OkobojiEagle

Depends on how much chop is on the surface... my favorites -- Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 Frenzy popper with the bottom of the lip/cup sanded down... This is a discontinued bait, but Berkley is getting back into the bass hardbait game again and I frequently remind my favorite Berkley product development engineer what a great bait it was! 4" injection molded tube, T-rigged weightless. This is a sleeper I'll offer... twitch or walk it across a calm suface letting it sink occasionally. Dipped tubes don't glide as well as the injection molded baits. oe

A-Jay -- drop shot is a technique... what bait do you use on the drop shot? oe

Explain what you're doing when you write "foiling your spool". oe

roadrunner? oe

Tell me the advantage that the extra bend of the skip-gap gives. Just viewing a picture of it I wonder if the bend lessens some of the gap? I'm trying to improve hook ups on smaller bass (<14"). I'm using a Gamakatsu 4/0 superline wide gap with a 4" Bass Assassin fluke. The smaller bass are killing the bait, but my hook up rate sucks. Larger than 14" doesn't present a problem. I'm considering a weightless 4" tube that would crumple easier when bitten... oe

Give me your preference for a wide gap fluke hook... thanks oe

John, are you one of those "soft hands" guys?... oe

It should be pointed out that the illustrations of kirbed hook points above are greatly exaggerated. oe

A very light polish of the spool lip, as well as the bail and line roller, is a normal part of winter maintenance. I don't think it results in longer casts. oe

hmmm... three pages (so far) of "I never buy at Walmart because their selection is so slim". Chicken or the egg folks? oe

I've also never heard of this problem. If I did find myself in this situation I might first try a little locking compound on the cap threads, or snip a small piece off the spring that is inside of the cap. oe

Use a divided Plano box with compartments as large as your jigs are long. Fill the compartments full of jigs so they can't slide around. oe

I suspect you can (even a blind squirrel will find a nut occasionally), but I think there are better bait choices. I'd be throwing something with a bit more thump to it... crankbait, spinnerbait/chatterbait, plastics with active appendages. oe

When it's necessary to tie knots to hold "this" knot together I've got to wonder if there aren't more efficient choices... oe

I prefer the Alberto oe

I've treated ceramic bearings with a TINY drop of TSI 321 to quiet them. oe

jighead/grub; bare hook/fluke; and, of course, walking topwater or popper... oe

Bingo... Vanish has been around for awhile and it's been written repeatedly on the web that its shock strength is less than desirable for common bass fishing techniques. Walleye fishermen have been successful with Vanish... hey, here's a thought... why not stop buying it for bass fishing. oe

Walking top water baits I sometimes have a 10lb PE mainline with a 14lb nylon leader or if I want to slow the drop speed of a jighead/plastic I'll use a 14lb nylon leader with 6lb - 10lb PE mainline. I'll occasionally do the larger nylon leader thing to keep a jerkbait or crankbait riding higher in the water column. oe

You guys arguing about which knot tied with 50# rope will hold up to a 5# bass just kill me... oe

"Something dark, something light, something in-between", Cap'n Chuck Duggins oe

Yup... PE lines don't stretch and their knots will loosen slightly when not under tension. A longer tag will give you a chance to see this before the tag slips through and the knot fails. oe

Just a suggestion... leave 1/2" (or more) of tag end on the braid line. oe

Are my conversions acurate?... the lightest test Gliss is 8kg or ~17lb and .12mm diameter or .005". The stated diameter is equivalent to 6lb test NanoFil oe

How many RPMs running dry are they rated for? oe