smalljaw67

It works very well!! I learned to do that from an old guy that had a tackle shop that I use to go in to all the time. I bought a jig that was old but still new in the pack and after I opened it the skirt fell off as the collar was dry rotted and he told me when I get jigs to rub some Vaseline on them and it will keep them from deteriorating too fast.

You are muddying up the waters with your first few post, you would get more replies if you make it easier for everyone to understand. You want spinning rods and then a baitcast set up but then you say 4 or 5 different set ups and you want Duckett rods but then you want to know which KVD rod for cranks????? Slow down and well help you out. 1. Spinning rods - 6'6" - 7' medium power fast action, these will handle 99% of the applications you would need a spinning rod for. 2. Casting rods - 7' - 7'3" medium heavy power fast action will handle most single hook baits like T-rigged soft plastics, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and jigs. 3. Casting (cranks) - This is where it gets a little confusing, the power is going to depend on what kind of cranks you want to throw, if you want to throw a 6XD and a 1.5 well to me they are 2 different rods but I'll try to cover all of it for you. 3B. Cranking (shallow to mid depth) - 6'6" -7'4" medium power moderate or moderate fast action but if you are banging square bills through cover or are using heavy baits over 1/2oz then you will want a medium heavy power with the same moderate or moderate fast action. 3C. Cranking ( mid depth to deep diving) - 7'3" - 8' medium heavy power moderate or moderate fast action, this will be different with the newer super cranks like the 10XD or the SKT magnum as you will have to get a heavy power and the action is going to be a fast or moderate fast. 4. Swimbaits - This is tricky because it depends on what type of swim bait you are throwing, you said Huddleston but are you throwing the 6" or 8" trout or the 3.75" grass minnow? The casting rods at number 2 will cover most smaller single hook swim baits and a heavier cranking style rod will cover some hard body treble hook swim baits up to an ounce in weight or so but when you get into the 2oz and up big swim baits, that is when you need a specialized swim bait rod that is meant to handle that stuff and all you need to do is ask what rod you need for which ever swim bait and the guys will help you, I can't as those giant swim baits aren't good for my fishing as most end up catching Musky. I hope this list makes it easy for you to understand and help you in asking for the right help, it isn't meant as a smart remark but it was a little confusing to read your post so I figured this might help you understand what kind of rods you should be looking at for various techniques and baits.

The best way to keep the skirt band from dry rotting is to use a small amount of petroleum jelly on the band when it is new and then before you put it away for the winter. All you do is move the material away from the band so as to not get any Vaseline on the skirt material, then apply a small amount with a toothpick or something similar and they rub it in with your fingers, if you don't get hard water during the winter and you don't put stuff away for very long then I'd say every 6 months you can add a bit of Vaseline andit will keep the band from rotting. I have some well over 4 years old that are fine, I find the amber color and the white color are the ones that will rot the quickest. I do tie most of my jigs but I do make a few for myself that I use bands on but not as many as I once did, tying is a lot better and I don't switch out skirts on jigs so tying them down with thread or wire means I'll lose it before anything happens to the skirt.

I like the treble hooks and at one time I loved the jig hooks, to me they were the best bang for buck hook on the market. Now it is different, the thing I liked was the ultra point didn't fold over on snags but now it seems like the treble hooks are their focus and the jig hooks haven't been as good as they use to be. I'm on board with Owner myself, they make the strongest light wire hook and the jig hooks are amazing as well but they are premium and I buy those for just a few select baits. What has impressed me is Eagle Claw, they came out with the laser sharp hooks and I think they have passed Mustad with those and the jig hooks, well look no further than the black platinum series, I now use those to replace the Mustad I use to use the most. I'm all over the place with hooks these day, for EWG regular wire worm hooks I use the Gamakatsu, they are just great, for drop shots and wacky rigs I use the Owner octopus hooks, for flukes I use the Owner twist lock light hooks and for regular worm hooks and flipping hooks I use Trokar . I still love triple grip KVD short shank and regular shank treble hooks and there are certain jig hooks from Mustad that I use like the EWG style flat eye hook and the small 1/0 flipping jig hooks but then Owner and Eagle Claw make up the rest of my jig hooks. I think that just about any brand of hook is good today as all are chemically sharpened and with black nickel finishes replacing bronze, you have less rusting of hooks but there are still differences every angler needs to know.

I use that hook in a 1/0 for a finesse jig I make. The reason those hooks are priced different is because of the limited market for them, besides manufacturers the only ones who buy them are guys like myself that cast their own jigs. If you look at some of the swim bait hooks you'll see jig mold hooks with weights, spring locks, or both on them and they are exactly the same hook only sold for something different. The 91768 hook from Mustad is a 28 degree hook that is used to make Poison Tail jigs out of a Do-it mold but go to a tackle shop or look at Tackle Warehouse and look at the Mustad power lock plus swim bait hook, it is the same hook but in the catalog I believe the number is changed a bit to differentiate styles which also includes price. If you want to use a spring lock with all your plastics just look for jig hooks and basically any 30, or 60 degree jig hook will work but be careful with some because a lot will be heavy wire and others will be light wire or medium wire, make sure you know what kind of wire as you don't want a heavy wire hook for fishing a 6" straight tail worm with a spinning rod on 6lb line, but other than that you are good to go.

I'm not sure how this one will feel different but it is lighter than the Tatula and has more bearings and truth be told, the specs look closer to the Zillion than the Tatula, maybe some elements of both in that reel. The one thing I can say is the older Cabelas reels made by Daiwa are great, I still have an all gray Prodigy that is almost exact to an Advantage and it works like it is new, excellent reel. The same can be said about the older Tournament ZX spinning reel, it is the same as a Daiwa Tierra spinning reel with the two biggest differences being the Tierra has 2 corrosion resistant ball bearings while the ZX has the same number without the corrosion resistant and the ZX uses a power "T" knob while the Tierra has a regular square septon knob but that is it. I got the Prodigy for $79 on close out and the ZX for $40 and that one I could cry, I wish I would have bought 4 or 5 of those, that spinning reel performs so well that I doubt I'll ever get another deal like that.

Rogues are great, I'm one that believes there are enough less expensive baits that work really well that you don't have to buy a high end bait but those also work well. If you have smallmouth present then clown colors is the way to go as is table rock shad, don't worry about bright colors in waters that have smallmouth. The other thing is you need to have various size baits, I'm a guy who likes to throw the larger jerkbaits but I do have a good selection of smaller ones now because there are times when the smaller bait is the one they will eat but not always so good to have a few different sizes. The Luck-E-Strike RC STX in both the larger and smaller size are good baits to have that cost the same as an X-Rap, they suspend incredibly well and catch fish and remember, the colder the water, the longer the pause.

The great thing about most hobbies is you can decide how much you want to spend and how far do you want to go. Some are satisfied fishing from the bank and you can do that and catch fish, for others it is a jon boat, canoe, or other small watercraft along with a few quality combos and then you have the tournament guys with massive equipment. There is a level that most people can afford to get started, but you don't need to spend a ton to catch fish, it is simply a matter of how much or how deep into the hobby you want or can afford to go. The same thing can be said for RC cars, or HAM radios, and the list goes on. Can I go to walmart and buy a $15 combo, a pack of hooks and a jar of powerbait or some nightcrawlers and go catch fish? Absolutely, but for me bait fishing was something I did to relax, bass fishing with lures is where the fun for me begins and it extends into making lures but I do what I can afford and still pay my bills so while we may all want the latest and greatest in boats and electronics plus rods and reels, we still are bound by disposable income.

There is a video on you tube that shows you can unscrew the front treble and it comes apart allowing you to add your own color silicone legs to it or replace the ones that it comes with should they get damaged, it looks like a killer bug presentation.

It is tough to just recommend baits without knowing what kind of waters you're fishing, like shallow rivers or deep impoundments and the same goes for forage species. If I were you I'd Google the waters that I was going to fish and see what kind of forage is in them and see if I could find some kind of local fishing report and look to find out what has been working and go from there. There are some basics that you should have no matter where you are or what kind of water you fish, and that is lipless cranks and square bills for the hard bait side and Senkos and Sweet Beavers on the soft plastic side. When you find out forage along with water clarity of the places you fish and even the species, that information will help you pick colors and patterns for the baits you are going to buy, for example if I was fishing clear or lightly stained water with only largemouth then I know I wouldn't include really loud colors except for a fire tiger pattern crank but in the same water clarity with smallmouth present, well then I'll have clown pattern baits and chartreuse models. If the water gets dirty a lot then chartreuse/black back is excellent for all species but it has been my experience that smallmouth react to bright colors more often than their green cousins, so do some research and see what you come up with, I find those types of searches very rewarding and informative.

I believe in rattles when it comes to every lure except jigs and soft plastics and I'm not sure why. I use to use worm rattles and jig rattles faithfully, but there was a period of 3 years that me and a certain friend would fish together and he never used rattles and if a jig bite was on he would do better and one day while getting beat I decided to take a chance and use a jig without rattle so I simple cut them out of my jig and I found I was catching them. Now, this could be total coincidence but when I asked my friend about it he told me the weight makes enough noise, it isn't like a moving bait that you want to get them from a distance, these baits are in their home and when in a home you would sneak and so it is more natural to not have rattles. When I heard that I laughed but it kind of made sense and after that I never used a rattle on my jigs or worms even in dirty water and maybe I'm missing out but so far on my waters it hasn't been the case but I do think that they may help at certain times and I know they help with cranks at times.

Anything in the 7' to 7'6" length in a medium to heavy power and a fast action will work great. The power is going to depend on manufacturer as some will have a MH that has the same ratings as another companies H power. A 3/4oz jig with skirt and trailer is going to be an ounce in total weight and the 5/8oz is going to be around 3/4oz so you need a stout rod, and the line will come into play also, if you are using fluorocarbon or mono a fast action or even an extra fast will work but if you're using braid you may want to look at a fast or even a mod-fast action for a little give. When it comes to price range, that is on you but most rods over $100 today will serve you well, and asking which one we like is like going to BR 31 flavors, you'll get a lot of different answers. Some love Dobyns, and others it is Kistler or St. Croix, or Loomis and it is hard to make a decision when you hear the arguments why one is better than another but the truth is anyone will be great, just look and find one in the length, power, and action that you need and see which one looks better to you.

I like fast and extra fast action but you will also see that a lot of guys have broken rods in the past and it was while they were using braid. If you use braid then I think a moderate or mod-fast action is perfect but other lines not so much. I also see the guys that punch prefer a slower action because the weeds will often impede the hook set so a rod with a deep bend is able to allow the hook to penetrate by keeping constant pressure which is much harder to do with a typical fast action rod.

I believe there are times when color can, and does make all the difference in fishing, it has happened to me on a lot of occasions. One thing that is a constant when it comes to color is smallmouth seem to react to color a lot more than largemouth do and if I knew why I'd be rich. The one thing I noticed in my waters that contain both large and smallmouth bass is that when the bite is on, I'll throw a black jig and craw combo and I'll catch largemouth and then I'll switch colors a few more times and still be getting largemouth until I get to a certain color and then the smallmouth start hitting. Myself along with 2 friends have been keeping logs of this type of activity and we found that when there is a good bite, largemouth will react to action but smallmouth seem to key on color, it may be just an odd coincidence but it happens every time we get on them during the prespawn and the fall bite, it is the only time in these waters when smallmouth and largemouth are overlapping in the same areas. For the most part, dark colors and natural colors will get the largemouth all the time but throw a jig with bright orange or chartreuse in it and the smallmouth start reacting more than their green cousins. Even with jerkbaits, a killer color from Lucky craft, shrimp brown, is a smallmouth killer in spring, the small dot of chartreuse at the tail seems to get them, I get more smallies on that color, in a day if I catch 10 fish, at least 8 will be smallmouth, sometimes I won't even get a largemouth until I switch color, I'm not sure if it happens in other waters but there are a few colors here that really make a difference in what you catch but remember, this is at specific times and not all the time, as they say, color matters when it matters.

I do well with larger jerkbaits and now I've been using the smaller ones a bit more but still not as much as the larger models. A simple tip will tell you the size of the bait, when you see the number 100 it means 100 millimeters and that is about 4" and a 110 is around 4.5" and the same holds true with a 78 being 78 millimeters and it is around 3.5". Rapala and its variants like Storm use centimeters so a 4" X-rap won't be a 100 size, it will be a size 10 and a 3.5" model won't be a 78 or 80 but an 8. If you find a website that doesn't list size this will allow you to gauge it so you don't receive any surprises.

I use to use Offset round bends because the bait would always want to slide down the EWG style hook but then I found the perfect hook. The Owner twistlock light in a 4/0, the number is 5167-141, these were designed for Senkos but man are they killer on a fluke or super fluke. I use the 5167-121, which is a 2/0, for super fluke jr., the screw lock holds the bait secure and the hook penetrates with very little pressure.

If you lose a lot of jigs every year, and I'm talking 3 to 5 jigs a week then getting a mold or 2 and the stuff to pour plus skirt material, and hooks, you're looking at 2 years to break even depending the hooks and how much skirt material you use. The problem comes when you begin to like doing it and then you want to make a different style or different colors and that is when it gets expensive. I started out making spinnerbaits in 1999 and had a blast so I decided to make some jigs and 30 molds later I have quite a collection of stuff. I can do 85 different colors plus 11 custom blends of color, I have over 10 pounds of skirt material and probably with all the different sizes and style of hooks, somewhere north of 8000 hooks plus wire keepers, swivels, split rings, spinner blades, chatterbait blades, tools, wire, and then we can go on to the tying material like thread, bucktails and marabou and all that stuff. In all I probably have more than 7 or grand wrapped up not to mention the thousands of baits I've already made, in 16 years it is over 10 grand, proably closer to 20 than 10 but it is up there for sure. So if you are looking to just make a few things, great but be careful because it is very fun and before you know it, you see a new jig and rather than wanting to buy it, you begin looking for ways to make it or something similar or better.

A Manns Waker Elite for me, I knew it was 3/8oz but when I got it you would have thought it was an ounce, it was big and I got it for prespawn smallmouth. I didn't even think of tying it on until we were on a good topwater bite but all smaller fish so I thought, why not, it is a big bait. I will admit I had no faith, but on the 4th cast I got a violent hit and landed a solid 18" smallie, a couple of cast later a 20" fish came to the boat, it was awesome! Now that bait is discontinued but I have a small stash, and last summer my buddy laughed when he saw me tie it on, he laughed until I had 3 fish weighing 13 lbs 11oz and then he wanted one and so I gave him one, now he no longer laughs.

A lot depends on you, if you never used a glass rod you may want to try one first, they are generally heavier than graphite rods by a lot. If you are going to run square bills at all then the MH is what you will need.

The T-wing system facilitates longer and smoother casts, at least it is suppose to but setting it up is the same. Unless the spool tension knob is loose and the brakes are off, a casting reel is going to need to have line stripped manually in order for a bait to fall straight and even then it will swing as the bait falls and catches up with the slack.

For numbers the shaky head is what you want to use. I look at the T-Rig as more of a moderate to heavy cover presentation in small areas while the shaky head is a sparse to no cover presentation used to cover a wide area. I typically use larger baits on the T-rig but over the last 3 years I've been using bigger baits with a shaky head and a technique shown to me by a friend is a 3/8oz shaky head with a 5/0 hook and a 10" worm fished along tapering points, killer presentation.

The only pro I actually saw using a spin cast was Woo Daves, he used it to worm fish because he could get the worm to fall straight down as it would let line out better than a casting reel but it didn't have all the problems with line twist like a spinning reel. That said, I believe from the way the question was asked is that the OP meant spinning reels, and that said, yes, lighter lures and finesse techniques with light line is where you will see spinning come into play.

Get a 7' medium heavy power with a fast action, that will let you fish everything with a single hook from jigs to spinnerbaits. You can use the Vendetta as a topwater or jerkbait rod, perfect size and action for it.

My thoughts exactly! I used a bunch of different style shaky heads before I decided to make my own. I did this because I wanted to see which was the best so the first ones I used were the stand up models, let me tell you, in a controlled environment like a fish tank, stand up heads look like the real deal but on a lake bottom, well, it isn't always perfect. Anyway, after much fishing I came to two conclusions, even though it took an extra second to rig, the screw lock is what works for me, it holds a worm better than the alternatives, the other thing is a ball head style works well and compares favorably to stand up heads, in fact I'm not sure stand up is always best. I also said before, not to get hung up on floating worms, they do have their place but for me it is clear water, my best producing worms are non-buoyant.

I flip over rocks as BobP suggested and in the spring there could be a few different colors at the same time. The thing I do and it seem to work for me, is changing colors based on season, in the spring I use jigs with various degrees of blue and lighter browns and that holds true until late spring when they begin to turn more of a green pumpkin color. By July most of our craws will have orange tips on the claws and some will even have orange spots along their sides so my summer craw patterns have orange in them with dark green pumpkin or dark brown. In all seriousness, flip rocks, it will tell you a lot.