Avalonjohn44

I am a cheap SOB, and I have five of them - They are excellent baits. Durable, great hooks, and they always pull in bass. It isn't just a dink magnet either like Bandits and Bombers, it'll catch the eye of the big girls.

I have a handful of the cultiva Rip'n minnows, I got them from a buddy that bought a ton of them out on a west coast trip. They are kind of small IMO, but they do get bit. I get mostly small bass with them, and a lot of bluegill and crappie.

Rapala is the brand easiest to find, and they are pretty hard to beat. The DT series is a board favorite. Bomber makes some pretty good square lip baits, Gander Mountain had them in the $3 bargin bin recently. Bagleys are all over ebay, but hard to find in a store these days. There is a guy on ebay that sells his own hand made cranks called Catching Concepts. They are cedar cranks, but just as good as anything out there in my opinion.

I have a ton of jigs, I see and hear about everyone slaying them on jigs. I have never gotten a single bite on one. I try and try with them, even go out with nothing but a rod and a few jigs, but zip. Also the chatterbait.

I carry a cheap pair of hemostats, a gerber pocket knife and a dollar store fingernail cliper set. When I forget the clippers, I use my teeth.

Eager Beaver= hand poured beaver style bait. It was a very good, cheaper alternative to the reaction innovation bait. Oh well.

You sir, need some banjo minnows. ;D j/k

I have one pack of zoom toads that floats as well. Spongy consistency like that of the Ribbit floater. I also have a couple of bags of zoom trick worms that float, though they don't feel spongy. The vast majority of my trick worms sink. Maybe they got some air into the injection machine at the end of a batch?

x2 This color consistantly out performs the others for me in NoVA.

I love the trick worm, one of my favorites too. I like them t-rigged and wacky. Tried the Magnum Trick Worm a couple of weeks ago, and I'm hooked on that now. Zoom did the impossible and improved on the perfect bait.

I keep the mepps fury in red #'s 3 & 4 in my "panic box". One of my all time favorite lures.

Had the opportunity to fish some Florida ponds last week while down there on a business trip. First day was a waste, nothing was working for me, even senkos (Believe it or not)... I grabbed a few lizards and something I'd only read about here, the magnum trick worm. I got pumpkin, green pumpkin, and junebug colors. I tried these guys out and was amazed. I fished them both shaky and weightless, and the bass were just attacking them... They are very similar in thickness to senkos, but are very floppy, great action. I was doing so well weightless t-rigged that I didn't even have a chance to wacky rig them... At the end of the day I had to quit due to a complete lack of whole worms left. I spent about an hour the first night fixing the lures I had left with mend-it. I fished three days with those worms and absolutely loved them. They are well worth the $5 per bag. I stocked up on some before I left since BPS is so far from me and my Gander doesn't carry them yet. I can't rave enough about this bait.

Totally not dickish to use legal live bait. Minnows, trout, shad, whatever. As long as you're following regulations, go for it.

Cool, thanks bro. I just tossed them in the bag.

I'd go fishing andcrabbing in the saltmarsh at the Jersey Shore, and bring home one more load of crabs home for my grandfather and me to eat.

I added a few bags last night. Thanks! There's always room for senkos.

I've heard more than a few times from many different folks that a dubiously large number of Manassas City Council members live on the shores of that lake, and they keep stonewalling to keep their lake empty of boats and us bass fishing riff-raff. >

I think the producer line of baits are 'seconds', knockoffs or factory rejects of Heddon or Rebel lures that didn't pass muster for some reason. They have a version of the Heddon spook that is exactly the same dimensions as the spook, but with a paint job that looks horrible/cheap. Same with their version of the flatfish, or other baits. I put the Producer company in the same category as Blaze or Matzuo (sp?). Mostly junk not worth wasting money on.

Nobody? Buhler? Buhler?

Will be headed to Orlando in a few weeks on a business trip and will have enough time to fish a few times from shore. Wish I could afford a guide but I can't (and I don't think if I submit a receipt for fishing guide my HR lady would approve it ...) I already have a tacklebag ready with a pretty good assortment I think. Will have plenty of rage tail anacondas, roosters, shads and frogs, power worms, spinnerbaits a few jigs and some some chatterbaits. Does anyone have any recommendations/tips for stuff that'll really produce this time of year?

I had a blast one vacation at St. George Island in FL catching ladyfish. Amazing jumpers. Are they beaching themselves for some reason?

It's a tough lake, with a lot of pressure. I haven't fished it this year, but fished it regularly the last few years prior, out of a kayak. There are a lot of good sized fish in there. A lot of folks use the drop shot, but I don't have the patience for it from a kayak... I did OK on a green/white spinnerbait and Rapala DT6s and DT10s toward the backs of the creeks. A Bandit 200 in 'rootbeer' got my brother a nice 5 pounder, and we caught plenty of dinks on up to 2 and 3 pounders on other similarly colored Bandit 200s. I was dying to try out my RC1.5 there, but haven't gotten the chance to take the 'yak out yet.

Dude, I would buy a couple in the same color and experiment with modifying them. They're on the cheaper side anyway, and $15 or $20 invested until you get it right would be well worth replacing such a productive lure.

I have about 10 Catching Concepts cranks and will continue to buy them. They are beautifully painted, and I have yet to recieve a 'clunker'. They are great fish catchers, and unlike a lot of cedar cranks, these have yet to split on me... Here is a link to the fellow's (I think his name is Herman) Ebay store: http://shop.ebay.com/catchingconceptslures/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p4340 My next one is that nice shallow blue/white bait...