Bluebasser86

They very recently revamped almost their entire hook lineup. I use to hate their hooks as well but their new hooks are quality products. Eagle Claw is the same company that makes Trokar's, I've heard they're a fairly decent hook , so they obviously know how to produce a good hook.

OOOOOOO, I like that craw pattern

Nice job! Better than me, I've been twice and managed to snag an 8" channel cat on a jigging spoon and that's it!

I like to fish them with a twin tail grub trailer and retrieve them pretty quickly with a constant speed turning the reel while hopping the bait with the rod. I normally fish them around docks and weeds and prefer straight braid when fishing them.

Not at all. I have a 400B and it cast a long ways but I've owned a few Cardiffs too and they cast a long ways too. I always had my Cardiffs set with 2 pins out, 4 in and the tension set loose. The Savage gear catches a lot of wind but I can still cast it a long ways with a 300E Curado.

Here you go, hat and sunglasses still off and shirt soaked from going in. kanasbassfisher08 was with me and jogged my memory tonight, I was actually almost waist deep with him holding onto my feet so I could reach the fish, in a lake with a bunch of muskie in it

Man that gives me a lump in my throat just thinking about it. My dog goes everywhere and does everything that she can with me. She's our baby girl and my wife and I treat her like she was our own daughter and talk to her like another person. I hate to think of her getting hurt and I know how hard it's going to be when her time comes. It's one of those things that time has to heal, no words can make it better. I know for some getting another dog or puppy helps but some folks have to let the healing begin before it feels right. Mines been romping around in the mud while I'm fishing ever since she was just a ball of fur with little needle teeth chewing on everything. Maybe some dog pictures will help a little

I haven't seen a floater anywhere, I got the slow sink. I was swimming it as slow as I'd want to fish it during it's test run last week and it had a good, slow swim to it. The bass around here seem to like to cruise the weeds and flush out gills and then slam them when they try to jet out and escape, so a fast retrieve shouldn't be a bad thing either. Obviously that means jack if it doesn't catch fish but at least at $20 it won't be a big loss if it doesn't.

The top two and the last one are all great in dirty water.

I've been anxiously awaiting the introduction of these baits. They look like a winner and I'll for sure be trying a couple.

This is a copy and paste from another post about the differences in the two to me and about fishing a bladed jig (chatterbait). Spinnerbaits for me are a more clear water or faster retrieve bait or when fish are feeding on smaller baitfish. I fish my bladed jigs extremely slowly, just fast enough to keep the blade vibrating, even bumping the bottom if possible. In lakes that see lots a spinnerbaits, a bladed jig is a good replacement. They also shine in stained or dirty water or around vegetation because the strong vibration helps the fish hone in on the bait. There are times I will fish them faster (over vegetation for example), but 9 out of 10 larger bass I catch on them will be during a very slow retrieve. I've had good success with them using a stroking or pumping retrieve, letting them settle to the bottom then lifting the rod quickly before letting it settle again. I think 2 of the biggest mistakes I see guys make with bladed jigs are, 1. fishing them too fast and 2. not recognizing a bite. Like I said, I like to fish them slowly. The issue then becomes that a big bass can lazily swim up to the bait, inhale it while maintaining a similar pace, then spit the bait out without it ever feeling much different. I can't count the number of big fish I've caught on them where it felt just slightly different. Sometimes it feels like the blade has quite working, other times like I've caught a leaf or piece of weeds. I think the common notion is that since it's a moving bait the strikes will be vicious, which they certainly are at times, but more often than not they're much more subtle than I think most fishermen expect. I first realized this by fishing clear water and actually seeing bass strike my bait and noticing that I felt very little despite the bait being almost completely inhaled on a couple occasions. I thought back and realized I'd felt similar strikes lots of times before but never realized they were strikes. Once I started setting the hook on those little bumps and when the blade just wasn't vibrating as hard, I was amazed how many fish I was catching that I didn't even know were there before. Lastly, it's always possible that they just aren't a good tool in the areas you're fishing them. If you fish anywhere with stained water and vegetation though, I'm 100% certain there is a time when they will shine for you.

I have to pick??

Duo Realis 100sp 4" and 7/16oz and comes in a bunch of awesome colors. Also a little pricey though.

I bought one of the new bluegill swimbaits. It's a really good looking bait and it has a pretty good action to it and the size is right for the gills the bass around here seem to eat. I think it's going to be a good bait. The Real Californian, not so much.

10 Mustad Thor or Big Game

Welcome!

The Netbait B Bug is a great and reasonable priced beaver bait. Zman Palmetto bugs are another great one and they last WAY longer than any other, just don't mix them with other plastics. The Zman Batwingz is a great trailer that also outlast all the others.

Our ice is thick enough to walk on after this past week. If the wind is too strong on my day off Friday, I'm buying waxworms and ice fishing for trout and gills.

I'm guessing you bought the heads that you add the blade directly to the wire eye and they pinch it shut? As long as you don't put your pliers on the head when you pinch the eye shut you should be fine.

I know it's hard to tell but this is the inside of the mouth of a 10lb flathead and the bait all the way in it's throat is one of my homemade bladed jigs that it inhaled and about yanked the rod out of my buddies hand. I had one day this fall that I caught 13 channel cats in a day on one of my bladed jigs.

I'd be lost without some Zoom Ol' Monsters and Mag II worms. Black Grape, Plum Apple, Watermelon Red Magic are all great colors. The Rage Recon and 7" Andaconda in Red Bug is a great worm too.

I have not fished with both but the Veritas feels similar to the Carrot Stix in my hand and lots of guys love the Veritas. I know several guys that have owned the Carrot Stix, including myself, they're all broken now.

For really cold water I like the Xcaliber Erratic shad. I like the Luck E Strike RC Stix, Duo Realis, H2O, Pointer and slender pointer, Mcstick and Mcrip too.

Watermelon colors-clear water/sunny conditions Green pumpkin-clear to stained water/cloudy or low light conditions and yes I've seen times where it made a HUGE difference which one I was using.

The rounded anal fin is a dead giveaway of a channel cat. I've caught them on buzzbaits, poppers, spooks, hollow bodied frogs, prop baits, pretty much anything on top (and every other bait). A couple of the biggest explosions I've ever heard were channel cats destroying buzzbaits. They're way, way more predatory than they're given credit for.