OkobojiEagle

Are the LuckyCraft in-shore jerkbaits weighted heavier to suspend in salt water SO THEY WON'T SUSPEND IN FRESH WATER? oe

very little mention of length, weight or balance... oe

This is what I don't want to do as the bait will re-adjust when you take up all of the slack line and you'll minimize the hard-cutting ability of these baits. oe

You're reeling while the rod tip motion is coming toward you? That's opposite to my jerking motion... (We agree on cold water "pulling" technique.) Please explain your jerking technique... oe

I know there are plenty of anglers who use spinning tackle when fishing hard jerkbaits, but I'm unable to make that combination work for me. Using ~8lb Fireline and aggressively working the bait I throw loose loops on the reel which creates the dreaded bird's nest on future casts. Explain how you successfully fish this technique with spinning and don't have the same problem that plagues me. oe

I'm partial to the Caffeine Shad... I use a pearl bait fish color and fish different retrieves rather than different colors. oe

My Pixy 68L has a 6.8/1 ratio and nearly full spool retrieve of 25"... reels will vary, I measure the inches of retrieve (which will vary with how full the spool is at that moment). oe

23 - 25 inch retrieve rate per handle revolution oe

expand upon this please... oe

I read often on this (and other) board(s) that local tackle shops aren't patronized because they don't carry the items we want. Maybe we're actually being a little picky and spoiled. Give any of the top pros $300 and let them buy and use tackle ONLY from any one of those shops and I'm confident it won't slow their catch rate on your local lake. oe

Use a uni-knot and leave 1/2"+ tag end. Tie the line onto the spool and cover the first wrap of line with cloth medical tape. oe

Always oe

Copious amount of light oil to mine... and keep a couple of new pawls on hand. oe

Back up... I'm looking for a comparison between the Gunfish 115 and Evergreen SB (shower blows ?) 105. I thought I might add one of these to next year's arsenal. I've thrown the Gunfish 95 for several years and am looking for a slightly larger compliment to it. oe

Lunker City Swimmin' Ribster needs to be suggested oe

Choose a tube with more weight capacity than you currently need. Have a double valve hand pump on-board. Dress warmer than you think you will need and ALWAYS wear a PFD (I don't trust an inflatable model). Only waist high stocking foot waders for me, and snugly belted... I don't want to be struggling in deep water with a set of chest waders full of water! This style of fishing is glorified wader fishing, I bring one rod (on rare occasion both a spinning and baitcasting rod), a short handled net that can ride behind my seat and only enough tackle to fit in two plano boxes small enough to fit into the storage pockets on either side of me. Comfortable diving fins AND a wide brimmed hat. Stay out of boat traffic, and away from current... plan your trip to begin kicking your way into the breeze so you have less difficulty getting home when the breeze picks up during the day. Be careful and remember Murphy's Law! oe

Doesn't everyone carry a small Swiss Army pocket knife?... oe

I'd suggest choosing between a medium fast or medium-light extra-fast. oe

John... what wading boot do you prefer?? oe

6 bearing 4601 spooled 2/3 full of 20 lb braid has been my favorite pitching reel... oe

Anybody able to make a 1st hand comparison with personally used Fenwick Techna AV's? My fishing preferences have changed to the point my 6 Technas sit in the corner in favor of the slower action HMGs. oe

Looks like a good jighead... thanks for sharing. oe

Although I've used the longer shank Gopher "Big John" jigheads for many years, I don't think the slightly longer shank length affects hooking short biting bass. In my opinion the longer shank positions the hook point/gap farther back where the grub isn't as thick and provides more open hook gap. Try running the jig shank slightly "up hill" through the grub so you are providing a more open hook gap with the jigheads you're currently using. I don't find smallmouth "short hitting" a grub often. I believe most of those pecks are smaller sunfish or perch biting the grub tail. A bass will hit a grub like a freight train OR you will not feel the hit at all and notice the line moving in a different direction. oe

I don't recall the title-shot keeper ever fail to hold the plastic well UNTIL the hook set when the plastic usually slides off the keeper and to the back of the hook gap out of the way. I think a spiral wire keeper would be less effective opening the hook gap and preserving the plastic. Also adding a silicon skirt would be more difficult with a spiral wire keeper. The full sized title-shot with 4/0 hook can be too big for some smaller plastics that the "shorty" works well with. I've wondered why Fin-Tech uses a "swinging" keeper on the shorty but not on any of the other versions? oe

Never fished a worm weight/texas rig... favorite jig for weeds is the Title Shot (both regular 4/0 hook and shorty 2/0 hook), followed by a custom poured weighted swim-bait hook and finally Brewer's classic spider head (3/0 bronze hook). I tie a hair jig with bucktail wing on Brewer's 2/0 spider head that's pretty weedless through sparse cabbage. oe