War Eagle 44

Been using these for the last 6 weeks on the four outside wires of my A-Rig. They work great and their tail has better action at slower speeds than the Skinny Dipper. I've been using a Skinny Dipper on the center wire. All in Sexy Shad color. The Spanky's also have been catching more fish per bait before I need to replace them. Hoping NetBait comes to market with a larger size soon.

I've gotten a few bites on the Spear but nothing to write home about. I like the idea of the bait but for some reason it just doesn't seem to get bit when I'm flipping as well as say a Zoom speed craw or D-Bomb. I'm not giving up on it yet though. I've had great luck with both the grass pig and the subwoofer on a weighted swimbait hook. Love both of these. As others have already pointed out the Pit Boss is a good bait. I also like the looks and action of the Sick Fish I've just yet to catch a fish on one.

I've only tried the 5/16oz heads so far. The two plastics I've fished on them are, of course, the Biffle Bug and a Baby Paca Craw. I think I'm going to try some heavier heads this summer because I think this technique will produce in the lakes I fish. Lots of rocky points and such. I think it only helps the baits action when fished as intended (cast & constant retrieve making contact with the bottom). I don't think it adds anything if you are just fishing it like a regular football jig. This is just MHO of course so I could be wrong.

PJ's Lil' Jig 1/4oz with matching Zoom swimming chunk trailer. These jigs catch spots like crazy here.

Yeah, Bird dog has it right. I read somewhere they are $19.99 each.

I don't remember what size you said you had but I've fished the mid and large sizes and the large baits have a much better action when reeled slowly than the middle size.

I'm pretty excited to fish these baits as well. They should really up a guys odds of catching quality fish.

Symetre / Crucial combo would be my pick from your list.

As 11justin22 said it is a jighead with a plastic collar that makes the Fluke have a really nice swimming action. It's very simple to fish, just cast and retrieve. The different size collars dictate how much swimming action the Fluke has, but it has nothing to do with how deep the bait runs. For depth control you simply go up or down in head weight just as you would with any jig.

99% of my Fluke fishing is on a scrounger head. Catches bass like crazy around here.

I understand its been happening for years that's why I brought it up here. I'm also glad I'm talking to an expert who helped design the waxwing & LVJ systems of fishing and knows the exact ins and outs of it all. You also certainly won't be telling me what I can or can't fish. If you don't like a post in a thread I started don't coment on it or, to use your phrase, "better yet" don't even read'em.

Which part? Is it crazy or did you just not understand?

These baits are getting out of hand, everyone will have to buy new "heavy" crankbait rods just to throw these things, and don't think the tackle companies won't come out with rods just for these big baits because they will. I'm really surprised Quantum doesn't have a KVD Tour rod for the Strike King baits already. If these bigger cranks take off, I'm sure they will its already hard enough to find the 10XD's, rod companies will be on this in a flash. I'm not saying it isn't warranted, heck I'll probably be one of the first in line to get one, all I'm saying is fishing is really getting expensive. I haven't been fishing all that long, since 2001, but it sure seems like everything was much more simple and less expensive then. I'm sure this can be said of any time an angler started fishing though, if you started 20 years ago I'm sure it seemed to expensive in 2001 to them. I'm not saying tackle companies are necessarily doing this but I'm just going to use Shimano as an example, they've started marketing "fishing systems" for the salt water guys where they make the line, lure, rod, & reel for it. They promote it like you have to have exactly what they are selling or the technique isn't going to work properly. Now as everyone knows I'm a huge Shimano guy so I'm not bashing them in any way, I just used them as an example, all I'm pointing out is the fact that tackle companies may be coming out with new products like these very oversized crankbaits to not only sell the bait but everything else that goes along with it.

Some tungsten weights without inserts nick your line, pegged or not, but there is a way to fix it yourself that's cheap and works very well. B.A.S.S. pro Aaron Martens put out a video on how to use heat shrink tubing to fix this problem and thats what I do to all my weights now. Not something you have to do if you don't like to tinker with tackle all that much but I do so.... I can also tell you it works very well. On top of fixing that problem you can leave it a little long on the bottom side of the weight and that helps protect your knot when setting the hook.

Nice collection of Shimano gear there. I thought seriously about getting a 301 Calcutta D before going with the Curado 301E. I'm very happy with my setup the way it is, can't say I wouldn't have liked the Calcutta just as well or even better but at this point I don't have any reason whatsoever to look for another reel. I am happy to hear the rod does well with heavier rigs because later this sumer I might try to get one down deep and see how that works. Right now I have four 1/8oz swimbait hooks on the outside and a 1/4oz in the center so my rig isn't heavy at all yet. Also the head on my bait isn't weighted so the only real weight it has on it is what I chose to put on it. I'm not so sure the 80# braid is that big of an overkill but the rod may be, I don't have any idea of how "heavy duty" musky rods are as I've never ran across one down here. If you start to get pretty heavy with your A-Rig then the 80# braid may come in handy in case of a backlash. Don't want to see all that money sailing away never to return again because the braid was to thin and cut itself.

WOW!!

Yeah it will still be quite a while before I break mine out as well I just wanted to change them before putting it in the tackle box. I'll be very interested to know your findings. I probably wouldn't have gone with the 3/0 ST-36's myself but I already had them so I just figured why buy something else before at least giving these a shot. If I have a lot of snagging problems I'll switch to something else. Let me know.

It's still a down grade from aluminium however you want to phrase it. At the end of the day it's still plastic.

Ok, I respect your opinion on this subject. I don't do a ton of "finesse" fishing I guess. It all depends maybe on your definition of the term. I've not experienced the poor performance on slack line with braid as you have so we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post. This is more along the lines of what I'm experiencing. Maybe it's that the strikes I'm getting are "hard" and not the kind where the fish just gently takes the bait making it very difficult to feel.

Caught 12 more on this rod today. The more I use it the more I like it. I'm starting to be able to really sail the A-Rig out there pretty good. Hookset power on this rod is fantastic. I'm also really enjoying the 301E, it's a great choice for this technique, especially if you're like me and want to use heavy copoly instead of braid. This is about the biggest one I got today.

I to achieve greater distance on my casting gear for most lures. There are some lures (read light) that the spinning reel is better for.

All line twist can't be avoided simply by closing the bail by hand. I also disagree that you can't feel bites if using braid while finesse fishing. I can detect them just fine with a little slack in the line. I would be very interested to see a controlled test done just to see how much faster your bait would sink when using fluoro compared to braid, all other things being equal. My money is on not much.

My shortest rods are 6'6" and the longest 7'11". I've found, like others have already pointed out, both have their place. I only use the 6'6" rods for pitching in tight quarters, because as has already been said it is more accurate. I like a 7' crankbait rod if I'm casting around cover or to the bank but when I'm in open water I prefer a 7'7" just for the added distance and hookset power. I also prefer my flipping sticks to be long, usually 7'10" but I do have one 7'6" but thats the shortest I'll go with those rods. My frog rod is 7'3" which is a great length for this technique IMO. Overall I have more 7' and up rods but I do still break out the shorter rods. Oh one of my favorite spinning rods is 6'8", it works great for skipping baits under cover.

Yes I meant to include that part in my first post but forgot, braid casts much farther than straight fluoro and it cuts down on line twist problems greatly. I find I can skip my baits under docks and other cover much better with braid main line as well. I do this a lot in the summer, skipping cover, that's also another reason I use such a high pound test leader. I want to have the best possible chance to get them out.

#1 don't use Vanish whatever you do, it's widely known as VERY low quality line. Berkley 100% Fluoro is good stuff on the other hand. All I use is P-Line. Now on to the second part, I started using braid with a fluoro leader sometime last year on my spinning tackle and love it. That's the direction I would suggest. I usually go with 20# braid and a 15# fluoro leader. I don't seem to have any trouble getting bites with that big a leader but you could always drop down if you were having problems. 10# is about the lowest I'd go for a leader but the lakes I fish have at least a slight green stain year round so take that into consideration. If where you fish is super clear then you'll have to drop down.