War Eagle 44

Congrats!! I hooked what I'd say was about a 6 pounder on one once, got it all the way to the side of the boat and for some still unfathomable to me reason I reached down and tried to lift it in the boat by grabbing my line. Just as I did he gave a nice big head shake and POP, the 10# Trilene XT wasn't up to the challenge. Not only did I have to watch a huge fish swim away but he swam away with my bait. I've been lucky with these baits though, I've had a nice "connection" for the past 4 years or so and I've only had to pay $8.99 instead of the regular LC prices.

Hahahahaha, nice!

I've mainly used 20 and 30 pound Power Pro, it works good. The 30 limits casting distance somewhat compared to 20 but on the other hand I've actually broken 20 on a hookset on my spinning gear. Only once and I'm sure it was my own fault, that particular spool up had gone through many nasty wind knots. I just recently picked up a spool of 20# Super 8 Slick green to try. I've heard it does really well on spinning reels.

I use a Powell 735C. It's a fantastic frog rod, I use it for plenty of other techniques as well, but it's main duty is froggin! I fish everything from Gambler Cane Toads to Spro Bronze Eye's, and it just gets the job done. In fact I've been so happy with it that I bought 4 more Powell rods to go with it. It was my first Powell and now they've become the rods I fish with the most.

I have plenty of both in my tackle box but in my opinion the Lucky Craft baits are superior. The RC 1.5 Copper Green Shad is my all time favorite square bill. That bait just flat out puts fish in the boat around here.

Where, when, and exactly how are you gentlemen using these worms? Are you simply texas rigging them and using them in obvious places or flipping them into grass or laydowns? I've never bought a package of these in my entire 12 years of fishing, I'll fix that as soon as you guys spill the beans though.

I'm actually really excited to try one. I am going to try and cast it on my 7'7" Cumara Reaction rod but I know it's specs don't go anywhere near the 2 oz of the 10XD. Just baby it for a while if I can. I just want to see one of these bad boys in action. I am also waiting on a Cumara A umbrella rig rod so I should be able to throw them on that once I get it. I'm just starting to get into big swimbaits so I don't really have an opinion of those vs the 10XD. I don't think in my mind they're in the same category right now, it is very possible for my mind to be changed after actually geting my hands on one.

99% of my fishing these days is with Citica E 201's, love them. Last year when Bass Pro had there spring sale and offered money off new reels if you traded in old reels combined with Shimano offereing a mail in $30 rebate on the new Curado G's I picked up 4 of them. After playing with them while watching tv for a few nights I just started to not like them. I didn't feel they were as smooth as my Citica E's and also didn't feel they were made as well. Now I'm Shimano 100%, they're all I fish reel wise but something about these Curado's just didn't sit right with me. I never mounted one on a rod or even put line on one, they just sat in their boxes in my house. About a month ago I sold all 4 of them, NIB to a guy that I see at the boat ramp. I've not heard from him since to find out what he thinks of them. His boat was full of the first gen Curado's so I'm sure he either loves them or hates them compared to the originals. I've owned and fished a 201SF, 201DHSV, and 51E and loved all these but there was just something about the G's I just couldn't get past. As I said though I judged them without ever making a test cast so I may have made a bad move here, I don't know. I've been 100% satisfied with my Citica E's so I thought these new Curado's would be the same but they just weren't. I really really really wish I'd picked up as many of the D models as I could have gotten my hands on when they were on sale cheap before the launch of the E series. They are my absolute favorite Curado's so far, I don't mind the extra weight at all. Those things are total beasts IMHO.

I haven't had a chance to really fish with these a ton but so far I've used them as trailers on big swim jigs and by themselves on weighted Owner Beast swimbait hooks. I agree with webertime that they have more "movement" when fished on a weighted swimbait style hook. I've only used the largest size on the Beast hooks though so I'm not sure how the smaller ones do with this. I have used a smaller size on the back of a "finesse" 1/4 oz swim jig I was throwing around in a pond, it worked out really well IMHO.

I like Owner ST 36 & 41 trebles and also Mustad KVD 1X strong 2X short trebles. When using Owners I stick to stock hook size but any time I use the Mustad's I always go up one size from stock. I don't really have any special way of choosing which replacement hook to use, I just pick the one that "feels" right for that particular bait.

I had one some years back, I used it mainly as my frog reel. It has good casting abilities with lures in the upper range, say 3/8 and up. It won't cast lighter lures as well as your 50 size reels, stock I mean, I have no experience with the shallow spool. In my opinion it does have a nice smooth retrieve but I don't know if I'd say much better than your Cores. The weight I think will ne noticeable from the reels you already have but it wasn't that bad to me. They feel solid. It worked very well on my frog rod, it had good line pick up (IPT) and a good smooth drag. I never felt like it wasn't enough reel for the job. I only ever fished it with 30 to 50# braid so I can't speak to how it handles lighter mono or fluoro. I don't know exactly what the prices are on them now but I do remember reading Daiwa raised the price quite a bit. I bought mine when they first came out so it didn't cost as much as they do now. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay msrp for one now. I ended up replacing mine with a Curado D. I will say also that I'm pretty much an all Shimano guy at this point so take that into consideration while evaluating my opinion. I can't say anything bad about this reel really, it did what I asked it to without fail. It always performed great, I just decided I like Shimano reels better. The msrp may be a little high on them now is the only negative I can give you. If you don't mind the price then I'm almost certain the reel will perform for you in the various ways you plan to use it.

I know you've already decided which way you're going and I agree, for a jig only reel 7.1 is the way to go, I just wanted to give my thoughts on a few points discussed here. I don't use many high speed reels currently, as best I remember I only own 2 at the moment but I don't feel they lack the power or torque to fight big fish easily. My Curado DHSV has really good power in my opinion, I'm not exactly sure of the IPT anymore but it's fast enough to be a great pitch/flip or jig reel. These reels feature an aluminum frame and handle side plate which keeps the gears in perfect alignment and doesn't allow any flex which results in good cranking power. I also remember reading a review when the E series first came out that the main gear in the D series was slightly bigger than the one in the new E series and in the opinion of the tester this lessened the cranking power a bit. I know you're going with a new Revo, my point to that was that all 7.1 reels aren't created equal. Just because one brand or model doesn't have good cranking power under load doesn't mean none do. I've never fished a Revo so I can't help you there but I think I remember reading that the new gen 3 Revo has bigger gears than before so it could turn out to be a really good 7.1 reel. I hope it does for you, let us know.

As has already been said, I to believe the drag to be the most important component in a good flipping reel. Not only its total number of pounds delivered at or near lockdown but also its smoothness. I pitch much more that I flip and I've found that I prefer a reel with centrifugal brakes over ones with any type of magnets or combination of the two. No matter how low you turn the brake setting on one there's still some force applied, not so with centrifugal brakes. I do most of my flipping/pitching with a 6 ratio reel, I have used a 7 ratio before and while its nice to have I agree here with other members and feel its not a necessity. I've never used a reel with a flipping switch so I don't have an opinion there one way or the other. These are a few of the reels I've used over the years on a flipping rod, and while I've settled into what I prefer most all these reels worked great. TDZ, Zillion HS, Fuego, Chronarch A & B series, Curado D, Citica E, and Curado E51.

RC 1.5 Spro Fat Papa SK 6XD/ Spro Little John DD

I've had my best success on deep cranks in the summer and fall. I also noticed that anytime I can hit wood out deep with them I usually catch more fish than off any other type of structure. You WILL lose some baits doing this but it can be worth it to locate a few good deep cranking holes. Some guys can catch them with deep cranks around rip rap but I can't, doesn't mean you can't though so try it. Some current always helps to make a good cranking spot. As was already disscussed I usually change at least the hooks that come on most cranks. Some have ok split rings with junk hooks, just give them a look and you can tell ( very light wire ) if you need to replace them as well. I use either Owner ST trebles or Mustad KVD 1X strong 2X short. The majority have the Mustads. Spro baits come with good hardware and hooks, as do some others this brand just came to mind. I really like the Strike King 6XD baits because they catch fish but don't cost like Lucky Craft or Spro. Both of those brands make good cranks I just got tired of throwing away $15 + each time I lose one. On the other hand the hooks on the 6XD definitely need replacing so that does add to their cost each time. As for gear I use 7' to 7'7" technique specific cranking rods and either a Calcutta TE DC 201 or a Citica E 201. I always use either 10 or 12# CXX. My rods are all graphite rods, I don't like glass rods. As was also mentioned earlier time on the water is really the only way I've found to get better at this technique. After fishing these baits for a while you'll get a "feel" for them and you'll know you're coming over a limb or hitting rockys and you can adjust your retrieve accordingly to help cut down on the number of sagged and lost baits. I know there's plenty I left out and plenty more that I myself don't know yet but I hope what I did know helps you some.

As long as the two hooks ( the original and replacement ) are close in size it doesn't affect the lure at all. Say if the stock ones are #4 you should replace them with #4's, round bend vs EWG doesn't matter in my opinion. One thing though about the KVD trebles is since the shank is so short you can usually go up one size and not affect the lures action. Say if you had regular shank round bend #4's stock you can safely use a Mustad KVD 1X strong 2X short #2 treble.

iabass8, I hadn't though to use the same hook that I'm already using. Thanks for the idea. CPBassFishing, I have a pond not to far from my house that's clear, I'll try that out next time I'm there.

I've used CXX and McCoy. Now I have to tell you up front that P-Line is the only line I use for all my copoly and fluoro needs. I use CXX 10# for 90% of my treble hook lure fishing. Square bills, deep divers, poppers, sammies it works great for me with all these lures. I should also say I don't really fish jerk baits that much but I don't see why this line wouldn't also fish these baits well. I like CXX because of it's strength and minimal (in my opinion of course) stretch. It does tend to have a good bit of memory but it doesn't really bother me all that much. The McCoy I tried was fine, it did seem to me to have a little more stretch though.

iabass8, no I haven't tried that method either. I really like the idea I came up with so until I can get some on the water time with that to see if it works how I want it to or not I'm not looking for other hooks. I was more looking for info on guys fishing beavers on different rigs besides the ones everyone already knows, texas, carolina, punch, jig trailer, etc.

kylek, I hadn't thought about the Yum hook, if the one I have doesn't work out I'll give this hook a look. Smallieslayer2234, I don't see any reason a Pit Boss wouldn't work on a shakyhead. Give it a try, like I said I've had super good luck with the smallie beavers on an Owner shakyhead with these Coosa River spots. Shane J, thanks for your tips as well. Like I said to kylek if my hook doesn't work out the way I think it will I'll look into your suggestions. CPBassFishing, you're the second person to bring up the keel weighted swimbait style hooks with these baits, I will have to give this a try. The weight I added to the nose of the twistlock I'm using was 1/16th so I'm hoping to have similar results as you just with a slightly different fall.

Hanover_Yakker, thanks for the heads up on the larger CPS. I've not had this experience as of yet while using them, the only bait I've tried both the medium and large sizes with that it didn't help was a Gambler Cane Toad. These are my absolute favorite toad baits so I use a ton of them, I was looking for a way to extend their life beyond the usual one fish one bait problem. It doesn't seem to matter which spring I use I can't get more than two fish out of them. It's ok with me though because I love these hooks for the reasons I described in my first post and have zero plans to switch hooks. I've just had way to much success with these hooks to change, I can't remember the last fish that bit one of these hooks that I failed to get a solid hookset on and get them in the boat. The 5/0 fits the Cane Toad perfectly. I'll just have to live with going through Cane Toads . One toad bait that I do find to be very durable with the large size CPS is the Strike King Rage Toad. I get multiple fish on one of these baits usually, although they don't seem to draw quite as many strikes for me as the Cane Toads.

Crestliner2008, I haven't tried them on a swimbait hook because I wanted them to sit "tail down" on the bottom like a shakyhead does but I will give it a try sometime, thanks. Hanover_Yakker, thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough answer. I don't think your hook will work for me because of the light wire. That was my main reason for looking for alternatives to a regular shakyhead, I want to be able to pitch these in and around heavy brush and wood on my flipping gear. I'm pretty excited to try my hook, I think it's going to be just what I've been looking for, slow fall, tail down presentation when on the bottom, and strong hook.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll look them up.

I'm pretty much like the first two guys, if I'm just pitching it to laydowns, boat houses, or sparse cover usually use a 5/16 weight. If I'm flipping it I'll go 3/4 for about 80% of my grass fishing. I use a straight shank for flipping and usually an ewg style for everything else. Sometimes I might use an Owner twistlock. I always peg my weight.

I've had good luck using smallie beavers on shakyheads but I always wanted to be able to fish the bigger size beavers with heavier tackle but really didn't for fear of bending the light wire hooks that come on most shakyheads. Well while just messing around with some tackle I came up with something that works almost exactly like a shakyhead but, this one you can pitch with your flipping rod. I used a 5132 5/0 Owner twistlock hook and a 1/16th crimp on weight. It sits on the bottom just like a shakyhead so therefore it presents the bait in the same way as a shakyhead. I think it is going to work out good as a pitching bait that presents like a shakyhead but allows the use of much heavier tackle. Do any of you guys use beaver style baits on shakyheads, or any other interesting heads? Hows it working out for you? Thanks fellas!