airborne_angler

Anyone have any first hand experience or positive feedback to share on either of these? I'd like to see what kind of action they might have,but can't find any video referencing the baits under water. Looking at them they just don't look like they move well in the water...am I wrong?

Doug Hannon (aka The Bass Professor) has passed away. God Speed Doug.

A l l u r I n g b a I t s great price and good product

A l l u r I n g b a I t s great price and good product

I'd give an unfinished crank a try.

I don't know what all YUM baits were offered originally in this deal, but my WalMart only really has the mighty bug remaining. The Hsrd baits, well dang thetes a huge assortment, and for the price...you can't go wrong.

Went to local Walmart last night and found an end cap with some blue cardboard bins chocked full of new lures. All the lures were Lurenet.com baits (Bomber, Rebel, Heddon,YUM,Cotton Cordell, Arbogast and Lazy Ike.) I'm sure I'm missing some brands. All baits were marked $1.50 each. For those of you who bargain hunt for tackle this is an awesome deal...be on the lookout!!!

I too carry A LOT of baits on the boat. Thinking I covered all the bases, only to find out everyone is catching them on the baits I left at home. Just like when I go to the You Pull It junkyard. I take a huge assortment of tools. To take off a certain part, I need a special tool...its at home, home is an hour away...go figure.

So basically its a mind game. I get what you are saying about confidence in a certain color. If I caught my PB on a shad patterned crank, I'd be likely to want to go out and purchase more of the same color and model.The detail is what gets me.Someone paints a bait and just goes all out on realism its really not likely gonna matter to the fish. The bait (crankbait) is gonna be wiggling through the water at a pace that the fish arent gonna be able to make out. On that note, its a reaction bait, the fish isn't gonna analyze it. They are just gonna see an object wiggling by putting off vibrations and maybe puttingboff noise, maybe not.The fish see it trying to flee so they just "react" without knowing what exactly it is. The Excalibur Real craw XR50 baits are a prime example.If they are biting on one of those, put on a regular XR50 in a similar color and fish it in a similar retrieve speed and I'm bettin you'll get bit. Topwaters are no different. The fish only see the underside of the lure at rest, and when the bait is moved, there's a disturbance in the water so the fish may not even be able to see what they are striking at. The exact reason some topwaters are clear. So I'm thinking fish see colors in reaction baits as light vs dark, bright vs dull/subdued...detail really doesn't make a difference to the fish when it comes to reaction bites. Dogs are no different. I have a Chocolate Lab and hes picked up on catching dog kibble in midair when its tossed.I can take ANYTHING and toss it in the air and hell catch it.Regardless of what it is. Potato Chips, Pretzels, Bread, and even non edible items...scraps of paper balled up, pea gravel, scraps of foam...he goes for everything. Only AFTER he has it in his mouth does he realize its not food and spits it out.I think fish are the same way. Only after they have a crank in thier mouth do they realize its not edible, but by then, if the fisherman is paying attention, its too late.Detail is not part of the equation.

When a Crankbait manufacturer makes a statement about how deep a bait will run, like lets say a Rapala DT 6, what kind and weight of line is used to make this characteristic? Line weight and material can affect the running depth...so if I'm throwing a DT6 on 10# FC...how much deeper can I expect the bait to run?

No matter where you are casting, majority of the fish are just a few feet beyond the distance you are casting.

So now there's a new name for the same knot...how convienent.

I've read that a Bass likes to attack the head of its soft prey in order to stun it and in a lot cases this holds true for crankbaits and soft plastic worms. That's the reason for a size larger treble up front. I'm sure when it comes to Crawfish they probably take a different approach.

Crankbaits are reaction baits...right? Was wondering if a highly detailed paint job on a crank really makes a difference to a fish. To a human naked eye, we see a bait sitting still. It looks realistic in all its detail. Underwater during the retrieve, that detail gets blurred. So what are the fish actually keying in on? Is it vibration or sound, I know there's gotta be a visual aspect that plays a part too,the fish must see the object, shape and the action. I find it hard to believe that a Bass can distinguish a craw pattern crank from a Shad pattern crank.Maybe the hue of the bait, like a brown vs a silver or a chartreuse vs Red. So this leaves me to ask the question. I have some cranks that have some worn out finishes on them. Does anyone have experience with success on cranks that the paint is flaking of vs the same crank fresh out of the package.

I'm not big on eating fish.if I order it at a restaurant, its usually something like whitefish or cod. I have eaten Catfish and originally I enjoyed it, but I can't really say the flavor does anything for me anymore. Dont care for Trout.The only ones ive ever eaten were stockers and were actually pretty bland.When cooked correctly, I really enjoy Tilapia. I've heard Bluegill are good eats, and a local lake has a good abundance of them.I just can't bring myself to dispatching them and then I'm worried about the care of the fish and it spoiling before I get home(1.5) hours from the lake.For those that have eaten Bluegill...what am I missing? Are they that good? I've heard Walleye is tasty too.What's everyones favorite eating freshwater fish? Anyone know of any "sleeper" fish, where the consensus says its avtrash fish but it was actually good eats?

Walleye are also related to the Sauger

Speaking of Walleye, I'm about 30 minutes from thre border of Mexico and there's a restaurant here that serves Walleye. This fish really only exists up in N Az where the OP caught his. Makes me wonder if its really Walleye and just how fresh it is.I've never eaten Walleye, so if I ordered it, I probably wouldn't know if it actually was Walleye.

Could be...I'm really pretty new to the crankbait bite...

I've changed it up a little bit this year already. I used to beat the shallow water near the bank, I've caught lots of sub 12 inch fish. In fact that's all I thought existed in this lake. I used to only throw a 3" worm on a Dropshot, and a dropshot is all I used to throw. This year I've been chucking Rapala DT Cranks and have been moving into more open water. My catch size has gone up from sub 12 inch fish to 1.5-2# fish consistently over the last 3 outings. Now those arent huge fish but for me it a big improvement and gives me confidence to try different areas that I haven't fished. I chuck my crankbait out into deeper water as far as I can throw, hook ups are awesome at that distance.If I'm pulling in weeds, I move out a little so I can get my bait into clean water.I know this may not be the answer your looking for but this has worked for me so far.

Its really a cool sensation to have, other styles of bites I've gotten feel like the fish chomped at it, spit it out and then grabbed it again. I'm likin this crankbait bite. I swing on just about everything, lots of "weed"fish, that just tells me my bait is getting into the weeds so I gotta move a little deeper.Had one grab it right at the boat yesterday and about ripped the rod out of my hand because I wasn't expecting it.Although I love to watch em taildance, I've lost fish when they do that.Gotta watch out when lipping em to.Last second head shake can give you a hand full of trebles (don't ask me how I know)

I finally get it!! Been throwing Rapala DT cranks (6/10) recently and have caught and released my limit on 3 consecutive days. Yesterday I had the strangest sensation.As I was retrieving I suddenly had slack line, I caught up with the slack line and then kept retrieving,shortly thereafter, I hooked up. Was the slack I encountered an attempt at the fish to grab the bait?

In the last post I made about fishing in the wind, someone responded with a comment about current made by the wind. This got me to some thought. This lake I fish is alway windy. Would it be beneficial to try to learn some river fishing techniques and apply them to this lake?

I too absolutely hate the wind.I have recently discovered the wind isn't sooo bad though. Here at the house, it would be calm as ever, perfect for a day at the lake. 1 hour later, at the lake, the wind is blowing.I have driven all this way and used up "x" amount of fuel, I'm here, no sense in going home. Positioning the boat can be a pain but just keep your head in the game. In the wind I've discovered its tough to throw some baits that require precision casting. I've started throwing crankbaits and on 3 consecutive outings, I've caught my limit. Nothing huge, but I've never thrown crnkbaits with success...so now I have a better feel for them. I also rediscovered the Carolina Rig. To sum things up, sometimes when its windy, you have throw baits and rigs that are outside of your confidence and comfort zone. As Ike says..."Never give up"...your already at the lake...might as well make the best of it.Don't let mother nature get inside your head.

So the last time I ever threw a Carolina Rig with any success, I was in my late teens. I'm in my late 30's now and yesterday I rediscovered this technique. I was throwing a motoroil colored vintage Fliptail(straight tail)worm and got bit on it.Didn't feel like a bite, more of a "crunch".Anywho,I got the fish, nothing huge, but really got me fired up. I know some here that swear by a Carolina rig...what are some dynamite, sure fire, drop dead, knock out baits to try on a Carolina rig? Oh and what's with the "French Fry/Centipede on a C-Rig? Heard those work well...why?

So people mention foam...how well would the yellow foam ear plugs work? I suppose you could trim the ear plugs, roll em between your fingers to make em nice and small and then insert them into the bait allowing them to expand and conform to the shape of the inside of the bait.The ear plugs could be a great way to hold scent as well.Thoughts?