D4u2s0t

big-o am I right in thinking that the body is a different makeup vs. say a space monkey? It seems like it will be a much more durable bait.

because post count can be changed by the admin and/or mods depending on how glenn has the forums setup lol

Bait Monkey I ALWAYS have everything shipped to my office... problem solved.

Like many, I have been patiently waiting for my roosters to come in. They came in yesterday, and I couldn't wait to get them in the water. I was up this morning at 6:30 to hit the lake and test them out. I decided to go down to the local dock, in an area where I knew I wouldn't be catching fish this time of year. When I got to the water, it was quite windy, and if you saw my last thread about learning how to use a baitcaster, I was a little worried about throwing a creature type bait with the wind as strong as it was. One cast and that all went away. I had it t-rigged with a 1/4 oz weight, and a 1.8 oz keel hook. With the slimmer, more aerodynamic profile, this thing casts like a brick. First cast from the dock, and I put it on top of the next dock which is a good 120 feet away, and that's going at a 90 degree angle to the wind. (here's a pic for reference http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30419324&l=9f27a1e648&id=1003390062 ) Was very, very impressed the way it cut through the air, especially for someone that has extremely little baitcasting experience. My thought was it would catch the breeze, come flying back, and i'd be switching to my spinning reel when I got a massive, un-fixable birdsnest. Needless to say, I can only imagine how far this thing will go on a calm day. Obviously, maximum distance is not always a big deal, but when you're fishing from shore it can be the difference between being on fish, and not being able to reach the fish. Another benefit to the streamlined body is that I was finding myself pulling in significantly less weeds. The action on this bait is incredible, and it looks amazing in the water. Burned back, slow crawl, bounced off the bottom, even jigged straight up and down, this bait is no joke. Extremely versatile, and can be used in any situation. Don't be fooled into thinking this is just a flipping and pitching bait. Another thing I noticed is how soft, yet incredibly strong the body is. With other baits like space monkeys and shads, after a few fish it's time to switch. I can see this bait being much more durable. The exposed hook never moved, even while being pulled through weeds, heavy cover, and an air conditioner (don't ask) With the new lowered prices, the smokin rooster is a no brainer, and a must have in any bass anglers arsenal.

So it's getting to be that time of year, and i'm looking forward to it! I never keep bass, but better believe if I catch some walleye they're going in the pan. Anyone that likes fish and has eaten one knows what I mean. Planning on going out next saturday night with some live bait.

i've only caught pike on spinnerbaits. they seem to work best, so that's what I use.

I got mine in today... guess i'm waking up early before work tomorrow lol

I made a quick rig, and it works great. a nail in a 2x4, and then i put the nail through the hole in the spool. Line never twists, and goes on easy.

I would consider a twitch to be a short, quick movement, usually done a few times, while a jerk is a single and much harder movement of the pole.

thanks guys, and yea was a hell of a deal for 25 shipped. Also goes to show you that you don't always have to spend big bucks on your rigs.

I said equal. Just have to have enough patience when you see it.

depends on many factors. In your neck of the woods where it gets much warmer, like I said your best bet is to fish deeper. When it's cold out, the fish will often come to the shallows when they flood to get into the warmer water. But there's lots of variables. Depends on what kind of new cover/structure is there, what the baitfish are doing, etc. It's very possible that there are no fish in the new shallow areas. Also keep in mind that fish are finicky after a rainstorm. Look into how weather affects fish, in regards to different fronts and whatnot. There's some great articles here that will help you out and go into great detail. But to keep it simple, like many animals, fish know that a storm is coming, and often pig out. That leaves slow, sluggish fish after the rain. Not always the case, but could be since you had 2 bites in 8 hours. Either that, or there were simply no fish.

fish deeper. all day long people on my lake pound the shallows, and catch nothing. I'm out in no mans land in the middle of the lake pulling out "big" fish.

I'm using a bass pro tourney special I got from someone here.

thanks guys.

I think it makes as much of a difference as color selection... minimal at best.

So today was my first foray into the world of baitcasters. How does that qualify me to do a writeup with tips and advice? It doesn't. But within 2 dozen casts I was getting more distance and better accuracy then I could ever hope to achieve with a spinning setup. Here's what worked and didn't work for me. Hopefully someone who is just starting out, or even someone that has tried but couldn't get it, can learn something from this. Let me preface by saying that I have done weeks of research, including reading various websites, watching tons of videos, etc. So I went into this having a very good idea of how to use a baitcaster, and the concepts involved. The problem I found was that everything I had found was written by people with loads of experience and knowledge, and they often left out the "small details" that seem like common sense to someone with years of experience, but make a world of difference to someone just starting out. Here was my experience. I started out with the brakes high (read your manual to learn how to use the brakes) and using a 3/8oz spinnerbait. First cast, huge birdsnest, and the spinnerbait rocketed a solid 10 feet off the dock. A dozen more casts resulted in the same thing, which required me to go home and completely re-spool my line. I put the pole down, and picked up my spinning reel. But I wasn't ready to give up. Where I went wrong was the lure was too light and had too much wind resistance for someone just getting their feet wet. Understanding how the spool works and what makes it different from a spinning reel is important. When you are first setting up your baitcaster, click the botton to free the spool. Now, give the spool a spin. You'll see that it continues to spin for a long time, even with a very light push. What does this mean? This means that you have to keep a constantly tight line on the cast, because when your lure starts to slow down, the reel is still moving very fast. When the lure slows down, you must in turn slow down the reel. Much of what I read said that you pretty much only use your thumb to stop the spool once your bait is near the water. I found that to be very wrong. It would be like casting a spinning rod, and with the bait in the water turning your reel to reverse, and spin it very fast. You would never do that, because frankly, it would be silly. Similarly, you need to keep that tension on the line to prevent the birdsnest. Jump ahead to after I respooled and got to the lake... This time I tried a different setup, texas rigged worm with a 1/4 oz bullet weight and 1/8 oz keel hook. More aerodynamic. This is where it came together. With less wind resistance on the worm, I was really able to get a feel for how the baitcaster was working. After a few more casts, and some picture-worthy birdsnests, I was ready to rock. I was gaining confidence which helped a few key things. At first, I was finding myself expecting a birdsnest, which had me watching my spool and not my bait. That no doubt made things worse. I had to keep a conscious effort to watch the bait instead. After a few more solid 10 foot casts with no birdsnests, I was ready to up the ante. I decided I was ready to easy up on the brakes, so I closed all but 2 of the 6 centrifugals, and loosened up the tension on the spool. I was confident, and ready to go. The first cast had the worm sailing way out there, significantly further than I could get it with a spinning reel, even though I casted less than half power. Just as the bait was getting close to the water, I started applying more and more pressure with my right thumb on the spool to start slowing it down, and just as it hit the water I was stopping the spool completely. After about a dozen succesful casts, my confidence was very high, and got the best of me. I decided to try and skip my worm under a dock. Bad move. I wasn't ready for that. After fixing my line, I went back to normal casting, again with great success. By the end of my outing I was able to put the bait exactly where I wanted by applying pressure to the spool as it sailed through the air, something that you can't do as easily with a spinning setup. With the baitcaster, you can very easily slow the spool down and still put it where you want, also with less splash. I'm glad I took the time to practice and figure out what was going on, and I see myself getting a ton of use out of this reel. I was quickly ready to give up, but was glad I didn't. Even if you don't learn how to use a baitcaster from this, let it be a lesson on how to approach learning new reels, lures, techniques, etc. Don't just blindly go to the water, examine what you're doing, what works, what doesn't, and why. But most importantly, don't give up!

there is no right or wrong answer to this, as every situation will be different. In some situations, a short and very accurate cast is better, in some, you want to get it way out there. When using cranks and spinnerbaits the idea is to cover alot of water quickly. If i'm in a new area i will throw them as far as I can get them to work alot of water. You want to throw them at least an appropriate amount past your target, if you have a specific target. With diving cranks, you also have to give some extra distance to get the crank down to your desired depth. On the other hand, with soft plastics and a more finesse approach, I'm typically not casting very far or hard at all. It's more about pinpointing where you want your bait, and putting it there.

I've done well with the rage tails.

You can catch good fish all day long. Anyone that says fishing is no good in the afternoon just doesn't know where to look. (this does not apply to places where the mid-day heat is unbearably hot)

I enjoy eating fish, but not as much as I enjoy catching them lol. I throw my fish back almost always, with the exception of being camping or on vacation and keeping a few for dinner. Here on my home lakes, I have never kept one.

these are the 3 I use. I have never had a problem with any of them.

my go to fluke setup is a 1/8 oz keel weighted mustad hook 4/0. If you want to do a faster retrieve, I find that it stays straighter in the water.

thanks for the advice guys.

If you truly take the time to experiement, you'll see that color is the lowest item on the totem pole of succesful fishing. Focus more on your presentation and lure placement.