Marty

What a shame. I used to watch his show and always liked the guy. Deepest sympathy to his family.

I prefer a 4/0 for a 5" Senko, but that shouldn't account for all those misses. I've caught plenty of fish on T-rigs using spinning rods with 10# line. There's probably something going wrong other than equipment choice if you missed 20 fish. Are you absolutely sure that all those bites you felt were bass? Panfish are notorious for nipping at soft plastics and that strikes me as a possibility, unless you can recognize panfish bites, which I have no idea of your experience with such matters. Was that experience last night typical of what's been happening or is it just an isolated outing?

I've used Culprits. They're effective worms, but just one of many brands that will get the job done for you. Most of us can't carry dozens of brands, so choices have to be somewhat arbitrary and Culprit is one of the many good choices. You can fish them with confidence. Good luck.

I've quit fishing twice for one of the reasons mentioned. Both times it was because I developed a new interest which superseded fishing until the novelty wore off. One time I quit for two years, the other time about half a year.

I have doubts. What is the basis for that claim? And the basis for Lucky Craft being by far the best? Unless there's some solid evidence, it sounds to me like an opinion stated as a fact, a forum no-no by my standards.

Glenn, in the strict legal sense, can you be held responsible for what's posted here? If I libel someone can you be a co-defendant?

Try it, like John said. But you don't always have to retrieve deep to shallow or shallow to deep. For example, casting in a consistent depth at the edge of top of weed beds or on a flat. Some people like to throw a crank that runs deeper than the actual water depth so the bait digs into the bottom and stirs things up. But a 16' lure in 5' of water is overkill. Maybe a 6' or 7' lure would accomplish the purpose. But whatever you do, don't give up on crankbaits; they're just too good at attracting bites.

If it doesn't have twist, but just the memory coils, before use, tie it to something, walk off a distance longer than your longest cast, and raise your rod to tighten the line and get rid of much of the memory.

Where do you draw the line between attacking a company and relating a negative experience with a company?

I'm with Bill and don't purchase the high-end lures. I haven't seen anything that indicates a correlation between more expensive lures and more fishing success. If and when I do, I may change some buying habits. More expensive lures probably appeal to people who prefer to use the finer things in life, to people who think they can buy their way to greater success and probably other folks as well.

Also in the 55° range.

I don't know anything about that rod, but I, as an unsophisticated fisherman, use general-purpose rods. The reason I take multiple rods with me is for quick and easy lure changes. Back when I started over 40 years ago there wasn't the use of multiple rods like there is today. If one went fishing he took his rod and reel plus some lures and tools. Things have changed a little.

We've had a number of skill vs. luck discussions over the years. While there is absolutely no doubt that over time the more skillful anglers will do better than less skilled ones, the is no doubt in my mind that there is more luck associated with fishing that any other sport I can think of. There are just too many things that happen (or don't happen) that can't be attributed to anything other than luck. But, to repeat, lest I be misinterpreted, skill is of the utmost importance, it's just that luck plays a considerably bigger role than in other sports.

I've had some Power Worms that catch fish after years of having been opened. However, I can't say if they've lost any of the stuff that's been added to them, but it's probable, at least to me, that they could catch bass even if they lost some of their scent. After all, numerous unscented worms do very well.

I took the canoe to two different ponds on 3-20 and 3-21 and got readings in the high 60s on both. One of the ponds has a maximum depth of about 10', not sure about the other one, but there was a guy skinny-dipping and he didn't appear to be uncomfortable.

The people I talk to say Crappie, although a few dictionaries I just checked say Croppie is correct. I generally hear Croppie only on TV. Of all the nicknames for this fish, the one most frequently heard around here is Strawberry Bass. I've never heard or seen sac-a-lait except on forum discussions like this. Nobody ever says "I went sac-a-lait fishing today."

I can't say why, but I wouldn't put a lot of stock in that.

I don't have any because I'm no longer a "tackle collector" and I have more cranks than I can ever use. However, DTs are one of my partner's favorites and he's had good success with them. For as long as I can recall, they've always been considered fragile, in the sense that the bills break easily. But it's my understanding that the thin bills also contribute to their action.

I agree with the previous post that they're old hat, not hot and sexy like many of the lures that have been developed over the years. All they do is catch fish. When's the last time you saw a fishing show with the host using one or an ad with a pro endorsing one? Two good brands are Mepps and Blue Fox. There are other good ones too, but those are the two I'm most familiar with.

There's lots of room for variation. I assume the reel is physically large with that line range. Maybe you could use 12# mono, perhaps 15-20# braid. You don't need real heavy line unless you'll be fishing heavy cover and braid that strength can handle cover quite well.

They're also nice to have when a treble hook comes flying back at your face.

There are numerous ways, but I suspect the most common is in shallow water near cover, using a twitch-and-pause retrieve. After the twitch, give it a little slack, as the slack line allows the erratic action. I use them mostly weightless, but you can add some weight and it can still have a good darting action.

Cabela's has an inexpensive lip grip which is great for holding fish with treble hooks in it. http://www.cabelas.c...ch-All+Products

I use spinning gear and fill with mono backing such that there's room left for 50-60 yards of braid.

I've caught 100s of walleyes, all but a handful from the Erie Canal, which is not representative of much walleye water. Having said that, they took a wide variety of crankbaits, both those designed for bass as well as walleye. They also readily hit curly tail grubs on jigheads and those plus the cranks were all I fished with there.