Avalonjohn44

The ones on the left with the fat gut and the skinny tail are Nils Master Lures, from Finland. They are called the Stalwart. http://www.nilsmaster.fi/en/nilsmaster/stalwart.htm The one that looks like the Rapala Floater might be the Nils Master Invincible lure on the same page. Couldn't find the broken backs.

I've also caught a few tough bass with braid coming out the back end. I just snipped it close so they wouldn't get caught on anything. Hopefully it was braid attached to a hook, not the tail end of some hairball of braid blocking their intestines...

It is a pretty big bait, and the various colors are amazing. I have two, but only just bought them and haven't gotten to try them out. Here is a chart of all the colors, some of them are very intricate, amazing: http://www.bagleybait.com/11.html

Looks like I'll try the pole!

Don't buy the Berkley battery powered hook honer. Otherwise I would just change the hooks out.

I fish from shore mostly, and have found retrievers to be nearly useless. It is hard, from shore, to get the proper angle for the knocker/retriever to slide all the way to the snag. Since I bought it, I have only retrieved one lure with it, lost 2 others.

That is the third Bagley of that color to sell recently, the first went for 1100, the second for something like 1500, and now this one. Apparently it is the rarest of all Bagley colors. I've been keeping tabs on Bagley auctions for a while now, some of them go for crazy prices. I buy and sell on Ebay, and wish I could get my hands on one or tow of those Christmas Tree Lures... Here are some other crazily priced Bagley's: http://cgi.ebay.com/Bagley-DB1-Vintage-Super-Rare-Color-101_W0QQitemZ130176404622QQihZ003QQcategoryZ794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Bagley-KB2-Vintage-Rare-Color-OTP-103_W0QQitemZ130176406272QQihZ003QQcategoryZ794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Bagley-BB2-Vintage-Rare-Color-OTP-104_W0QQitemZ130176406701QQihZ003QQcategoryZ794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Bagley-Deep-B-Flat-2-Vintage-Lure-TLB4-7_W0QQitemZ130171879091QQihZ003QQcategoryZ108162QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Josh, I prefer crankbait fishing above all other forms, and believe me when I say you can't go wrong with a Bandit if you are just starting out. Bandit 100s and 200s are some of the most productive and inexpensive cranks out there. My favorite colors are Taco Salad, Splatterback, Chartreuse/Pearl, and Rootbeer. They are $4 apiece. After those, try Rapala DT 6s and 10s. I love the realistic bluegill pattern, but firetiger is a solid color, as is their purple/yellow color. After that, the bait monkey will probably be telling you to get some Lucky Crafts, try Rick Clunns 1.5s. Again Splatterback really produces for me here. So does the Blue Back/Chartreuse. Ghost Shad is another great one... Any Bagley model in just about any color is a super choice, I will save the bait monkey a post and say just buy one in every color, maybe two in every color (my favorite color for bagleys are 09 - Black Chartreuse and 79G - Blue Back Chartreuse). After that, your only option is going full bore into the Megabass Type X frogs (viper red), Cyclones and Griffons. Good luck, and get ready to cash in your 401K... Seriously though, Grab some Bandits. The other stuff is great, but the Bandits are what'll get you the most I think.

I'm also in NoVA and think gulp is great for catfish and even snapping turtles, but not so hot for bass.

Thanks again dsaavedra, I wonder what Bagley uses, it has to be only 2 or 3, otherwise they'd be tougher. As for the glass rap, I love them, but have lost eyes on a couple. Smallmouth kill them on the Shenandoah and Potomac.

Awesome, thanks!

I got some series 3 cranks because I couldn't find the right colors in a bandit 200. One color was Green back on pearl and I forget the other colors. They worked fine, but not as well as the bandit worked. I have since found the color in bandit and have not gone back to the strike king model. I also got a larger strike king crank, not sure of the series. The eyes were very beady and the paint peeled off. I was going to buy some of the tour grade stuff, but haven't found any. I also want to try the King Shad, but won't pay $20 for it. Overall, the strike king cranks strike me as cheaply made, and not so hot, but OK for the money. Bandits work so much better though.

I collect balsa baits, some to save and most to use, and eventually I want to make my own. All of my balsas that I throw regularly get dinged up pretty quickly. Bagleys, Thunder Shads, and others are great baits and I love fishing them, but they get cracked too easily, and even get dinged up by their own hooks rather easily... Then I realized that my Rapala Balsa baits are all whole and un-dinged, and wondered what was up. Does Rapala use a different type of Balsa Wood, do they just make their baits with better materials (paint, sealant, clear coat, etc)? I don't use Rapalas as much as Bagleys, but even so, some of those baits by the laws of averages should have a hole or some cracking or something. Have I just been lucky, or is Rapala of better quality than the rest?

I don't use scents at all. I have about a half dozen spray bottles, some jellies, and some dips, and the only tangible difference I have noticed is that my hands stink afterwards. I am with Raul, if I buy something that has scent baked in, fine and good, but otherwise I'm leaving the lure alone. I am conscious however of various scents on my hand, and will many times scrub my hands in the river mud before handling lures. I also stay away from bug sprays and gasoline, etc...

While I appreciate the love for Bandits, this goes against everything the bait monkey stands for...

No Prob. I just read that some other fellows change hooks, I have done this too on some of my bandits. Some of my bandits came with really good hooks, VMC type quality, while some come with really bendy fragile hooks, like the ones you get on daiwa peanuts...

Muddy, I have the bait in the 100 series, and fish from shore 95% of the time. I throw it all season long, from spring till just a couple of weeks ago. I mostly fish a private lake near my house, and the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. In the lake, I love bouncing it off rip-rap rock lines, and along weed lines or above those weeds. There is not too much wood structure in the pond I hit, but I would bet it would work well in wood too with the square lip... The water is usually heavily stained 2-3 foot clarity, but I have also gotten fish when the water is muddy. I use a spinning outfit, an Okuma reel and a Calico Jack medium action 6ft rod, nothing fancy at all... In the river I fan cast it in all directions upstream, downstream, and across bouncing it off every rock I can manage to hit... The water ranges from clear to very muddy after a rain, but get best results when it is slightly to moderately stained. Over the last two years just fishing these 3 ponds and rivers, I would bet I caught over 100 fish off this little lure (and my fishing time is pretty limited by a wife and three kids). Best LM is 5 5oz, best SM on it was 4lb even. The only other bait that comes close to being as productive for me is a spinnerbait. For me, it has outfished a senko, a worm, a buzzbait, and my best megabass, LC, and Bagley cranks. BTW, I will admit to not having as much patience as I should with plastics which is probably why for me it outfishes a senko..

Here's one that left me scratching my head: http://cgi.ebay.com/BAGLEY-BAIT-IN-ULTRA-RARE-GREEN-FROG_W0QQitemZ150178974487QQihZ005QQcategoryZ108162QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Another sold a couple of weeks ago for $1100.00... :-/

Bandits are great. I catch more on bandits than I do on almost all other cranks combined. They are cheap, run true out of the box, I have never had to tune one even after use, durable, and easily replaceable because everyone carries them. They come in a million colors... There are four models that I fish: Footloose - 0-1 foot diver 100 2-5' 200 4-8' 300 8-12' Colors I like the best are pearl chartreuse, taco salad, black splatterback, brown splatterback, rootbeer, and pb&j. I don't care for the flatmaxx line, and have not yet tried the 400 series.

I do a couple of similar things to the change saving. It makes me look cheap, but I ask everyone at work for their pennies. I work in a large office of seemingly rich people that don't keep their pennies. I used to notice one guy would stack the pennies in his pocket on the edge of the table and leave them there. I asked if I could have them and that started the ball rolling. I have a can that people toss pennies in every day. Sometimes they empty their car ashtrays into my can, and a lot of times I even get a nickel or dime. I also run the coffee mess at work, and charge everyone $5 a week, or (this is better) a contribution per cup if they don't belong in the coffee club. That is usually good for about $10 a week on a good week... Combined I can go crazy on ebay or at BPS or Gander Mountain every couple of months. I also sell extra things I pick up or old lures that I no longer use on ebay. I'll do anything to get more tackle...

All of my glass shad raps suspend. I'm not sure if ALL rapala glass raps suspend or not though...

The only success I had with them is successfully selling them to somebody on ebay.

Very good advice, that weight will make a giant gap in the bait and have it foul on the hook more often...

Anyone think a jigging spoon would be worth a shot? I avoid fishing in the winter other than a handful of times, but have seen them having some luck in the cold with jigging spoons...

Very cool. Not only did she take care of you, but I bet everyone's name associated with your order has gotten a reprimand. It might even have gone so far as to help others with BPS in the future.