Hanover_Yakker

I can tell you a few tips from my personal experience..... 1) Go to the Expos or local tackle shops in person and talk to people. 2) Reach out to the sponsors here and call them or at least have a form letter with specifics on the event. 3) Make sure any winners of the items come back to this forum and post up their thanks. 4) Encourage the winners to contact the vendor directly through their site or email. You'd be surprised at how many companies read every single comment or email and will respond to you personally. 5) A photo of the winner with the products for the posting here on the forum is a nice touch. 6) Provide the forum link where the comments and photos are posted to the contact person from each vendor. 7) See if the vendor would consider sending a representative in person and have a dedicated space for them at the event. 8) Lastly, if you will be doing mutliple events, approach the vendor with the intent of obtaining support for the whole year to avoid going back to them multiple times for smaller portions of assistance.

In lieu of the other post asking for your worst purchase, let's flip it and see what is the one fishing item you wished you had never sold........ Mine is a double-header. First, I sold my original Shimano Bantam 100, my very first baitcaster and I'll never live it down. Second, I sold a Shimano Teramar Inshore SE casting rod (6'6" M/XF) last spring and forgot that the whole reason the rod was sitting at the house without a reel on it was because I had sent the reel off for service. Doh!!!!

Line: Stealth Braid - frays too easy after repeated heavy usage casting frogs all day. Lost a citation two years ago because of it. Rod: Berkley Conlon and Cherrywood rods - snapped the tips on the first cast (when I first got started & trying to save money) Reel: 2 of them actually. First, a Shakespeare bottom end 1 bearing baitcaster from DSG (same as before, trying to save money). Second, a Quantum Escalade b/c from DSG (exclusive to DSG) wouldn't cast for squat. Lure: Renosky curly tail Minnows (3pk) - they run on their side when retrieved and have no action even when paired with a Betts Beetle Spin spinnerbait arm. However, the forked tail version is killer on the micro chatterbaits for pond bass.

There's also another net that I have used and was impressed with, but it takes up too much room in my kayak and that is the new Leverage Landing Net. I had one and gave it to a co-worker for him and his dad to use fishing out of their G3. You can check them out here and watch their promo video: http://www.leveragelandingnet.com/

I had a couple of them and promptly returned them when I saw how flimsy the legs were. I have bass in my area that rip legs off of my Ribbits all the time, so I know the legs on the R2S LDDF would not last. I prefer to use the Clone Frog from Ken Daubert. Works pretty well for me, especially as a throw back lure when a bass swipes at the Ribbit or SPRO Bronzeye.

Koppers Live Target Gold Shiner

If you can target redfish or speckled trout in the salt, then you have a portion of the lures that will work for bass as well. I know the following lures are cross-water and work perfectly: Topwater: Bomber Badonkadonks, Heddon Zara Pup and Spooks, MirrOlures, Rapala Skitterwalks Suspending: MirrOlure MirrOminnows, 17MR, 18MR, 52MR, STTRs, Rapala X-Raps/Subwalks, LC Pointers, SPRO McSticks, etc. Crankbaits: wakers like Mann's -1, SPRO BBZ-1 floaters, Tru-Tungsten floating shads or Strike King King Shads; Lipless crankbaits or Rapala deep divers. Soft Plastics: ZOOM Super Flukes, Bass Assassin Jerk Shads and Sea Shad/Swimming Mullets, etc. Spinnerbaits: Betts 1/4oz Beetle Spins (#4 gold blade and a large beetle in craw or chartreuse), SK Redfish Magics or the Bomber version. Spoons: ADLs, Kastmasters, Johnson's Silver Minnows, Hopkins and Blades or Manns Little Georges. Jigs: 1/4-3/8oz finesse skirted jigs in brown/orange (I know reds love these! hint hint) Jigheads: 1/4 oz ballheads paired with a 3-4" curly tail grub, paddle tail Alabama or Flounder Rig: add the jigheads above or even weightless flukes on the outer arms and a spoon or larger bait on the center arm. Vertical Jigs: the single tuna vertical jigs also work in deep holes for bass, walleyes, pike, etc. If it's a lure that mimics any of the forage that the target species chases, it will transfer between both water types! I use almost all of my gear between both. The key is to make sure you rinse off the lures and the rod/reel combos you used with warm water after each use to prevent corrosion. LMK if you have any other questions!!

Pretty wild looking - kind of looks like an old Calais that got left in a wind tunnel overnight then dumped into a tumbler to smooth it out

Absolutely!!! Being in Roanoke, there should be some quality Muskie water not too far away or perhaps a perch/crappie hole that could take his mind off his concerns. Get him on the water often!!!

Your best bet is to contact them directly through the site. I have used their products for close to 2 years now and have used PayPal everytime. I know using PayPal prevents the hassle of bounced checks or having to make a physical trip to the bank to deposit money orders or teller's checks as well.

Still searching for my first, but then again I would need to actually put down the other rods and force myself to use it. My poor 7wt Orvis Hydros is just sitting in the corner and collecting dust right now..... Maybe this year will be the one!

Just placed my order - can't wait!!! I will be locked and loaded for this year for jigs between the NS Flip & Swims and the SO Classic Brush Jigs and now the Bed Bugs I'm set!!

While you're walking, keep a keen eye and ear out for gators....looks like a prime gator haunt to me. Man that looks liek a fun place to test out so many things - I would be practicing my pitching and flipping, skip casting, etc. I would be using various weightless presentations like flukes, lizards, senkos, etc and just crawl them across the vegetation slowly. Then I would follow it up with a hollow-bodied frog like a baby SPRO or small Koppers. If that got me no strikes, then I would work something sub-surface like a weedless 4" swimbait in watermelon seed or baby bass color and lastly crawl a mojo rig, shakey head and wacky rig. Surely something would get it. If there are no weeds or grass mats in the center cut, don't hesitate to throw a chartreuse chatterbait - snakeheads love them!!

I'd be interested in some as well. I have a whole batch of red #4 Shaughnessy VMC hooks for saltwater I use to replace all of my resar trebles on my MirrOlures. Most of the ones I have purchased in the past are the 2pk Owner Tournament dressed trebles.

That's a loaded question. You're about to get all sorts of responses, but it might help us better if you identified specifically the type of water you are fishing, target species, current jig colors you use and their sizes and what equipment you are using. Colors vary by water clarity and forage species for the predatory fish you are seeking in some areas. Trailer action/noise output varies by water clarity and general spookiness of the predator being targeted. I'll go out on a limb here and throw in a couple choices for you..... GY twin curly tail grubs, plastic paddle tail grubs or small swimbaits, small split tail spinnerbait/chatterbait trailers, flat tailed grubs or even small finesse worms and last but ceratinly not least would be a fluke/jerkshad rigged either normally or reversed with the flat back facing down (helps with slowing the fall rate).

I love the SPRO Popping Frog (especially in Black), but I have a Rebel Pop-R that is pretty hard to beat and a close third is my bone colored Creek Chub jointed popper.

The local DSG here had the new Koppers Live Target craw CBs on clearance for 2.99 each over Christmas in almost every color pattern.

Keep it simple..... 1. A lipless crankbait like a SPRO Aruku Shad, Rat-L-Trap or Red Eye Shad will allow you to cover a variety of depths without buying specific baits by depth. 2. Suspending - hard to beat the original floating Rapalas in Gold/Black and Silver/Black as well as the original Husky Jerks or Smithwick Rogues 3. If you were dead set on getting some lipped cranks, then the Manns -1s are hard to beat.

Since I pedal to get to my spots, on tourney day I always opt for high tempo guitar and drum laden music like: 1. Godsmack - Speak, Alive, Straight Out Of Line. 2. Motley Crue - Kickstart My Heart, Wild Side 3. Iron Mainden - The Trooper, The Clansman, Fear of the Dark 4. AC DC - Have A Drink On Me, Girl's Got Rhythm, Back in Black Once I get to my spot, I then slow it down in my head and start mentally singing slower melodic rock songs like: 1. Rush - Tom Sawyer, Freewill 2. Dave Mathews Band - Ants Are Marching, Tripping Billies 3. Pearl Jam - Evenflow, Alive

SPRO Aruku Shads 'nuff said.

A custom rod from an independent rod builder like Bull Bay Rods or the like. Gotta support the small guys!

The Senko or more specifically the wacky rig is a great follow up bait for missed fish also. Its a great throw back lure when targeting cover like laydowns with a jig-n-craw or shakey head and you miss the fish or the fish doesn't appear interested. When you do it, don't just limit yourself to stick baits like senkos, zeros and dingers. Consider using flukes, ribbontails, finesse worms, tubes ,etc...... Think outside the box. If everyone else is using a stick bait, then rig a fluke the same way and give them something different to look at. Or rig the stick bait off center at least before switching it up.

Isn't that Sufix 832? It could also be Dyneema or Spectra Extreme Braid......

PQ - not only from the insane amount of positive reviews but also from a cost and warranty perspective. With the BPS products (yeah yeah I know, no touting the big box boys), you can literally walk in and hot swap them at the counter is one or the other should ever fail at no charge even after one year of use. With the Quantum, after the initial 90 day or 1 year warranty, you might have to send it off to Quantum for an assessment and most likely a charge just to have them look at it plus the cost of replacement.

You could say it is a little grassy in the Pohick area and others on the Potomac...... And over my shoulder in the photo below is Ft. Belvoir. You can see how far the grass comes out even during the early onset of the low tide.....