CJ

I like green pumkin or black/blue. IMO,Paca's have the best action of any craw type plastic.

Pegging a t-rig means to use something such as the point of a toothpick,to put the sinker in a fixed position at the eye of the hook.Un-pegged would is just a normal t-rig allowing the sinker to slide on the line. I don't t-rig a tube.I use either a slide-in jighead with an exposed hook or a shakyhead to hide the point of the hook inside the tube for a more weedless lure.

Raul makes a great point. Other Anime named the most common mistake I see people do. Using the wrong crankbait for depth,season(water temps),and cover/structure they are fishing,I believe is the most common mistake made. Chris has started some of the best threads on crankbaits.I would take time to try and look those up.

What will start my train of thought toward lure selection is the type of water and/or where I'm fishing: Lake? Pond? River? Is current envolved?What kind of structure and cover do I have to work with? Then "season"is important:This is where you "try" to figure out what is the fish up to?Is it the spawn?Dog days of summer?Fall feed? To me,these 2 factors are just a simple start.It gets more technical when you start trying to figure out the fish's positioning relative to cover or structure or what feeding mood are the fish in for that day. I feel alot of anglers put to much thought into lure color.What's most important to me is that my lure is being presented close to the fish in a manner that they will eat it!Finding the type of lure is a start.Then fine tuning the lure and presentation for the best results.

I live west of Ky.Lake near Murray.I fish out of a 21XL Stratos w/250 Mercury.I fish Barkley and Ky.Lakes. RW,Late Feb-March(weather pending)is prime time to catch a big SM.Jerkbaits,tubes,and big crankbaits usually are the ticket.I'll shoot you a PM.I haven't forgot about you!

Good question 5Bass! I love tournament fishing and everything about it!

I use Devcon and ETec Lite.The ETec is thinner and has more working time. Whittler and I had this discussion a couple years back.We both had tried alot of clearcoats.Epoxy was the only one that stood up to the test crankbaits are put through.Long-lasting durability,with a glass like finish. I haven't had any troubles with epoxy hurting action.I really don't think it does.If the thickness or weight were a problem then some of the foil jobs I have done wouldn't have worked.One of my favorite cranks is a foil Wee R.I used 5 coats of devcon on that lure plus a thin layer of foil over tulling and it has good action.

Joey,congrats to you and your family! Stay safe over there.I'm sure your gonna be fine.Bring yourself back home.When you get back all you gotta do is get to Ky.Lake! Bud and CJ will take care of you! God Bless You! Chris

Always split everything down the middle.My partner and I split what we spend and what we win down the middle.

Slow,dark,and on the bottom 8-).CJ

Speedbeed,we had to fish 7 qualifying events in a division at $160/event.Then we paid another $160 for the side pot at the classic,which was optional and if you win a boat then you aren't elligable to win the side pot. To answer the boat question,it is for sale!My partner and I will be spiltting the money.The boat's subjested retail is for around $42K.We are asking $35K.I am going to post it under the flea market topics when my home computer is up and running again.It won't ever be put in the water by us.It is a nice boat. THANKS AGAIN GUYS! CJ

Thanks guys! Yeah,we barely squeaked it out.Thank God our fish didn't puke up a minnow! The tourney weights were low for Ky.Lake.It usually takes close to 40lbs.for 2 days to win any time of year on Ky.We had alot of rain.The cloudy conditions and rising lake elevations caused alot of fish to roam.We didn't have a fish until around 11:00am on day 2.Then the sun came out and that was key.We caught our fish on spinnerbaits,fishing offshore,submerged vegetation.

Well the tournament I had been waiting for finally rolled around last weekend.Me and my partner really worked hard to get to the classic and worked hard to find the fish and perfect the pattern for the big tournament.To make a long story short,we won it!We had a 2 day total of 29.17 lbs.,a big 5.61lb. smallie for a kicker on the final day to come back.We were in 12th place after the first day but we made up alot of ground or,in this case pounds to bring home a new Legend Alpha 199 bass boat w/a 225 Merc Optimax! A blind hog will stumble up on an acorn eventually! I owe alot to this website for this big win!It was a tournament where alot adjustments had to be made with the weather and lake condition changes.Alot of what I have learned here helped me adjust to the conditions we were dealt.I don't got alot of time to go into detail right now on this borrowed computer(mine is down),the website has released pics and results and will have an article posted soon.Here is a link: CLASSIC RESULTS This is a pic of me and my partner in the boat we won. This is a pic of some of the fish we caught on day 2.

3 1/2 in. BPS Tender Tube.4" Mizmo.Both in green pumkin.I also like smoke for clear water or pumkin/purple flake. I fish them most of the time with a slide in head that's got a good hook.Pretty much a slow craw presentation if one doesn't nail it on the fall.Just drag it real slow on bottom with a good pause after each drag.I also like fishing them with a shakey head or Slider head to make them weedless and I C-rig them if the fish don't want to hang on to them long enough.

Same thing has happened to me. Thanks for the knowledge Cart7!

I've learned alot from alot of members just by reading their post. But to name a few: Dink came down earlier this year in the spring and gave me some needed confidence in jerkbaits. Chris gave me crankbait tips that I applied with great results,just by reading his informative and detailed post. Rolo gave me some great advice on offshore structure and taught me words I never knew exsisted. Whittler taught me everything about painting cranks. Sorry LBH,you said name 1 thing.I just couldn't help it.Nice thread

I was thinking you look more like Silent Bob.

I gotta agree,Aerosmith is the greatest rock band of my time!Get a Grip was my favorite CD.

Nice fish!

Mines just fine thank you. And your trim? ;D Just playin' Avid.Hope your rehab goes good. Bud,I think I'm gonna go where you and me talked about.

CATCHING! No really,the one thing I have found to enjoy above all is a going out to eat a with my wife and kids.It's never a bad outing.

Sorry Muddy,to see the Mets miss out.My Cards did as well. Rollins is hands down the MVP,in my book.I'm not sure but I believe he is the first player with 200 hits,30 SB,and 20 triples.He started every game of the season(162).Had a record breaking 718 AB. I know you mentioned earlier in the thread that the Phillies fans were disrespectful and I hate that.But I gotta pull for them.Why?The players!The Cubbies got to many tudes on their team.I guess it seems discriminating beens the Cubs won the central,being a Cards fan,but it ain't that.I wanna see respectful players go to the series. So,I guess the trash still gets to fly! [move]GO PHILS GO PHILS GO PHILS[/move] BTW,I wonder if Bartman has got his playoff tickets yet?

The free fishing log is a printable form to make your own log on paper.

Mass_Bass,what have you been catching fish on? OldAngler,welcome to BR!Those are some good articles. CJ

I'm just playin' Deb!The wind will blow the grass away soon enough. Have fun on your vacation! CJ