steezy

Rat-L-Trap is hot here in the shallow areas in TX ponds since the temp dropped. Ive been catching good size fish for the past week on mostly red and orange rat-L-traps. The shallow cranks are still good but rattles and spinners are getting the most hits. Early morning pre-sunrise and late evening are the best times.

The Core 50 MG is also great for the same cranks.

Yes.

I use a 7.x ratio shallow & med deep cranks and 6.x ratio for deep cranks.

I hope you called the local authorities and reported that mess. The person responsible should be hung!

So is it a bad idea to jerk the rod a bit in a hookset motion when a fish hits a crankbait ? I know Ive seen the pros do that.

Buy a $450 7' steez ! 8-) Seriously, consider all the points that Bass-Brat suggested and if you live near a Bass Pro Shop or Cabelas, take your reel to the store and put it on several rods and buy the rod that feels best and is within your budget.

Steez on a Steez You can feel a moth fly by it ! 8-)

equipment check before fishing, enough said.

I fish with a Steez and a Core 50 everyday, cant make up my mind which I like best. The Steez is about .1 oz lighter if that even makes any difference. Last week I bought a Cumara 7' Reaction rod CUC70M for cranks and put a Core 50 on it and love the combo. Im going to buy a Steez 7' crankbait rod and put a Steez reel on it so I can compare the two combos. I also own a Core 100 6.x ratio but seldom ever use it, Im just spoiled on the smaller low profile reels. I'll sell the Core 100 to you at a good price if you want it. I fish jigs the least, probably should more cause I catch fish most eveytime but I fish a lot of ponds so I spend a lot of time clearing debris off the jig. Now as far as which is better, thats up to the person fishing. I tend to like my steez combos better due to lightweigh and solid feel. The core reel feels a bit loose compared to the tight precision feel of the steez. Any of the 3 reels will do the job but if youre going to use the cumara rod then I would put a core reel on it. The Core/Cumara is pretty tough combo for a little over $500. Please dont put a steez reel on a cumara rod....

Since I fish everyday, I respool every 7-14 days depending on how much I use a particular combo or if Ive had a breakoff and lost a long portion of line. My crankin, buzz and spinnerbait combos are almost always respooled weekly due to fishing in a lot of shallow cover and needing to re tie often. Anyone know of a good source for large spools of P-Line CX Prem 12 & 14 # moss green.

Same sort a luck for me today, fished for 4 hours early this morning and never got a bite and froze my butt off. Temp warmed up a few degrees late this afternoon so I tried it again and caught a 3 # LMB on my second cast. I just cant quit.

Plastics are bass fishings "safety net". Its the weapon of last resort after everything else fails. The catch might be small but it usually gets something to bite. If they wont bite a slow finessed plastic, they ain't biting that day.

I going to try one of the new Shimano Cumara Reaction rods. I bought the 7' Med for shallow & medium cranks. I have a core 100 reel thats 6.x gear ratio, it should make a nice crankin combo. The MedHeavy would probably be better if I was doing deep cranking. Its being shipped overnight from ***.com for Sat delivery so I can try it out tomorrow.

I'll be able to test this theory, got a new 7' crankbait rod on the way, will be here tomorrow by 10am Sat morning.

John, you are one great man for everything you do and by the way thats a nice HAWG!

some of the shoreline is either very steep or is a rock wall that is 3ft above the water.

How much of an impact does rod length have on casting distance? A longer bass rod should load more at the beginning of the cast. If I compare the same rod but in different lengths (6' to 7') will my casting distance increase enough to justify the switch?

just debris from the water

Fall fishing is working out great here in North Texas, its 55-65 degrees between 6:30-7:30 every morning and they are hitting a shallow 2' deep crankbait like its their last meal.

JFrancho, If I catch another sick one I'm going to sacrifice it and my biologist relative is going to open it up and confirm the issue. Thanks for all your input.

Well it turns out that one of my wifes uncles is a freshwater biologist and he has assured me that the condition as probably caused by handling the fish incorrectly therefore damaging the slim coat and causing the inflammed areas to form. He could not stop stessing to me the importance of handling fish properly and to always try to wet your hands/fingers before touching a fish. I told him I shore fish a lot and he suggested that I keep a small container of pond/lake water close by so I could wet my hand prior to touching a caught fish. Fishing in a boat should be easier since you can simply dip your hand in the water before touching a fish. BTW, the local Texas wildlife/fisheries rep never responded to my email or phone call, what a waste.

Caught it a few days ago (October) in 2-3' of water on a crankbait and the bottom of the pond is muddy.

Guess you wouldn't want to sell any of those Steez for $275, would you?

My second GLX on ebay for $140 buyitnow, I couldn't click it fast enough! I dont think the seller knew what it was.