Bluebasser86

I've done well with the new Hack Attack spinnerbaits this year. They're $5 online at Academy right now. I've been doing best with a white one with an small orange Colorado blade and a larger copper Colorado blade that I swapped out with the gold Oklahoma blade it came with.

The price is excellent for starters. I put it on my reels I use for guide trips, so it allows me to fill all those reels for a great price. It handles a lot like original PP to me, except it seems to cast further and stays together better than I remember regular PP. It's a 4 carrier braid, which cuts through grass the best, and a lot of the lakes I fish I'll be fishing either in water willows, or some other variation of emergent vegetation that I need my line to be able to cut through.

That's the reel that I bought and I've really been happy with it so far. I've used it in some nasty places that I feel it would have failed in if they were built poorly.

No such thing as too far out for smallmouth. Bright pink and chartreuse are both good colors for smallmouth, even in clear water.

I've bought 3 different Deps 175 under $50. They're there if you know where to look. I prefer the Savage Gear Shine Glide though. I think they prefer that profile in our lakes and the fish love the bone color.

Something I was thinking about the last couple days, when I started fishing Melvern, it was high and dirty for the most part. The really clear water was something I only experienced for those few years. We still caught quite a few smallmouth but not the numbers during those clear water years. I'm thinking I might need to break out some of the old tactics I was using then to catch fish instead of trying to force them to do what they were doing during the glory days.

Welcome!

I use open pour silicone molds from lurecraft.com. http://www.lurecraft.com/SILICONE-OPEN-POUR-MOLDS/departments/34/

I use 20 and 30 depending on the size of the bait.

I believe he fishes the Bassmaster opens now, but he may also fish the FLW tour as well.

I hear that, I have a hard time doing it with my hands sometimes

The 3/8oz on the Swim Pro I use a lot is 5/32".

What mold?

Probably no longer in production. I hate to tell you this, but $13 is a pretty median price for a crankbait anymore, maybe not for a bomber, but just in general. I'd buy several if they're a magic bait for you, or try a still in production Fat A color and see if it works as well or maybe better.

It's a pretty nice reel for $100. I had the 8.1 and liked it pretty well. Got a great deal on a bunch of Supreme XT's and ended up selling it to another member, but it served me well.

I don't think anyone that buys a KastKing is expecting it perform like a $150+ reel. If someone is, that's pretty unreasonable. I believe you do get more reel for your money with them because there's no middle man markup. I have 3, 2 that were given to me to try when they became a sponsor, and 1 I bought with my own money because I was so impressed with the first two. I really have no complaints with any of mine except they're not the quietest reels, but that's not a big issue to me. I'm glad you at least tried one before making up your mind on them. Just like anything in life, one size does not fit all. It seems a lot of negative comments on them are from people who have never owned or even seen one in person, but instead are going off of what they've heard somewhere down the line. If the same was said about their favorite X brand reel then it would be written off as user error, but for some reason since it's a KastKing, it's taken as gospel. I just don't get griping about a company when you've never used, and probably never will use their products (not speaking at you Bucky, just speaking in generalities). If I see a thread about a company I don't particularly care for, I don't read through it and instead just move along, problem solved.

Looks like a Bomber Fat A to me. They call that color chrome blue back black bars.

This is what I keep trying to tell myself. The lake was getting pounded and I was worried it was going to go the way of Wilson Reservoir (and it may have, only time will tell). Hopefully all the fish are enjoying the break from the constant fishing pressure, hopefully the shad are spawning and surviving well in the lower visibility conditions, and hopefully the rain stops at some point and the water clears up!

Ouch, yeah that really stinks. I've had zebra mussels do the same thing to me.

I use 12lb Big Game for my deep cranks, including a 6XD.

C rig is for covering water, while the dropshot is a target rig. Fling the C rig across a point until you find some fish, then park over the top of them and drop the DS down to them and shake it in their faces. I hate fishing both of them, but there's not denying how effective they are.

Shakyhead, T rig, C rig, swinging football head, yeah they work on all of them. I prefer the shakyhead over the standup heads you're "supposed" to fish them on. Put them on the football screwlock shakyhead and drag them around gravel, smallie magnet.

I have a firetiger one that is a secret muddy water bait Tons of vibration and noise to help them find it in low visibility conditions.

Those big 'ol hooks are great, until they find a snag. Then they refuse to let go.

The Flicker shads are a solid bait that catches all species of fish. It's an extremely popular crank around here to troll for walleye and white bass, but it works well to cast for bass also (or troll if that's your thing). The Dredger is a solid crankbait at an affordable price, and a huge bonus it comes with solid stock hardware. The whole lineup of Berkley's new hardbaits have really won me over to be honest. Hoping to see some topwater offerings at ICAST.