D4u2s0t

If you are always losing weights, and have to retie after every fish, doesn't that tell you that what you're doing is not working that well? I would look into a different rig.

the ika looks pretty similar to the kreature. Is there any differences other than the lack of appendages?

you drove 60 miles to pick up a pack of baits? why not just order online. about the roosters, did you pre-order?

I fish the same thing I would any other time, just a lil deeper.

there is no "best". go to your local store and experiment, and find what you like. The easiest type of worm to catch fish on will be a stick worm, either a yum dinger, yamamoto senko, or my fave the *** trick stick.

i'll let out a quiet "you lil *****" lol. but that's about it. I've never been upset enough to even think about throwing my pole. Losing fish is a part of fishing. But i'd rather hook a big fish and lose it then not hook it at all.

I pretty much only use a few thins anyways. I love the guys that go out with 100 million baits, and 95% of them are still in the original packing. Makes no sense to me. I have a small plano 2 tray box that holds everything. May not be very impressive, but everything in there catches fish. That being said, my 5 in no order: 1) *** from *** 2) Burner Spinnerbait 3) Baby Brush Hog from *** 4) 6" Fluke - *** 5) Space Monkey I don't put much importance on color, I've found it doesn't make much of a difference. Most of my soft plastics are some variety of watermelon because I think it looks cool, and spinnerbaits are sexy shad or chart/white. What will come out of this post if it goes long enough, is that everyone has their own idea of what the "best" baits are. What it comes down to is personal preference. If there were truly 5 "best" baits, everyone would have the same answer.

happens extremely often. If you miss a fish, and your bait is still in the area, leaving it out there will often get another bite. Or if you have it too reeled in, throwing it back to the area also works.

Agreed. Like I said, i've used similar baits by other companies, and just find they outperform. I feel like with GYCB you're paying for the name. Yea, they make great baits that catch fish. But there's similar baits that catch just as many fish, and last longer, and are rediculously cheaper. I have no problem paying more for something that works better, but I don't find that to be the case here.

yea on my guitar forum we had the same thing lol. other than that, no extra perks.

there's not too many forums out there that pay their mods, and I have never heard of any that actually have full time workers. From what I take it so far, the mods just seem to be people that love fishing, are on the site often, and take on the responsiblity of keeping everything in line. I was admin of a guitar forum for a long time, and my mods were those that I trusted to keep things in order. Some forums the mods are like police. Not like that here. I've asked mods questions, and they have always been very helpful, and never have an attitude that they're better than you because they're a mod. In other words, their members just like you and me, with extra responsiblity.

yamamoto baits are very pricey. Look into ***. much cheaper, and all i've used have been more durable than other more expensive baits. their craw tube is similar. If you want a faster fall rate like the ika's solid body, just put a small weight in it. they're 25 for 8dollars.

spinnerbait!

i wasn't saying you are being disrespectful, and i'm sorry if you took it that way. Not what I was saying. I was just telling you why I don't personally like to do it. I don't have the desire or patience to go digging around under a dock for a jig.

Read in the articles about what type of structure and cover to look for. There's some great reading in the articles section, and even a few articles about how to use and read your fish finder.

Throwing anything under docks where there are fish will turn out to be productive. I typically throw my jigs where there will be less of a chance of getting caught, especially when aiming for someones dock or boat where little kids or even adults will possibly be in the water.

i've purposely broken all of the color rules, and I can tell you that color is not as imortant as people think. I have seen practically no difference between white, black, chart, sexy chad, watermellon, etc in terms of performance. Why do people say black works best at night? simple. someone else said that, so they used black, caught fish, and said "yep, that was right. Black is good at night". Other colors would work well at night too. Just like you don't have to stick to certain colors in certain water conditions. People use these guidelines like they're the bible. After doing some tests, Color is of the least importance while i'm selecting a bait. Use what you like, and what you have the most confidence in. Confidence is key. Like any sport, and anything in life, if you think you will fail, no doubt, you will.

not talking in terms of depth, that I agree with. You want to get down to the depth the fish are at. What I meant is that one crankbait will not be better than all the others, just like one soft plastic won't be better than the others. What we consider to be the "best" is what we catch the most fish on, and what we catch the most fish on is no doubt what spends the most time in the water. That's what I meant.

what this thread should tell people is that lure selection and color is not quite as important as you think it is.

I also find with the keel weighted hooks, it helps keep the fluke from spinning on quicker retreives.

I use Mustad 4/0 1/8 oz keel weighted hooks. picked up 50 of them on ebay for 22 dollars.

back to basics. always make sure you check your drag. If you have your drag set properly for the line strength you're using, you will never lose a fish (there's always the risk of getting the line run along rocks, around a dock, etc. which is an exception) because the fish pulled too hard. When you go out, always make sure your hook is re-tied. after a few fish, or a big one, check the knot. it's better to re-tie than to lose a fish because your knot broke. sometimes just from crawling along the bottom, or hitting cover, or whatever, your line can weaken without even catching a fish. every time I re-tie I hold the line in one hand, and pull the hook with the other. sometimes it will easily break the knot because the line was weakened. I'd rather take the few extra seconds to check than to just tie and throw it in.

Certain situations call for certain rigs. If you're throwing into very heavy cover, an exposed setup like a wacky rig is not ideal. (unless you're ok with losing hooks) A carolina rig will get caught up in heavy weeds more so than a texas rig. If you're really throwing into some heavy muck, you want to be as weedless as possible. A fish is not going to eat a 10 pound clump of weeds swimming through the water lol. Try fishing the outside edges of the weeds with your carolina rig as opposed to throwing it right in the middle of the heavy stuff.

I will not re-use a bent hook. I buy in bulk, usually 50 at a time, and get them so cheap that it's not worth having it break off and lose a fish. The chance of that happening is slim, but i'd be pretty upset if I lost a fish because of a damaged hook, when I have hundreds of brand new hooks.

i haven't got any over 5 lbs yet in my lake. i know they're in there though! considering the state record is 10 or 11lbs and change my chances of double digits are pretty slim... not like the southern boys that pick through the 6-7 pounders all day.