Crankenstein Crony

I've used both the Helios rod and reel. I like them both very much! Paired together its possibly the lightest combo on the market. I used the combo for pitching and flipping on a local river for several hours. It preformed flawlessly!

I primarily use SK cranks. They have produced very well for me! I change hooks on every crank I throw whether its a Strike King crank or a Lucky Craft crank. So crappy hooks really isn't an issue to me. I've won tournaments on 1.5's, 4S, Series 5's, 5xd's and 6xd's. I stand behind Strike King cranks 100%.

Agreed 110% I have had more issues with St. Croix rods and All Star rods than Okuma rods.

Okuma has come a long ways with their rods over the past few years. The Citrix is a good rod. It is very light and sensitive. I have a 6'10 ML and I really like it. Im waiting on a 7'0 M to come in the mail as we speak. I would also check out the EVx series. They have some good rods in that line up. Okuma has very good warranties too. So if you were to have an issue with your rod, they will take care of you.

That is a sweet looking combo!

I had the opportunity to buy my first Okuma Spinning reel this spring. I did not know what to expect since I had never used an Okuma reel before. I must say, I was very impressed. I love the reel. I used the Trio for multiple applications: drop shot, shaky head, senkos, and flukes. I don't normally crank with spinning reels, but I threw a KVD 1.0 on the Trio and it handled that very well also. It handled everything I tried to do very well! The Trio made me a believer in Okuma gear! On top of being a great reel, the price of the Trio is great! You can pick up a good reel and not break the bank.

I like a 5:4:1 or a 5:3:1 (which ever I can find in a left handed reel) for deep diving crank baits, and a 6:3:1 for just about everything else. On occasion I will use a burner for lipless cranks.

I have several Carrot Stix, both spinning and casting rods. I haven't had any "issues" with any of them yet. One of them is 3 years old and still performs just as well now as it did when I first bought it.

The HB PMax 170 is a great unit! It comes with everything you need to get it up and running right away. I have used one for the last two seasons. For a unit under $100 you can't go wrong! Never had an issue with mine yet.

I really like Terminator jigs. I buy them from ***'s website. But I know Cabel's, BassPro, and Gander Mountain also carry Terminator baits.

I have only used the Pit Boss for pitching and flipping so far. But its awesome! Its quickly becoming one of my favorite/go to flipping baits!

Canned corn is my #1 carp bait. Wheaties balls work well too. Take Wheaties, and crush them up and mix in a package of jello. Pour on some water and mash it all up. make quarter sized balls and put a hook through em!

The rig i have is quite a bit more heavy duty than the wiring of a spinner bait. Pike may tear the snot out of swim baits and other soft plastics you have on the rig, but as far as the rig itself, it should be fine. Should be able to bend the arms of the rig back into place and have it back in the water in no time.

I don't throw Lucky Crafts for that reason. I have lost WAY to many lures to those darn toothed creatures! I don't have anything against Pike when Im actually fishing for them. But I always think twice before I tie on a high dollar lure now.

I don't think there is a single lake with in an hour of my house that doesn't have pike in them. They are everywhere! Yes, Pike are very slimy, and I think their slime stinks worse than most fish. Gets on the carpet of my boat and seems like it takes a whole fishing season to get rid of the smell.

I like the Quantum KVD Tour rods for all my cranking applications. I like the 7'10 MH for deep cranking. I use the 7'4 M for my "all around" cranking rod. For lipless cranks and smaller/lighter cranks I like the 7' M.

Traveler2586, you are correct, some of those colors are found on Firetiger. In my humble opinion, I think Firetiger needs to be renamed Pike Candy. I don't have an issue with anyone who uses firetiger and uses it with success. But I don't use it, I have no confidence in that color at all. I haven't caught a single bass on firetiger. I also haven't caught a single pike on Chart black back and orange craw. Michigan lakes are full of toothed creatures... I have strong confidence in colors that aren't pike candy.

In lightly stained water, I still like the wide array of sexy shad colors: Sexy shad, Chart Sexy shad, and Gold sexy shad, Sexy sunfish is another favorite. For stained water closer to muddy water, I break out the Chart black back, red craw and orange craw.

I don't ever use Firetiger... When Im in dirty water I fish colors like chartreuse black back, orange craw, or sometimes a red craw color. Nothing against it really, other than it is like prime rib to pike and I have no confidence in that color at all. I don't even have a single Firetiger bait in my tackle boxes.

Im not going to knock Senko's at all because they are legendary. But I prefer the Bass Assassin Fat Job to the Yum Dinger. $4.69 for 12 baits and they are very soft and durable. They have great action fished as a stick bait and wacky style. Senko's are dominant, but I can't afford them, especially when a lot of times one fish will do them in. The Bass Assassin Fat Job has become my new favorite behind Senko's.

Rhino, I never thought of that either for loose screws. That is a great idea. I have several loose screws on my console, I think that will do the trick perfectly!

Just out of curiosity I contacted one of the fiber glass repair shops in my area. He quoted me a minimum of $300 to fix 2 tiny holes. Thats ridiculous! I will fix the holes myself. What type of epoxy would you recommend? I looked at the 3M stuff, and the stuff I found was in the cheap metal tubes. Those things are really messy.

The local walmart in my area has it. I would assume most sporting good stores like Gander Mountain, Cabelas, Bass Pro would have it or a product that is similar.

I'm with ww2farmer. Most of the jigs I throw don't have rattles on them. The few jigs I've bought that did come with rattles on them do produce, and they produce well. When I fish dirty water, I prefer to have a rattle. In clear water, I definitely prefer no rattle. But either way, both jigs with rattles and jigs with out rattles produce quality fish.

I would suggest getting a rod designed for cranking. That will help your hook up and landing ratio. Made a big difference for me when I first started fishing crank baits. Try swapping out your hooks for a good EWG, and upsize your hooks too. If it comes stock with 6's, put on 4"s. If it comes stock with 4's, put on 2's. Using quality hooks will really make a big difference as well. When it comes to your hook set, you don't need a giant powerful hook set like with a jig. When you watch KVD fish crank baits, he doesn't have a big hook set, he just sweeps his rod to the side. With cranks, if you set the hook to hard you can rip the bait right out of the fishes mouth.