craww

Not really. They can tie certain baits together, in terms of the total package/ profile, like a mepps spinner or an xrap. But on virtually every one of the factory baits Ive observed in the water that come with the dressed hooks, beyond the mass on the hook itself sashaying on the swivel- theres almost no perceivable undulating, "alive", action at rest like is written about. Its a myth that gets regurgitated. Frankly I think it makes a mouth sized target for bluegill to key on. Maybe if a thin/pliable feather type is tied in a sparse fashion that allowed it to breathe (rapala gets the closest). Most dressed trebles have the movement of a broom. Its not like its living rubber, Now THATS action at rest.

I'd reached the point of mainly just replenishing as I'd always preferred to buy local in store. And and then got on an eBay kick after avoiding it intentionally for years... slippery slope indeed.

Generally speaking if it gets dumped, it needs to be torn down, throughly cleaned and relubed if you're trying to get the most long-term use out of it. Once you get grease wet, it no longer works as well. I learned the hard way this year with two spinning reels, both Abus that got dunked once each last season. I had tore them down and flushed most of the bearings and repacked the gears with grease since it happened. But I didn't take out the anti reverse clutches as the pins can be a nightmare to keep seated. Sure enough the reels started getting rough, tore them ALL the way down and pulled the clutches up out of the frame to see rusted messes. You may be fine, or it may take a while to see any issues. Personally going forward whenever dunking a reel I'm going to take the thing down to the frame and clean every bit and relube. Grit in the worm gear, main gear, pinion, etc can cause premature wear if nothing else.

The feel is all about that X ship and supporting the pinion on both ends. Shimano can be a little creative touting feature sometimes, but it's legit. Their baitcasters last forever anyway, so who knows if the alignment helps long-term durability but you can definitely feel the solidarity of it. Bearing supported pinions has been around for a while- but I dont know why more manufacturers dont get on board with a similar design. It would seem to do a lot of these Korean bakery a lotta good. As for saltwater use it's fine as long as your good with tearing it down and relubing often. The chassis isn't sealed as well nor does it drain well as some others. Mine had an alarming amount of water pour out of it the last time I cleaned it. Had never been dunked, or even rained on that i could recall. Saltwater sitting in a reel does bad things, and grease doesn't work as designed once it's wet. I can't recall if it has the CR bearings, but rest assured they get corroded easily just like regular ones.

I really like everything about the K except for the casting and the finish. Its rock solid and has a ton of torque. The X Ship/placement of that specific bearing really solidifies its feel. But the brakes were an answer to a problem many, many, many people didnt have. VBS just worked. Many say other reels with the infinity sytem arent quite like the K. I can push my E series reels with one brake and bearing flush to the point of just about spooling them with a sammy 130, 7' rod and 12lb hybrid- while also throwing true 1/4 baits a long way. The K cant touch the E and D on lighter weights IMO. The new brakes just arent as accomodating. Besides taking too much time on occasion to dial in, and despite all the "adjustabilty" they just dont like being pushed to edge of the brink. Its by no means a dog, Ive settled into more conservative settings and stopped trying to get it to run so "free" (which is my personal prefernce typically). But its not QUITE a good all around reel IMO- which a Curado should be... I have alot of other reels that handle under 3/8 so much better, and are better with wind grabbing baits- including the D and E. The K is a great spinnerbait reel for example. I do seem to cast medium range very accurately with it. As for the finish, the matte paint scratches easier than the glossier finishes used in the past.

Its looks like almost the exact same bait is the flappin hog, except the twin tails instead of the pinchers. I'm gonna get some for this warm water. The hog has been absolutely phenomenal for me texas rigging. Lots of quality fish.

A baby paca craw on a drop shot, long leader, cast past the bed with the sinker and work the bait as much/little as you want. The fish are spawning in the river here right now. Today on my lunch break I slipped out and came across a 3lbr on a bed, directly under my feet with me standing 4' over her head on a wall dominating her view of the world. She was skittish, and had a hole smack dab in her top lip I could see while she was still in the water from being caught. Just kinda playing around on the walk back after half forgetting where she was and walking right up on her (there were a bunch on beds) I cast into the bed. She spooked. With me standing there I worked the bait a bit, she wasnt having it. Keep in mind this fish is at my feet and Im standing there not even trying to be stealthy. Leaving it in the water I just dead sticked the craw into the bed and stopped working it. She moves off the sweet spot about 6', just going back and forth.... Seeing everything from a safer distance....Im scaring this fish. Finally, she pulls back in, body tilted down staring and sucks it in and swims away. This fish was catchable no doubt. But in my mind the movement, splash, etc of multiple casts into 6"-12" of water wouldve at minimum made it take longer to settle her down. IF she did settle. That fish was aware of everything even when she pulled off. JFrancho came to the similar conclusions regarding dropshotting for bed fish and has an excellent article here on this site, highly reccomend it.

Thats your solution. I do it with rattle traps and my older discontinued Rick Clunns that I cant bear to lose...Works great. It also helps tremendously if you're trying to fish crankbaits in areas with a lot of filamentous algae

Memory and "slinkiness" generally gets worse as you go up in diameter. I've often wished Youzuri made hybrid in a size between #12 and #15. The diameter jump is too broad. Id like just a bit more abrasion resistance and strength than 12lb, which is fairly well behaved....but their 15 has more memory than a pack of elephants. At any rate drop down the diameter a bit and KVD Line and Lure the night before can help tremendously

They are decent reels... good drags, quality paint- mine has been used fairly hard and still looks new. Theyre not lightweights, and get a little heavy in bigger sizes. Not a fan of the cheap way they do the handle like on a $20 reel. Also while I don't mind it too much, the round, bulbous foam knob bugs a couple of my buddies about mine. Mine also have a little bit of play in the handles don't really notice it when fishing but if you grab it and just kind of move it back and forth it slides in and out about a 1/16oz almost like it needs another spacer or something. I got mine for 1/2 of MSRP and recall seeing it pretty cheap elsewhere... Maybe shop around. If I was going to spend that much I'd get the current LT (or the BG)..they made a couple of improvements. I may be wrong but I don't think this paticular generation has the Mag seal bearings like the LTs. It may be too much info but suggest checking out tackle advisors videos on YouTube where he breaks them down and goes over the builds.. the guy knows spinners.

Daiwa BG can be had for nearly half that if u shop around. Just my opinion, but no other manufacturers make a reel under $150 that will touch it.

Theyre crisp, comfortable rods..not sure if theyve made changes to the current model but my impression of the early models was the blanks were the most brittle Ive used. Not sure if they sacrificed something in the composition of the graphite/resin in the pursuit of weight savings but I had 2, (maybe 3 its been awhile) break on normal hooksets. I remember looking on ebay at one point and there was a bunch of them on there that had broke in a similar fashion. I don't Hi stick or do anything stupid with my rods...but will admit I'm not shy setting the hook. My impression is while they feel good there are better rods to spend your money on. Dont know for certain but I've handled a few of the lew's branded rods and the blanks had that exact same feel and taper to them. They likely come from the same place.

Most of my rods are longer, but theres something nice about pinpoint casting a spinnerbait or chatterbait with a crisp 6'6" MH. I have an older Fenwick HMG that stays in the rotation for that reason. I'm an ok caster, nothing special normally- and not trying to brag- but my buddy is constantly making comments about where Im putting baits with that rod.

Tried everything and the yamamoto Hula grub works best for me. I pinch off the skirt head for chatter baits. They make a twin tail grub but I buy the hulas- as I use them for bottom dragging on its own also. I like how the yamamoto plastics add a bit more weight than everyone elses. It helps them cast and get down just a little bit better.

I usually fish them at least once to get a baseline, but baitcasters get tore down and cleaned relubed pretty quick. I'm a shimano baitcaster guy for the most part and know not to judge them out of the box due to their heavy-handed lubrication. I like a reel thats more "free" feeling. I'm getting to the point I do it more with spinning reels also. Its a minor pet peeve the way some reels take a bit more effort to get the handle moving. A little less grease, even if just carefully using a tooth pick removing some of the factory stuff off the drive gear/pinion often helps.

Kvd line and lure helps...Have some vermillion red thats been through 2 seasons of hard river life. Still red. Red spike it marker helps once it starts losing its color if it really matters to ya.

Listen to Bob. I use rem oil for spool bearings and my guns and one tiny bottle has lasted 4 or 5 years and isnt halfway done. It is thin so it needs applied a bit more often...But it will allow a more free bearing. I also use Daiwa blue grease and some shimano drag grease. No need to be picky about grease as long as it doesnt get WET... Once grease gets wet you need to clean/relube. I like a thicker oil for non spool bearings as its more maintence free. I have some hot sauce thats been around for years (gasp!) that does fine. People kinda bad mouth it on here after a poster said he wouldnt work on reels with it due to the red color getting everywhere- but I think it was missed that he was a "pro" getting sent reels where folks applied way too much. We all have that buddy that just adds more oil.

Its also a great bullet weight replacement when the algae gets thick.

Get some spike it markers for coloring and adding scent to baits. I use the red one for my red braid- but its more for me than the fish.

Centrifugal and a ready thumb for me.

Weight as said above being a big factor, if youre into tinkering it can be done....Im a buzzbait nut but personally dont want fish getting a great look at them- Ive seen bass do some things chasing buzzers in shallow water I didnt know they were capable of- (speed and distance traveled). -You can shave some weight of a larger 1/2 lure w/a file. -Add a colorado blade. It works. I loved the secret weapon brand that came with em when they were here locally. -The side by side models that counter against each other are the slowest out of the box as said above. -Ive tried bending props but more often than not it seems to effect the bait wanting to plane correctly...Total crap shoot IMO.

Usually no, got a falcon bucoo crankster spinning rod that after losing 2" or so has lost just a bit of it's moderate action and is a slick all around rod now.

That rod gets rave reviews everytime Ive ever seen it mentioned....Hmmm.

Megabass XJ-100....Gets a lot of bites. Not cheap, but they slay and cast better than a F11. Its hinged, but I fish it just like a soild bait- doesnt wiggle as wide as a broken back. I think the great thing about the rapalas is they have such a subtle touchdown in shallow water though. They dont give off the negative cues a "sploosh" from a 5/8 bait will.

Yeah...The baits I listed arent jigs that "add plastic". St Croixs rating runs heavier than most in the industry as everyone knows. Youre not loading a 1/16 snap bean on their "L" rods. I used them as an example since every ones familiar with their powers.