Primus

X2 on 700 series, was my most productive deep diver for big fish this year, another favorite of mine is the Jackall Muscle Deep 15 Plus this one has a little smaller profile, easy to crank and most importantly catches a lot of fish.

I bought one and liked it at first. Then it started making a whiny noise and also had a sloppy feel just a few months after I bought it. I'm done expierimenting with other brands, I'll stick to Shimano for good.

In Fisherman for multi species, they usually only have 1-2 bass articles per issue but they are usually very informative and well written. I like FLW for Bass fishing they seem to get a little more technical as opposed to Bassin' where it seems most of their articles are slanted to beginners. I agree with those who think BASS is going downhill. It seems like they want to piecemeal the info. That is a little in Bass Times, a little on the website and a little in their flagship mag. Ever since ESPN took them over they've emphasized style over substance.

Soft: ProSwimbaits- Pro Minnow is very soft , swims at slow speeds, made in USA, no chemical smell, great colors and most important catches a lot fish Hard: Except for limited fishing time with a 7" & 9" MS Slammer I don't have a lot of expierince with large size swimbaits. Of all the ones I've tried my favorite so far is the SK King Shad which has boated a few 5 lb plus bass plus a few nice Pike. I also like the River to Sea V joint minnow. For some reason I haven't done that well with the Sebile Magic Swimmer which I know has won a lot of money, maybe I'm fishing it wrong or have used it at the wrong time. I'll keep throwing it because it's a proven bait.

I'm going to go with versatility as opposed to my favorite baits though some of the listed baits could be on that list 1. Yamamoto Doubletail Hula Grubs- cold water/ warm water, largemouth or smallmouth, swim it, hop it, shake it, football jig, flipping jig trailer this will catch fish no matter how you rig it. 2. 4" Single tail grubs- also extremely versatile 3. 5" Senko- enough said, great bait for a tough bite. 5. Tube- great for smallmouth or largemouth . Flip it,drag it, whatever you do with it will put fish in the boat 6. Zoom Super Fluke- a must have. In addition to weightless I like to use the " Petey Rig" . A short app 12" leader with a 1/16 oz sinker, a great rig in tough conditions 7. Robo worms for drop shot & Shakey Heads

I agree for the most part on staying within the the specs of the rods. I stick to this with my soft plastic/jig rods which are combination of Loomis & Roque rods. The one exception I sometimes make is with my BPS crankin' sticks. I've been throwing baits like the SK King Shad on a 7' M crankin' stick even though it's rated for lures up to 5/8 oz. This particular bait doesn't have a lot of resistance as you wind it in compared to a deep diving crank like a DD22 and it seems to cast just fine with this rod. I also use their 7'6 MH for deep cranks with 12lb Floro & their 7' MH with 17 lb mono for heavier baits or baits with more resistance. Their MH rods are rated for lures up to 1-1/2 oz. which except for large swimbaits can handle almost anything I could ever want to throw. I have exceeded the weight limits somewhat on this series of rods with no problems, as long as there is not too muich resistance I tend to favor the M rod because it lets my baits swim with more wiggle.

Sorry, I know I'm late to the party as I just read this thread today. Shimano overated, I'm sorry but I just can't help myself ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ; Seriously, I fish app 70-80 outings per year and I'll admit I'm very fortuneate to be able to get out as much as I do with a typical outing being 6-8 hours. That said I've been using Shimano baitcasting reels for app 15 years, the one certainity is that they last, have high performance and are dependable. The few times I've tried other reels besides a Shimano I've been disapointed. I'm also a proud member of the Shimano posse.

Swimbasser I thought I heard the same thing but I'm not certain about that. I have a few Roque rods, I like the blanks they are sensitive. I've had a couple of minor issues like the cork on the handle needing to be reglued but nothing major. Overall, they make a nice rod for the money.

If you live in the Northern states one problem that you are going to find with most of the brand name spiinerbaits is that they are designed for guys fishing down south. That doesn't mean that some of these baits won't catch fish up here as they are out of the package especially on those occasions when fish are very aggresive and will hit just about anything or the occasional stained/ muddy lake that you might find up here. That said I have found the problem with most of them is the blades are usually too big to consistenly put fish in the boat in the clearwater lakes that are typical up here. I have in the past modified most of my spiinerbaits by using brands like Nichols/ Stanley & Strikeking by downsizing the blades and making the wire frames more compact. Then about 3 years ago I tried S.O.B. Mini Me spinnerbaits who was one of the first to put more of the weight on the hook and with a unique wire bend to make a very compact spinnerbait, think of the look of some manufacturers 3/16 oz spinnerbait with a 3/8 or 1/2 weight. The one thing that I've always liked is that the owner Dee will build them exactly the way I want even putting a little glitter on the blades to cut down on the flash. The PJ special skirt combo that he has will consistenly catch fish anywhere around me when conditions are favorable for a spinnerbait bite and to date has been the most productive spinnerbait I have used. This year I tried out 3 Rattlehead spinnerbaits with a single colorado blade for night fishing and I have to say I was very pleased and will be looking to add a few more of these as well to complement my S.O.B. spinnerbaits. I also have future plans on trying some of ***s baits because I am intriqued by some of the blade/skirt/ head combo's that I've seen on his website are very unique and outside the box thinking.

I just bought a few of these at a local tackle shop, they sure look pretty, unfortuneately I'm going to have to wait a few months before I can try them out.

I just got one about a month ago, I made a few cast with it and looks very good in the water. I'll have to wait a few months for the ice to melt to see how the fish like it.

Raul good reccomendation on the mend it, I use it for my paddletail soft swimbaits, cheaper plastics like trick worms etc. I don't usually bother.

I prefer no rattles the majority of the time. I'll go with 4 combo's for you to consider... My finisse jig will be a Kietech 1/4 oz. Model 1 Tungsten Jig with a 2-3/4" Yum Craw Papi trailer. Favorite colors would be Brown Purple jig with Peanut Butter & Jelly trailer and Green pumpkin trailer & jig. A good workhouse jig would be a 1/2 oz. Booyah Boo jig with a Netbait Paca chunk trailer when I want more action and a Poor Boys Craw Papi when I want less action especially when fishing cold water. Colors would be Green Pumpkin trailer and jig and also Black /Purple trailer & jig. 1/4 oz Outkast swimming jig with 5" Yamamoto grub as a trailer. Colors would include an all Green Pumpkin combo. The other color would be the Black/Purple skirt jig with the Smoke with Black/Purple/ Gold flake grub trailer. It would be hard to fish deep rocky water or sometimes outside weedlines without a 3/4 oz football jighead with a Yamamoto Twin Tail Skirted Grub. Watermelon Gold has been a real good color for me.

5 lures... ouch! O.k. I'll try 1.Kietech Tungsten 1/4 Jig Model 1 with a 2-3/4" Yum Craw Papi trailer. 2. 5" Green Pumpkin Senko- Though weightless would be most used option it's versatile enough to fish on a weighted texas rig, Carolina rig etc. 3. Reaction Innovation Sweet Beaver- just a great fish catcher no matter how you rig it 4. 1/2 oz Strike King Red Eye Shad (Cold water) or Lucky Craft RC 1.5 (Warm Water) 5. Jackall Muscle Deep 15 Plus- there are other Deep Divers I like such as the DD 22. This one cast into the wind better and the smaller body size will also appeal to smallmouths (use in the summer)- late winter or spring I'll sub with a Pointer 100

Check out Tackle warehouse, Tiki sticks are $ 1.49/pack, some of their other plastics under a $ 1.00/ pack.

I've never had problems with using palomer knots with Florocarbon. The one thing that I can think of is to make sure you lube the Floro before cinching your knot and to pull slowly because this type of line is more sensitive to heat & friction. If you are already careful with your knot tieing then it might be that you should consider switching to a different brand.

Raul, thanks for the follow-up and the link, if I may ask how do you usually rig & fish this bait ?

I use 2 combos for my jig fishing. My finnesse set up is a Loomis BCR 852 Mossyback 7'1" rod rated for 1/8-3/8 oz jigs. I use the downsized Curado 101D LH reel spooled with 10 lb Trilene Florocarbon. I fish the Kietech Model 1 casting jig or a Model 2 football jig with a thinned out/ minimal weedguard. Most of my regular sized jigs I fish with a Loomis MBR 844C 7' Heavy rod with a 201D LH Curado spooled with 17 lb Floro. This has combo has put a lot of 5 & 6 lbers in the boat.

My wife or Shimano reels, that's a tough question

I saw these on Tackle Warehouse, if you've used them please let me know what you think. Thanks

I have tried several brands of paddletail tubes and in my opinion these are the worst out there. The best I have tried are the Pro Minnow's by Pro Swimbaits. They are reasonably priced, swim at slow speeds and have terrific colors plus they are poured in the USA.

Great info guys, bassnleo you sure know your stuff when it comes to tube fishing. I also agree with the Natural on Smoke Purple being the most underated color for soft plastics. Anyway, to add my 2 cents, tubes are great bait for a Carolina rig. I personally prefer the thin walled single dipped tubes like a BPS tender tube, regular Berkely power tube for this application because the double dipped tubes have all that extra plastic which makes the tube a little stiffer and seems to interfere with the hookset. However the double dipped tubes are my preference when fishing a tube with an internal jighead.

My overall favorite is the Zoom Speed Craw, sinker size will very with cover density but I usually use a 1/2 or 3/4 Tru Tungsten. I also like the Zoom Baby Brush Hog, a R.I. Sweet Beaver or sometimes a flipping tube.

Yamamoto & Zoom, though there are many other brands & baits that are part of the mix in my soft plastics arsenal.

The baits I have listed were new to me in 2009. I have become a big fan of the Kietech Tungsten jigs, both the Arky style model 1 casting jig and the model 2 football jig. The tungsten head enhances feel when crawling & shaking the jig on the bottom, a downsized hook allows me to fish a smaller trailer which makes for a very compact package. The Koppers Live Target Crawfish Trap was a real nice producer this past spring, you won't find a more realistic crawfish profile on a lipless rattle bait. The Bandit 700 series put some very nice fish in the boat for me this summer especially their Bluegill color, it has earned a place amongst my deep diving cranks. I didn't get a chance to fish it a lot but when I did the Spro BronzeEye Poppin' Frog produced some memorable strikes, in terms of fun it was the most exciting newcomer this past season. I haven't tried to many of the newer soft plastics due to the fact I have too much already and have put more emphsis on cranks & jigs, that said I was pleased throwning the 7" Rage Tail worms on a traditional Texas rig. I look forward to trying a couple of the newer models next season.