Primus

I'm with you on a real cork handle, very comfortable for my hands and my Loomis rods are still very light and sensitive.

I know it will sound like a broken record but this a terrific series of baits, has been my most productive shallow water crank since it's been introduced. Even @ $ 9.99 you can't buy them all, I would try if your budget allows... 1 of the 0.5 Ghost color, great in clear water when there is a tough bite The 1.5 is my favorite, this is in my opinion would be the bread & butter size. Try the Ghost, Copper Green Shad, one of the craw colors and the # 05 Purple perch has been a good one when you need something with some chartreuse on it. The 2.5 size & 3.5 size are great for night fishing or when you're looking for that big bite. I personally prefer the silent version of these cranks, and as already been mentioned the deep divers are also productive. I'm glad you brought this to my attention, I always pick up a few of these when they are on sale.

CJ, I have 2 so far. I have one in the Charteuse Shad & 1 in the Ghost Minnow color. I won't have a chance to use it until after the ice melts :'(

I agree with the others about those fish magnet lures, the old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it. That said I have sent a few extra cranks such as RC 1.5, Red Eye shad and some others to Baitwerks to have them custom painted in 2 different Bluegill/ Sunfish patterns the G302 & G 330 patterns are the ones I've ordered. If you haven't checked out their website take a look some of their colors they are absolutely sick. I'm anxious to get these back and try them out next year to see if they give me an edge. Unfortuneately for me I'm going to have to wait a few months to see if it's worth the extra coin.

This one is a little pricey but like the Kietech Tungsten Casting Jig Model 1 in the 1/4 oz. size with a 2-3/4" Yum Craw Papi as a trailer.

I've done well with this bait on a Mojo Rig with a 3/16 oz sinker.

Shssh! That sounds like something that my wife would say.

You are right about fishing it on a Shakyhead, gives the fish a little different look, though it has the look of flapping crayfish claws on the way down the thin worm like body matches up well with shaky jigheads. About 2 years back caught a nice 6 lb 2 oz bass throwing this on a Texas rig with a 1/4 oz sinker. This in my opinion is an underated bait that for some reason it doesn't seem like a lot of people use.

Thanks Reel Mechanic, by the way you cleaned up a few reels, upgraded bearings & drags a few months back on some of my Curado's and I want to let you know that I was very pleased with your service. I look forward to sending you another batch when I get around to it. ArticCat500 I appreciate the Loomis comparison which is a product line I'm much more familiar with, thanks to all the posters for the good info.

Yea I have built on and used Batson Ent. blanks (still have about 6 of the rods) long time ago.. They are a good blank (depends on the series) but there are tons of good blanks out their. Mostly build on St.Croix, and Gary Loomis's new NFC (North Fork Composites) blanks now... Who is the builder? Tight Lines!! I'm looking at Patriot Custom rods out of Portage , MI. He's invited me to his shop to look at the different blanks & components that are available, I'm thinking of a 6'9" spinning rod that would be used for suspended jerkbaits & small cranks.

I've bought some of the baits on my list already but will have to wait till next year to fish them. I'm interested in the Spro Little John Deep Diver & Strike King 20' Deep crank as well. I bought one of the Black Dog Mini Crackers, weighs app 1 oz and looks like a terrific bluegill imatator, living in Michigan I prefer small to Med size swimbaits and this one is sized right. The Lucky Craft 95 Silent Pointer will be getting a good workout next spring as well as the Pointer 125 3 piece jointed swim/ jerk bait. I'm looking to add a two new Loomis rods to my line-up this winter the BSR 852 7'1" Senko Rod & the SHR822S 6'10" Shaky Head rod. I'm also excited to check out some custom painted cranks that I've sent to BaitWerks, they have a deal going right now 10 baits for 100$, I'm going to have a number of my proven performers like the Red Eye shad, RC 1.5 etc painted in some bluegill & sunfish patterns, I'm anxious to see how they turn out.

If you have please let me know what you think of them. I'm going to check out rods by a custom rod builder who use their blanks. Thanks

I'm looking forward to your feedback, like you living in Michigan we are on our way to ice :-[

May I ask where they are being clearanced ? Thanks

There is place for both even on the same body of water. An example is lipless cranks, sometimes the rattle calls them in and there are other times when I do better on that same body of water with one that is silent like the Sebile Flat Shad. If you are in clear water around pressured fish and especially if there isn't a lot grass a silent bait allows you to approach the fish and let the fish react to it where at times the rattles will put them on notice. In my opinion it's one of those things where you have to rely on your instict along with the willingness to expieriment to see what the fish prefer on a given day.

It's an awesome popper, another excellent one is the Excalibur Zell Pop which has a similiar profile and action and is a little less expensive.

Tranluscent lures are a terrific choice in clear water, I do well with various ghost patterns such as the Lucky Craft RC 1.5/ Ghost as most of the lakes that I fish have clear to very clear water. Sometimes in these types of waters having no rattles can be a plus as well.

I bought one this spring, lost it after app 20 cast and never replaced it. Should I consider getting a couple of replacements or should I forget about it. Please let me know what you like or don't like about it. Thanks

JimmyMo3287., I'll follow-up to mention that I also like the crawfish rattlebait, it put some nice fish in the boat for me this spring.

Thanks, it looks like you saved me a lot of money.

I bought a few of the bluegill cranks, haven't had a chance to throw them yet. The water temp where I'm at is app 45 degrees and on it's way to becoming ice, I probably won't get a chance to throw this bait until next spring. The one thing I will say is they sure look pretty.

The thing is with my Shimano Stradic 3000 I get the the frame of a small to medium size spinning reel with the performance upgrades that comes from using a reel with a large spool. To quote Van Halen I get the " best of both worlds", all I can say is I've used both and I won't go back. The great thing about the time we are in with the technological advances made with fishing reels the last few years is that we can get reels with high line capacity without the weight and bulk, a great example is with some of the new low profile baitcaster likes the Curado where the same trend has been applied.

Wickyman, I diagree a little, there are times color does matter. Admittedly, presentation and location will always be more important. However, when fishing clear water there have been times when I've fished that I was getting the occasional fish hooked on the outside of the mouth to catchting a lot more fish that were choking on the bait came as a result of a color change. I have a lake by my house where I used to think they didn't hit crankbaits well as my success with cranks was sporadic and limited at best on this particular lake. Though I'm no KVD I am an expierienced crank fisherman, I've even talked to some of the other fisherman in our area about this lake and they've never done that good with deep diving cranks on this lake. This year I started throwing a Bluegill colored Bandit 700 series in a few key areas and I've had some great days on the water at this lake as a result. I expierimented with other deep diving cranks and even other colors of the 700 series but for whatever reason besides the fact the color closely matched a key part of their forage they would only respond well to this specific crank and color. I can think of other examples over the years where a color change played a key role in increasing my catch rate. That said I don't buy every color under the sun but have a few key colors in both soft plastics and hard baits that I turn to depending on water clarity, seasonal patterns and in some cases if I'm trying to match certain types of forage.

Try Burton's Bait & Tackle. www.burtonsbaitandtackle.com (816) 532-4659 If they don't have what you need try a google search with specific info, one time I was desperate for Smoke Purple centipedes, found a small tackle shop in PA and bought several bags from them.

I hate the line, way too stiff and it seems like it has a larger diameter per pound test. Try Trilene 100% Floro, admitedly it cost more but it is way more manageable.