Quillback

Hey Bluebasser, I was reading the reviews on TW of the Banshee shad and several people complain that it does not cast well, that it "helicopters". Have you had any issues casting it? I've got a couple of ABT Hybrid shads, they're 3.5", so they don't meet the 6" size of the Rapala, but they cast well, have great action, and I've even caught a few bass on them. Very realistic paint jobs also.

Yep, I fish them both, GLX 803 is, IMO, a better bottom reader than my NRX 893. I believe there's an 803 NRX, haven't fished that one, would be interesting to have a GLX 803 and NRX 803 and test them both. Speaking of sensitive rods, Dobyns DX 702 is another great one. A little on the light side, but great stick.

Yep great sensitivity on the 893, not as much as my GLX 803, but pretty darn good. I use floro when jigging. Fishing rocky, sandy, gravelly, muddy bottoms and around docks and timber.

I have an NRX 893 that so far I have used for dragging 3/8 and 1/2 OZ football jigs (haven't tried 1/4 yet). Works great for that application, casts a jig a mile and is reasonably sensitive. I got mine at a good discount, I'm not sure I'd pay full retail for one, but it's a great rod. My GLX 803 BCR is more sensitive as far as transmitting rocks, wood, mud etc., but funny thing about that 893, though not as sensitive at reading lake bottom, it seems to transmit bites better. I'm sure the 893 will work for t-rigs and light c-rigs, just haven't had a chance to try it yet on those applications.

Yowzers that is a lot of Premier issues, I'm retired and fish quite a bit and I'm usually using one of my Premiers, and haven't had any parts failures.

Great review, thanks!

Shrimp is good on pizza, if I have any in the fridge when I get a Papa Murphy's take and bake, I'll toss them on the pizza.

I'm surprised no one has come out with a paddle tail "Chunk" for swimjigs.

Yep, I'd say you could get a new comaprably loaded Phoenix around that price range - maybe minus the power poles. But the Bass Cats are a great boat also, so get the boat you'll be happiest with.

Swepco fished good last winter, it gets some pressure for sure, but it's got a good number of bass in the 3-5 lb. range, and there are some bigguns in there too.

In addition to the others mentioned above, I like the Keitech Fat Swing imapct. It's a paddle tail and comes in several different sizes, smallest (going from memory here) is a little less than 2" all the way up to 5", so you can find a small one for a small jig. The paddle tail kicks real well at a slow retrieve. ONly drawback is they are soft, so I superglue mine to the jig.

If it's 48K, I think you can find new boats with a Merc 250 in the same range - I've got a Phoenix 619, and Phoenix makes a great boat. The Phoenix 721 is a tad bigger than the boat you're looking at, and it would not hurt to call the local Phoenix sales manager and tell him what you're looking at and see if they can match it. I'd certainly check out other brands too. Phoenix has a great warranty and I've heard many stories of how they'll go way out of their way to make things right if you have a problem. If you have any other questions, shoot me a PM, I'm not a Phoenix dealer, but it's a great boat. If I was looking at a 48K boat, I would definitley be looking at some other options, it will also give you some bargaining power with the guy who is selling to you if you can quote a new comparable boat in that price range.

The problem is, every time I'm happy with what I have as far as fishing gear, the tackle manufacturers come out with something new that I must have.

I spent about 12 years of my life living in Mass. around the Boston area. When I was in high school I fished with my dad out of his 12' aluminum johnboat - no trolling motors or outboard - we used paddle power, whoever was in front would one hand scull the boat to postion it, kind of a human trolling motor. We caught lots of bass, there's a lot of ponds and streams in Mass. that you can't get a trailered boat into, but you can get a cartopper in. Later in life, I bought a one man fiberglass canoe, caught many a bass out of it also.

Something also to consider as a swim jig trailer is to use a Rage Craw or Rage Chunk. The claws have very good flapping action on the retrieve.

Great video, good to see a manufacturer expalin how to use their lures.

Very nice!

Dang they just CRUSHED Michigan last night. The Tide is coming to Fayetteville in 2 weeks, Hawgs better be ready to play.

In general, it's hard to find a good pizza in Arkansas, mostly chains. But, if you ever fish Beaver and want to stop for a pizza, Gusano's, which has 2 locations locally, one in Bentonville and the other in Bella Vista, is an excellent pizza place. Papa Murphy's take and bake is an excellent pizza, better IMO than most of the chains.

Yep, 1/4 oz or 3/8 oz tungsten, short 12-18" leader, 1/0 EWG with a Zoom U-Tale. This is a killer setup at a local power plant lake during the winter.

I use Gammy drop shot hooks (size 1) tied with a Palomar knot and use weights with the slip on connector. I've only had one line twist incident this year using this setup and I have been drop-shotting quite a bit this summer. One knot to tie, slip on the weight, and you're fishing.

Nice, very nice!

Very nice, good job!

I'm using my spinning stuff right now for drop-shotting. Catching a lot of 12-15" Kentuckies, they're fun on light spinning gear.

I'll have an answer after this winter.