Hooligan

Whether you call it weighted wacky or T rigged, it works well on pressured fish.

Love it. Regardless of my love for my Shimano reels, and my dislike of your Abu. That might be the funniest thing I've read in years.

My biggest problem with the entire Revo series is their consistency. They're inconsistent from bait to bait in terms of setting the reel, and they're incredibly finicky when it comes to line and rod. I've not been happy at all with any of the reels I've owned from the series and currently own none, thankfully. I'll fish my Chronarch and Core over that any day, particularly if it's anything like the others. I won't hold my breath in anticipation, as I've not had a good product from the Revo series yet.

There's no magic bullet when it comes to any bait, let alone cranks. I've got 500 +/- cranks of various manufacture, color, depth, track, action, and bill style. I don't fish ALL of them, but I fish all of the styles I have at some point in the year. More information about where you're fishing, what depths you want to cover, what water quality and clarity, as well as any other pertinent information will help more people to answer your question with greater effect. Asking for what works here or there is like asking the bank if they have money. Be as specific as possible and you'll get more specific answers.

Brass is actually louder than glass. The brand I use is sealed with a ball bearing soldered in place, and it has two different sized pellets inside that can't get lodged. I'm almost sure I get them at Bass Pro, I'll have to look.

They work, but they also gill hook many, many fish. It's one of the worst lures I've ever used in terms of gill hooking fish.

Oh hey, look at that. You'll fare well, GMan. You've got a quality jig, and the service behind it.

I don't use Hot Sauce, it's terrible. I use Daiwa Oil, or Rocket Fuel. From my conversations with a Shimano Rep (Not Bantam1) Rocket Fuel is absolutely fine to use on them.

Sure do. I fish them in a lot of situations that require a smaller bait. I've had phenomenal luck with them on Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior for smallies, as well as on Lake Okoboji and other lakes close to home. My 7-9 smallie came on a Teaser Tube this spring which is Bass Pro Shop's 2-3/4 tube. I don't have a "Go To" color. My colors are adjusted to the lakes I fish and the water quality of said lakes. I have them in something like nine colors and use all of them throughout the year.

So far what I've heard is that he had a malfunction with his jackplate causing a loss of control.

That's the bearing I was looking at, Francho. Thanks for the heads up, all.

I've been fishing a ton of finesse cranks this year, and doing very well. Lately it's been the Fat Mini GDS or whatever the heck the name is, in MS Shad.

I won't send it back to Shimano to fix, I know it's a bearing, and I know that sometimes you get a bad run. Tolerances for manufacturing being what they are, that happens sometimes. Not going to get my panties in a wad. I may just call Shimano and have them send a set, I need a couple bearings in other reels, too.

Quick question: I've been having an issue with a brand new Curado 201E7. The palm side bearing is growling, even after cleaning, degreasing, and a single dab of Rocket Fuel. They're stock, which leads me to believe I just got a boned bearing to begin with. However, I don't have time to send it off and have them ALL replaced. Would it be worth it to replace the palm side and cast control bearings with a pair of ceramic hybrids, or would it be totally worthless in terms of real value? I'm not concerned about super-tuning the reel, but eliminating as much of the noise as is possible, if I gain a touch easier pitching, excellent. Thoughts?

I've got to go with Wayne. What you're describing is your reel isn't set correctly for the bait.

Man, every chronarch I've ever owned is worth every penny. I will choose them over my Core reels every time, particularly for moving baits. They're just so smooth and reliable. My choice will always go to the Chronarch, my hope is that they don't jack it up with the "new" model.

I'm talking about through the year. If you spend 2-3 hours total per year. I know guys that are like that, seriously.

And your time accounts for nothing, right? I mean, if we're going to get finite, you've got to figure your time in there. If you spend 2-3 hours fixing baits at a relative wage for a guy that makes roughly $50k a year you're talking about roughly $24 an hour. So, in a years time if you spend 2-3 hours you're spending $48-$72 of your time fixing baits to save $50 or so. The math doesn't pan out. Particularly when that 2-3 hours is time I could have spent fishing.

They're not made by any other company, in terms of reel manufacturer. BPS owns the tooling, and uses a factory in South Korea as well as one in Japan. "Most" of the OEM reels in the world are made from a couple different factories, Bass Pro is another that has gone that route. I wouldn't be surprised to see the purchase of a factory in the future. In terms of what I fish, who cares. What matters is that I fish.

Like most, you're moving from a fast to Extra Fast and a minimally sensitive rod to a reasonably sensitive rod. You're feeling more of the initial "bump" and setting off that alone. You'll learn what it feels like when they've taken it before long.

Any time I'm fishing a new lake, it isn't new to me because I've put my time in on studying the lake in advance. With paper maps, with GPS/Google Earth and other sources. I establish a plan of attack based on the time of year, years past and any sort of reports than I may find on the body of water based on the time of year I will be there. It aids in establishing a base pattern to start, using my experience and knowledge helps me eliminate or advance possible tactics when I'm on the water. If you truly want to be successful, dedicate some time to it, and get to know the lake before you even head to the ramp and you're far more likely to score a W.

That's what I thought, too, but couldn't have been more wrong. The only bait that anyone really makes a similar bait to is the Grass Pig. All of the others I've fished have a completely different action, even the Deuce is different than the typical twin tail. I've been tossing the Pig and the Pit Boss a lot this year. We won one tournament on the Pitboss.

I'd send my used baits to you, sure. As inexpensive as plastics are, I don't bother fixing them, my time isn't worth saving a $3 bag of worms.

Core 51 Cumara 6-8 MXF Core101 Cumara 7-2 MXF Chronarch D7 NRX 803 Chronarch D7 NRX 852 Chronarch D7 NRX 853 Chronarch CBR843 Calais Cumara Reaction 7-7M Curado E5 CUC69M Curado E5 CUC69M Curado 201 E7 CUCX72MH Curado 201 E7 CUC74H Curado 200E5 CUC70H Castaic 201 DX795 Castaic 201 AVC66MHC Curado 51 NRX 802 (On the way) Castaic 201 Carbonlite 7-6 MHF A couple of GLX and IMX for other things. Spinning- CUSDX72M CI-4 2500 CUS68MH CI-4 2500 Avid 68MXF Sustain 2500FE NRX 822S SYR (Coming) NRX 803S CI-4 2500 (Coming) Out of all that, I find myself fishing the 7-2 MHXF Cumara and the NRX 853 more than anything else. Along with the 7-0 H Cumara and the 6-9 M XF.

In terms of cost, Strike Kings are among the best value and reasonably effective as are Norman. Learn to tune your baits and you won't have any problems.