Avalonjohn44

I haven't justified money on the 110s, or any of the crazy $50 stuff... But I love their cranks - The Griffon is a fish catching monster, the Cyclone is a close second, and I love the Type-X frog... I don't throw them as much as I should, but those three really produce for me. I was thinking about a pop max, but can't justify the money on a popper - a lure I rarely use...

At this point I can only hope his new owner doesn't give him a watery grave to quickly...

... I lost my best Bandit Lure today. A Bandit 100 in color code 15 - Pearl with a Chartreuse back. He's been with me for five years, a true companion. I got him off of the promotion rack at the Super Wal-Mart in Winchester VA. I've been dragging him through my local waters on nearly every fishing trip I've been on for the last five years. He was gouged, nicked, scratched, and missing an eye. His lip was so dinged up that I had to file it down. He'd caught me more bass than I can count, Smallies out of the Shenandoah and Potomac, Large Mouths by the hundreds out of Izaak Walton's Winchester Pond. I almost named my son after him, but my wife would have nothing of it, not wanting a kid with the middle name Bandit... He out-fished LC CBs, LC RCs, Rapalas by the score, Megabass Griffons, and every other high dollar lure in my tackle box. I'd replaced his hooks with VMC Barbarians, and he was the best hard plastic friend a guy could have. The worst thing was at his moment of need, I let him down. I didn't lose him on a fish. I didn't lose him on a rock, branch, or any other type of snag. The knot didn't give out on a cast. I left him on a bench. I think he fell off and I missed picking him up. Hopefully he's living with a fisherman that can appreciate his many talents. *sniff*... :'( :'( :'( Off to Wal-Mart...

I know this isn't the point of this thread, but...I have recently been doing a lot of wade fishing... And my favorite tacklebox for this? Believe it or not, it's a simple pair of multi pocketed Cargo Shorts. I can go with one rod, a pack of hooks and weights, and about fifteen bags of plastics in my various pockets...

Try some Gary Yamamoto Senkos. There might be a thread or two around here somewhere about these baits.

These are my favorite option. The weight is stationary, and by design it protects the bait from tearing and from sliding down the hook. These are well worth the money.

Land it with a Bandit.

I prefer Owners to all others... But use them infrequently... I use Strike King Saber Points for casual use...

The do it to preserve the shapes, though the older packs don't have them... I've had my rage tails out for months, and they're still skittering across the water fine... *shrug*

When I used to visit a pal at VCU, we used to go to a walking bridge in the center of town over the James. It had access to several small islands. You could rock hop all over the place and catch smallies all day long. We had several 100 fish days. Most were small, but sometimes we got a good two or three pound fish. We used to use hellgramites. I wish I could give you directions or the name of the bridge... But there should be a ton of opportunities all up and down the James to wade fish and rock hop for small mouth.

Best get his name and badge number, and make sure he'll vouch for you when you get stopped/caught.

I have to go with Baby Brush Hogs, and Super Hogs, both by Zoom. Colors Blackberry, Watermelon/Gold, and Green Pumpkins... I don't know what's going on in the few ponds/lakes that I've fished this year, but the senko is just not doing it for me anymore. Has anyone else noticed this? I also have been waiting to try the Anacondas, but the brush hog bite has been just too good to go away from... Maybe as the 'dog days' hit...

Lake Fork Live Magic Shad.

Man, that' some good stuff. My walmart sucks. It carries a few zoom lizards, a few rapalas, and a few bandits, and that's about it...

I catch more on a beaver than on senkos, let alone the Rage Tails... Beaver is my favorite bait. Brush Hog is a close second.

I'm cool with salt injected soft plastics, who isn't? But for some reason it is bugging the heck out of me that so many baits are packed in salt. Is there any reason whatsoever for putting @#$%^ salt in the @#$^&& bags?

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1245259698 Obviously I agree...

Are they good cranks?

I'm a fan of chucking salt water baits for bass. I use a big pink saltwater rattle trap often, and have a bunch of Tsunami Cigar Minnows that I use for bass as well. I always wanted to try inshore or salt water power bait and/or gulp, but never pulled the trigger. I am sure the DOA shrimp would work for tidal bass. I've had my eye on a small bluecrab crank at bps for a while.

Yeah, I use the baby brush hog and the super brush hog (same length as the baby, but thicker).

I am gonna guess the one you missed weighed approximately 6lbs. Nice catchin' How'd you know it was a six pounder? j/k, I missed him clean. It could have been a 10 pounder, could have been a 3 oz bluegill...

Brush Hogs RULE! ;D ;D ;D Caught a monster (5lbs 1 oz is a monster for me...)and four smaller bass last night on my favorite color brush hog - watermelon gold. The other baits in the subject line produced a goose egg. (I got one bite that I missed on the Space Monkey though...)

Dang, I was going to use that joke... Glad I looked first...

I am thinking of switching to a 10 inch worm all of the time. I do ok on a normal size powerworm, but last summer and so far this spring, I'm doing better on the larger bait. I love them. I'm going out with just anacondas, a buzzbait, and a spinnerbait today...

I heard that they fall apart easily and stink even worse than Gulp. But I haven't tried them out myself. It's funny, they claim to make them to be environmentally friendly because they biodegrade, but then they give each one it's individual plastic blister pack which equals more trash in the long run, rather than less...