.ghoti.

A very lightly weighted tube or worm, 4" senko instead of the 5" or 6", weightless super fluke, sluggo, trick worm, I'd try forst with smaller baits if the water is fairly clear. Shallow fish tend to be spooky and finicky. A minus-1, shallow shad rap, or other shallow running crank would be a good choice. Cheers, GK

Cabela's Guidewear is a bit pricey, but hard to beat.

Quote "I hope this makes sense to you, it has been a long day in the shop.. " Perfectly, thank you again. I was worried about removing too much material from the inside of the pinion using any kind of sandpaper. nifty trick with the wooden q-tips. Sorry it took so long for me to say thanks. I forgot that I'd asked you this question. The recent post about super-tuning reminded me. I took me a while to find this thread. I still find it amazing that you freely give away the hard-earned knowledge gained from your years of experience. I mean, you're giving away the secrets to your livelihood. This is, in my experience, is totally unprecedented, and truly appreciated. Thank you so much for all the advice you give. Ghoti

5 1/2 foot, probably a pistol grip; says spinnerbait to me, maybe jerkbaits too. Cheers, GK

Don't know who makes the best hooks. There are quite a few really good ones. Gamakatsu, Owner and Sugoi are on the top of my list. As far as reducing hangups, are you skin-hooking your baits when fishing in vegetation? That will help some. If you're using Senko's, just resign yourself to the fact that you will go through a lot of them. No way around it. Cheers, GK

I ocassionally fish a Super fluke on a Slider jighead, the one with the flattened leadhead. It gives a nice dive/glide when I want to fish deeper. Normallly, I fish it weightless, with wide gap hooks. Gammy EWG's, Owner wide gaps and Rig-N hooks. I vary the hook size to fish at different depths, and sink rates. I fish these mostly on a 6'9" ML BPS Pro Finesse rod, Johnny Morris reel and 10lb test Transition. One of my favorite baits, but I have to agree with Avid; a Sluggo is better a lot of the time. I use a heavier rod with a Sluggo. With the Fluke, it's very easy to get a hookset. The Sluggo is quite a bit thicker and stiffer. Cheers, GK

Now you're on it. Just don't get like I did last year. I picked up the X-Rap, first time, every time for a good part of the year. Great baits, and you got a good price. Almost nobody puts those things on sale. Cheers, GK

WOW, those are your first ones? Nice work.

Here you go, Mike. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/skirts-material/

I see some MOOKALICIOUS ideas here. Sign me up.

Congrats, Dad. Give me greetings to Mom. Enjoy this while you can. You can't imagine how fast they grow up. You are now on life's most momentous adventure; making a new human. Most babies grow up to become humans, but not all. That's your job now, my friend. Best wishes, GK

Thta flat-headed spider jighead is also a great way to fish a super fluke. Get's it a bit deeper. Cheers, GK

Simple, it's the wiggle on the drop. The original does it best. Cheers, GK

Very subtle, RW

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

For night time fishing, use a very steady retrieve. You want the fish to be able to home in on your bait. So, no jerks or pauses, no yo-yoing, just a slow steady crank. Hope this helps. Cheers, GK

Send it back. Cabela's has excellent customer service. They will take care of you.

I had one of the Daiwa's for a while, A 7'2" MH, and liked it. It's a long story why I no longer have it. If I could find another one just like it, I'd buy it. It was a very good plastics/jig rod. I looked at the Cabela's version, but I really don't like to buy rods sight unseen. When the new Cabela's opens in the St Louis area, I'll be taking a look at these. As far as performance goes, it was quite a bit more sensitive, and did not twist under a load, performing rather like a spiral-wrapped rod. I used it only for t-rigs, jigs and senkos, so I noticed little if any effect on casting distances. I don't know how it would cast with very light baits, but common sense tells me that it would not be as good as a conventional rod for lighter weights. The rod came with a small demo piece, which showed the internal construction. It was a raised spiral on the inside. The increased line contact; the feature that made it so sensitive, would have to increase friction during casting. Look at how the line flows through the guides on a normal rod, when it's under a load. The line froms a series of angles, with the guides as the fulcrum of each change in direction. During the fight, I would hazard a guess that the the load being distributed more evenly would result in smoother line flow, and no hot spots. I had no line failures while fighting fish with the rod. The only down side to one of these rods is the line threader. If you misplace it, you are screwed. I tried to thread the line through mine without the threader, and it can't be done. Cheers, GK

I don't like a spinning reel for jerkbaits. It's way too easy to get loops in the spool when jerking, and reeling up slack line. And you know what happens then. Cheers, GK

I'd guess not. You might try soldering it, if you have a soldering iron. Or, just send it back. The company may just suprise you. I've sent baits back that were defective, and, more often than not, received back more than I sent in. Cheers, GK

Thanks for the illustration. GK

Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. At least you got in one good day. Sounds like your glass was half full Cheers. GK

The pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow, eh?

Thanks, ReelMech, for the interesting read. I think I've just been scared away from this little project. I'll put soem wax on it to help protect the exposed areas, and use it until it gives up the ghost. Sure wish I could find another one. It's the perfect rod for original floating Rapala's. Thanks again for sharing your insight and expertise. Cheers, GK

I save torn up Senkos to use as both jig and spinnerbait trailers. They're good, especially for jig trailers. Never tried finesse worms. Should work, just about anything will. Give it a try, and let us all know how it worked for you. Cheers, GK