senko_77

My favorite size is 1/4oz and 5/16oz. My favorite jig is hands down the Eakins Jig and the Tru-Tungsten jig. Lately I have been getting all my jig bites by dragging it like you would a carolina rig. I find that the jig bite varies at different lakes. At some, the fish will absolutely CRUSH it. In others, its a soft nudge or a soggy feeling, or I just see my line moving in the opposite direction. I've found that most big fish's bite is alot softer

WORD

Oh and that definately is my fish. I couldn't forget that fish. Big head and supermodel body.

Randall...I believe that me telling you were a big fish lives = 1 free guide trip ;D Just kidding. It's bitter sweet. Knowing I lost that fish sucks but.. Now everyone knows when I said it was 10, I wasn't telling a fish story, and now you have another spot and it became someone's PB. My only question..did you release it back onto my spot ;D If you did then SHHHH because I can tell you now I will need it on the next tourny, so dont go showing everyone that spot Nice fish Chris and Randall

Ryan, when I spent that weekend at Nunley, I learned a ton from you about how to fish fast. I had never really power fished before and then all the sudden, I'm catching 5lber after 5lber. But, do you remember when the power fishing bite died, and you weren't sure what to do, and I caught the 7 and the 5 on a finesse worm? That taught me something, and I hope you can use it to learn something too. There are times when a rattletrap will smoke a worm, but then there are times when those fish will only take a soft plastic. You know this from the past few months at Varner. There was a time when traps were crushing the big fish, but then, it was worms with light weights. If I were you, I would have my confidence power fishing lure rigged and my confidence slow bait rigged. That's what I do at all my tournaments. I have extra rods rigged, but I really only use 2 rods all day, and usually at the end of the day it's narrowed down to one. If your throwing your confidence bait, you will catch fish. Be positive at all times and know that you are just as good as anybody else. When I'm fishing, I am always repeating my favorite fishing saying that is featured on this site. It is what I base my entire day around. "The most succesful anglers are chronically optimistic. They believe every cast will bring a strike." So keep it simple, be confident, and just go out and FISH

I'll second this. IMO, it's alot more important to buy better qaulity than qauntity. Instead of buying a Shimano Clarus (I own one) and a Cabela's Tourny Trail, why not just take that money and step up to a Shimano Compre and buy yourself some flourocarbon to put on that reel. Go to your local tackle store and feel the difference between a Clarus and Compre. Hope this helps in your decision

Whittler makes incredible handmade crankbaits. I just bought a few of his new 4x4's and I cant say enough about them. I would definately look into them.

I'm about just about to pick up a few stx's and a few sx's. I dont own one, but I have thrown them and there incredible. The S is nice, the only thing thats making me want the STX is that it has the free floating spool. I'm glad the Revo is selling so well for Abu. The C series is such an awesome line, but there just not what the crowd buys now. They needed the facelift.

Definately count me in.

Definately count me in for this one. I can throw in my handpoured plastics and hand carved swimbaits.

SAAWEET boat Chris. BTW hydrilla, $100/day is an extremely great price for a top of the line guide like Randall. Also, when your catching 8lber after 8lber, that $100 seems SO worth it.

dang Randall. When I saw the title of this post my heart started beating alot faster. Can't wait to get out there again when you get a break in your schedule.

I really like using a slimmer profiled senko on a jighead. I like the Yum Dinger, Edge worm, or GYCB Slim Senko. The most use I found with this rig was last fall when I kicked the fish's butt fishing it on a 1/8oz spotsticker jighead in brushpiles in 20-25ft of water. I have no idea why, it just caught fish more than a trick worm on a jighead or the dropshot.

I know what your saying Dink. It took me awhile to figure out why my bead would be gone and my line near my weight would be loaded with abrasion. Tungsten will destroy glass in seconds. Tru-Tungsten manufactures a bead called the "T" force bead. It's awesome. It's made from a composite, and coated with duraseal. It's really durable, and when tungsten hits it, you can hear it a mile awhile.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1171035014

Have you ever felt Tungsten/Braid? You can pretty much feel what the fish are thinking.

I saw it last night at a friends house. I thought it was pretty awesome. I think it will stay for awhile.

It makes the package of worms smaller because the bag becomes skin tight. If you take your bags and look closely, they will be packed with air. Try cramming an air filled ziploc bag into a 3700 plano. It doesn't work. I vacuum the air out, and everytime I use the bag of baits, I roll it back up, squeezing out as much air as possible. This saves so much space and will allow you to stack bags on top of bags.

I love the color Diamond Dust by Rat-L-Trap. Its awesome in clear water

The tungsten alone adds a ton more sensitivity, but the real advantage in the Ikey Heads in the bend in the hook. It's awesome at keeping the bait tight up against the head when you skip docks or cast sharply. I mainly use the Ball Buster in 1/8oz because it has a 60 degree line tie. It's more suited for shaking, and I beleive an angled line tie hooks more fish. The Weed Wacker and Ikes Spike is basically a T-rig that has the weight pegged if you look at it closely. If I use those, it's really for the worm keeper.

I fish both weights and jigs. If you fish tungsten gives you an immediate advantage. It's unbelievably sensitive, it's smaller in size, and the density makes it louder when hitting rocks and hard bottom. Tie on two carolina rigs. Have one rigged witha 3/4oz lead weight, and one with a 3/4oz tungsten weight. Hit a point with the lead, then go over it with the tungsten. The difference is massive, and you will feel so much more down there. When tungsten hits bottom, you feel it, so if there a 1ft drop, you feel it, if it's a 5ft drop, you feel it. You can desifer rocks from stumps from brushpiles. It's truly awesome. As far as the jigs go, the real difference I feel is when I use a big jig in summer. What I do is tie on a 1/2oz tungsten jig, add a big zoom super chunk trailer, and throw it where I would throw a c-rig. Only difference is, I drag a c-rig, with the jig, I tighten my line, lower my rod, and shoot the jig off the bottom with a sharp snap upward. This triggers massive reaction strikes and the tungsten allows you to explore the bottom better than leadheads. Work a jig in 35ft of water, then work a tungsten jig. You will feel a difference. Hawgin mentioned the Tru-Tungsten Ikey Heads. Those things are great. Once again, the tungsten allows you to feel around alot better, but what I really like about them is the bend in the hook. It really helps to keep the worm up. My favorite TT Ikey Head is the 1/8oz Ball Buster.

Wal-Mart is ABSOLUTELY not quiting on there fishing section. Over the past few weeks, I have seen all 5 local Wal-Mart's increase there tackle qauntity and qaulity. I would say that Johnny buying Gander is a good possibility. Or atleast a partnership has been formed. I have no idea if B.A.S.S. is being bought by Johnny, but the FLW comment is false

The Yum Dinger is packed with salt. Any bait that has a high salt content will take on a different shape with pressure. Its probably best the ditch the worm binder, and take all your bags of plastic, vacuum the air out, rool them up, and stick them in a deep trayed tackle box.

The Smaller jerkbait and popper are incredible. The entire line of crankbaits are junk in my opinion. But the jerks and topwaters are definately worth the money