OkobojiEagle

I'm looking for a true floating worm... not neutrally buoyant, but one that will float directly to the surface when released. I want the tail of a jig/worm to lift strait up from the bottom... quickly! 5" to 7" will do. Give me your selection, but don't lie about the buoyancy! Steve

Charlie Brewer's spider jig head comes through thick weeds better than any other jig head I fished. steve

Burley... what model lights and what line are you using in that situation? Thanks. steve

I purchased a small head/cap mounted led blacklight a couple of years back. It has an effective reach of about 10'... pretty useless for line watching. What is the distance the beam reaches with the boat mounted models? steve

I prefer the Berkley 4" bass grub (bigger tail than walleye grub) because they are more readily accessable to me. The tails on all injection molded grubs I've used have been thicker/stiffer than I prefer. I remedy this during the winter by lightly sanding the tails to about 2/3 their original thickness with a drum sanding attachment on my Dremmel. The thinner tail with it's rougher surface undulates wildly at far less weight and speed than originally. steve

They call it a "man cave" because each man gets to wallow in whatever dis-organization he wants to in his personal man cave! Mine is "dis-organized" in piles that merge into one large pile... but the most needed items find their way to the top. The most important organizational tool in a man cave is the door, it must be able to be closed... this according to my wife. steve

As I've stated in other posts... it's the baby sized torpedo that I throw most often on still waters around shorelines and weed beds. steve

As mentioned by an earlier poster, removing the fore grip is of more importance to me as well. All of the rods that I'm currently using (both baitcasting and spinning) have a full rear grip that I have sanded to an elongated hour-glass shape. I enjoy the feel of this shape grip for both two-handed casting and retrieving. steve

Kent was fishing a T-rig. I had mine rigged on a jighead. I was fishing fairly deep, popping it off the bottom, while Kent was fishing his quite a bit slower. Water clarity was in the 18" range; maybe a bit less. These baits will move some water on the drop, if you use enough weight. I did not try one weightless. Following Speedy's advice, I was fishing between 15 and 25 feet deep. As far as a comparison, I would say look at two other baits. The Zoom brush hog and a Rage Tail smokin rooster. The brush hog has a very subtle action. Not a lot of movement from the appendages. The rooster, or space monkey, have a lot of movement from their various limbs. Bobby's new bait falls in between these two. I tend to classify my plastics as either aggressive; ie. Rage Tail baits; or as subtle, ie. Zoom super fluke. This new bait is right in the middle. I make bait choices based on action more often than color. I think it helps to change baits based on action rather than color when looking for what will get bit on any given day. Color change is for fine tuning. I tend to start aggressive, and then work my way down the scale towards no action. Bobby's new bait gives me another intermediate step in the search. .ghoti., thanks for the information. I especially relate to your "aggressivness scale". I think in terms of a "window" that a bass is comfortable in at any given time. The "aggressivness window" encompasses 1/4 to 1/3 of the entire aggressivness continuum. Obviously a bait in the middle of the continuum will fall within the window more often than one at either end of the scale. Bobby, I enjoy your posts as much as the next angler but occasionally you near the realm of the "sham-wow" guy. It's nice to get the impressions of a "non-company spokesman". Thanks for getting the smaller 2/0 hook jigs to me. They are fitting my smallie plastics better than the larger hooked versions. They DO behave as advertised, although they don't come through grass and pond weed as cleanly as the Brewer's spider head. Thanks again for the service and hang on to the gal that answers your phone... she's going to keep you out of alot of trouble! steve

Plastic popper with lipped shaved ala. Zel Rowland "Baby" torpedo (has more commotion than tiny model) Zara puppy (this and the torpedo are my 1st choice in calm water) color is not important with any of the above baits... its the action and surface commotion that is important

Back to the diets of bass... if you can zero in on the color(s) of your local crawdads after molting that color would be a good choice. Also, exaggerated pincher size is only a turn-on for the angler not the bass. steve

.ghoti... what cover did you fish these baits in and what technique/manner? If so, how do these baits differ from the crowd of creature baits in today's market? Looking for a semi-unbiased critique. steve

Search "ODC420" or "fishcat"

Fishing with Larry Nixon

I was watching a couple of older videos on the web recently and noticed many of the spinnerbaits used snap swivels to attach the blade. What drawbacks are there to this attachment scheme as it would appear to be easier to switch blades on the water. steve

I much prefer a jighead to a loose bullet sinker. steve

Mine is actually a tool... stainless steel needle nose pliars with replaceable cutting blades suitable for braid snipping and a grooved diamond dust hook file built into the outside of one jaw (at < 20.00 cost).

Do you think the drop shot technique is more effective for one or the other, smallmouth or largemouth? I have been more successful catching largemouth with this technique. What has your experience taught you?

The Avids are a good suggestion or Fenwick HMG if you want a slightly softer action than the Avid.

Rattle Trap and spinnerbait

A float tube is both portable and comfortable... it is not roomy or fast. To maximise both comfort and speed research the V-shaped models (mine is an ODC420). My butt will sit at water level, I'm 200 lbs. +. Top speed with good pair of diver's fins is a slow walk pace. Without modification you will most likely carry less tackle than when you're shore fishing, one or two rigged rods and a shoe box of tackle. There is a little room behind the seat of most V-shaped models but it is not a "dry" area. More storage can be built onto the tube but I take a rather minimalist approach to float tubing. An average hand pump will inflate a tube in a couple of minutes so transporting them full of air is not necessary or even a good idea. They will easily fit into any car trunk I've ever seen. A tube excels in quiet hard to reach waters. Stay away from heavy boat traffic or strong winds. If you need more storage or range consider a kayak or solo canoe. If you want more float tube info PM me and I will give you a web address where you can find more information than you probably can absorb. Last suggestion... don't buy the cheap tube you found on Craig's list. Steve

"my experience"... both fluorocarbon and mono lines dampen the eratic action of a slash bait significantly more than a thinner diameter superline.

Bobby... you have a pm requesting purchasing information.

How soon will they be available?!!! They sound like great smallmouth jigheads!

What weight heads?