Bluebasser86

They've been a very popular bait in the Ozark lakes this fall and winter. I've not had much success with them yet, but I can tell they're going to produce when I find the right time and place. I haven't had any durability issues with them or heard of anyone breaking one. They're not going to get 15', 12' is probably a stretch unless you're really launching it or fishing 8lb test.

Welcome!

Shakyheads are a bait that, IMO, require the most sensitive rod and reel combo you can afford. I use a 6' 10" M/XF St. Croix LTB with a 2500 Shimano CI4 Stradic with 10lb Seaguar braid and about 4' of Seaguar fluoro leader. If you shop around a little bit, you can find that rod lightly used in your price range. The 6' 8" M/XF Avid would be another good option.

You'll be hard pressed to find a trailer with more action than the Rage Craw. You could use a Rage Bug to get the back and front legs flapping at the same time.

I don't have any problem casting it on a 7' MH/M and 200E5 Curado. It does not have a weight transfer system (at least my older ones don't).

V38 is by far my favorite, the old version anyways. The new version of V38 (green crawdad), is much more golden while the older version was more green to olive color. Here's the two side by side, the new version on top and old version on the bottom.

Bandit 200, Wiggle Wart, good possibility the Berkley Wild Thang 8.5 is going to be on the list soon.

I have a few of the silent RES and none of the weights move. The hooks are still going to make some noise, but that's it.

That's a great picture, good enough to tell its a crappie and not a bass ?

This is the only punch rod I've ever owned, although it's one of my favorite techniques during the summer. I'm not fishing thick mats for the most part, but I've had great success with that rod and would highly recommended it to anyone fishing thick vegetation.

I got the same email but I'm number 12. Hoping to get that email early this week and maybe get the reel by my days off.

Where's the rest of it?

I have some. They're not bad but they're not Coasta's either.

I know I wasn't the only one who fished yesterday The wife and I went to Lone Star for couple hours. We caught a couple dozen but we wouldn't have had a limit on a Thursday night. Probably 21 of them wouldn't have been even close to that 12" mark. I had one good one on the Sizzler, 2 on a BHW, the rest on the Ned.

I caught one a few years ago that was 24.5" long and 14.5" around that went 7.51. I'd guess that's similar to what that fish weighed.

That's what I was thinking. Having owned lots of ducks, one of them suckers lands a good thump on a knuckle or something, you feel it. If they got the size of a horse and gave you a good one to the back of the head? Goodnight, and you might even be clocked out for good.

FWIW, I just picked up a Dobyn's Fury 795 for Arigs and smaller swimmers. Rod is light and feels like it will work perfect for what I intend to use it for.

Impatiently waiting for mine as it's already paid for. Hoping I'm not too far down the waiting list.

Our weather has been much warmer than it was last time the Classic was at Grand, but it will still be late winter/prespawn patterns. Not many of the lakes in that area have grass (LOZ, Table Rock, Beaver, Bull Shoals), fish are much more related to rock, breaklines, docks, wood, and baitfish in these lakes. There was a lot of rain late last year that flooded Grand and most every lake in the area badly and has resulted in the water clarity being very poor. I know it's cleared up some but I've heard it's still pretty stained. If that's the case, the jerkbait that was so dominate last time could be almost a waste of time. Instead it will be the crankbaits, jigs, even spinnerbaits that will play the main roll. If the water has cleared up enough then I would expect the jerkbaits to still play a major part. The fish should be moving back towards the spawning pockets and may take some work to find but once found I'd bet there's large concentrations of fish. I could see some Grand Lake giants getting caught if the warm weather continues.

My PB is 10lb 2oz from Mehico. My biggest from my home state of Kansas however, is 7lb 14oz. I've caught 3 smallmouth that went 5lbs on the nose, this is the most recent one. I came very close to making it a 4 way tie this past October.

I have a "Mat Daddy", it's been an awesome rod for flipping the grass.

Preordered a 70HG Scorpion from Japan Tackle. Hopefully I'll get an email from them soon

With the way the police are treated and portrayed these days, what kind of idiot would want to be in law enforcement?

People are pretty easy to outsmart for the most part.

There's real firearms not far off from that size. Maybe not mass produced ones, or even professionally made, but they're out there.