Tucson

If you stand a milk crate on end you can stack 12 3600 series planos inside. Put on a strap to carry it and you've got a pretty inexpensive carrier/rack. It keeps them in a flat position too. Mr. Thrifty

I pre-rig my own DS rigs. Just tie a hook on (I use stand-out hooks) leave about 4 feet of tag end so you can trim it in the field, leave about 2 feet of line above the hook and tie on a swivel. When you need one just tie on to the swivel. Saves time in the boat and gives me a chance to play with my tackle in the off season.

LBH: Current regulations limit you to one keeper!

Used my neighbors swimming pool to try out some different lures, pretty eye-opening to see them in action in real clear water. Here's what I learned: I need heavier jigheads for Hula Grubs, will try 1/4 oz instead of 1/8 oz. Football jigheads give the Hula Grubs a totally different effect, will definitely start using them in 3/8 oz for this application. Soft plastic swimming shads by Storm-O really look like live fish, will use them more and try trolling with them. Adding a twin-tail plastic chunk to a jig gives it a real life-like look. Rapalas look just about how I expected. Senkos don't do anything much at all except catch fish! They just kind of sit there in a horizontal position when they drift down. Didn't really notice the famous "tantalizing wiggle on the drop" but I'm not a fish so maybe there's something there. Found I could slow most plastics down even slower than usual and they work as well or better. Found that a pig 'n jig really can be used as a swimming jig, esp the lighter ones. Dropshotting looks just about like I expected. Got to see a Carolina Rigged lizard in action, tried them with a small float just above the lizard. Now I have a much better picture of whats going on down there when I'm actually fishing and how to adapt these lures to different situations.

I've got a similar pair, pretty much worthless so I end up using a real small pocket screwdriver to get started then work in on somehow. Not the best method but I lost faith in split ring pliers. Maybe if I got a pair of good ones.....

Looks like we have a consensus! Thanks for your help. I've got 150 jigs from the Assalt close-out sale and five weeks on Little Lake Harris to try them out. Oh Yeah!

I normally use jigs to fish a rocky deep-water impoundment in AZ but will be spending some time in FL in a much shallower lake, average depth of 6'. Are jigs (pig & jig type) useful in such shallow water? I use 3/16 & 3/8 ounce Assalt jigs. Any special technique or just drag 'em through the mud? Thanks for any input.

We should all have as much fun as an otter in the water. They are way cool!

I have fun fishing a Johnson Silver Minnow (or similar) with a plastic trailer through the pads. If you're new to baitcasting you'll be amazed at how much cranking power they have. A whole different ball game than a spinning rig.

The two cranks on this posting are works of art. I wouldn't be able to put them in the water, they'd get all wet and fishy!

I didn't know either. Good tip, thanks for sharing.

We had snow in Tucson the other day, lasted until the afternoon. Had ice on the bird feeder too so I can empathize. Mr. Cats first snow and he exhibited a strong negative reaction.

Thanks for the insight, maybe that's why they're not so popular.

My thoughts exactly!

Anyone familiar with clamshot weights? They're a pinch-on, football shaped sinker. I'm thinking they'd be great for split shotting but I don't have a clue as to what the sizes are. Catalog lists them as #4 through #10. Seems like the shape would slip through weeds better than a round split shot.

Northland makes a bullet weight with a rubber insert that should do the trick. It's called a sling shot weight. Cabela's carries them (page 233 Master Fishing 2007 catalog.

I'm pretty new at the BC game and have the same problem myself. Seems no matter how early I release, it's too late! Gonna keep practicing and I'll get it eventually. I cast side arm as a rule and it works well but my accuracy is not to great.

I think you made a wise choice. I've heard nothing but good stuff about the Compre. I plan on picking one up for dropshotting this Spring. Thought I read that Jimmy Houston uses Shimano rods.

The fiberglass flyrod I built 30+ years ago finally gave up the ghost so I ordered a Cabela's SLi kit to replace it. Next day Cabela's sent me a backorder email so I cancelled and ordered a Okuma Magnitude 9' 8 weight along with a large arbor SLV reel. The whole thing including shipping was $127. Man, what a difference 30 years of technology makes! The new rod is about half the diameter of the old one, substatially lighter and the action is much more crisp. Can't wait until the bass are in the shallows.

Can't remember where I've seen them but someone makes a clamp-on unit specifically for cameras. It would probably be pretty easy to fabricate one at home. Pretty compact too.

Munkin: Nice looking jigs. Are those Barbarian hooks? The hooks with the eye turned 90 degrees look interesting, are they pretty common? Tucson

The thread wrap sounds like a great idea, I'm gonna try it.

I like the original floaters in Black/Silver or Blue/Silver. For subsurface I like the DT minnows, they allow you to select a fishing depth.

I agree. Anyone tabulating the responses? This might be a good topic for a poll.

BFM: Wow, that's a pretty broad topic. I'm not familiar with Dicks but as a suggestion try looking at anything that you can't normally get there. If in doubt anything with the name Rapala should work! Might be helpful if you could narrow it down to certain categories ie: plastics, cranks, spinnerbaits etc. Pack a lunch and be prepared to spend some time looking and let us know how you make out. Have fun!