WookieeJedi

I have "called up" stripers using a CC pencil popper lure when I could find them, but not get them to hit a sub-surface lure. I have heard stories about guys hitting the water with a paddle doing the same thing, but they can be so sensitive to noise I haven't tried it myself. If you spook them, they can be hard to find again. Good to know it worked for somone, maybe I will try it if they make me desparate enough.

My main reason for buying one was so I could clone it properly. If it ever starts catching fish, that is. I can buy a lot of wire and snap-swivels for $20.

If I can hear frogs, it is time to fish with one. Given the type of stuff you usually have to deal with when frog fishing, I would stick with braid starting at 20 and only going up from there.

It looks like this lake was an old Karst (sinkhole) lake like you see around there a lot, but it has been filled in somewhat by developers. When they do that, the dozers change the bottom structure a little. But, in a bowl, you only need a small change in contour to attract the fishes. A little fish-finder graph might be just the thing. Until you get one, I would work the west and south sides next to the roads, you don't make a straight line like that without moving some dirt around. Good luck!

Zero. I have been racking up Cabela's points with their credit card. When I get enough points, I just order from them. Even qualified for a black card the first year, but I use that thing for everything. BTW, they have their own bank issue the card, so if you have some hate for BoA, that's a good option. I still like BPS, but only buy from them when I am nearby already and have run out of speedcraws. Even then, I pay using my Cabela's card.

The tackletour link was really helpful, I was going to get some vanish line with my next Cabela's order. Looks like I will be going with seaguar instead. Previously, the only fc line I had bought was p-line. I always loosen the drag a little with fc, but some of those knot strengths were terrible, and my p-line didn't fare so well in their tests. I have some of their fc coated mono that is really strong line, and almost as invisible as straight fc, you just give up on the sensitivity. Y'all just saved me a little $, thanks!

Good job getting the fish and NOT feeding an alligator. Those smaller gators are more aggressive, a 10 footer has nothing to prove.

Nice!

I'm not giving up so easily on it. I think it has some potential for summer and fall. If nothing else, it should get the job done on schooling hybrids and stripers when the time comes. But miracle lure? Hardly. It has taught me something, if I ever develop a new lure, the first thing I'm doing after applying for a patent is to get BASS to outlaw it.

I use a small guage needle from the drugstore. Get the smallest thing they carry and just put a little air in using the technique retiredbosn suggests. You can also use the needle to inflate the tail on soft plastic lures. I started using this on trout too, but when I can find the giant native crawlers in early summer, I can use them for bass as well. You sometimes get bonus fish like crappie and catfish when you use it. I'm not sure why, but native worms outscore the ones from you can buy. I have been standing right next to someone trout fishing the same water and catch them with the native worms, while they fish the same hole and get nothing with store crawlers.

I will try putting a spoon in the middle for some flash. The thing looks good in the water, and looks like it should catch something sooner or later. I'm dealing with really clear water right now, and I think the rig itself may be putting them off. But frogs, crankbaits, jigs, worms, swimbaits, and creatures are all doing the job right now. If the hype around this rig was all true, it would be catching them as well. Ten years from now, the bama rig will be just another lure, like the senko and carolina rig, with a time and place, just like the others. Outlawing them for tournaments may be the best marketing ploy since New Coca-Cola.

You can catch them with small in-line spinners, micro beetle spins, and small Road Runner jigs. Rebel makes some realistic tiny plugs like the crickhopper that will get them too. I even used a rattling crappie bobber I found on the lake to cast a popping fly once. It worked.

The Matrix Shad sold by Dockside in Slidell is a great lure, especially for swimming a grub, just leave the spinner off and swim it. They are really durable too. I have been able to use a 8lb cylindrical window weight as an anchor for my kayak. I let it down easy first to guage the depth, lift it up a few feet and let it go. It sticks into the bottom pretty good, but if the current is too strong to anchor, it just tips over and drags so you don't get in a jam by being anchored in strong current.

So far, I tend to agree. Every thing I'm throwing seems to catch them, except for the Bama rig. It is only a matter of time before the other lures start hazing it.

Mississippi is the Magnolia State, bro! We are the Pelican State, and there isn't a decent poboy in Alexandria, you gotta go to NOLA, baby! The drive-thru liquor stores may have some shock value for a Virginia native, though. There's a lot of good fishing in central LA. My brother lives there and fishes Cane River above the lock quite a bit. There's natives and Floridas in there.

Nice catch, and really, really ugly.

The White is always a good trip. The Little Red is my favorite, but it isn't as scenic. Good pics!

I use a 7'6" Ugly Stick inshore rod. It's a rod primarily used for stripers, but it seems to be a good fit. The A-rig has yet to catch a fish for me, though.

A jig and craw or senko.

Those triple grips are good hooks. I haven't bought a new rogue in a long time (1996), so maybe the hooks have improved. I use mine until the paint is worn off, then I repaint them. You are right about some other companies also being guilty of cheap hooks, I just got 2 Bomber crankbaits, an A6 and a fat-free fry. The fry had really small, cheap wire hooks and the split rings were terrible. The A6 had really good hardware, and all the hooks need is a little red dye.

The second one has been painted over. They covered up some of the distinctive eyes on the lure. Without an original box, the best way to tell the age of a rogue is by the hardware. Older ones have too small trebles on them and light wire split rings, the newr ones are better, but still sub-par. This guy: http://www.smithwickcollector.com/ has a nice collection that may help.

The hooks on every Smithwick lure I have ever owned have been awful. That is saying a lot, my gradfather used to be a friend of the family and tested out some prototypes back in the day in Shreveport. I stil have a few of them, lousy hooks and all. I tend to replace hooks on hardbaits so much I don't even think about factory hooks on a lure anymore. I'll bet that has something to do with all those Smithwick lures I grew up fishing. I stand behind the Rouge, though, just know going in that it will need new hooks.

I have a pair of Luhr-Jensen Hot Lips cranks in brown craw/orange that murdered Buffalo River smallmouth almost year-round. It was almost like cheating somehow.

Another vote for the Rogue here. I have had a gold/orange belly in my box as long as I have been fishing. I really believe 90% of a jerkbait's effectiveness is in how you fish it, not how much you pay for it.

The Spots are great, second only to the RatLTrap. They do sink more slowly, and sometimes that is a good thing. The CC Shad rocks, it sometimes outfishes my beloved Shad Raps.