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I have one of these with me on almost every outing. http://www.coldsteel.com/95sseries.html There's a small group of very aggressive grey geese at my local sportsman's club that will not come near me.

The Louisiana State Police received reports of illegal cockfights being held in the area around Crowley and sent their famous detective Boudreaux to investigate. Boudreaux reported to his sergeant the next morning. 'Dey is tree main groups in dis rooster fightin'' he began. 'Good work. Who are they?' the sergeant asked. Boudreaux replied confidently, 'de Texas Aggies, de Cajuns, and de Mafia.' Puzzled, the sergeant asked, 'How did you find that out in one night?' 'Well,' he replied, 'I went down and done seen dat rooster fight in person. I knowed dem Aggies was involved when a duck was entered in the fight.' The sergeant nodded, 'I'll buy that. But what about the others?' Boudreaux nodded knowingly, 'Well, I knowed de Cajuns was involved when summbody bet on de duck.' 'Ah,' sighed the sergeant, 'And how did you figure the Mafia was involved?' 'De duck won'.

Brian, I'm with you on the hollow tube type paddle tail baits. They just haven't done it for me. I've bought the Berkley version, the Money Minnow and the Shadalicious, all in several sizes and colors, along with the ridiculously over-priced weighted hooks to go with them. I will not be buying any more of them. I will be buying more Swim Senkos. The Swim Senko has produced so many more fish, on the same days, in the same conditions, fished side by side, that I've made my choice. As far as the "real" swimbaits go, I haven't jumped on that bandwagon yet. I don't have a rod capable of handling baits that big. And, to tell the truth, I don't see myself spending that much of my cash on those really big baits. I would like to try some of Matt's smaller baits. I do have rods that will handle those baits. The Baby Bass and the 'gill would probably be just the ticket for the waters I fish most. Might have to spend some of my "economic stimulus" cash on a few of his baits. If I do buy any, thay will be from Matt. I don't know how he manages to make such realistic baits at the prices he's set. Anything over 5 pounds is a trophy in my neck of the woods, and I catch my share of them on conventional gear. I really have no need to go to the giant sized baits. If I lived in Florida or Cali, or near similar waters, I may very well be singing a different tune. The pictures of giant fish caught on those giant baits by FishChris, Fourbizz, Randle and Matt are truly impressive. These guys really do have a different mindset. Cheers, GK

Thanks, Redline. I just got a nice chuckle from the image of you sitting in your boat, playing with your gear, and making boat noises. Priceless! ;D ;D ;D

I use a Setyr 7' medium fast rod designed for spinnerbaits. It has a soft tip that turns into backbone rather quickly. I think you neeed a softer tip to let the fish get the bait in it's mouth before the rod pulls it away. I use the same rod for Swim Senkos. Not to hijack the thread, but, the Swim Senko has outproduced the Money Minnow by at least 20/1 this year. I doubt seriously that I'll be buying any more of these over-priced hollow body tube shad baits and the ridiculously over-priced weighted hooks to go with them.

I use these. They're cheap and effective. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_37103_100010004_100000000_100010000_100-10-4

Well, finish the story. How much wood DID he chuck?

I don't think berkley makes those things anymore. I had a couple of packs, and threw them away after the first use. They felt like the same stuff worms are made of of, but just a bit harder, or stiffer. Made to slip on your regular weight, like a sinker condom. They helped the weight get hung up on anything that the weight came in contact with. Interesting idea; just didn't work exactly as planned. Try using some Megastrike on your weights. Adds some flavor, and helps them slip through cover. Cheers, GK

The only hooks I'll sharpen are on jigs, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits

acetylene? Are you freakin' nuts? On second thought, I withdraw the question.

I use an EWG hook, and rig it just like you'd rig a T-rigged worm. With the hook point laying on top of the tube, and a bit of the tube pinched up over the hook point. Before I run the hook through the body of the tube, I insert a weight and a couple of Berkley Crappie Nibbles. They add some flavor, and when they get wet, they get gooey enough to hold the weight to the front of the tube. This works better than a pegged weight. It has the nice spiral fall, just lijke you get using a jighead, but is much easier to rig, and re-rig. If the tube has a thin walled head, a bass casting sinker works perfectly. You can run the hook through the eye of the weight, and it will remain in place. For the tubes with thicker heads, I use split shot. The shot I use are larger sizes, cut in half. They stay in place better. Cheers, GK

Some general thoughts for your consideration A 7', or longer rod will aid in achieving greater casting distance. A medium light, fast action rod will load easier with lighter baits, allowing a longer cast. Once you've selected the rod, get a spinning reel with the largest spool that will not over balance the rod. The larger spool will allow longer casts. Cheers, GK

look for the Kinami Palm Tree. Same bait, different packaging

My favorite short rod is an old Team Daiwa, George Cochran, topwater / twitchin model, made in the early 90's. 6', EVA pistol grip, medium power, fast action, with a very, very light tip. A great rod for original floating Rapalas and small poppers. I've semi retired it because the finish has started coming off the blank. I like it enough that I intend to strip it down, and re-wrap it over the next winter. Cheers, GK

I just got the 6"8" M-XF. I've only use it once, but I'm impressed. I haven't used the fast version, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt. I would guess that you'll want the fast, not the extra fast model. The one I have has a surprising amount of backbone for such a light weight, medium power rod. The first bass I caught with this stick was on a Super Fluke, and was in less than two feet of water. When I set the hook, I launched him out of the water. It was a nice fat almost two pounder, and the rod didn't bend very far before getting into it's power, and putting some serious pressure on the fish. The X-fast just might be a bit more stick than you need for whites. Cheers, GK

And it is on a Carrot Stix. ;D Using P-Line. ;D With a 4" *** on the Eagle Claw hook ALL IN SERVICE TO HIS QUEST TO CATCH THE NEW WORLD RECORD BUGLEMOUTH BASS

I use a T-rig, 5/0 EWG hook, bead, and enough weight for the conditions. I also tried it weightless, in weeds. Had a lot of blow-ups on it, but hooked very few of the fish that hit it on top. Good bait. Cheers, GK

When I hear floating jerkbait, I'm thinking the original floating Rapala. Cast it as close to a target as you can, and let it sit still until all the ripples have died out. Then let it sit longer. Give it as small a twitch as you can manage. Let it sit still again, as long as you can stand it. Repeat. Vary the strength of the twitches. Or, Cast it out and let it sit still until all the ripples have died out. Pull it about a foot or so, making it dive down a bit. Let it pop back up and sit again. repeat, varying the length of the pulls. Or, a combination of the two. Cheers, GK

Nice article. Looks like I've been using the wrong hooks for quite a while now. ;D

three years older than dirt

A buzzbait is probably my favorite lure. Topwater fishing is just about the most fun you can have with you pants on. Most productive is no doubt an unweighted 5" Senko.

Check these out. The best animated knot tying demos I've ever seen. And, a couple of knots I've never seen. I'll be trying the eye-crosser knot. http://www.fishingclub.com/ExtraContent/ExtraContentDetail.aspx?id=132344 Look at round 5, a head to head test of the eye-crosser and the palomar knots. Cheers, GK

hey guys, let's not jump on Wolfy just yet. I've had the same problem, with one of the same rods. I used to use a Cherrywood rod, a 7' medium baitcast rod, for small cranks for about three years, and the tip was gooved by the mono bad enough to damage the line. So much for hardened stainless steel guides, eh? That was the last cheap rod I bought. Cheers, GK

will you please get your %$#$@ bait out of the tree. Squirrels ain't in season

I've done a little fishing the last two mornings before going to work. Yesterday morning I had at least 6 hits and no fish, using both a finesse rigged ring worm and a 4" Senko. I remembereed the Meagastrike we all got at the Roadtrip, and lathered up both baits. Then proceeded to catch the next 12 fish that hit. I almost called in and cancelled classes so I could stay on these fish. But I didn't. Went back this morning and started catching them again, in the same place, on the same two baits. All about 12-14" fish. Before I left I tied on one of the Evolution jigheads, again something we all got at the Roadtrip dinner, rigged a 5" GYCB Hula Grub, lathered it up with Megastrike, hit some deeper water, and nailed a nice fat 4 1/2 pounder on the second cast. Got a 2 and and a 2.5 from the same general area before it was time to leave for work. The Megastrike turned those shy biters into caught fish as soon as I applied it. If you don't have any of this stuff, go get some. You may not always need it, but when they're hitting light and spitting the bait, this stuff is the cure. The new Evolution jigheads are something I'll be buying more of ASAP. It has a nice subtle side to side action when swimming the bait, and will stand up a good size piece of plastic when bottom bouncing. I fished the same jighead in rocks for at least an hour without hanging up once. Excellent design. I give "em both two thumbs up. If I had more thumbs, they'd get more. Cheers, GK