smalljaw67

Really nice Cadman, it is amazing what one can do with powder paint once you lean how to use it !!!

They all look fantastic but I'm partial to the very top one and the 4th one down, outstanding!!!

I find that people that don't catch any fish on cranks don't use them much and don't use them in areas that hold fish. When I was teaching the grandson how to fish cranks we found a spot on the lake where I was getting a lot of bites using plastic worms, so I tied on a #5 shap rap in shad color and had the boy fish it, well it didn't take long and he got his first crankbait fish, now he throws them a good bit and catches a fair amount of fish on them. As for crankbait brands, I always liked a Bandit and of course the #5 and #7 shad raps are the best cold water sluggish fish catching baits I ever used. Bombers, Cotton Cordell Big O's, and Bagely Killer B's were the standard fare for me until Rapala introduced the DT series. For me the DT series has made me a better angle with crankbaits, they catch fish and it is all of them. I really love the Rapala DT Fat 3 for square bills, when you hit a stump with one and stop it, 9 out of 10 times it gets hit, the DT 4, 6, 10 and 14 all have their place and I catch fish with those. The DT Flat 3 and Flat 7 haven't replaced my shap raps....Yet. If I'm not doing good in spring on a jerkbait I'll put on the DT Flat 7 if I'm in water anywhere from 5' to 8' and I will catch fish with it and in shallow water in the summer I'll ofter use the DT Flat 3 around laydowns, I find that bait is awesome if the fish aren't taking a spinnerbait. I'll make a few casts around laydownswith the spinnerbait and if I don't get bit I'll throw that Flat 3 and burn it parallel to the cover and a lot of times that will trigger a strike. I liked Rapala before the DT series but now they are must haves for me.

If you really want to fish jerkbaits in that water I would suggest a Yo-Zuri Crystal minnow, they are finished with some type of highly reflective holographic tape and show up extremely well in low light conditions. They are the jerkbaits I use in stained water and since you are in a warm water area try the Bagley Bang-O-Lure tail spin, it is a shallow diving jerkbait that has a prop on the back, when you start you retrieve it make a slight commotion on the surface but it really must mak an underwater racket because the fish just don't eat it, they absolutely kill it.

I think these will be pretty good, the problem is a lot of people were under the illusion they were getting a Loomis for 99 bucks with the signature series and had really high expectations and so they ended up very disappointed. I actually think he signature series was ok for the price, the blank and guides were good but it suffered from using that cheap reel seat and unfortunately it made the whole rod feel cheap. I think they should have used regular aluminum oxide guides and a better reel seat in the signature series, that would have helped a lot but it looks as if they learned from the signature series as the tactical looks a lot better, I would like to hear a review of it.

Jerkbaits aren't really good to use in water with less than 3' of visibility. I really like fishing jerkbaits and I have fished them in clear stained and dirty water and in over 20 years I can count how many fish I've caught on a jerkbait in dirty water on one hand and still have fingers left.

The first one is 1/2oz. As for the spacing of blades, there is an actual reason for spacing and I use it to adjust the way my baits run. For exampple, when you buy most mass produced baits off the shelf they are generally good baits and made for various uses but I found years ago that if you reel them too fast like burning they roll on their side and what causes that to happen is torque. What causes too much torque 99% of the time is blade size, if the blade is too big it will create too much torque and make the bait roll. The way to conquer that is downsizing the blades but what if you want a lot of flash, more than what a size smaller blade will give you? Well you can go with a single spin but you are cutting back on flash, or you can add more space between the blades, by adding space you are moving the bottom blade close to the head, that blade rotating will create its own grag and torque but more importantly it will distribute the torque across more of the wire and it will let you reel it faster than normal without the bait rolling over. The same thing in reverse, you may want to slow a bait down but keep the willow leaf blades for flash but you also might want some vibration but don't want to use a colorado blade as you want to keep all the flash, well by getting rid of some space and moving the bottom blade closer to the back blade will make much more vibration but you'll have to reel slower. When you shorten that distance between blades it will create a lot of torque in a small area of the wire, all the torque on that small amount of wire will obviously cause the wire to vibrate more than if the torque was distrbiuted equally across the wire. I can and do tweak spinnerbaits to do certain things, I like to call them situation specific spinnerbaits and anyone can once you play around and see how the blade spacing actually affects the way the bait runs.

What kind of spinnerbait? PM me as I may be able to help.

There is a product called EZ Tube, it is a weight that goes inside the tube and then you texas rig but the hook goes through the weight. It is easy to use and works great, they even have one with a brass rattle attached and come in various weights. There is limitations to it, the biggest one I encounter are tubes that have a large solid portion on the head, these make for a bad angle but can still work but you need to use a larger hook.

I like Zoom Super Flukes and that is why I really like these River Rock jerkbaits, I fish them pretty aggessively without weight and they stay down. With the Super Flukes I have to stop as the bait keeps coming up and breaking the surface of the water. That is ok when the fish will come to the top and it is when I use it but if the fish are reluctant to come up these work fantastic and the segment or joint does give it more action, when you snal your rod the back end kicks out nicely and gives it a distinct swimming action.

Spinning reels are probably the only fishing item I use that doesn't have to be just right, I can get by with a cheap one but prefer not to. If you're commited to BPS well I can't help much but the old model Cabelas Tounament ZX is on sale still for $49.99. I got one last year at $39.99 and I was mad because I should have got 3, these are notmally $69,99-79.99 and are basically the same as as a Diawa Tierra with the difference in the ZX having all normal ball bearings were the Siawa has 2 corrosian resistant ball bearings, but I can live with that. The biggest thing for me is the reel is all metal, aluminum body and rotor, that is important for me and after using the reel a good bit I can tell you it is smooth and lot more refined than I would have thought you could get for a reel under $100.

I can talk all day about spinnerbaits, it is my favorite bait and I love it so much I started making my own over a decade ago. The 3/8oz size spinnerbait is what I call a universal size, larger than 1/4oz but smaller than the 1/2oz, it appeals to most size of bass. Is your spinnerbait one with 1 blade or two? Do they have willow leaf blades or colorados? Whatever they happen to be, you want to fish them around some type of cover first and foremost and in pretty shallow water. While you can fish a spinnerbait at any depth, the 3/8oz isn't a deep water size bait, this is a good size for water 6' deep and less. If you go fishing to your favorite lake or pond, whatever and you find that there is a breeze that makes a light chop on the water with an overcast sky when the water temp is above 60 degrees, those are the perfect conditions to use your spinnerbait. Throw it to laydowns or next to or over top of weedbeds or lily pads and you will bet bit and once you see how hard and violent a spinnerbait bite can be you'll be hooked. I remember a day on the river were it was about 70 degrees outside, it was cloudy, you know those grey skies that don't produce rain but just make it look dull, well thats how it was. There was a slight breeze every now and again, not much but enough that the slack water areas on the river would get ripples on the surface. I was testing out a new pattern I made, chartreuse and black in a double willow blade configuration and I was thinking it might not be the day for that pattern as the water was gin clear but I wanted to see how the bait looked coming through the water so I kept it on my rod. Well I made one cast and really liked the way the bait looked, it was more natural looking than I had imagined but the black in the skirt and on the head really toned down a lot of the chartreuse so I had some confidence that this would work. I made a few more casts as I was slowly drifting in about 3' of water when I came to the edge of an island that had a fairly large eddy off the point that lead into a large pool, I made a long cast to the other side of the pool and began to burn the spinnerbait back, just barely under the surface of the water. As the bait made it past the pool it was coming very close to the eddy and I can see the bait the entire way, I thought it was going to make it back to the boat when all of a sudden I saw a large swirl, the biat just disappeared and the rod doubled over and was almost pulled out of my hand, this took all of a second to happen but it was like I was watching it in slow motion. I set the hook hard but probably didn't need to as the fish more than likely set it herself as she hit it so hard, it was unbelieveable. She made a quick run followed by an incredible leap and then another run and two more leaps before I landed her, a beautiful 20.75", 4lb. 7oz smallmouth that made my day, I went on to catch a lot more but even if I didn't catch another fish I would have been happy. That scenario has played out hundereds if not thousands of times over the years and everytime it feels as good and just as exciting as it did that day and the day I caught my very first bass on a spinnerbait. Trust me, learn how to use that 3/8oz spinnerbait, you'll be glad you did.

Thank you !!! I love how excited he starts to get talking about how rods are made and he knows he is getting excited and he sort of takes aa second and gathers his emotion back, you can tell he loves fishing and that is the reason his rods were so good.

I started using these last year and just placed an order to use with a bladed jig. They make two different kinds, a Twitchy Minnow and a Jointed jerkbait, and the jointed jerkbait is a killer!! They are different as they sink like a salt loaded bait but have the action of salt free plastic and it is nice as I can fish it aggressively without the bait coming all the way to the surface and you can actually pull the back off and have a small 2" drop shot or panfish minnow. http://www.riverrockbaits.com/

These are my double split ring versions, I also make one using a single split ring with a round head, both work really well and I use them a lot. The hook you use will depend on the head you decide to use, once you know that, send me a PM and I'll help you out.

That is so funny!! I think exactly like that, and I bet there are a lot that feel the exact same way. I too hate using a Senko and most of the time it is a day saver for me when nothing else is working the Senko will get the skunk out of the boat, but it is boring to use and sometimes it feels like cheating. I was big on the powerbait shaky worm too, I only use the color they call " The General" , That was my favorite shaky head worm until I found the Basstriz locomotion worm.

I got one as soon as they released them but the only place I found it was direct from Fenwick but now Cabelas has them in stock, they don't have the 6'3" MH spinning rod ad they are missing 2 of the casting rods but the one you need to look as is there. You can also look on Amazon as I got my casting rod there for $77.49 but some people have gotten broken rods due to poor packaging or UPS destroying the rod tube. My rod came from Reds Gear and was well packed in a super thick cardboard tube and was perfect when I got it. The other thing is these rods have a lifetime warranty, I know I sound like a broken record but this rod series is impressive at any price but the fact they are in the value market price wise makes them almost a must have, how they made a rod of this caliber and sell it for its current retail is beyond me.

Let W&M know about it. You aren't the first this has happened to, I read a few threads online about the eact same thing happening on them, I also heard of inserts falling out of the guides. W&M is pretty good and should either fix or replace your rod for you.

Balance makes a big difference and I agree with that, it is also why I think the Villian has a little more weight, it was designed to be used with the MGX reel and you put both together and you have a super light combo that is probably balanced well. I think Abu Garcia hit it out of the park on all of the V series rods, I have a Vendetta that was purchased as an all purpose rod for float fishing the river in a small boat, a nice less expensive rod that won't make me sick if it gets broke. But ever since I started fishing it 2 years ago it now goes with me every trip, even on the bass boat and it isn't the lightest rod I have but it feels great and is an incredible caster and that is a trait that all the V series rods seem to have, the ability to cast really well but for distance and accuracy.

If you really look with an open mind at the Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth 6'9" M-XF spinning, it is perfect for what you want to do. It will let you skip docks with ease, and can really handle light lures just as well as a medium light rod but has more power and the price is the really kicker. After I got my first one I could not understand why they weren't charging 200 dollars for the rods in this series, I'm glad they aren't as I would only have one but I'm looking to get my 3rd. I gave the grandson my SJR722 GL3 after using that rod, and they are super light, I didn't weigh my spinning rod but I did weight my 6'10" MH-MF casting rod and it came in at a remarkable 3.83oz on a certified scale and my spinning rod is lighter than that. Take a look, you may find a rod you like at a reasonable price.

1. 5" Senko 2. Basstrix Locomotion worm 3. 5" Stanley Sidewinder

Fishing with another rod that is in the same power and action range is the key, the .5oz isn't much until you go to the lighter rod, especially if you used the heavier rod for about an hour or so. That is what got me interested in good rods back in the 80's as there was still a lot of glass on the market. I remember my first graphite rod, I always heard about the weight but I was thinking if somebody is saying an ounce or two is a big difference then they really need to get out of the kitchen and in to the weight room. That was until I got my first one, I used my glass rod for about 2 hours and then decided to try my new graphite rod , OMG! That ounce of weight really was an incredible difference, that was the last time I ever owned a glass rod and one of the reasons I became aware of rod weights.

The Big Game is fine, I know most will tell you to use some kind of braid and that is fine too but I'm an old school guy. I use braid for frog fishing and jig fishing in nasty cover with a flipping stick, thats it. I find that a good copoly works well for most anything you just have to find the line that gives you a balance of casting and strength that is acceptable to the user. I like Cajun Clear Lightning for fishing jigs and spinnerbaits in cover, it gets a bad rap because number one, it is cheap, number two, it is designed for casting reels and if you put it on spinning reels it is like wire. I like it not because it is cheap, which is nice but I would pay a premium for it if was priced that way since it has the lowest stretch I ever saw with mono and it has the abrasion resistance that is on par with flourocarbon. Anyway, the same thing with Big Game, it is tough enough for you to fish the swimbaits in weeds and has a little stretch that I find is good when using reaction baits. The 15# is plenty but the Excel 17# would also work, I think the 20# is the point that your casting will take a noticable hit. As far as any thing being optimal, it all depends on the situation as not all are the best for everything like 12# or 14# would be great for open water or some sparse grass and 15# or 17# would be the choice for weeds and brush.

6.4:1 is great with everything except deep cranks and in a pinch you could get away with it, it just is a little harder to reel. For baits that I use my rod to move the lure like worms and jigs I use a 7.1:1 and I now have a Quantum smoke 7.3:1, 34 IPT is fast! For jerkbaits and shallow cranks and square bills I like the 6.2:1 or I should say any ratio that is in the 26 to 29 IPT catagory and for most cranks I like the IPT to be around 21 to 23.