smalljaw67

I fish jigs a lot and I normally don't get them close enough to me to see fish following but in shallow water I'll often move the jig and see a small swirl alerting me that a fish is there. When I see that and don't get a strike I usually make a pitch to the same spot and leave it sit for about 10 seconds and give it a single big hop and if that doesn't get it to commit I will tie on a smaller jig. If I'm using a full size 1/2oz jig and that happens I go right to a 1/4oz, and 99% of the time that works, I used to drop down to a 3/8oz and it did work but not a lot, most of the time I'd get the same reaction but surprisingly when I'd go to a 1/4oz it would get hit quickly.

For my 1/8oz hair jigs I use a 6'9" medium power spinning rod and for my 1/16oz hair jigs I use a 7' medium light spinning rod. If you want to tie jigs but wish to use them on a fly rod then buy some 1/80oz jigs, maybe even 1/64oz might be ok with a fly rod.

That is why you see spinnerbaits being fished with casting reels, I don't know how some throw them on spinning gear

I believe that is the Bandit Tennessee Shad color in a 300 series.

Yes, I heard the same thing about lemon juice but I never tried it. Normally the brass blades used are lacquer coated so they don't tarnish but it is possible you got a bait with uncoated blades but they can be cleaned or even replace but Terminator blades have a unique bevel that is proprietary to them and not available to us for purchase.

If you are choosing between the 2 only then get the Veritas, the ghost rod has chrome inserts on the guides, I thought the industry stopped making those in the 90s when braid came out. The Veritas can be had cheap and is a decent rod at the price.

Hildebrandt blades are 24K gold plated which is why they are so expensive. Tarnish blades are fine and it will happen when the lacquer wears off, polished brass blades which we call gold are more susceptible to it as they don't have any plating. The fix for you blades is an easy one and here is a tip that may save you money if you buy blades to change out on your spinnerbaits. To fix the blades go to wally world or a hardware store and get some Tarnex or Brasso and use a microfiber cloth to clean the tarnish off and you can keep it from coming back for awhile by taking a small amount, just a Q-Tip worth of Mothers car wax and apply it to the blade and rub off, it will keep it tarnish free for the season and you can reapply it before putting it away for the winter if you live in a cold climate. To save money on blades, don't buy the more expensive premium finish in polished brass or nickel, you can get a good, regular brass and nickel finish and then take 10 minutes and use a metal polish and put it on the polishing pad on your dremel tool, you will be surprised at what kind of shine you can get, in fact you can get nickel to flash just about as bright as the silver plated blades.

The Cotton Cordell spots in that picture are ok but the next time you go there, go through the bin and look for the ones not in the blister pack that you have there, but the ones that come in a box labeled "super spot". I grab as many as I can when I find them on sale but they usually don't hit the $1.00 deal, more like $1.96 which is still a great price and a good lipless crank that is seriously under rated, but you did have a nice haul with everything else especially the Heddon and Arbogast stuff!!!!

I will say this once, I'm not going to argue but almost every reel will be off 2 tenths of an ounce which makes no difference in my book. The Tatula is listed at 7.9, actual weight is over 8 and that was confirmed by Tackle Tour and as for telling the difference in weight of a few quarters, on a sub 4oz rod, you will notice 1/2oz really easy unless you don't want to. I own Daiwa reels, I have nothing against them, the point I'm making is there are those who mocked and ridiculed the Ardent elite or one of those as being an 8oz brick and the same person claimed that the Tatula was so aweome and I find it funny how one company makes an 8oz reel and it is a brick while another is perfectly fine. Not only the weight but also the width, if you can't tell that the Tatula in noticabley wider than a Citica or Curado then perhaps you are biased, I have no brand loyalty when it comes to fishing reels which is why I have all but Shimano and I was wanting a Tatula because I like reels in the $120 to $200 range but the $150 to $175 is the magic mark where you get performance and some refinement and when it came out I was really mad at Daiwa, another sub $300 dollar reel that is large and after using the Abu Garcia 2nd generation Revo Premier, the Lews Tournament pro, and the Quantum Smoke the Tatula feels like a brick, sorry. I have, and love my Team Daiwa Advantage but when they came out with the Steez they dropped the ball on work horse reels, the Aggrest was over priced junk, the Lexa isn't bad and at right around $100 isn't bad but others make better in that range and the Tatula may be a great reel, it probably is an excellent reel but too big and clumsy for me and while Daiwa is slowly learning how to do better in this price range they are still behind Abu Garcia and pure fishing in general. The whole deal is that we all have personal preference, but there are a lot of claims and bad reviews but on certain brands by brand loyalists, it is always going to happen.

I fish ariver like that, I use a suspending jerkbait in late fall, early winter and again in the sprig targeting current seams and eddies, the floating jerkbait is a warm water deal, I use Rogues all summer but the water has to be somewhat clear for them to work their best. What is nice is when the water temp hits 60 degrees, the floating bait is killer, you can work it fast and aggressive or you can do like Road Warrior suggested and use it as a topwater but giving it a rip just to barely get it under the surface and then stopping it so it pops back up, that is a very effective way at using them and it is something the fish don't see often. So grab a few suspending models for cold water and some floating models for warm water.

Heavy??? This is what got me away from Daiwa reels, it seems Daiwa can't make a sub 8oz reel unless it is $400 and go ahead and look, they seem to have forgotten how to work with aluminum as all the other companies have passed Daiwa when it comes to aluminum models. I will be the first to admit, that in the high end line Daiwa is tough to beat, to me they are the most innovative but Shimano, Abu Garcia, Lews, Pflueger, and even Quantum can make good solid aluminum baitcasting reels that are under 8 ounces in weight. I remember the names of a few people hammering Ardent reels because of how "heavy" they were and they are so far behind making these reels and then the same people, who will also remain nameless, were singing the praises of the Tatula, the Tatula is a BRICK!!!! It is wide, clumsy and is HEAVY, and it some how gets a pass from brand loyalist. I have no dog in this fight, I own 3 Quantums, 2 Abu Garcias, 1 Lews, 2 Okumas, 3 Daiwas, 1 Pflueger, and 1 Mitchell, these are the casting reels I own and the only brand I don't have is Shimano because I was told to buy another a better reel by their customer service after I had 2 Symetre spinning reels break within 1 month of each other. I don't bash Shimano because I know they make some good reels but I will never buy anymore because of how I was treated because to me, $100 is a mid tier spinning reel and if your customer service thinks my problem is their "cheap" reel, then it is obvious they don't value me as a customer for not buying the Stella and to me, every customer needs to be treated with respect. That is my only bash and only in these cases do I bring it up but plese don't say you use Daiwa because other reels are heavy and don't compare a $400+ Steez to a $150 work horse from another brand, Daiwa is trying to gain share in the mid tier market and while doing a dencent job, they still have catching up to do because they seem to have forgot that market and it shows, like I said, 8oz reels are a thing of the past and Daiwa can't make a sub 8oz reel anymore unless it is over $300 and made of Zaion or Magnesium, the Tatula is a brick and the Lexa is $40 too high for what you actually get other than the name, sorry.

The Aetos has a titanium insert and the Smallmouth series has zirconium inserts which are ceramic. These are my favorite rods now, I fell in love with the Smallmouth series and had the same reaction to the Aetos but I only own 2 casting model Aetos, no spinning but I do have the smallmouth series in both casting and spinning. You do not need to worry about performance from either, both are well above price point, I think it all comes down to spinning or casting. If I was going to get a dedicated drop shot rod, it would be spinning and it would be the Smallmouth series 6'9" ML-F, I have the same rod in the medium, extra fast and the first trip out I was catching light biters on a shaky head in 26' of water on 8# mono and had no trouble feeling bites and the reel seat is the most comfortable one I ever used on a spinning rod, there is nothing that compares to it. The casting rods I like both, the Aetos gets a slight nod because I like the fact there is more actions and I like the Fuji skeleton reel seat but I also like the smallmouth reel seats so it is a toss up. Sensitivity wise both are very sensitive, I will give the Aetos the nod there but the fact the way the reel seat is on the smallmouth rods, it lets you naturally lay most of your index finger on the blank which provides the most feel, but if you are looking at a long rod then the Aetos is what you need, if 6'9" sounds right, the Smallmouth series is the way to go.

The only thing you need to be concerned with is adding too much weight. I don't think the dressed treble hook is going to be a problem but the Owner stingers may be, from all the hooks I've used and the tweaking I did to jerkbaits, I find the stinger to be heavier than most stock hooks and it isn't bad on a bait that floats but if the bait is a really slow floater or sinker then you'll ruin it. If you are concerned with the hooks bending out then look for a bronze 2X strong, yes, they will rust if put away wet but they weigh less than blak nickel finished hooks. The other thing is with just about every jerkbait I see, the hooks are thin for a reason, just like the Megabass out barb hooks, the bait is designed to be used with light line, so adding the heavier hooks can change the action and sometimes it isn't for the good. I'd check the bait and see how it works first with the stock hooks, then add a dressed treble and check again and then finally add the other hooks and give it a final check, this will be the best way to mess with it. Also, SK has a habit of using junk hooks to begin with so the stingers may not be a problem at all but if you are changing them of for sharpness rather than strength, go with the Daiichi death traps, these are super sharp, strong but are light wire and aren't going to be a heavy as the stingers.

I too make my own jigs and spinnerbaits and other things like that and the reason is so I can make what I want. The biggest reason you see dark colors is because that is what sells, most will use a black/blue jig or green pumpkin and brown because jigs are mostly associated with mimicking craws or bluegills. There is also a cost effectiveness of using only a few colors and by using mostly dark colors a company can normally paint all the heads 1 color and use different color skirts like the old Stanley jigs, all of them had a black head. I use brown and orange and black with chartreuse for jigs, when I use bright colors on them I only use them as accents, like the black and chartreuse, I have the head just about all black with just the front chartreuse and that is to make it stand out a little but still look somewhat natural. The best thing to do would be to make a bright colored jig and try it and see how it compares to darker colors.

I don't hate and I really don't take others words on anything much when it comes to equipment, you can usually tell if someone truly has had a bad reel or reels and doesn't like a product or there may have been longevity issues but I see a lot of parroting like, "I had a Smoke and the flipping switch locked up and the handle stopped turning, never buy anything other than Shimano". I see a lot of that but I also see reviews that I did believe but I see it in all brands, to me it has to work and I have a few Quantum reels and they are fine. I will say that the Smoke is the best casting reel Quantum has ever made, I have a 100 SPT and a 150 HPT and they are really good reels, I have, in my regular line up, the 2 Smoke reels, I lews Tourney Pro, a Revo Premier 2nd generation and a Pflueger Supreme that was out for 2 years before being discontinued. The Smoke 150 retired my Daiwa TD-X, and I have no complaints about the other reels in the line up. I also have an Okuma Induron round reel and a V-Syetem and I can say Okuma reels have been good to me. I left 7 or 8 reels out because this is enough to make my point, that point is that out of all the brands I have used at different price levels, I really haven't had the horrible experiences others have, the only one was a Shimano Symetre spinning reel, I had 2 bad ones and a bad experience so I no longer buy Shimano but I know they make good stuff, I just hold a grudge but not everyone is like that, some feel they have to bash and Quantum gets a lot and I really haven't figured it out either.

I have a friend that is clean crazy, so much that it is to the point of OCD and he does the same thing. The thing that cured him of it was a trip out during a damp fall day, he almost threw the rod out of the boat so he took off the plastic from the rear grip leaving the fore grip on, guess what? A month later the moisture in the plastic started causing the filler to come out of the cork and it looked a mess so he took the plastic off and cleaned it up and he no longer keeps it on.

The only ones listed that I don't use an EWG style hook for is the soft jerkbait, the reason is no matter what brand of EWG hook I use, a soft jerkbait will always slide down the hook on me without a drop of glue. I like the Trokar TK-100 HD worm hook for soft jerkbaits and for trick worms.

You are doing it right, and there are tons of different things you can do to spinnerbaits but I'll give you my general use tips to help clear it up for you. For weights, 1/4oz is great for clear shallow water and when the fish are short striking larger baits, 3/8oz is the all purpose size, this is the most popular size as it will be good for the shallow clear water but is big enough to use with thumper blades in stained water. The 1/2oz bait is THE bait, this is what you want for slow rolling with single Colorado, or burning with a double willow leaf but in our situation with muddy water and fish in the 5' zone, a chartreuse, white, or white/chartreuse combo with a single Colorado or a Tandem Indiana blade with a small Colorado kicker blade would be the ticket. The one thing to keep in mind is that the clearer the water, the more you want your spinnerbait to become a visual bait, the more stained the water is the more you want your spinnerbait to become a vibration bait. All you need is 3 blade styles, willow leaf for flash and speed, these will be used in stained to clear water, Indiana blade, this can be substituted for either blade if you are unsure what to use, and the Colorado, this is a great dirty water blade and the larger sizes are called thumper blades.

I got really heavy into spinnerbaits in the late 80s early 90s, I fished all kinds with every blade combination imaginable and I got so specific with sizes and configurations that I had to start making my own by 1998 as there was nothing on the shelf that matched what I needed. That said, in all the time I spent fishing them I found that on average, a silver willow leaf worked better during clear conditions, light clouds and clear to stained water. Gold or brass would fair much better in stained water and on cloudy, overcast days, the best way would be to experiment on any given day it can change. I've had days where it was clear and we hammered them on gold blades and had the same thing happen when fishing silver during an overcast day but those days were exceptions, more often it was silver or nickel during the clear days and gold or brass during the overcast days.

I'm not sure what the action of your Duckett is but if it is a MH with a fast action, well I wouldn't be throwing crankbaits on it. The other thing is there isn't what I would call an "all around" crankbait, you choose crankbaits based on what depth you need to cover, the closest thing to an all purpose crank would be lipless cranks, there are a ton of those but a good one that works well and won't break the bank is the Cotton Cordell super spot, they normally run in the $2.00 range, and they are often in the discount bin at Wally world, just get the ones in the box, not the blister package.

Thanks, that is exactly the info I was looking for, I'm up in the air about getting a high end reel or 2 mid tier reels, the $200 area doesn't leave me enough for anything else I want so I figure it will all go to a reel but then looking at the $130 to $150 market, well those I can grab 2 of as long as they are decent. I can't buy a Shimano, my last one was the Symetre a fairly long time ago and , well it doesn't matter but it is the only brand of reel I will never buy.

The best and softest tube made, River Rock Baits, both the standard and pro model tubes are great but the pro model is really one of a kind, no softer tube on the market and the fish eat it, it is just an awesome tube.

I was hoping someone here would have some information on this reel, I was going to get a new Lews Team Pro, $299 retail and I'm sure I could get a better deal but the specs on the Supreme XT look very good and at the $150 price point I could get 2 but it has to be a reliable work horse to do that. My local Cabelas doesn't have these in stock so I'm here asking, how well does the cam locking side plate work? How smooth is it and is there any play in the handle or spool? Is it inline with other reels at that price point or is it better or worse? These are the questions I would hope to have answered, I have the original Pflueger Supreme casting reel that was discontinued after only a few short years but it had a clicking spool tension knob, micro click drag, dual breaks and the best part is I still have it and it works great but it is 8.3oz and now feels too heavy but I do use it for cranking as the rod is pointed down so it isn't too bad but I really would like to replace it with something lighter. Thanks in advance.

I would go with the Lews, it doesn't matter what brand it is anymore but anything that goes over 7.5oz feels like a brick anymore.

The 6'9" M-XF casting rod has enough backbone to do that but not the 6'10" M-F, if you notice the rod ratings you see the 6'9" M-XF is rated 3/8oz to 5/8oz, the reason is you are getting a pretty stout medium power rod, the extra fast action makes it tough to load with smaller baits but it is still a medium power. The 6'10" is rated 1/8oz to 5/8oz and it is actually closer to a medium light than a medium, I don't have this one right now but I will eventually get it, this would be a hair jig rod for me, I use spinning but I've been wanting a finesse type casting rod for awhile and that is what I would use it for, single light wire hooks will be no problem. The rod was designed as a small crankbait, topwater, and jerkbait rod, it has good sensitivity to fish light jigs and light plastics but the treble hook baits 1/2oz and less are where the rod really excels. I also found that the 6'9" M-XF will throw most 1/4oz baits fine, but I would prefer the 6'9" MH-F, that is a killer spinnerbait stick.