the Seaguar for 10# and up.

Unfortunately we no longer have parts for this model. Go ahead and send it in and we will see what we can do. We might even offer you a replacement for a small fee.

I like the old Evergreen Combat Cranks that they no longer make. Now Lucky Craft makes the baits using the Evergreen molds. They call them CB cranks(?) CB250 and CB350. They did change the cranks by adding glass rattles > The pre spawn color works very well on smallmouth all year long on many bodies of water.

No not yet. I have been trying to get my hands on them for many years. The owner of Roboworm made them for himself many years ago. I had only heard about them until recently when I saw they were going to release them. If its a Robo product then I am pretty confident it will work like everything else they make.

I don't know. What you see is what I saw. I just thought I would pass it along. I know some people that have used them and they all had great things to say. I would guess around $5 for 2 or 3? I'll see if I can get some info from my friend at Roboworm.

I'm not sure if any of you have seen these yet or not. They are going to be released soon. Here's a link to the post on Western Bass with some pictures. http://www.westernbass.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=47970&f=2 I think they look awesome and I know they work