Bluebasser86

I couldn't see it even being possible to fish with that rod? It would have to be extremely uncomfortable to hold for very long, and how tough would that rattlesnake head be? I love St.Croixs but I'll pass on that one.

I pour and tie my own jigs and chatterbaits and very rarely use a store bought versions of either anymore. On the downside I now carry way more of both than I would ever need because I have so much fun tinkering with different designs and colors. As for all cranks being custom painted mass produced baits, if you've never fished a hand carved/sanded and custom painted bait you're missing out.

Don't usually flip them but they do make a great jig trailer.

Jerkbaits, wiggle warts, jigs, or shakyheads will probably be your main bait of choice for LOZ that time of year. Either get on the points and throw jerkbaits or get parallel to steep rock/bluff walls and fish a jerkbait. If it's a team deal whoever is closest to the wall fish a shallower running jerkbait and whoever is further away fish a deeper running jerkbait or a jig. Docks over deeper water can hold lots of fish that will suspend just out of sight under the dock and fishing a jerkbait in the stalls or along the sides can account for lots of fish. I haven't had much luck on an A-rig at LOZ but I certainly wouldn't rule that out of the equation unless they're prohibited. I like the area around PB2 and I'm assuming that is where you're gong to fish. My best tournament out there I caught all my fish about half a mile from ramp.

It's only $80, and how do you know how much the reel cost? Still not convinced that isn't my reel

The stick O is my go to stick bait. The 4 and 5 inch versions are great on a shakyhead, 5 and 6 inch for weightless T-rigs, wacky, or weighted T-rigs, and the 7" version with a weighted T-rig when I'm looking for a bigger bite.

Does it make it back to the boat in one piece if it hits a rock during the retrieve? That's my biggest hang up with Rapala cranks, a 7-10 dollar bait should not fall apart that easily.

I haven't gotten to fish them a lot but they've done well the couple times I've used them. Seems like they run just a tad deeper than similar sized baits.

The clown and avocado shad colors are my favorites in the rogues.

A couple nice fish and an a very good looking jig set up! Looks like a Calais? The handle looks great too.

I cast right handed with everything except close quarters with casting gear, then I'll cast left handed. I reel left handed with spinning gear and right handed with casting gear and can not interchange the two.

That sucks to get them on a crank. A jig or soft plastic I'll just cut the line but I'm not losing a crank to a turtle. Hooking one in the mouth like that just makes it that much more interesting.

It's going to be tough and fishing will probably be really slow but I've caught some really nice fish during post frontal conditions. You can't catch them at home.

I caught a really nice diving knife in the sheath with the leg strap still in very good shape on a crankbait. Took it home and dried it off and cleaned it up a little and now I use it whenever I'm running set lines for catfish. Thankfully I didn't catch the diver too.

Other than the color, it's a stock Curado 200B. Original handle and 6.2:1 ratio, one of the best workhorse reels ever made.

Those Big O's appear to be the reproduction they made for Cabela's a few years back. I was working at the one in KC when they started making them again. We sold tons of them but they proved to be fragile and not produce very well. Not sure what the value would be now but I believe they sold for about $10 then.

She was a beast of a fish for sure and wanted nothing to do with me. Catching that flathead and then catching the blue an hour later with several 8-15 pound channels in between made for a tiring day.

Sweet, we'll mainly be tossing sticks at them but always good to know just in case they won't eat them. The visual side of fishing jerks for those big browns down there is so exciting.

I fished some buddy tournaments with a friend of mine several years ago when I had one of those days, and not in the good way. We were fishing for smallmouth and both catching fish, but he was the only one catching keepers. Then about mid day he was the only one catching fish. It wasn't for lack of bites, I was getting plenty of bites on my shakyhead and hula grub, but I could not hook a fish to save my life! I had several casts in a row that my line would take off racing down the rocks and I wouldn't even get a piece of them on the hookset. I went so far as to change to an football head without a weed guard and continued to miss fish while he was culling. Of course there was always some good humored ribbing going on and it was getting pretty heavy on his end of the boat. He was telling me I was setting the hook on rocks so the next bite I got I told him to watch my line while I tightened up on it. The line was scooting down the bank and he even confirmed it was a fish before I set the hook and missed yet again. We traded rods, he caught fish on my bait and I continued missing fish on his. I'm sure by the end of the day it was just a huge mental block but I was baffled at how I could miss so many fish. At the time we both worked in the fishing department at Cabela's in KC, the next few days at work were pretty rough with all the jokes and trash talking going around More often than not it works the other way around for me, but that was one of those days I got my hind end handed to me.

So I'm going to be headed to Tulsa for the Classic here in a couple weeks and would like to get in a little fishing while I'm down there. Where would be a good place to get in some fishing before we head to all the festivities at the Expo and weigh in on Friday? There's lots of lakes pretty close by it seems like and I have no knowledge or experience about any of them. Would like to keep it fairly close (around 30 minutes one way). Mainly looking for bass but would also be up for some striper/white bass/wiper fishing if it's a better bite than the bass would be. Was looking at Skiatook or Keystone as possible destinations, any thoughts? Thanks for any help.

I've tried a lot of different rods but haven't found any I like as much as St.Croix.

Disturbed, Stoned Sour, and Chevelle were all here together for Twisted Christmas several years ago, that was a really good show. Metallica and Godsmack was an awesome show. My favorite concert was probably Brad Paisley though. I was working at Cabela's in KC in the fishing department and he actually was in there shopping with the rest of his band. I got to talk to him and help him find what he was looking for for about half an hour. After he got everything he wanted he asked if I was going to his concert that night and I told him I'd like to but being in high school I didn't really have any extra money for concert tickets. He asked me to write my name down and said he'd have 2 tickets waiting at will call for me When I told my girlfriend I could tell she didn't believe me and I was sure he'd forget but the tickets were there waiting when we got there, 3 rows back and center stage! He's an amazing guitar player and you can tell they have a blast doing what they do and they had several jam sessions during the show. Just thought it was really cool of him to be so nice to a young kid like that and he put on a heck of a show.

Can I have my reel back now???

I've got almost every color of the bigger size and have started a collection of the smaller ones also. They've been a really good bait for me. I switch out the trebles still but they got the split ring problem fixed now it seems. I bought one when they first came out and had a 15" fish pull a hook and split ring off my bait but no problems with the newer ones. The littler size is pretty light but it can still be fished on casting gear and still catches good fish. I got this one out of one of our toughest local lakes late last November on a Secret Night colored STX Jr.

I use their trebles exclusively and love that they're offering a short shank #3 now, that's what is on most of my cranks and traps after this winter. I just bought a couple packs of the "Ike approved" HD flipping hooks but haven't had a chance to use them yet. They're very sharp and seem like they'll hold up under pressure.