Fishing Doug

whittler, excellent job. Do sell your lures? My fishing buddy would love to have one of those on his desk FD

Agreed. I just ordered 2 more rods from him earlier this week and will be delivered on Monday. Certainly can't beat the price. The first one I bought from him was broke 3 inches from the tip-obviously FedEx's fault,not his. he took care of all of the paperwork to have that one sent back and have another one sent out asap. Fat Fish Farmer must have some kind of arrangement with the baitmonkey!

I have an MBR783C and the TDZ fits great! My buddy has a Chronarch 50 that fits just as well-I think you would be happy with that setup. I also have a Citica 200 that I put on it just to see how it felt-the reel simply felt too big and heavy. The MBR's are so light they deserve to be paired up with a lightweight reel! FD

Fellas, what are your thoughts on these? Specifically the Strike King Redeye series: http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=44626&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults I have decent success with traditional Strike King spinnerbaits so I picked up the box of 8 spinnerbaits for $12 at BPS. What are your thoughts on 'painted' blades on s-baits? I have never strayed away from the traditional gold/silver. I figured worst case scenario is I switch out the blade to a silver/gold..the price seemed to be right. Thanks in advance, FD

This spring I picked up a MBR783 from fat fish farmer on ebay. This is my favorite rod-light weight, sensitive. I primarily use it for spinnerbaits but also use it for soft plastics. I don't have any experience with the "4" power but the "3" power is fairly stiff and seems to work well. my 2cents. FD

this is definitely a tough one to call- so I only bet 50 on Hughes instead of 100. I just don't think GSP can handle Hughes on the ground. Hughes is just so freaking strong. tough to call on Sylvia vs. Monson. Sylvia has a major reach advantage but I think if it goes to the ground quick, Monson can handle him...I think he can submit Sylvia and yeah, these fights are the 18th, a week from this Sat.

hip hop is kid's stuff for bass...gotta go techno for the good stuff! ;D almost every track from Louie Devito's cd "Trance Sessions 2". Louie Devito "Blow the Speakers" tracks by: DJ Micro DJ Tiesto Bad Boy Bill Robbie Rivera John Digweed Diesel Boy There a a couple of remixed versions of Chemical Brothers 'Galvanize' with a lot more bass than the original version. I think someone already mentioned this but check your local laws-noise ordinance laws could make those expensive songs in a hurry!

If Louisville wins tonight and goes undefeated, there is going to be a lot of controversy. There are a handful of one loss teams:TX, Florida, etc that I think deserve to play in the championship game that will not due to the 1 loss. College football is one of my favorite sports...but they have a jacked up postseason.....I don't think this issue will be resolved until there is a playoff system-I am not holding my breath. biased choice: Texas should play in the champ game after they beat Nebraska for the Big 12 Championship....

Bud, how do you like the MG Stradic? I debated that version, luckily the bait monkey didn't make me splurge.

Fellas, here is the deal-the bait monkey found me a good deal on 2 Stradic's. I have one on the St. Croix AS70MF and have one sitting here. I want to purchase an IMX for the other one but I am wondering if the SJR843 or SJR844 would be a better fit for the 2500 size Stradic. Would the 843 be a little light for 6 lb Yo-Zuri and throwing flukes, beavers, Ika's, etc? Thoughts? Thanks in advance, FD

Investment Advisor....working for a successful company and loving it.

my list: 7ft. St. Croix Avid AS70MF w/Stradic 2500 7ft. CBR843 GLoomis w/TDZ Terminator Spinnerbait Rat-L-Trap Fluke Sweet Beaver IKA black and blue jig Can you tell I have taken the advice from you guys??!! ;D

For you guys using the clips, are you clipping to the split ring (assuming there is one on the cranks you are using), or, are you removing the split ring and clipping directly to the eye on the crank?

LBH, I fall in the category that 'under-sets' the hook. From years of crappie fishing, I am used to a soft hookset in order to not rip it out of their lip. As this season progressed, I began putting a little more behind my hookset and I am confident that is a big reason for my better hookup ratio. Also, maybe it is just me, but I noticed it was even more important to set the hook very solid on finesse type baits-senko, fluke, brush hog, etc. it seemed that I had better hook ups on cranks and spinners from the beginning. Fishing Doug

Ohio State-Longhorns matchup..... unless Louisville wins out....I don't see them beating Rutgers on Thursday.

another vote for the TD-Z. picked up 2 of them this year...now the Citica's I picked up earlier in the year are collecting dust.

I am curious to hear everyone's input on this too. I have broke most of my fingers through various sports injuries and the less knots I have to tie, the better. However....do the clips effect the action of the crankbait? supplemental question: are you guys using any type of quick snap on other baits such as spinnerbaits?

A trip to Cabo.

these guys already summed it up..that is a distorted fact due to the fact that the city is such a small part of the St. Louis area. Other than illegal parking, I haven't heard of any crimes in my area of STL.

I picked up my ultra soft here: cabelas.com

I fished that exact rig today-you will be very happy with it. I bought the 783 earlier this year for my TD-Z but borrowed a buddy's Chronarch to throw spinnerbaits today to see how I liked it. I think I am going to grab a 50mg...the complete rig is super light.

I recently bought a pack of spinnerbait trailer hooks that include the tubing. I am confused on how the tubing is to be used. it appears to be approximately 1/8 inside diameter which is obviously much larger than than the shank of the spinnerbait hook. is this some type of shrink tubing? Fishing Doug

Valascus. Good luck out there. looks like it cooled off a ton last night.

Valascus, We actually fished lake 6 yesterday. Terrible conditions, of course. I caught one between the laydowns along the d**n and that was it. Tried Ratler, cranks, Rogue, Yum Dinger, and baby brush hog. Therefore, I agree with the folks here that know what they are doing-toss a jig around those laydowns and catch some fish. :-/ Let me know how you do. Doug

what type of rod are you guys using for Jerk/minnow baits? I am assuming you would want a fast tip to get the most action from the rest pause, however, with dual treble hooks could you get away with a moderate (crankbait) rod?