Big Bait Fishing

i use the improved clinch for both , never had any problems for tying braid to a leader of flouro , i use the uni-to-uni knot ....

i try to imitate fish forage , i like good bluegill colors and shad colors (silver and white patterns ) .

put the livers in a 3"x3" piece of pantyhose(or other mesh like cloth) tie it up real tight by balling up the livers and tying up the excess material , trim the excess material , then put a good size circle hook thru part of the liver "ball" and you have a bait that will stay together and will stay on the hook !!! it is best to make a bunch of them before hand , then just keep them in a big ziploc bag , so you can bait your hooks really easy . also , the mesh material will hold some bait dip if you so choose

used for spoon baits in deep water .

found this place http://www.plat.co.jp/english/bassart/bassart.htm

i throw big swimbaits alot and i also throw crankbaits alot , plastics not that much ( except summer time and it's all about frog fishing , i throw soft plastic frogs ) so i would say that i balance them out pretty good . as been said , certain baits have certain times of catching fish so you have to decide on there rotation/usage time .

green pumpkin/white pearl ( my favorite frog color. i also like that color for flukes and stick baits ...

the optimum top hook baits are used pretty much for "bottom bouncing" , meaning the will skim along the bottom where bass can pin them and eat them !!! a straight retrieve is all that they are good for , use a slow or even super slow retrieve , if you want you can also yo-yo them slightly off the bottom too mimicing a feeding bait fish. if it is a trout bait , i usually use Hudds , i bottom bounce it ... hope that helped

you forgot hardloy , Hardloy inserts are made of a special blend of high grade Aluminum Oxide with a much higher compression strength making them much more durable than standard Aluminum Oxide inserts. that is not the order of ring hardness , i believe , Mike please correct me if i'm wrong

they are lubed from the factory , you should be good to go till you do your annual service cleaning btw , i have the 7.1:1 lefty version and it is my favorite reel ....

i used to use CXX but have changed to Izorline XXX . i feel it is an all around better line , great strength , less memory , and alot softer/smoother line . i use 25 lb. line for baits 4-7 oz. , for baits 8-12 i use 30 lb. , for the baits i'm gonna be throwing i'll use 40 lb. !!!!

that scale looks like it costs plenty , more than common digital fish scales , even the highest priced ones , do you know the actual price of the unit ???

was just checking out the 6 and a 1/4" perch crankbait , and i must say , I WANT ONE !!! we have no perch where i live ( San Diego , CA.) but i know the big girls will hit that bait and try to crush it !! have any of you guys used this one (the 6.25" size) ??? how does it swim , they have a medium deep-diver(8-10 ft.) and the deep-diver(13-15 ft.) anyhow , some feedback would be appreciated here is the link http://livetargetlures.com/YellowPerchSpecs.html

i have got the 20+ and 30+ cranks in "copper shad" and 1 30+ in red "craw" , all run true and ARE fish catching machines

i had a 50 lb. berkely digital scale(from wal-mart) that was horribly off > i am thinking of giving the rapala 50 lb. mini a try , here is the link for it http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_10203288_100011004_100000000_100011000_100-11-4

i throw deep diving crankbaits alot !! i use Bomber fet free shads BD7's , strike king series 6 , bomber "switchback" shads BTSD7 , norman dd22's and deep little N's , spro little john's dd , manns 30+ and 20+ , and Rapala DT 16's ... btw , Mann's 30+ in copper craw is a fish catching bait color

the comment you made just keeps it going , it's just how things go on forums , people have their favorites , some people take it a little to far as far as expressing them !! so don't take it personal . if the topic is taking a twist you don't like , go to a different one

a few people have posted pics of some pretty nice reels that are made in japan , here is one that i think is the best looking reel i have ever seen !!! this reel is a straight out beautiful master piece

i would think you would want to use a co-poly , mono , or braid for your top water baits as Yo-zuri sinks pretty fast ...

never seen or heard of a calcutta rod !!!

good to see you back , Rowland did you check out that salty stage's spool , looks like it doesn't hold much line !!! :-?

here is a chart with some different line strengths - http://www.gamefishin.com/wa/features/linetest.htm you have to scroll down a bit , but yeah CXX is very strong , alot of people will say "but it has a thicker diameter than others at that line weight " . CXX's dia. IS bigger , for example , their 10 lb. line is most everyones 12 lb. line size , but it is usually stronger than their 12 lb. line by alot . the only other lines that averages out to be as strong is Gamma co-poly and trilene XT . but anyhow 10 lb. CXX tests out to 22.737 lbs.

just trying to stir it up , huh : .....

for me it is an advantage for casting , i cast on my right side , so i have the butt grip in my left hand and i can get more of a catapulting effect with it . also it looks alot better

i'm gonna use 10 lb. power Pro with a CXX 6 lb. leader . got tired of changing my line every week > ( was just using CXX in 6 lb. , full spool ....