Avalonjohn44

Hi Big-O, I was waiting for you to respond. I've watched several of the videos, and am excited about the baits, I just got four packs of the Rage Shad at Gander, along with some Shad-a-licious in three different colors (couldn't find sexy shad though :'( ). I have to wait to compare the shad and the salad spoon though, most of my ponds are still too cold for the topwater bite, but I can't wait to side by side compare them. They have a different look/profile, but seem to have a very similar action & I'm interested to see the differences... Have you tried the salad spoon? Aside from what you've said, how do the two baits compare? Do you think the salad spoon is more subtle than the rage tail, or can I work the rage tail slowly enough to where it barely gurgles and entices a lesser active bass to strike? Does it float? Or does it have a slow fall rate like the salad spoon? And how does it come across the top of mats of scum that VA ponds are famous for? I'm not trying to slam your baits or anything, as I said, I've already bought 4 rage tail shad packs, as well as two packs of toads, and two packs of craws and can't wait to use them, I'm just stuck at work, with no fishing in the immediate future, and just have a lot of questions... Thanks!

Do the research like the rest of us did Wink Bass are incapable of learning & their memory is short term otherwise none of us would being catching them. I asked for a link to the actual study because I can never find it - yahoo, google, and msn searches reveal nothing in the ways of real proof, and have concluded this study doesn't exist other than in anecdotal forms. You must have come to the same conclusion that I did, if you believe what you wrote in your second line... So, my question remains, does anyone else have a link to the scientifically conducted study that a bass cannot remember a plastic worm, or are you just repeating what they've always heard? A lot of what we do as fishermen to be successful is challenge any supposed givens like the plastic worm and memory thing. I have never found the study, do not believe it exists (...or if it does it was performed by a soft plastic company and was biased...). I do so well with crankbaits time after time in the same ponds/lakes/rivers, that I've concluded that the real story is people are simply uncomfortable using cranks, and stick with worms, because they are out of their comfort zones with them... And they've made up a story to back up their 'crankbait prejudice'... JMO...

Yeah, I can go pretty slow with the salad spoon, but it can be burned like the rage tail too...

Alright, poor choice of words... Is it time to double the stockpiles while the prices are where they're at? ;D

Plastics are made from oil/petroleum, and with prices going nuts, is it time to start stocking up on soft plastic baits? Or hard plastic baits, for that matter? Or am I panicking too soon? The bait monkey is getting that look in his eye...

Micro, I have found them at every walmart I've been to, the craws and the frogs too. Gander has them too, but I don't know how far you are from one of those...

I was wondering how this lure would compare to the Lunker City Salad Spoon. While a little different in design, both are made to do the same thing, sit high and churn the water, over and through the slop... I have had excellent luck with the Salad Spoon, and feel a loyalty to that little known lure, as dopey as that sounds... Is there anyone that has tried both and can offer an opinion???

I agree that negative stimulation can be used to train things from tape worms to your dog, however, for it to work on a dumber critter (worm, frog, fish, etc) it needs to be applied hundreds of times in a row. The experiment many people cite is the famous one where a tapeworm can be made to only turn left through a maze because he gets shocked every time he turns right... After a few hundred shocks, he finally gets it. Now a dog can figure out a shock collar after only a few attempts (maybe a dozen for a really dumb dog...). The question is, where does a bass fit in? Closer to the tapeworm experiment, or closer to the dog? If closer to the tape worm, he would need to see that crankbait hundreds of times before learning it, if closer to a dog, then like dozens... I don't think a fish can learn anywhere close to a dog, and there is no way they see enough cranks to learn them... Maybe in Japan... I think we like to attribute the bass not biting to anything other than we haven't figured it out yet that day. Hmmm, the bass didn't hit my crankbait today, must be anything other than my own skill...

I'd like to make a wager on that...

I believe Bill Dance marketed this lure in the 80s, and it failed then. Now he has Yum putting it out again, and they just released a smaller 4 inch version. I also have a buddy that has used them with no luck. They look a little gimmicky, but should work at least as well as anything Roland Martin puts out... From what I've seen and heard, I will stay away. There are a ton of crankbaits that work better.

My favorites are the Gambler Cane Toad and the Sizmic Toad by Uncle Josh (I think). I have some rage toads that I want to try, but haven't yet. The videos I've seen of them, look very good.

I always hear that, but never see the actual study... Link?

I have some trick worms that float, and some of them sink very slowly. The ones that sink I use a hypodermic needle to put a bubble in their tail so they stand up on a shaky head... I don't know why some float and some don't, whether it is the way they were produced, or whether the older ones float, or what...

Dan, if you liked the Ashland store, you would love the Winchester store. Ashland was a little disappointing to me.

I rarely throw them first. If I can't pull a crankbait through it, then I'll move to a spinnerbait, then a trickworm or a sluggo first. Then I'll throw a senko style bait. Every once in a while I'll start with a senko, but not too often.

I love the Winchester VA Gander mountain, it is one of their bigger stores, and there is a ton of bass stuff - I spend about three hours a week in there wasting money... A few local fishing clubs meet there, and they have a pretty decent selection of high end lures (Bagley, LC) and reels and rods. They run some pretty great Hot Buys pretty regularly, I just bought a ton of Stan Sloan Aggravator Spinnerbaits for 95 cents each... I have been to about 6 other ganders and they all kind of sucked. Gander used to beat anyone's regular prices if you could prove to them they were better, don't know if they still do that. I hear that Northern VA or the WV panhandle is getting a Cabella's pretty soon, so that will probably change my opinion of Gander, but for now, I love it!

Wave worms have a better color selection, and are more durable. Something about that white pearl in the Tikis just rocks for me. The only senko that I will throw before a wave worm is the pumpkinseed colored one, otherwise it's Tiki Stiks across the boards.

Hmmm. No idea, thought we were just doing cranks.

Use a wide wobbling crankbait. I love digging my cranks against the rocks. A Bandit comes through rip rap and broken bodies very well.

I have had minimal luck with lure retrievers from shore... If I were losing that many cranks, I'd invest in scuba gear. I'd try more spinnerbaits and texas rigged plastics.

I have only really Rebel Pop-Rs, and have never had a need for others. I have chug bugs and LC Gunfish that kind of pop, but not really... I just got some Bagley Chug-Os that I will give a shot this summer.

I think Bang-O Lure, Rapala Floater, and Rebel Minnows as stickbaits or pencil baits. I think of Senkos and the Knockoffs simply as 'senkos'.

Crap, I dunno. 1.5? The Mutt?

LOL E2?

Sweet Pea?