War Eagle 44

I love Owner Twistlock hooks, use them all the time for many different things. I've had that happen to me as well when frog fishing but to me it isn't that big a deal. I use these hooks because they have a very good hooking percentage for me and they keep the bait nice and straight while it's being fished through the grass or brush. I don't have to adjust it after every cast or I don't have wasted casts because of the frog balling up. One thing I did do that helped cut down on the one fish one bait problem was I removed the centering pin that comes on the hooks and went up to the biggest size centering pin. The bigger pin gets more plastic inside it so it takes more force to pull it out. Give it a try, it really does work.

The only two ways I've used them so far (because I just found out about them this past fall) are on an Owner Beast weighted swimbait hook and on the back of a 1/2oz Dirty Jigs swim jig. Both ways produced awesome action but I felt for more open water type fishing it looked best on the swimbait hook. I use a split ring in the eye of my swimbait hooks and I truely believe it lets the bait move a little better than if you tie directly to the hook.

My Grip Pin's came in today, first impressions of them are good. The keeper is nicer than I thought it would be. It feels durable but I won't know for sure until I get some fishing time with them, obviously. I got three packs, two Grip Pin Max - 4/0 & 5/0 and one Grip Pin Edge - 3/0. The 3/0 seems like it will be really good finesse type of hook but I'm not so sure about using it to flip heavy cover with. It says in the description on Tackle Warehouse that it is suppose to be a flipping hook but the wire is really light in my opinion. I'm sure I'll give it a shot but I also know I will be very conscious of the fact that it is a light wire hook and because of this I hope it doesn't make me fish "afraid" and start to miss fish. As I've mentioned before I love to flip baby Paca Craws and the 4/0 Max hook fits these baits perfectly. This will more than likely be my favorite of the ones I just recieved.

KYntucky Warmouth brought up an interesting point in my opinion on switching between reels with different braking systems with out any problems. I found this to be a major problem in my fishing, in previous years I to had about an equal number of Shimano and Daiwa reels and they were all mounted on a "hodge podge" of different brand of rods. This is when I first started out and was trying to find what tackle suited me best, and in so having all these different set ups and switching between them on the fly over the course of a days fishing I would frequently backlash my Shimano's after fishing with a Daiwa for a while. I didn't have this problem going the other way for some reason, I thought that the Daiwa breaking system was easier to get "dialed in" for a beginner. Now this part is personal preference so not everyone will agree here but to me I found my Shimano's to be "more free" during casting and pitching allowing me to use less force on my casts. I later figured out that this is what was causing my backlash problems, using the casting force I'd gotten used to with my Daiwa's on my Shimano's. After some years of fishing this way I decided to try and correct my problem by only taking one brand of reels on a given day. I would think about what techniques I thought would be the best for that day and then mount the reels on the rods best suited for the techniques I'd choosen. This worked out much better for me as I could get used to one kind of breaking system and avoid those backlashes. This is what lead me to chose one over the other, using them on alternating trips on the same rods with the same lines. I found that I simply enjoyed my fishing time more using Shimano reels. Not saying one negative thing here about Daiwa, they make excellent tackle. I've not left the Shimano camp since so I've never tried any of the new Daiwa offerings, or Garcia Revo's or any of Quantums newer reels. Needless to say this also goes for the well reviewed and super popular new Lews reels. I know some people get "Shimano overload" on some forums so I try never to be pushy or aggressive with my opinion of the brand but they're all I fish so if someone asks for a recommendation I have to tell them what I know about. This was a very interesting point he made so I was just curious to your fella's opinions on switching between reels with different braking systems.

One more way I've found to present these baits in a little different way is to first tie on an Owner WGP 4/0 hook then thread on the baby paca craw stopping before you run the point back through the body for final rigging. Insert a tungsten 1/8th oz weight into the bait, put it in only as far as you need to in order to now run the hook point through the body and skin hook the point. Finally squeeze the bait so that the weight moves back toward the hook bend, I always push it back until it touches the shank but you can play with where you want it to get it to fall differently. With the weight right under the barb it may feel like it's going to cause hooking problems but I've not found that to be the case. With it rigged in this manner it produces a completely vertical fall, not the usual tail down presentation. Also the claws don't flap nearly as much as they regularly do but do more of what I would call "waving" for lack of a better word. I've had the most succes with it rigged this way in way downs, tree tops, and any other brush I can find. Something about the way it falls really triggers them to eat around wood. I've not yet tried it under docks and boat houses but I can tell you it will skip really well so you can get it way under there.

I myself am also a fan of using matching equipment. The set of core rods and reels that I fish the most by far are all the same brand and model reel with the same brand technique specific rods. Sure I have other reels and rods that I sometimes fish along side these five setups but for the vast majority of my fishing I really enjoy the continuity of my Citica E and Powell Max combos.

P-Line is my go to line of choice, in fact it's the only brand I use for fluoro or copoly, but I just find fluoroclear to have way to much stretch therefore killing the sensitivity. I just don't understand why you wouldn't use the most sensitive option available since it's a leader you don't have to worry about manageability issues. Just my .02 cents, everyone's opinions are different.

J Francho beat me to it, 10# P-Line CXX is what I use 95% of the time for my cranking needs, from square bills to dd22's & 6XD's. The other 5% I'll bump it up to 12# CXX, I just like 10# a little better because it casts slightly better and my baits get a little deeper.

It's either a baby paca craw in Alabama craw, paca melon, or watermelon spice. I also really like sweet Beavers in the infection color. Green pumpkin Zoom speed craws are awesome sometimes to.

Thanks for the ideas so far guys.

eyedabassman, I would never have thought of using them on an Alabama Rig. flippin and pitchin, thanks for the kind words, nothing really special just took it on my phone. Yes it does glide very nicely rigged this way.

We all know about the standard texas, carolina, and punch rigs and we know about using them as jig trailers but what other rigging methods do you guys use with these? I know I'm late to the rage rig party having only found out about it sometime last year but it sure is a fun way to rig plastics. This is an Owner Zo Wire 4/0 flipping hook with a 1/16th lead crimped onto the shank. I also have a plastic rattle inside the bait for a little something extra. I'm really having a blast trying to figure out all the tricks of the rage rig, so what do you guys do?

I like to try and match my plastic bait. Just as the other guys have said, it's strictly a personal confidence thing with me. I agree with what LgMouthGambler said, I like to try and make it look like one solid bait instead of a bait and a weight, if that makes sense. I especially like to do this with my baby paca craws while flipping, it looks so streamlined and "nice" with a matching weight.

Wow! I'm absolutely shocked to hear that people hate P-Line. They are the only company I buy copoly and fluoro from. So my suggestion goes completely against the grain here so far but here goes. I use a 15# fluoro leader on my spinning rod with 20# braided main line. I don't seem to have any trouble getting bites using this heavy a leader but the lakes I fish have a green tint to them year round. Anytime I'm using fluoro these days it's either P-Line 100% or Halo, nothing else. I know this is not what you asked but I just wantd to say that the only line I use other than their fluoro is P-Line CXX. I used to use their braid but I can't find it locally anymore and don't want to go through the hassle of mail ordering it so I switched to Power Pro. I've tried a bunch of different brands of line and always come back to P-Line. The small tackle shop in my town told me they sell twice as much P-Line as anything else. Off the top of my head I know they carry Berkley, Stren, Vicious, and maybe one more. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

My absolute number one favorite squarebill is a LC RC 1.5 Copper Green Shad. Second are the KVD 1.5's in various colors.

I pick up one pack right after Ish won the BASS tournament on them last year. There's nothing bad I can say about the bait but I don't think it stands above some of the other beaver style baits that are on the market. I don't think it's any worse either, just a subtle variation on the lure. The two beaver baits I use most are the original R.I. sweet beaver and the NetBait B-Bug. I like the R.I. smallie beaver better than the smaller version from NetBait but I prefer the B-Bug in the "regular" size.

KevO, I absolutely HATE carolina rig fishing so I won't be needing it for that but the spoon idea sounds promising. Thanks for the additional info.

Hollisray, thank you for clarifying your first post. It seemed to me you were just trying to "stir the pot" and get the discussion going in a negative direction. I love to grass fish so I just wanted to see what all the guys here used for their grass fishing needs, not recommendations as I've already settled on plenty of grass gear. Again thank you for your second post and I'm sorry I misunderstood and read negatively into your first one.

Your probably correct that the balace is just better with the reels I've tried on the Powell. I don't plan to get rid of the Loomis, it's a great heavy duty flipping rod and I'll save it for those situations.

Thanks for the additional info on the 4 power Powell's!

The 4 power rod doesn't lack "power" in your opinion? You may not be fishing really thick stuff so that could be a big factor I know, I'm just curious. I have two 5 power Powell rods, the 7105 flip/punch rod and the 735 frog rod. If I'm remembering correctly the 7105 is just a fast action while the 735 is extra fast. I know the 735 has a much stiffer tip than the 7105, but it's my favorite rod. It's just right in my opinion for frog and toad baits, plenty of power in the 735. I just love grass fishing so these two rods get plenty of fishing time. I've never fished a 4 power Powell so I don't have any clue as to their effectiveness as "heavy cover" rods.

Thanks KevO. Yeah I thought the titanium guides would be bulletproof to but there are plenty of guys out there that say they grooved them pretty bad using braid with them. I do realize the full cork grips would add weight I guess what I'm saying is the BCFR feels like it gains "extra" weight somehow after mounting the reel. Let me try to explain my self better, if I lay the BCFR and the 7105 side by side with no reel and compare their weight in hand they don't feel that much different. Now lets say I add a Curade 201D to the Powell, no line or lure just the reel and play around with it a second then switch the same reel over to the BCFR it seems like the reel added more weight to the BCFR than to the Powell. I'm not really sure how to explain what I mean, it's no big deal, I was just rambling on. I know it DOESN'T add more weight to the Loomis than the Powell it just feels that way to me. Sorry for going down that confusing road. On a different point you made you said in your opinion the BCFR blew the Powell away. In what area's exactly do you feel this way? It's very interesting to me because I think I like the Powell better despite the price difference. I personally don't find the GLX to be much more sensative and I prefer the action of the Powell. Just asking for your personal thoughts, as we know there is no right or wrong answer when dealing with personal preferences. Thanks ahead of time for taking the time to discuss it with me.

After re-reading your post I think I missunderstood what you were asking completely, sorry about that. I'm not sure I can narrow down my plastics fishing that small but I guess a Zoom super fluke and a brush hog would get me by a lot of times if I just HAD to name a favorite. I use all three sizes of super flukes with the regular size being the most used followed by the magnum and then the small one. As for colors my #1 color for them is baitfish and a close second and third would be watermelon and baby bass. Green pumpkin is the color of Brush Hog I use 95% of the time, in either the baby size which I use most or the full size. I do ALWAYS dye the tails chartreuse with either Spike It or JJ's Magic.

I, like you, have tons of plastics as do the vast majority of serious bass fishermen. If I were trying to thin out the number of different plastics I carry with me on an every day outting I would have to give it some thought but I'm fairly sure I could get by with baits from around, oh I'd say 3 companies. NetBait, Zoom, and Berkley would be the three I would concentrate on. I could get by with a few select lures from each company just fine I think. I would end up with more creature and craw type baits than anything else, baby paca craws, baby brush hogs, B-Bugs, baby B-Bugs, Pit Boss, and on and on. Zoom Super Flukes would be big for me (as they currently are) along with their lizards, regular and magnum. NetBait T-Mac's and finesse worms would cover all my straight tail worm needs. Zoom and NetBait would have all my jig trailer needs covered between them. So on and so forth, you get the idea but between these three lure companies I'd be set as far as plastics were concerned.

KevO, I find the BCFR 954 GLX to be a broom stick of a rod and best suited to duties like you are using yours for. I fish it the least out of my three flipping rods due to this. Also it feels a little heavier than my other two (Powell 7105 & Falcon Expert) especially with a reel mounted on. I've tried several different reels on it so far, Curado 201D, Chronarch 101A, Chronarch 101B, and currently a Curado 51E. Now before everyone says well sure it's heavy, you're using heavy reels on it, let me just tell you that I've switched all these reels around between the different rods (just as an experiment I didn't actually fish all the different cobinations) just to see if they made the other rods feel the same way. The answer is no, they don't feel as heavy on the other rods as they do on the BCFR. Since I tried the Curado 51E I've been very pleased with the feel of it and how they actually fish together so I've found my permanent reel for it finally. One question I have for you about yours is have you run into any problems using braid with this rod. Many reports of the guides grooving with braid, I so far have only fished mono and fluoro on mine but the very next time I respool I'm going to go with Power Pro Super 8 Slick. Just want to make sure I'm not going to ruin a $$$ rod. Also do you use it for anything other than your punching needs? Just some general thoughts I have on this rod are it seems to be built with the intention of being able to flip and punch anywhere without worry. No matter the type of cover or line it will be able to handle it. It is a serious flipping rod, not really one that I find enjoyable to do light duty work with. I know it has the most power of any of my three sticks, and if I were choosing one to fish the thickest heaviest grass this would be it. My Powell also has plenty of power and I've got great confidence in this rod (my most used rod) but it has A LOT softer tip. To me this inables it to do light duty work as well as the nasty stuff. I wouldn't be affraid to fish this one anywhere either, just a little softer action is all. The Falcon would be the lightest powered of all my sticks but it is very very easy to fish with. It will fish 99% of anything I come across no problems, I was just ranking them in the order I feel they fall in.