Hooligan

I'd have to say it's probably cheaper on average. I think I paid $1.40 for 1/4, $1.85 for 3/8, and $3.26 for 3/4 in Green Pumpkin painted. If you some of the other weights and dive the per piece out, it's as much as $.44 lower for the 1/4 and $2 or more less for the 1oz.

I found my new supplier of tungsten weights. The holes are polished, the powdercoat is done right, the weights are accurate, and the holes are centered. They also peg easily with a bobber stop.

Agreed. That wasn't the intent and I am sorry if it came across that way. It's more anecdotal than anything in that a large number of those people that buy the bait for that reason alone will throw it for ten minutes, not catch anything and it will never again see the light of day. While those that have bought that bait on the merits of the bait will use it and add it to their arsenal under the right situations. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it silly or wrong to buy those baits for any reason under the sun. It's more that I think it is funny because that line is drawn. You put it quite well in that nobody is better or worse for wanting it.

I'm kinda diggin' the KVD Perfect Plastics finesse worm right now.

Senile1, I"m not picking on you but using your quote because it's a great point: "KVD's Classic win was a great marketing tool for these baits. As much as I can recall, I have never bought a bait because it was used by a big-name angler or because it was used in winning a big-name tournament." The reason it's an excellent quote is that it made me think of a lot of the lures I use consistently. It made me think of where I first saw, heard, or was introduced to them. Without a doubt the majority of baits that I've come by, and use regularly were from the people I fish with. This forum has introduced me to a tremendous number of different ideas and lures, including some of my now favourites. The thing that I did, though, is tried to track whether or not I'd bought any of the baits that won tournaments and bought them because of that fact alone. I could think of only one instance of it, and that's when Clunn won with the Poe's RC. The influencing factor wasn't that it won a major tournament as much as the bait fit a slot that there wasn't really another entry in. I think, a lot of times, the masses do flock to the "Hottest New Lure that Just Won the Classic" with abandon. I think more of the...shall we say educated?... anglers tend to pay attention not to the lures as much as the tactics behind them. What I mean by that is that we absorb new or different presentations on water types that we would otherwise be familiar with in order to maximize our time and efforts. Anyhow, food for thought, anyone else chased down that "magic bullet" only to learn that it was more than the lure that was the winning factor?

They were actually out in January. I had seen them running a 1.5 in the tank in the store and liked the way the bait moved at that point. What was really funny was the Monday after the Classic, the BPS over here was completely sold out of them. ALL of them. One guy got so mad he couldn't get the 1.5 and they had to call the cops, it was...well...classic.

I got a few of the 1.5 and two of the 2.5 in early February and have been playing with them here and there since then. Of the 4 I have only one really tracks. What I've found is that the faster the retrieve, the better they run and the more search you get. The 2.5 is all over the place, it feels like it's going to blow out, then it rolls back in. Hard to explain, but I like the way it runs.

Yeah, it seems like that is the best map of it. I talked with a guy that's won several tournaments over there and it seems like a lake I should do fairly well on. From most accounts trying to pull fish out of the timber is rough, there's so much timber there it's really hard to differentiate the good from the not so good. Channel swings and primaries are key, from all accounts. I'm really looking forward to fishing this lake, I think we'll do well on it.

Their actions are just geared more towards walleye presentations, in terms of lure weight, tip action/speed, and overall speed and power of the rod. That's not to say you can't do it with one of them, but I'd think that you'd be better suited to finding a rod that's geared more towards the intended use. I think, in some ways, drop shotting will overload the Eyecon tips. The most suitable would likely be the "Snap Jig" as that's pretty similar to the action you're after for DS.

I believe they're #6 Katsuage as standard hooks. I use the Owner ST36 in #6 as replacement.

If you like those, slap a 4" LFT Hyper worm on the back. It's nasty.

I like a couple of Toray lines. This one has me intrigued for a couple reasons. It's supposed to have excellent knot strength and abrasion resistance but handle much like the finesse. Two of the people I fish with regularly have said that it's better than Tatsu in terms of handling on a spinning rod. In terms of spooling the CI4, do it just like they say, and you'll be fine.

One of my best is a Green Pumpkin swim jig with a GP Rage Craw. I use the LFT Live Magic Shad on a jig, too, and it's accounted for some big fish days. I like to use a GYCB swim Senko on back of a jig, too. The subtle rocking action with the tail thump can be really good at times.

In the Midwest, Bluegill is king, without a doubt my all time best around here. That said, I'd likely go with a shad pattern, a chartreuse black back, a citrus shad and, bluegill.

I've heard very good things. Particularly in lighter line weights. I ordered a spool of 5 and 16 to give a shot.

For the record, I wasn't going by just the actual weight of the rod. I've actually fished the TFO and was not impressed with it for the reasons I listed above. They felt heavy, heavier by comparison to most of the other rods in that class. The Premier, the Compre, the Veritas, and Vendetta are all rods in the same class that fish better, have better components and fish lighter than the TFO. I maintain that there are better rod selections in that class. I'm glad that you're happy with yours, but there are other options that, when choosing a rod in the class, people should be advised of before making a final decision based on one opinion. Now that's comedy gold.

With 20lb fluorocarbon I have to triple up a rubber band type stop, and even then it's not a guarantee that it will stay. I've tried every stop I have and it takes two of the bullet weights strips to peg once sinker. I sincerely hope that's not the production hole size. The weights that I have aren't that old, I think I got them a month ago. If that's the production hole size, count me out. Also, have you addressed the weight variance issues? I know that Im not the only person that has found it. There are quite a few "reviews" or threads in other forums that have stated the same.

Best bait last year was the Space Monkey followed by the Smokin' Rooster. There were a lot of instances I flipped the LFT Craw tube as well.

I thought the exact opposite, with their rods weighing between 4 and 5.3 ounces, the lighter weight rods are heavier relative to the specific rod. The difference in weights, however is close all the way through, not usually varying much more than one tenth of an ounce. For argument's sake both makers have a 7' Med Fast that weighs in at 4.2 ounces. A good portion of the Mojo lineup is under or at the weight of the TFO rods by comparison. What I didn't get out of the TFO is a "feel" for the rod. It just seems...well...dead. It's takes a smack of a hit to make the rod come to life. They have very long recovery time, and they really aren't finished that well. Lastly, when it comes to weight, it isn't so much the weight that is the question. The question of weight is more properly addressed by where that weight is. If the weight isn't positioned so that the rod is in balance, it could weigh an ounce and it wouldn't feel right.

I hate those skirts. They constantly foul in the trailer hook and become a ball of rubber that's perfectly pointless as it doesn't do what it was intended to do. Without a trailer hook, they're fine.

I'll fish some sort of jerkbait every month we have open water; there's always a situation that they're an appropriate attack and I have a lot of confidence in fishing them. That's not to say that it's the only thing I'd throw, but very often it's one of the first things I will throw. Determination of whether I will throw a jerk or a crank is based more on whether there's a pattern established. Are they, or were they, hitting a moving bait? Are they suspended or relating to deep structure? Are they hanging tight to cover and short striking on a spinnerbait, for instance? That would be a place that I'll switch back and throw a rip bait of some sort. When water temps warm, I've done very well on the Xrap with neutral fish or picking up fish after a hard cold front. Crankbaits are a great search tool for me when I'm on a lake I'm not terribly familiar with. If you can start to pick apart the depths and zones that fish should be keying to based on water temps and prior experience, crankbaits are often a good way to maximize your time usage in doing it. If you get a couple fish to poke at it but just won't commit, it gives you an idea to go with.

Black Blue, Green Pumpkin, Okeechobee. I wish they had PBJ

The reason bamboo works in quadrate, pentagonal, or hexagonal configuration has more to do with the node strength of the raw material. Transferring that to other fiber is nearly impossible to duplicate. I've seen prototypes for the hex rods before and found them to be unappealing for their weight more than any other thing. In order to make the weight reasonable, you're likely to have the rod be more brittle than it's traditional counterpart. The other thing they claim is an increase in sensitivity, that's pure bunk from their own explanation. If you think of a helix construction, every joint in that helix is meeting with another overlay. Transmission along and across the fiber isn't slowed by comparison. Because of the tension, you would actually expect faster transmission of the signal on a helical axis versus that of a straight, or single, axis.

Yup. Jig.

I started using Megastrike on them recently and have noticed a difference not in strikes, but in hooked fish to strike ratio. Why that is I have no idea. I don't know if the Megastrike has somehow lubricated the bait so fish get the hooks, ot they strike it that much harder because of the scent.