smalljaw67

There really isn't any industry standards and it will change based on the type of body and blade. I can kind of help but I only make in-line spinners for trout and bass and I keep them small. I pour my own lead lure bodies which look like a rooster tail spinner and for trout I use the 1/16oz size and 1/8oz sizes and bass I use the 1/8oz and 1/4oz. When it comes to trout I use .024" diameter wire and when I make the 1/16oz trout spinners I use a variety of different blades, I use sonic in-line blades in a size #2 and a size #1 for swing blades. For 1/8oz trout spinners I use a size #3 sonic in-line, a size #2 swing blade and for hooks I use a size 12 treble for the 1/16oz and a size 10 treble for the 1/8oz. For bass it is different, I use .028" diameter wire and on the 1/8oz size I use a #1 swing blade or a size 3 sonic in-line with a size 6 treble. For the 1/4oz spinner I use a #4 French blade or a #3 swing blade with a size 4 treble. Use this as a base from which to start for blade and hook sizes, as far as clevis sizes go I use a size 1 since I'm not using wire larger than .028" diameter so it works for all of them. Beads are easy 1/8" beads work for all and you can use some 3/16" for accent or body spacers on larger spinners. That is about the easiest way I can help you because you will want to your spinners to be different lengths and body types than mine but those sizes will give you something to work with and then you can adjust once you get to making them.

A 3.5" tube in green pumpkin. You can fish it T-rigged with a 1/0 tube hook, you can fish it with an inside jig head from 1/16oz up to 3/8oz, Caroline Rig it or even rig it weightless and fish it like a soft jerkbait or a topwater. While there are other baits I prefer for certain situations and other colors for different conditions, if I could only have 1 then this would be it.

I organize my baits by depth but I group them according to brand and type. I don't separate square bill from shallow diver since they get used in similar situations. So in 1 of my shallow boxes I'll have Yo-Zuri square bills across the top and then in the second row it is Mann's Baby 1 Minus baits. The third is my Rapala DT-4 and DT Flat 3 baits and the bottom row are Bagley Rattlin' Kill'R B2s and Strike King 1.5s. I have 7 shallow diving boxes total and I'll do the same for the medium and deep divers. I could take a couple of shallow diving cranks and just fill one box with 1 brand and type, like Baby'1 minus baits, I have enough to do 2 full boxes but when I go on a friend's boat I simply grab a shallow diving box and put it in my bag and I'll have a nice selection of shallow running baits.

No problem my friend, and I'll gladly accept the crypto currency beer and I'll buy you a crypto currency shot as well!!!

Bass Pro Shops Crankin' rod is probably the only crankbait specific rod you'll see labeled as a "fast" action. Your understanding of the term is right, fast action means the rod flexes through the upper section of the blank. The problem is that there isn't any industry standard so some fast action rods flex a little more or less than others. When it comes to techniques specific rods, most crankbait rods are going to be soft, especially medium power models and I don't know why but Bass Pro has always listed their cranking rods as a "fast" action and they aren't going to work trying to get a good hook set on heavier wire hooks, that medium power model is more suited to keeping pressure on fish hook with a size 6 or size 4 treble hook.

You don't want a cranking rod for those hooks, especially in a medium power. As Bluebasser86 already told you, a more stout rod, a MH fast action rod, and I know, the BPS cranking rod is listed as a fast but it is a fast action compsite rod for cranking. A fast action spinnerbait or jig and worm rod will be able to drive the hook in order to get full penetration so the fish can't shaky the bait free.

Not bad, but I do have 1 critique. That top picture, the hook is off center, it doesn't look like a big deal but with a jig that size with a heavy hook it may not perform well. I modified a lot of molds and I can tell you that what will happen with lighter weight heads when the hook is off center. What you will find is the jig will want to fall over on its side, the same side to hook is positioned. If it is a swim jig it will want to lean to the point you will need to thread your trailer on off center to compensate. The good thing is it looks like you have room to fix it, I'd have the machine shop measure the depth and even each cavity out so that the hook will sit in the center.

River Rock Custom Baits 3.5" pro tube in dark melon candy. It is a hand dipped tube that is really soft and it gets bit even in tough conditions and the fish don't spit it, they eat it!!

On 4" soft jerkbaits I use a 2/0 and on a 5" model I use a 4/0. I found the Owner Twist Lock Light (GYCB designed Senko hook) is the absolute best hook for soft jerkbaits. I use a lot of different brand hooks for different things, I'm a big fan of Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp hooks as well as Mustad, and VMC and the reason I mention this is because I want you to know I'm not a hook snob. Some anglers will only use high end hooks and that is fine, I'm not that guy but I cn tell you that I've tried a lot of different hooks for soft jerkbaits and there is nothing that beats the Twist Lock Light. It isn't a light wire hook, it is medium wire but very strong and it isn't really an EWG hook but it has a wider gap than a wide gap round bend hook. I got 1 pack to try a few years back and after 1 day of fishing with a good fluke bite I went and bought a bunch more in each size, I honestly believe there is no better soft jerkbait hook on the market from any other brand.

You have the 327, the OP is asking about the 152 which is a regular eye hook. I don't disagree with your issues with the hooks you have, I remember getting 1000 of the size 1 Aberdeen sickle hooks for smallmouth hair jigs and I sent back 331, that is 33% that were bad. Actually 33% were not able to be used, I had about another 100 or so that weren't right but I was able to work with. I like that bend as it really holds and it makes the light wire stronger so it was awesome to see Eagle Claw introduced the Lil Nasty and now Mustad has a sickle as well. I'm not sure if it is true or not but I have heard Matzuo is out or going out of business and if that is true the last hooks produced may be even worse. I also want to let you know that they have very limited QC, I was told by a vendor that they contacted Matzuo America about all the hook issues and they were told that they don't have dedicated quality control, instead workers do "self inspection" but they also have to meet quotas so bad runs don't get reported as often as they should. The vendor no longer deals with Matzuo and even Captain hooks has changed their policy with them, if you got them from them you could send them back to them for replacement, now they won't take them back and instead you have to send them back to Matzuo directly. So don't feel bad, Matzuo had a good product but they kind of get a pass because they are cheap but when you get so many bad ones that 1/3 aren't any good, well that makes them a little pricier and not worth it in my book.

I think you guys have the wrong hooks than what the OP is looking for help with. The lil nasty hooks are 90 degree light wire and the 152 is a 60 degree regular eye flipping hook and not a flat eye. As for 152, I have 3 sample hooks, 1 in each size and I never used them yet. I will say this, they are a little heavier than the Owner 5304 deep throat which does the same thing as the sickle bend and that is hold fish. If you want to try that hook I'd say get a small amount first, Matzuo doesn't have good quality control, their Aberdeen model sickle hooks as well as the 785 wacky hooks they make for Do-it are all over the place on the dimensions. If you intend to use them in your custom mold I'd say forget it as they tend to be off on the eye leg length with a lot of their hook, you can get away with some variance on a Do-it mold but not on a machined custom mold. As I said, if you want to see how they are try buying a small amount, I know some guys like them and they would be fine if they had even a little QC but I've sent back so many Matzuo hooks over the years that I no longer use that brand at all.

Preacher style jigs are warm water baits mostly and they don't use trailers. They have long bucktail and longer feathers and the feathers are where the action comes from as the bucktail provides the baitfish profile. Cold water hair jigs are usually smaller, 1/4oz and less and are fished with and without trailers, for my smaller trailers I like the Zoom Tiny Chunk, and the Venom lures Ron Yurko Finesse Chunk. For the large jigs up to 1/4oz I like the Conquistador Finesse Pro Craw, and the Netbait Tiny Paca Chunk.

Go on the front. EWG hooks excel at holding fish when hooked because of the wide gap and the hook point facing in making them harder to throw. The drawback is they don't hook fish that are swiping at the bait as well as a round bend does so you will want the round bend on the back which is where a fish just swiping at the bait usually gets it.

The knock-off lure blanks work but they aren't the same as the originals. In my neck of the woods the Adam's Custom lures square bills are very popular and they are SK 1.5 knock-offs. For the DT series knock offs, well they work too but they aren't even close in action and that is because the DT cranks are balsa and not plastic. The differences are small in the appearance of these lures but it is what you can't see that is responsible for the action. Those differences would be the type of plastic, the wall thickness of the plastic as well as the weighting system.

Use what works for you. The only reason you may get told that something is wrong is because a Senko just catches fish. I know it isn't for you and that is why you will get a lot of suggestions on changing colors and stuff. To be honest, I sort of can't figure it out, the Senko works even when it is tough, and so much so that it gets used more than other worms in my arsenal, including the trick worm. There is no wrong way to fish a Senko but the least effective way is moving it too fast, the attraction is on the fall and when it is tough I dead stick it for 30 seconds and then lift and drop but let it fall on a semi slack line but you need to watch your line as you often won't feel a Senko bite like that even with the best rod.

That is a Collins mold, CNC-Works. He doesn't have it listed anymore but he has the same one in a flat eye hook style that is made for the 32796 Mustad.

I agree with every word of A-Jay's thought and description of the Arashi. It is a little different and I only use the 11 size, I have baits that produce better but the top walker is good enough that it stays in my rotation as well. I will add that while I have caught fish with it in various scenarios, the time that I reach for it is when there is a slight breeze making a little chop on the water, that has been the type of situation it has been the most consistent for me. I'm a big fan of the super spook Jr. and it may be my favorite walking bait but over the last 2 years the Yo-Zuri 3DB Pencil has been my go to. I think the top walker is worth getting but if you are going to add a walking bait you haven't tried I would suggest getting a pencil and if only 1 I'd go with bone but prism shad and prism ghost shad are absolute killers if you have clear water conditions.

That mold is designed for the 32886 Mustad, in fact any Do-it mold designed for a 30 degree hook will have to be modified to fit the VMC 7217 and the reason is swim jigs aren't usually fished on heavier tackle and the ball collar models like the bullet bass jig were designed before so many anglers were using super lines. The 7217 is a super stout hook but you'll have to modify any mold in order to use it.

What size Poison Tail do you want to use? The 4/0 VMC 7217 is the hook you want if using heavy braid but you will need to modify the mold to make it fit since the wire is too heavy for the jig hook it is made for. The 4/0 Mustad 91768 is .057" diameter while the VMC 7217 is .066" diameter, that is a pretty big difference, the modification isn't hard but you being new to this it may be a bit trying until you've poured for a bit so you get use to how the hooks fit and what needs to be done to get a new hook in the mold. I don't know what you want to do with the jig but if you are looking at using it as a flipping-pitching-bottom contact jig, well there are molds that are better suited that use a heavy hook that you won't have to modify. If you want a swim jig then look at the Trokar Pro Swim jig mold, and you don't have to use Trokar hooks, the Mustad 32796 will work fine and they are heavy wire so you won't have to modify it to get a heavier hook. There are a lot of options but if you want the Poison Tail, which is a great jig, you'll have to modify it in order to take a hook that will work with the heavy tackle you intend to use.

Spider Wire Ultra Cast Ultimate Mono, I'm really liking it. I fished it side by side with Seaguar InvizX fluorocarbon and Sunline Defier Armilo mono to see how good the line was. The Sunline handled better but got nicked up faster fishing through rocks and it felt like there was more stretch and the InvizX had similar handling properties but wasn't even close in knot strength. The only knock on the Ultimate Mono is that it handles like fluorocarbon but a couple of spritzes of KVD line and lure conditioner and it is great!! It has excellent knot strength and the abrasion resistance is outstanding, it makes me wonder why more anglers aren't using it. I'm on my 4th full season with this line, I usually try at least 1 new line per season but I didn't go with one last year, the first time in a long time as I don't know if I'll get better than the Spider Wire. I know a lot of guys like Sunline and it convinced me to try it and perhaps I got old line but I tried the Super Natural and the strength wasn't good, it handled better than any other mono I ever used but I had more break offs in one trip than I did in 3 years combined. The Defier Armilo was also good but I suspect that whatever Sunline does to make their line supple ends up hurting the abrasion resistance and with a lot of my fishing being done in an extremely rocky environment it makes for a lot of trouble. The Ultimate Mono as I said, isn't the best handling line but the low stretch, knot strength, and abrasion resistance makes it the best mono I've used so far, 1 break off in 3 years and that was on a snag, still haven't had it happen on a fish which is something I can't say for any other mono I've tried.

I never bent one out but I did have a few break but it happened when Mustad opened new facility. I would go with a VMC 7161, it is a 60 degree hook but in a 5/0 it is heavier than the Mustad and the Owner 517 which is 1 I haven't heard of anyone bending out. The Hack attack is made with a 30 degree hook and is similar to a heavy style swim jig. If you wanted a heavy hook that wouldn't bend out with a 30 degree hook, the Mustad 32850 would be a good choice, the 5/0 is really heavy and it has a deep throat bend similar to a sickle style hook which will make it even harder to bend out. The only thing is you'll have to modify the mold you use as nothing that is available uses a hook that heavy.

Congrats on the giant!!!!! Oh you are doomed, once you get a big one on a jerkbait you'll be like me, 5 boxes full and yet I still have to try new ones...LOL!!!!! Once again, congrats on the awesome fish and on a jerkbait, and just as Bluebasser86 said, it must have been scary fighting that fish especially after the first jump when you saw how big it was.

I think a lot of anglers are buying into the rubber being better but I see it differently. Rubber has a different action but different doesn't mean better. I like both rubber and silicone and each have their place and I'll try to explain the difference. The one thing you can see with rubber versus silicone when it comes to the action is rubber separates faster and then suspends in the water so you get a pulse and flare with every little bit of movement. With silicone you get a slow separation of the strands and then it slowly opens up and then the strands begin to fall. So while you get more action with the rubber you get a longer period of constant movement with the silicone and so when fish are more active the rubber will usually be better. When fish aren't so active and t requires you to dead stick the jig, that is when it is hard to replace silicone, but make no mistake, both work and sometimes one will do better than the other. The problem with rubber is that the color patterns are limited which isn't really a major issue, but storing it is. If you live in a climate where the water gets hard and your jigs are stored in a box for more than a month, well you need to store them with some unscented talc dusted on them after the jigs are dry and move them every couple of weeks. If you don't the rubber will take a set meaning it will kink and it also likes to stick to itself almost melting together which is why you store them separate and dust them with the talc. If you live in a warm climate you are in danger of them melting together if left in a box too long as well, it is the only problem that I have with that material but it is one that I deal with as I like using it on my jigs in combination with silicone.

I happen to like them. They are the hooks used on the Mann's Baby 1 minus and the Baby X, when they get bad I replace them with the same Lazer sharp trebles. The reason why is they hold their points when grinding on the rocks in the river I fish, I also like the Owner Stinger trebles but the Gamakatsu points just don't hold up for me but I am fishing a lot of hard rock and not chunk rock but solid bed rock and the Lazer Sharps hold up better than a Gami.

It is a reaction strike so color isn't always a concern with a square bill. It is that bait going past them when they are in ambush mode, they react to it moving past at a high rate of speed. When there is clear water and the fish are cruising rather than holding on cover is when color patterns begin to have more influence. That said, there are no shad in the lakes I fish on a regular basis but in clear water a shad color crank will work, I don't match the hatch exactly, I choose patters that are either bright, dark, or natural.