smalljaw67

I wish I would have know that Dicks had a special, I hit Cabelas up and paid $8.99 each for 2 of them. I guess it is ok, since I got my first 2 regular Shadow Raps at full price and the others came in at a 25% off sale.

The Sunny B has become my DT-6 alternative and it is a killer. There are 2 models, a shallow version and a medium runner, I use the medium runner and it is nice!!! I have two each of the baby bass, chartreuse bluegill, chartreuse shad, sexy shad, and Tennessee shad and the chartreuse shad and sexy shad have been the best so far. I like using this for a silent presentation, I got my first two last summer and it was after the first cold front that I started throwing them, they run about the same depth as the DT-6 and I use them in the same situations. I think the different profile of the bait is what makes it good, I didn't get violent strikes on it, the rod would all of a sudden just load up, every fish I caught had the front hook as they seem to really eat it, so far all the new Bagley baits I've tried are pretty good. BTW, watch for sales, I now have 10 of them as I got 8 when Cableas had them on sale.

That is better than mine, excellent work!!!!

The reel you have is a bait feeder and not intended to cast with, that slider is a drag level and the sound is there so you can hear when a fish takes the bait and runs with it. The further you move the slider, the harder it is for line to come out. Again, that reel is not designed to cast, you simply let line out as it is a trolling type reel, you need a reel designed to cast with.

I like the fact it floats up in a head first posture, and while it is rare for a bait to do that, it isn't the only one. The Bagley Spintail introduced late last year is more of a topwater bait but it will hit 2' feet and rise up head first just like the new SR Shad. I will get 2 to try out and see how it plays out, I know the shadow rap works for me, so I'll try it as it may be one of those all-season type jerkbaits that works equally as well in warm as it does cold water.

What reel is it that you adjust the centrifugal brake pins 1 at a time? I ask because my Pflueger Supreme XT's manual specifically says to adjust the brakes by turning on or off the brake blocks in opposing pairs and to never adjust just 1 brake or it throws the spool balance off. I was taught that a long time ago but then I was told it didn't matter but every reel with that braking system I adjusted in pairs but that reel of mine is the first that states it in writing not to adjust 1 brake and they have to be opposing, 1 on each side. As for the Lew Tournament pro, that has an external adjustment for the centrifugal braking, it should not need to be opened up.

We make too much out of tackle, especially for fun fishing. If you are breaking good graphite rods like you claim, you may as well go Ugly Stick. What you lose is sensitivity and what you gain is weight, they are heavier than a decent graphite rod and if you don't mind it you'll be fine. I like using decent stuff because it makes fishing enjoyable for me, but if I was just going out a couple times a season just to catch a fish I'd probably have an ugly stick. We sometimes get caught up in our passion but that is it, some want to learn to be better anglers but have no desire for finer rods and reels and that is ok.

Go to ebay and look for the Sebile Flatt Shad 54SK, it is a small lipless bait that weighs 3/8oz but you'll see it listed at 10g, but it is a small bait at 2" but it gets big bites!!

I've used the Smallie Beaver as a jig trailer and on the back of a 1/4oz football head for river smallmouth. The Sweet Beaver I like on a swing jig like the Biffle Hard Head and I also like T-rigging it with a small weight.

I use a 6'6" ML-M casting rod for smaller jerkbaits and to fish them when it is cold and I'm not imparting much action. When the water gets into the 50s, that is when I go to my 6'3" M-F casting rod, it lets me be very aggressive and still has enough forgiveness that I'm not ripping the hooks away from the fish. Line watching is necessary, you work the bait with a controlled amount of slack so when you stop it, a light bite will often just make the line jump, big fish will often suck the bait in and if you aren't watching the line you'll never know it unless they get a hook stuck when they spit it and then when you go to make the next jerk you'll feel the fish.

CJ is 100% spot on, you basically sweep set and it isn't hard either. Jerkbaits are funny, there are a lot of times the fish hit them with closed mouth to kill it, it is why the pros hate snagging laws because you will catch a lot of fish with the bait on the outside of the mouth. Normally when I get bit on slack line the fish either pulls the line straight or you feel a tap or see your line jump, when they pull, all you need to do is sweep the rod so it loads up, nothing more, when you feel the tap or see the line jump, you reel set the fish, reel in the slack and keep reeling until the rod begins to lad and then sweep set, but not hard. I use to try and pull back too hard and I was fortunate enough to have a good jerkbait angler help me land more fish, because he told me I was pulling the hook out of the fish more than driving it into the fish and the sweep set and reel set have really improved my landing percentage by leaps and bounds.

I learned something here, the largest denier thread I ever saw that wasn't gel spun was 240, the UTC 280 I had I believe was gel spun thread and thought all of it over 240 was gel spun, but it appears I'm wrong, you learn something every day.

I know how to tie them but if you never tied a jig before it will be difficult to get it down. The first thing is material, you won't see a ton of colors in puffball jigs because you need a certain stiffness for it to work otherwise you cut the strands too short to be effective. Round rubber works well so that is what I would use if I were you. The next thing to make it easier is to cut a 1/8" groove around the collar of the jig where you are going to tie the material. Then take your round rubber and cut it so it is twice as long as the length you want. On a regular size roll of round rubber, you'll want to cut 4 lengths of material to use if you are making a 3/8oz jig. This is why I don't make them much, they use a lot of material and I don't think they are more effective than other jigs but I have tied them and used them for over a year because you don't knock it until you tried it. Anyway, take a length of material and fold it in half lengthwise and widthwise and then tie it to the back of the jig with a light wrap, then repeat the process tying one length to the front and then one on each of the sides. Once you have them in position start making tight wraps, and they need to be really tight to pull the material into the groove and tight to the collar inside the groove you cut. You are going to make a good bit of wraps to secure the skirt material but you don't want to make the collar wide, no more than say 1/16" wide, if you make it wider than that you strt pulling the material back. Then when you finish it will be time to cut the rubber loose, I always start with the bottom because it is easy to get at without the top cut. Pull the material and make it tight and slowly cut it to free the legs up and repeat until it is all cut, then when you cut the top, you have to cut the fold first then you can free the legs and that will result in a puffball style. Sorry about it but that is the process, and if you have never tied a jig before it will sound like I'm speaking another language and there isn't a lot I can do to help which is why I don't recommend these until you really know how to tie. I was tying over 10 years before I even attempted it but I'd say a good year, or even 2, of experience tying different types of jigs will help, good luck.

Yes, that would be a clear water killer!!!! I'll bet that in clear water conditions that will do better than having a soft plastic fluke or swim bait as a trailer, great color selection and the flash is just enough, nice work!!!!!!!!!

I will echo Will Wetline, those are really good for the first time, I remember my first one, oh man was it bad.

It looks like you're on your way to a really nice selection, well done!!! You'll be amazed at how effective they can be at times and when they are, it is normally when you can't buy a bite with any other bait.

If I can make a suggestion, I think a mix of high end and lower priced models will help you find a bait that works for you. I'm a jerkbait fanatic, it ranks almost as high as spinnerbaits for me and so I've put a lot of time in using various types. Some guys like using a sideways jerk and others use a straight down rip, and of course you will get slightly different responses from each bait and some baits work better one way or another. So try a variety of baits and find out which one does the best for you at catching fish. Here is what I think you should start with, and these are all proven baits for me. 1. Lucky Craft Pointer 100 and the 78 2. Lucky Craft Slender Pointer 97 and 112 3. Smithwich suspending Rogue and Elite 8 Rogue 4. Rapala Shadow Rap Shallow and deep 5. Rapala X-Rap 8 and 10 6. Ima Flit 100 Honorable mentions go to the Storm Twitch stick 10 and the Luck-E-Strike RC STX 4.5" and 3.75". Before anyone gets upset because I didn't include the Megabass Vision 110 or anything else, it is because I don't think that bait is a beginner bait, I think one should fish other baits first and learn the jerkbait before fishing the 110 so as to understand what makes the 110 so good. I've had guys in the boat with me throwing a 110 wondering what the hype was about because they didn't see anything worth $25, and that is why I consider it to be more of a jerkbait for those who have used them before.

I have used 280 UTC Ultra Thread GSP, I was actually using that for rubber and silicone and 210 for regular hair jigs and 140 for crappie jigs. After running out I started using the 210 for rubber and silicone and found it works just fine, and I can get 2 spools of the Danville Flymaster plus for the cost of 1 spool of the 280 GSP.

Bomber Square A, the largest size weighs 3/8oz but it is small.

I'll be honest, the river is going to crest at 11.2' at Harrisburg in the next 2 days and that is plain dangerous, especially since you'll have ice flows coming with a lot of debris at a fast rate. I fish the river a lot but not until the ice has completely gone and the current slows a bit, my buddy had a tree trunk practically capsize his boat when a lot of rain knocked back the ice and he had to go out. If you do go out, find areas close to shore with slack water, that is where you will find them when the water is up as they will head toward the bank. Hair jigs, tubes, grubs, and small swimbaits are going to be used as the water will probably be muddy.

Thank you for the kind words everyone, I try to make them easy to understand but if you need help I'm here. I use a lot of different material and I make a lot of different head styles with various hooks depending on where I'm going to use the jig. I use light line as I'm fishing these in water temps in the low 30s to the mid 40s so I prefer light weights with light wire hooks on a medium light power rod. So if you give me some specifics I may be able to get you in the right ball park to start, good luck.

I like the 3/32oz double barb head that Bluebasser pours, I make the same one and I use either the size 1 EC Lil Nasty hook or the Owner 5318 hook depending on the bait I'm using with it. If I'm using the 3" Fat Senko I use the Owner 5318 because the round bend has a larger gap, and if I'm using the regular 3" Senko, that is when I like using the Lil Nasty hook.

Those water temps I like a hair jig, a Stingray grub, and a jerkbait. The one hair jig I like to throw is a 3/32oz walleye painted black and tied with black marabou with a little black Krystal flash, that little hair jig will really get them to bite at certain times.

I fish a couple shallow, rocky rivers in PA, the Juniata and the Susquehanna, the Susquehanna is really wide but average depth isn't much. Some areas are 20' deep and other spots are a few inches but I've caught large 5lb smallmouth out of 2' of water. In the winter I found a hole holding fish that was a little over 8' deep, and it was maybe 40 yards long and 50 yards wide, I caught 11 smallmouth there on a hair jig and the smallest fish was 15" with the largest being 20.5" and weighing 4lbs 11oz. As long as there is enough oxygen and food, the smallmouth will be there.

Aberdeen hooks like the shroomz head work fine, I make my own using an Aberdeen style hook and I've landed many a 5lb smallmouth on them. The problem is most guys want to fish a rig designed to be used with 4lb and 6lb line with 30lb braid and you need a flipping style hook for that. I can make a heavy hook model but it won't be a mushroom head, it will be a round head.