Marty

I've been fishing crankbaits for 40+ years (it seems like I say that every day) and rarely have had the opportunity to bump them off the bottom or off wood. Fortunately, those techniques are not necessary to catch fish on them. One of the things that bumping does is cause a sudden change in direction and you can simulate that with your rod. I do recommend an erratic retrieve even though a steady retrieve will catch fish too. It doesn't have to be a square bill, although they are reputed to bounce off wood better. There are some outstanding shallow cranks that are rounded bills, such as Baby 1-Minus, Swim-N Image, Shallow Shad Rap and others.

Hang in there, nothing stays the same forever. Many years ago my mentor spent his vacation at his mother's cottage on a large lake here and was skunked eight consecutive days. When he finally caught something he was met with a loud round of applause from the folks on shore.

As I type this they're in the middle of the playoff. Count me in as another anti-Tiger. But I'll bet that scads of people are breathing easier now that he lost by more than the two-shot penalty.

I've been fishing crankbaits for 40+ years and don't have answers. All colors catch fish. I normally carry a maximum of two colors of any given bait. Usually one muted color, such as shad or bluegill and one bright color, such as firetiger. Conventional wisdom on rattles says no rattles in clear water and rattles in murky water. But I've seen so many exceptions I don't even know if the conventional wisdom means anything. I'll use them anytime that I can, i.e., where weeds won't interfere with them, spring through fall. Beware, many crankbaits come with poor hooks, so make sure you sharpen them or if they can't be sharpened, replace them. I believe crankbaits are outstanding fish attractors. Just get used to the fact that you will lose fish on these baits. It seems like it shouldn't happen with six hook points, but it does.

Despite the video saying that bails can spin in either direction, in 40 years of using spinning reels, I never saw one that didn't spin clockwise (when viewed from the front of the reel). At any rate, the video's method of spooling was correct, although I don't think he described it very well. When reels started coming with anti-twist rollers (Daiwa's Twist Buster, Shimano's Power Roller, etc.) the spooling instructions changed to the way that's pictured in your original post. In my personal experience I could notice no difference between the two methods. I now use braid and spool it the traditional way for no other reason that old habits.

Lots of possibilities. First decide if you're going to fish them weighted or weightless. Just three of the possibilities are: 1) Drag on the bottom 2) Lift and drop retrieve 3) Retrieve over surface weeds and let drop into holes and at the edges Then, of course, there are a lot of different styles of soft plastics, so generalities might not apply in all cases.

Same here. Never noticed any change in the lure's action.

I tie the backing to the spool with a uni knot, but it doesn't matter, since the line never goes down there, and if it did, it would probably snap regardless of knot. I use a uni-to-uni for the braid to backing, but for bass fishing the line doesn't get that far. But it's good to have a decent knot if you hook into a carp or something else that's big and strong.

Braid is reputed to be terribly lacking in abrasion resistance to rocks, which I usually don't fish around. However, I think it's outstanding against wood and vegetation, so that would be my choice. My experience is with 15# Power Pro and, to a lesser extent, same strength Fireline braid.

Sorry about your problems, but it sounds like you're one of the unlucky ones or I'm one of the lucky ones. I've also had an apicoectomy and more root canals than I care to think about, but never had the aftereffects that you describe. Good luck, hope you feel better real soon.

Well, in Wayne County (New York) in spring, there is excellent rock bass fishing in Sodus and other bays. Forever, it seems, the conventional wisdom is that the fishing coincides with the apple blossoms. However, this is not a superstition since both warming waters and apple blossoms are both the result of the progression of spring weather.

I don't know if I can be of much help. But my friend and I have fished many times in his 12' john boat that's powered by a trolling motor. When he was heavier the two of us weighed about 425# plus, of course, a battery and other gear. He generally stands while I usually sit. It fits in his pickup truck. It has a cap and we just slide it in and tying isn't necessary because it sits at an angle resting on the top of the tailgate. It's a little clumsy but he can load and unload it by himself. As to catching a lure in the back of the head, sure, the odds are greater of that happening than in a bigger boat or different style, but you and your partner have to agree on some casting rules to make sure it doesn't happen. Good luck with whatever you choose.

I have rods with the same specifications and use 15# Power Pro. I use them in heavy cover and I know that the line breaks at considerably higher than its stated strength.

I don't know which would clear faster, but maybe a larger lake wouldn't get as muddy in the first place. In fact, some lakes would probably stay mostly clear while your pond looks like chocolate milk.

I agree. I'm not fishing for a living (I'd starve) but for fun and I do things I enjoy, knowing that I could be costing myself fish. I'm not the world's most patient person and slowly working a soft plastic for hours on end doesn't do it for me, which is not to imply that I never use plastics.

They are an excellent search bait when you want to locate fish. They're also a good bait to start off with because if the fish are active you might catch more with a faster-moving lure.

Like Scott said, let the fish tell you. There are a few things you could consider, in my opinion. Obviously, a buzzbait can be used in some weedy conditions where treble hooks can't be used. I also have more confidence in buzzbaits in choppy water. If you want to cover water, lures like walking baits and Jitterbugs can be used. If you want to thoroughly explore a small area you can use poppers because you can make them pop without moving the bait very much. Of course, things aren't that simple, but some lures can do a given job better (or maybe I should say differently) than others.

Heartily agree. With or without cicadas.

We all have our confidence lures, but it's good to have an assortment of lure types to either match the conditions and give the fish a different look. I'd recommend that you try a couple of crankbaits and topwaters. Don't make the mistake I've made too many times. When you have a lure you want to establish confidence in, don't wait until your confidence lures fail you before tying the new one on. After all, you've already established the fishing is lousy and your new one is less likely to work. Use the new one right off the bat in a spot that looks good. It takes only one fish (at least for me) to gain confidence in a lure.

I love my buzzbaits to run straight up, none of this left or right stuff. However, that rarely happens and, fortunately, it's a bigger deal to me than the fish.

Never used any, but just bought some. I plan on using a weighted hook (1/8 oz.) or unweighted depending on the circumstances. It looks to me that hooks at least 5/0 extra wide gap will be needed.

My friend was also planning to get out on the water but stayed on shore because of the winds. We had gusts in the mid 40s.

I've used them successfully in the summer as well. I don't think there's a bad time if other conditions are right.

If you can't find the actual size an eyeball check should get you close enough. Sizes #4 and #6 take care of 95% of my needs. I use the round bend style but others prefer different styles.

Whatever you get make sure they offer 100% protection against UVA and UVB.