Avalonjohn44

I became addicted this yearto Balsa cranks. I tried to find that elusive 'hunting' bait, still looking... I bought a ton of different baits on ebay mostly, Bagleys, Thunder Shads, and some custom wooden baits. Sometimes you can get a $10 bait for just a couple of bucks on ebay if you are patient (and now we have all winter to be patient). I love the action, and contrary to another post, love the color selections on Bagleys and Thundershads. Some of the cooler colors are harder to find, but I enjoy the hunt for the bait as much as plunking that fat bait down in the water... I love the DT Series as well as the other two mentioned, but am not all that fond of the colors Rapala has. If you get into it enough, you'll want one of each lure to fish with, one of each to mount in a display case... My only problem with some baits is their durability. One whack on a rock and that Bagley is toast. Thundershads are more durable, but not as pretty. Rapalas are the most durable of all balsa baits. They can also be expensive to replace. I went swimming a few times to get a bait I couldn't afford to break off...

My best producer is the Diamond Shad. My favorites, because they are so darn good looking are Yo Zuri's Rattlin Vibe and Hardcore Drum.

Bandits are plastic. They are excellent cranks. I have caught more on a bandit 100 than any other crankbait. They are my favorite plastic cranks, come in a million colors, and simply produce a lot of fish. I have gotten heavily into Bagley's this year, and have built up a pretty big collection of them. They also catch a ton of fish, but the durability of these baits is questionable. One cast onto a rock and the lure is just about done unless you get lucky. I will start giving all of my bagleys an extra few epoxy coats this winter. Other than durability, Bagley's might have the best action of all cranks. Other good cranks are Lucky Craft Rick Clunn 1.5s, Anything Megabass, and anything Rapala. I don't bother with Mann's, Bomber, or Norman lures, I have had too much trouble with them - from extreme fragility, to never running true...

Sound is very important, but I think vibration is just as important. I like a nice wobbling bait with a rattle. I think of stained water differently than muddy. Where I fish stained is usually a murky green, 1-4 feet of visibility. If shallow, I will fish a white or chartreuse bait, I believe they are more visible at that depth. A Bandit 100 In Pearl Chartreuse is my best producer. A big Bagley Crank is another favorite. If I'm going deeper than 4 feet, I will use a darker version of the same bait. Muddy water is a different story. I hardly even bother with color selection, black or blue, and slow it down. Same deal with the sound and vibration though.

Very true. You will also get better at math, adding up in your head how many casts you got out of that $14 LC lure, and how much it cost per cast after you snag and lose it. Just kidding. Crankbaiting is my favorite type too, it feels more active, more thrilling. I'm still waiting to feel the fish before it strikes though.

I have a couple of their little bluegill shaped cranks. The paint job is very interesting, I don't know how to describe it, except that it looks very realistic, how fish really look underwater. Unless you crank them very slowly, they roll on you. I have caught fish on them, but not consistently. The Aruku Shad looks nice, but I have not tried it out yet. I consistently shred on a $1.95 speed trap or diamond shad, so I see no need to pay $7 for a rattle trap... I think this is the one that is guaranteed to sink and run, even set on the bottom, upright, but I saw one at Greentop in VA sitting on the counter in a jar of water, on its side. There was string attached to it, so you could watch it fall, but it kept landing on its side... Their DD25 lure (don't know why they are called that, they only go 12-14 feet per the literature on the package) are OK. Supposedly they swim differently, more like a minnow with the body parallel to the bottom rather than nose down. They do have a good bit of action, but their colors are just awful IMO. I don't know why they don't try putting their bluegill bait colors on these baits. If I am going to use a diving crank, I'll use a Bagley DD KB2 or a Rapala DT. I have a bronze-eye frog, but have not caught anything on it yet. When fishing a topwater frog lure, I'd rather go with the much cheaper, replaceable, Lunker City Salad Spoon. My friend does pretty well on their lead head bucktail jigs, especially this time of year in the Shenandoah, I haven't tried them yet though.

When the bugs are out.

I added minced garlic to about 10 bags of different soft plastics. Forgot about it over the winter. Much mold did grow. Also tried garlic salt, found that the garlic in garlic salt turns black and smells kind of burned. Threw those out too. Now I only trim my soft plastics, and only heat bend some plastic bills to make wake baits.

I bet a Chatterbait using a Basstrix Paddletail as a trailer, with blood red hook would work. If you can find a Sexy Shad colored chatterbait, all the better. And maybe if that doesn't work, a kicktail minnow might do the trick.

I've caught a crab trap, seagulls, snapping turtles, a fishing rod, another lure after getting a snag, a long piece of cable (like 20 ft), almost had a jetskier (I kept casting at him until he left, never got him though), an umbrella, a clump of mussels, a freshwater clam, crabs, a copperhead, and myself about 100 times.

The Imakatsu Javallon looks identical to the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad. Are they the same product just different distributer for overseas, or is one a copy of the other?

I was having the same trouble narrowing it down for a list, but then figured my wife, mom, dad, sisters, and brother would mess it up by getting the wrong bait anyway, so I just asked for Gander Mountain Gift Cards. I got a pile of 'em coming to satisfy the ol bait monkey.

Mepps Black Fury #3.

Big Girl, Lunker, Fattie, Big B**ch, Fat Bass

I ripped open my scalp when I did an overhead cast with too much line out. It bled for a half hour, and my T Shirt was stained down to the middle of my back. Every time I washed my hair for the next couple of weeks, I reopened the scab and bled for a while. It sucked.

I generally tell the truth, but sometimes, for no good reason, I'll fib and get a little bit of guilty pleasure watching a guy tie on the completely wrong lure based on advice I gave him. Bonus points if he loses the lure I convinced him to try out near that underwater brush pile... I don't do it often, but I do it enough to realize that I am a little warped.

Cool, thanks Brad!

I wonder what would happen if you washed your Gulp and Cyberflexx soft plastics in the dishwasher.

Buy one of every Bandit 100 200 and 300 crankbait that Walmart sells. Also, Kmart often has great price cuts on lures this time of year. Dicks is OK, but Gander Mountain is awesome, at least the Winchester VA store is. Gander frequently has 'Hot Buys'. Currently my store is selling Power Bait for $1.99, a limited supply of Zoom Soft Plastics for $.99, and a couple of others. Plus, Gander supposedly matches or beats any other advertised price (not sure if they still do that). Also, when at Gander, look closely, because a lot of times they will have one or two colors of lures red tagged. Usually these are all snapped up pretty quickly, but I got some odd colored Rapalas, Bagleys, and Sisson lures for more than half off. BPS does this too, but I don't know where there is one near you. If you live in PA, go to the Harrisburg Sportsman show that they have every February. You can grab a bunch of lures cheap there.

Yeah, I'm not sure if somebody modified it that way, or it came that way. It almost looks like somebody heated the wire and pushed it thru the bait, but I am not certain. It is cool though.

I have gone three times to Disney over the past 10 years, stayed on a resort each time. Last two times I was told to stop fishing. I stopped, then asked the concierge if we were allowed. He said no, but that it wasn't like we'd be kicked out for it, just asked to stop... There is one resort on Disney property that allows fishing, but I don't remember which one. That is the one I am staying at next time I go. That or try one of those guided tours. On the ferryboat to the magic kingdom, you will always see a couple of bass cruising around the dock. I saw a pretty big one once, had to go 8 pounds, just sitting there looking up at me with a mocking grin on his face...

The thin one is a rebel, almost like a thin Deep Wee crossed with a Rebel Humpback... Can't find anything on it still... What about the other two weird ones? Anyone?

Thanks dude, I looked up bear creek on ebay and they have the exact one on there.

Bought some lures on ebay, got these with the lot that I cannot identify. The gold one has sucker minnow on the metal lip, but I can't find the manufacturer. The silver one is made out of plastic, and does not rattle. No markings at all. The frog colored one has single feather clad hooks on each side. Also without markings of any kind. The White and pink one has a canvass tail. Also no markings.

Over there they use them for Walleye and Pike, but I bet a bass would take a shot at one. I don't know what they would be worth, there is one on Ebay for 99 cents, no bids... http://cgi.ebay.com/FISHING-LURE-OLD-UNKNOWN-NILS-MASTER-FINLAND_W0QQitemZ150189828938QQihZ005QQcategoryZ794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Here is one that sold for $7: http://cgi.ebay.com/Collectible-Gift-Hard-2-Find-NILS-MASTER-Stalwart-Lure_W0QQitemZ260183666811QQihZ016QQcategoryZ7300QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem