Jrob78

If it's custom made, the manufacturer is probably going to be impossible to determine.

Great bait rigged on a plain old ball jig head or darter head.

You answered my questions as well. The baits look great and I love limited production balsa sq bills but I was hesitant without knowing the pedigree. I will definitely pick up a couple of these when I get a few extra dollars.

They aren't super small but I like the old XCalibur wake baits and the LC RC wake baits.

They've changed the post season again this year. The top 50 are in and the bottom half are out. There won't be any voting like the past few years.

That is correct. He had his worst season ever, by a mile.

I've got about 5 Dick's stores within a 30 mile radius, none of them carry anything close to Megabass. They did have a few Lucky Crafts but they clearanced them off a few months ago.

I spoke with a Powell pro staffer a couple of weeks ago at a tackle shop. I specifically asked him about these rods and he seemed genuinely excited. These rods are replacing the Max series and use a new blank. FWIW, he told me that these were his favorite Powell rods to date. He also said that there were new Diesel rods coming.

I tend to agree with this. Although, I do believe that occasionally certain colors will out perform other colors on certain bodies of water. Craw Wiggle Warts on the White River lakes come to mind. I think it might be worth the money in those situations, especially when a bait has been discontinued or is hard to find.

War Eagle

I haven't had that problem since high school, oh how times have changed. Seriously though, my grandmother had a pekingese that got that way when it got old. It just didn't take crap from anyone anymore and would bite and snap at people when it didn't want to be messed with. It just got ornery Be careful if kids are ever around the dog.

The bait doesn't have to float because it's suspended above the weight on the hook. When you move your rod it will move the bait and give it action. You will have to adjust the weight based on the line size and the bait size but the same principle applies when you use bigger baits.

The bait should match the situation. If you are needing a finesse approach then the bait should be small and subtle. I like Roboworms, Shad Shape Worms, Finesse Worms, Zoom Meatheads, Alive Shad...etc. You can also use full size craw baits, large worms, Brush Hogs, Magnum Flukes, large wacky rigged Senkos, Beavers, pretty much any soft plastic can work. Real Prey Swimbaits even makes a 7.5" 2.75 oz carp swimbait that is meant to be drop shot, (shotted?) My point is that you don't have to limit yourself to only drop shotting finesse baits.

Check out Home Brewed Tackle. They don't have a big selection and the stuff they sell isn't custom but they specialize in small, local manufacturers.

Your set up's sound fine. I would just switch the M rod to mono so you can throw your top water baits and you should be good to go.

Hmmm....I'm not seeing the resemblance.

This is the same Original Wiggle Wart from Storm that has been available for years. It says in the description that it uses the original molds. http://www.rapala.com/storm/hard-baits/original-wiggle-wartandreg/Original+Wiggle+Wart.html?id=4

I'm not a Wiggle Wart expert but I thought the ones that are out now are the "new Originals." The new Warts at Icast were just showing new colors. That's how I understood it anyway.

Awesome video. I've never seen that before.

Yes it is!

Braid is only sensitive when the line is tight. If you get another opportunity, you should try it again with another line type and see if you get different results.

This

Not weird at all but the best way to get better at sticking frog fish is to keep fishing them.

I have that rod and use it for 3/8 oz jigs. It performs perfectly for that weight with a regular craw trailer. If I threw 5/16 jigs, that's the rod I would use.

Zillion Coastal on sale at TW.