Bluebasser86

I watched this pig T bone my S waver last summer. I've caught catfish on everything imaginable, including buzzbaits, hollow body frog, jerkbaits, cranks, traps, every kind of plastic and jigs, even flyfishing. By far my most memorable would be one I caught with my dad last year fishing for walleye with a Gulp minnow on a jighead. It wasn't the bait it ate, it was the coloration of the fish. It's actually a blue cat, even though it would be tough to tell in the picture. This one on a jig is a close second. Hopping a jigging spoon, they aren't even supposed to be where I was at! This little gal slammed my A rig I was heaving on Beaver Lake last spring. A dinosaur that slammed a 6" Mattlures trout, really thought I had a state record largemouth until it jumped. A Milford Lake, KS Goldeye. They look like a little tarpon with teeth!

I wouldn't recommend it over the guide select, but while they're on sale right now you can get it for $80, even less if you trade in a rod. For that price they make a pretty good swimbait rod though. I'd still be using mine if I hadn't won a free custom made swimbait rod

Shhh!!! Those top two are poured on 5/0 Trokar hooks. Fish can't even look at those baits funny without getting hooked I don't pour them with Trokars for myself though, that's too high roller for me. The baits I make for myself are functional, not pretty but they sure do work.

I found a picture of one of the mold plates, there is no way any other hook is going to fit that mold

This is the only problem I've had with mine

I'm guessing the same way Wyco does, back a backhoe down the ramp and knock a hole in the ice and dump the fish in. I got from a reliable source that it is 100% for sure stocked and open as of the 1st though.

Provided the weather is alright you could even take the 2 man out there I'll check with Jared, I know he doesn't have a partner but I'm not sure he's planning on fishing it either.

Does anyone have this mold that can tell me if it really only takes the Trokar TK815s? I know it says that it only takes that hook but I have other molds that supposedly only take one or two hooks that will take others. Looking at possibly getting a screw lock football head and I like the Trokar version better, but I can't spend $35 for 50 hooks.

yes, stocked and open to fishing if you can find open water.

The closest head I use to the Arky is the football mold. With those I use a split ring (has to be a flat eye model) to attach the blade to the jighead. There's only 1 size blade, but there's 2 models, one with holes and one without. I use the one without holes mainly and can't honestly say I can tell a difference when fishing the 2. Some of my favorite colors;

Who all is planning on being at Shawnee for the trout tourney? Is there anyone who's going to be there that doesn't have a partner already? Looking like the weather is finally going to start to take a turn for the better ​

They're an interesting idea for sure! My regular bladed jigs have received some serious revamping the last couple weeks also, even gone as far as to make some with 5/0 Trokar hooks

I've had very good success with them. The only Rapala bait I'll spend my money on other than the Shad Rap. Never had a problem with them rolling or spinning out. They seem to shine for me in more open water situations where other cranks might not produce as well.

Well good news for you, I got a pretty decent report from La Cygne yesterday, it was a short trip but he did well while he was there. The warm weather we have coming at the end of the week should start to open stuff up also. Some of the little lakes with clear water will start producing fish immediately after thawing. Ft. Scott is one of my favorites early in the year, but my brother in law did really well at Bone Creek last weekend before the cold weather hit. Melvern is always a good bet. If you really just want to catch fish you could fish Douglas State Lake, but if you get one over a pound it's a monster for that lake. The pits in Columbus can be amazing first thing in the spring, and if one sucks it takes 10 minutes to get on another one.

I mainly use 2/3 of a BPS 5 1/4" Stick O on mine, or 2/3 of Zoom Trick worm. The Havoc Beat Shads also work very at times. With my new bladed jig I'm building with the hinged head and 5/0 or 6/0 Owner Twistlock hooks I'm going to be playing with some other trailers. I see some baits like 8-10 inch worms and hollow belly swimbaits being a real viable option as a way to present those baits in a way fish have never seen before.

Yes they do, the Avid Pearl, and yes it catches fish. I bought my wife one a few years back and she loves it. I'd be lying if I said I haven't used it a time or two. It's an Avid blank with a split grip, so it fishes great. It catches big fish too!

They're not just a warm water bait, both these fish ate one of my black and blue baits cranked as slowly as I could while keeping the blade moving. Water temps were in the high 40's. We had a 100+ fish day 3 weeks ago, 1/2 of them on my home made bladed jigs. Water temp was 51, notice the snow on the riprap?

I've owned one Vision 110. I caught 2 fish with it and both eyes fell off. It didn't work any better for me than the STX Luck E Strikes and I'm constantly afraid to lose it or break it casting at the rocks so I sold it. I know plenty of people swear by them, but they aren't for me.

I used them all last year. You roll a point occasionally on snags but I just throw that hook away and get the next one

Never boiled one, never had to, they catch fish just fine for me straight out of the bag.

Ditto

At least you're only buying 1 or 2 baits a time that way right? Nevermind that those 1 or 2 baits can total more than a whole cart worth of regular tackle

I've had a couple blades fly off when a fish jumped, but I can't say for sure that I didn't tinker with them and maybe didn't get the wire shut back far enough. The Indiana/Colorado bladed chartreuse and white Booyah is one of my favorite spring time baits.

I would be willing to bet about anything you're fishing it too fast. Every time I've done well with the rig I've been reeling so slowly it almost hurts, sometimes it's even hitting bottom occasionally. I usually let it sink to the bottom before I being my retrieve also. It sounds like you're fishing it in the right locations though.

It isn't looking much better here, -10 tomorrow for a low with wind chills to -25. I'm still going fishing next Thursday though