airborne_angler

I agree. As long as there is no nicks or line damage, it should be fine. Remember that many times line sits in warehouses and the shelf for some months or years before you even buy it (sometimes), so a few more months on a reel should not be a problem. This mention of line sitting on a store shelf somewhere REALLY makes ALOT of sense. Never even gave that much thought. Thanks for the thought provoking idea.

Anyone ever polish their spinnerbait blades with a substance like chrome cleaner? Ive been giving it some thought on whether or not to do this,as the blades would have "scent" of the cleaner on them afterwards,which may be unattractive to the fish. But then I got to thinking,spinnerbaits are a reaction bait. So would the polished blades with a chemical smell potentially deter the fish from striking? I know that once the fish does strike and senses the chemical it may want to spit it out,but if the fish struck hard enough,its likely gonna hook itself. Any thoughts?

My rods have been sitting ,unused since last August. The line on them has maybe 3 months of use. I know because the line has been sitting,it has created alot of memory.The reels have been stored out of the sun,so I doubt UV Rays have effected it. So before I head out for the first time this year,would it be adviseable to strip the reel of all its line and respool,or would it suffice to just to peel off a certain amount and go for it. Is there a way to revive the line so it doesnt have so much memory,or is it that when it gets this much memory,its done for?

Looks like hes given up on fishing and is now doing photography .

Bassresource member Fish Chris used to have a pretty neat website where people could submit photos of ONLY 10+ lb fish. The site is gone. What have I missed,please update me on the happenings. Does he still frequent Bassresource.com? I know he was an awesome fisherman and caught lots of HUGE fish mostly on swimbaits.

Can someone give me some insight on how to fish spinnerbaits deep? I recently picked a couple of 3/4 ounce Strike King Pro Ledge Spinnerbaits. One of them is all chartreuse with a small colorado blade in front and a willow in the back,both blades painted chartreuse. The other is a white bait with silver(chrome) dual willow blades that have some blue flake on them. Can these take the place of a deep diving crankbait,that just wont go as deep as I want it to? I want to use these spinnerbaits by some bluffs in the lake I fish. That water is 30+ feet deep. Think ill have any success? Whats the best presentation? Do I just let them go to the bottom and slowly crawl them back to the boat,just fast enough to get the blades spinning? Im wanting to change things up this year. In the years past I have always stayed close to the bank and thrown at the bank with a Dropshot,and have only ended up with dinks. Im wanting to explore a little deeper water and new tactics. I threw a spinnerbait shallow last year and caught a fair share of fish on them,so I have some confidence in using them. If I decide I dont want to fish deep with these 3/4 ounce spinnerbaits,are they any good at being burned shallow,or will they have a tendency to roll on the retrieve because of the weight? Thanks for the info.

Great idea airborne. Consider it stolen. ;D I will be using that this year. if all this freakin ice ever goes away, that is. Its gonna go away. Dont ya know Global warming is in full effect!! :

Doesnt keeping the fish alive ,like on a stringer,cause the fish to stress,thus affecting the flavor?

I have tried to just put a splitshot on the bottom of the line,but I still got line twist. So what I have done is purchase the smallest brass swivels I could find and just crimped a split shot on the bottom. Its ugly,but works,line twist gone.

I recently picked up a White Strike King Bootlegger Jig. I was wondering what color and style bait would make a good trailer? I dont have any traditional trailers,I do have creature baits such as Baby Brush Hogs. Also since this jig has the rattle affixed to the shank of the hook,this means that the trailer is gonna hang off the bait and make the jig/trailer very long. Is this ok? Or should I shorten the trailer(alot) How successful are white jigs being they arent a very natural color as most are.? I would think they might be pretty good as in theory,the bait will stand out and catch the eye of the fish. Am I right? Ive never really tried jigs,so im just asking questions,perhaps Ill try it.

Ya know its responses like everyone is giving that make me realize I havent done a bit wrong by putting the baits in Ziploc bags. Ive done for years and ive seen it done for years. If most tackle manufacturers had "worm proof" bags and such,that could potentially drive the prices of each package of bait. I dont see anything special about the bags most tackle makers package thier stuff in. I have seen the lamination (which contains the marketing info,brand name and such) come off,but the bags were themselves were fine.Ive also seen the ziploc portion of bags come off from the original packaging, Other than that,never a problem.

Ive fished the standard/traditional 5" Stickbaits(Trick Sticks,Senko,YUM Dingers ect) and had alot of success Wacky and Texas rigging this bait weightless,with the Wacky rig being my favorite. I now have run across a pack of smaller 3" Stickbaits,and have questions about this smaller size Does the 3" still have the seductive "Wiggle" when fished Wacky? Does the 3" have basically the same characteristics/action in the water as the larger 5" version,or is there a specialized/different way this smaller bait needs to be presented? How is this smaller version on a dropshot setup? What ways do you all fish the smaller 3" version and what presentation has been successful?

I used the flying lure and caught a few fish when I was younger.

I recently had an auction end on Ebay,where I was selling a mixed lot of different soft plastic baits. In the auction,I mention that some of the baits arent in the original packaging,and arent mixed with any other brands or colors,but ARE in some ziploc bags. I get a guy who writes me this: Just a point of information. Watch out putting plastic worms and grubs in zip lock bags. Alot are not compatible and melt. Thanks Tim I respond and write him this: Do you mean the baits arent compatible with the ziploc bags,or arent compatible with each other? I havent mixed any of the baits with any other brand or color of other bait,so they should be ok. He writes this in response: Most of the worms have to be keep in special worm-proof baqs or boxes. Otherwize you get color bleed off or melting. Just information. So you mean to tell me all these tackle manufacturers have specially designed worm proof bags? I know of a particular person who sells baits and is known and well liked here on Bassresource.com(goes by the name Brent...You all know who im talking about) who packages his baits in Smaller ziploc style bags,I cant see anything special about those.I have never had a problem with his baits doing anything funky while in the packaging. I know some soft plastic baits will react with Crankbaits and such,but I have never heard of what this person is talking about occuring in normal Ziploc Bags. Anyone care to add anything?

Bought a bag of floaters on Ebay last year,havent had a chance to use em yet. I like the "generic" look of thier bags. Looks like a normal ziploc.

Very true,never hurts to try,and I would VERY Gladly purchase new products if the answer was "NO"

My Fishin rig/vehicle is a 1980 Ford Van,I haul a 10'Jon Boat on the inside,it "Just" fits. Anyhow,I had the JJ's in a small plastic box,and the box was inside the cooler. The cooler was sitting on the front seat of the van. Remember I live in Southern Arizona,so im guessing the inside of the van got nice and hot. Ive noticed when I use JJ's on the water when im fishing,if any heat gets to the bottle and I dip my bait in it,the JJ's bubbles up like its boiling. Its obvious JJ's doesnt like heat. Think JJ's would ship me some new stuff if I told em about this stuff drying up?

Yes the clear is just a Garlic,and it doesnt dye your baits. Im not much of a "color" guy myself. Last year I purchased 4 bottles of the different colors available. I only used them for maybe a week. Then the rains came and I pretty much gave up my fishing for the year. Recently I went into my "fishing" rig/vehicle and opened the cooler I had the JJ's stored in. The stuff all dried up. The jars still reeked of garlic,but there was only a slimy sticky goo at the bottom of the jars. Looks like I need to resupply.

You could have just purchased a 4 pack of the same color. Or gone and done 2 and 2

If you go back to the website and "cue" your order for 4 bottles(regardless of the color) youll notice the cost of shipping is the same. So if you buy four bottles the shipping is the same as if you buy 1 bottle. Saves you a little $ when you buy 4.

Manns made a similar bait called the GHOST.Heard these are pretty good(If you can still find em)

Isnt this just a newer version of a Mann's Ghost?

Got my order today. I guess the shape of the bait doesnt matter as they crammed all 70 baits of each color I ordered into a ziploc bag.Im used to my baits being uniform in shape. These are all kind of kinked,curled and whatnot after being mushed together. They may gain their shape back once I use them. Is that a complaint? Not necessarily. Perhaps it will give the bait a more natural look. I did notice that these are supposed to be Garlic impregnated. On one of the three bags I ordered,they mustve forgotten the Garlic,cause it smells just like plain old plastic. Nothing a little JJ's cant fix. Im happy. I just hope I can get the fish to bite these,cause I now have 210 of these things.

I have a few Huddlebugs,and they come prerigged with the weights and a small wire area in front where you can slip the point of the hook through. When fishing it like this,you have to fish it VERY slow,as a crawdad wouldnt be going too fast when moving forward I have tried my huddlebugs a few times,but just want getting a confident vibe so I hung em up. I still have em,and may break em out again this year.

Crankbaits are a reaction bite type of bait. The wiggle gives off Vibes and maybe a bait gives off some attention grabbing flash. I dont think the bass even have time to analyze what the bait looks like. They just hit it. I dont think a bass has ever seen a lure ,chased it and at the last minute thought "Naw,that doesnt look much like a tilapia,it has too much red in the paint scheme " and left it alone The fish will either strike it or it wont,if the conditions are right, its that simple. Going back to my Chartreuse thread I posted a little while back. Whens the last time you saw a totally chartreuse fish of any kind swimming in fresh water? Chartreuse is a very productive color for many species of fish such as Bass(both LM and SM) Walleye,Pike,Musky,Trout...You get the picture Also think about the cranks that are neon orange and have a craw painted on them. The craw is facing the wrong way,craws swim backwards. Most of the craws painted on cranks have the craw facing forward. Think about this and how productive these paint schemes are,That should put a nail in the coffin.I cant say I have ever seen a neon orange craw swimming fast forward like a crankbait does. Its all about the action. I think custom painting is left more for collectors of baits.