rangerjockey

I like the Wreck which is based on the WEC E1 which is based on the Bagley B1. Cliff made a great bait ever before he got the duplicators . He has a flat side also , which is a copy of the WEC flatside but I haven't tried them as I have some of the original WEC coffin bill flats. The Shad rap copy is a great bait and casts easy. If I were starting into the world of Balsa squarebills The Wreck in whatever size you like would be a good place to start. You can still find some WEC's around but the prices went up after Mr. Chambers death of course. He was also the owner of Zoom. As to colors, On table Rock I throw chartreuse black back or as it's called the school buss around here. Then some natural shad and a craw.

Any heavy power jig rod or flippin' stick will work. Here in Missouri we can have 3 hooks ,so 3 1/8 oz. heads and 2 hitch hikers plus the swimbaits is not all that heavy. It's a winter time /prespawn suspended fish deal around here so maybe 3 months or so before I put it away. Personally, I use a old Daiwa light and tough flippin' stick and 50 lb. braid.

On a spook I like the Gammy round bends as well. The owner's I like on crankbaits like the wart. The Daiichi death trap is another good one. Personally, I'm not a fan of the triple grips. Any fish that has it good is coming to the boat. But the turned in barb worries me for those who swat it or give it a half hearted effort.

I like the Black Labels for a reasonably priced and still great quality bait. Cliff Pace bought the duplicators from Ed Chambers ( WEC ) estate after he passed and is really making some great stuff. I like Dave's also but they are going to be in the $ 50 range.

You won't have a problem with 3/8 oz. on the Amistad. I wouldn't go any lighter but It's a good all around jig/worm rod.

I have that rod in the Endurace version. Really good

I use the Tat 150 also. Mine is the 7.3 : 1.

I don't think it matters much. Especially if your dropping on them which isn't my favorite way personally. Around here flipping deeper docks around the walkways and boat lifts is the deal. Either a slab spoon or something like the R2S Watson spoon. I use whatever is handy, but I have a Z Bone LMH that has a good tip for it but enough power to pull them over the lifts.

The same rod you would throw a jig on. Personally , I only use a 1/2 oz over 20 ft. but any MH-H 7ft. + fast will be fine. I use a Helium 7ft 3 heavy , Amistad or Dragger. I've gotten away from the T-Rig also and use either a wobble head or heavier shaky head. 1/4-3/8.

It can happen with any bait that gets bit on the drop a lot. My wife fishes the thing year round and maybe we will get 1 or 2 with it past their crushers per year. I'd rather it never happened but it's going to sooner or later. Personally, I've killed more fish on a yellow magic than a ned .

Yep. And I wouldn't worry about losing fish until it actually becomes a habit. They don't seem to throw it much at all . Just crank them straight to the boat . Don't let them swim around with it. It's not a bait your going to throw 12 months a year , at least not around here so I wouldn't buy a rod just for throwing that bait. Any rod you throw your other topwater baits on will be fine.

Whatever you do, don't take out a loan against the title of your truck.

I always thought it was 12 but I'm not positive. In general, I would say 10 for all around. I throw the wiggle wart/ Rk Crawler on 8. Back in the day we used 6 on a casting rod but it always made me nervous.

As long as the rod loads and casts the bait it's fine. There's no magic in fishing the WP. Other than throwing it around fish that are willing to come and get it.

Your just rolling up slack so it really doesn't matter. 6 or 7 something : 1. The majority of the time they get it on the pause.

As I think about it there may have been a third Manufacturer of the BB1 besides Shimano and Ryobi. In any case you should pick one up and give it a try. They aren't hard to find. You may come back to a more modern design in a hurry but at the very least you will own a piece of bass fishing history. I also have one of the original speed spool spinning reel's from the 70's. I'm not positive but it's probably made by Shimano also.

Joe Burns uses some in his custom builds. He makes a nice rod, and they are reasonable depending on what options you choose. He's close to Chickamauga in Dayon TN I believe. I have 1 of his casting rods and been pleased with it.

Just a great rod. They are bringing crazy money on the used market.

I use a 35+ year-old All-Star Zell Rowland TWS. The only difference is I've gone to braid rather than mono over the years. I work a spook with the rod tip to the side rather than straight down, but I still like a rod under 7ft. Whatever rod you can work the bait best with is the one for you.

Lew's only had the BB1 to my knowledge. Abu had 4000,5000 and the 5500 in later years. The lew's was a slow reel compared to the 5000 and 5500 if you consider 5:1 fast but it was for the day. I remember you could buy "Buzz Gears " for the 4000 to bring to a blazing 5:1.

I kinda think you want Lew's to be a bigger player in the industry than it was. The reels were never as popular as the Abu's. And the rods never made a huge splash although they were the first to have a pistol grip that I personally remember, and I still have a spinning rod that has kind of solid material to fashion Tennessee handle. so, they had some innovation for sure, but they didn't compete with the bigger players of the time like Fenwick. Another thing to remember is that Lew Childre only ran it for 5 years or so before he was killed, and it became kind of a rudderless ship after that. I believe the bantam was released after his death.

Prayers sent.

Just hold them side by side. You can feel and see the difference. J, yep Ardent gave it a go and made them in Macon Missouri. They couldn't compete in the long run I guess but the upper end reel was pretty good.

The bantam's were a Shimano design. They look similar which is no surprise but they are smaller than the BB1. The first design was the BB1.

Dodge guy, Shimano didn't steal anything. There were contracted to build the Lew's reels along with Ryobi. Lew's never actually built anything ,even back then.