Brian_Reeves

I'm glad flechero got pics up. I've been fighting with my camera. can't get it to focus up close. The rod gets its debut this weekend. Hopefully I have a working camera by then. If not, then I will catch fish anyway!! It's a small hole of a pond, so PB potential isn't there, but it will be a lot of fun to be back out on the water. Again, I can't thank y'all enough for this. I still look at that rod (which is kept in the bedroom, unlike the rest of the rods) and all I can say is wow.

The Ocho isn't really a senko knock off like so many other brands. For once, there is something notably different about it. The Ocho is an octagon. Having 8 flat sides, it doesn't cut through the water like a circular design would. Rigging it with a flat side down causes a bit of resistance that forces the body to move with the water trying to get around it. This slows the fall and gives it a bit of wiggle. I've been playing with the Ochos lately. I'm not a soft plastic cigar fan, but they work well. Durability with these types of bait isn't an issue to me anymore because it is not a primary technique or me. I only use them on carolina rigs, pegged texas rigs for punching mats, and finesse applications. I don't go through very many, so I don't feel the need to drop 500 bucks on them a year. They work well. Mixed with that coffee scent that I'm faling in love with, it has a place in my box.

I just started using the new Strike King Burner Spinnerbaits. They have a small, thinner blade and you can really move this thing in the water without it blowing out. It is perfect for what I use spinnerbaits for. Covering water and forcing reaction strikes!!!! I also have a bunch of other Strike King, Terminator, and Booyah spinnerbaits. All of them centralize on the aforementioned colors. However, I'm on the lookout for a special combination that I want for clear water. I want a clear or transparent smoke colored blade with a grey/white skirt for ultra clear water. I might have to suck it up and make my own on that one though. I have never seen one. Other than the occasional special color for special occasions, you can pretty much bank on white/chartruse, white, chartruse, and black. One thing I always recommend is downsize your blades!! You can get quality equipment from a number of online stores, but downsizing the blades seems to increase my catch ratio 100%. I also fish my baits very, very fast and those big blades have a tendency to lift the bait too high in the water and cause them to "blow out"

I've loaded up on some pointers, x-raps, husky jerks, and the bass pro shops jerkbaits. I've been leaning on my traditional crankbait colors. Gold black back, chrome blue back, and chrome black back. I'm going to throw in some bone whites and maybe another color or two, depending on what catches my eye. What colors seem to excel on jerkbaits? Jerkbaits are kind of an ignored class of bait for me. I'm not sure why, because when I do fish them, I generally do pretty decent. I think my main problem was fishing them with a spinnerbait rod and I'd get wore out from them after awhile. I'm wanting to try to use them on a few of the BFL tournaments I'm fishing next year as well as perhaps up in Kentucky Lake. I guess the question here is what kind of rod/reel seems to perform best with jerkbaits Jigs and soft plastics have been the only real compliment to my crankbait/spinnerbait apporach to bass fishing. Time to add in another class of baits. This is next year's project.

What they said

I guess this is going to be a thread full of thank yous. I am still stunned by this whole deal. Its hard to put into words the mix of emotions that runs through a guy shown this kind of gratitude and selflessness. You guys are simply awesome. I'm going to have to set up a new photobucket and get some pics up. I will do that when I get off of work later tonight. Long day today. I can tell you this though. I don't know where Keith got my dream rod specs from, but he did a fantastic job. He basically ripped what I pictured to be the perfect rod out of my head and made it real. It is a spiral wrapped, split grip, G Loomis 7 ft med heavy, fast tip jig fishing machine!! I put a Bass Pro Shops pro qualifier 7:1 reel on it until I can afford that Revo STX or Curado. A top knotch rod deserves a top knotch reel, after all. That rod is the most sensitive, furthest casting, and strongest rod I have dealt with. Keith, you are d**n good at your craft man. That rod exceeds the quality of any other rod I have ever seen. It is a piece of lip ripping art! A big thanks goes out to all of you who set this up and made it possible. I'll get the pics up as soon as I get home and remember how to put them up on here lol Thanks guys. This rod will be making a certain roadtrip with me in 09. Kentucky Lake baby!!

You're right. I noticed that same thing when I was practicing hitting styrofoam bowls in my back yard. Moving that rod can really make a lure cover some ground. The longer the rod, the more movement. I tend to fish jigs really fast, using heavy weight and high action trailers to cover water and trigger reaction strikes by erratic and aggressive movement. That technique works great when fish are active. But during the heat of the day or when fish are shut off for whatever reason, moving that jig oh so slow can be oh so sweet. That's one of the great things about a jig though. So much can be done with it. Great post and a good tip to keep in mind.

I agree 100% that it's who you're fishing with that can make all the difference in the world. Tournament angling gives you a chance to fish with a bunch of people. Especially events with the FLW co-angler format. You can learn a lot in a few days just by switching up and fishing with different pros. I'm hitting the co-angler trail next year and I hope to not only become a better angler through knowledge, challenges and experience, but also become a successful one as well. I can't wait to see how my unorthodox approaches to situations hold up on a trail. Learning that, in iteself, will make me a better angler.

I am becomming a fan of poison tail jigs for all purpose. They do well in rocks, grass, or brush and have both light and heavy sizes. GMAN and a few others on this site make them. I'll be making them soon too.

2.05 here is Jackson, MS. 2.35 at home in Baton Rouge, LA. It can be found around 2.25 at some places, but 2.35 is the average price. Probably gonna go down a bit more. I'm thinking it will hold up at the 2.00 mark. Who knows though. I don't care as long as it stays below 3.00 a gallon

I haven't caught a fish worth talking about on the Lucky Craft pointer that I bought. It's been over a year now. It's hard for me to invest any more money into that product line when the Bass Pro and Rapala Jerkbaits in similiar colors out produce it. But that's just me. Most of my crankbaits are the strike king line up and normans. I have a few mann's and rapalas in there. I do extremely well with them when I put down the jigs and soft plastics. I am not saying that Lucky Crafts don't work. Just like the GYCB senkos...just not a bait that has worked well for me. If you are going to get serious about square billed shallow cranks, then you will have to pick up a few different brands in the colors you need. That will help you decide upon which type of sound, profile, and action that works best for you. If it's the lucky crafts, then by all means, get a couple of them along with a lure retriever. But try a few others out too to see what really works best.

My first piece of advice is to get a lure retriever. If you aren't getting snagged, you aren't fishing crankbaits where they perform the best. A 12 dollar lure retriever will save you hundreds over the years. Right now, I'd be throwing a Strike King 1XS or Series 3 (if it's deep enough there) or half a dozen other brands in Sexy Shad, a chrome and blue, or a firetiger pattern in the backs of creek pockets. If there is none on the pond, then find any coves or indentions that offer quick acess to deep water. If there is cover in there, then pound it with a shallow crankbait and a spinnerbait. Crankbaits are best when they hit something. Whether its ticking the top of grass (best use for a lipless that I've found) or smacking them into trees, or having them dig ditches in the bottom...they work so very much better when they are constantly hitting or deflecting off of something. My favorite crankbaits are the Strike King baits, the Mann's Baby 1 minus, and anything made by Norman. I have a ton of all of them and working on getting more.

I went from being a smoking hot angler in LA to being a fishless one for quite some time in TX. It took me over a year to adjust and figure out how to work the deep structure and clear water that TX reservoirs offer. I'm glad I made that move though, because now I feel ready for the bigger circuits. I'll be fishing in several next year and I am close to finalizing some sponsorship deals. I'm expecting to take home some big checks. You're right. 100%. Leaving your confidence at home is the same as leaving your tackle there. Its good that you found yours again. Stick it to 'em and get those paychecks! Nothing better than getting paid to catch more big fish than the other guys!

I use oldham's jigs for flipping and pitching. Strike King's football jigs and bitsy bugs do the rest for me. I occassionaly use the little spot remover finesse jig. I want to pick up more of them and I am going to start pouring my own poison tail jigs soon. I have used some of the poison tail jigs and they are a good do-it-all type of jig.

I use rage tails year round. The Lobster or Anaconda gives a big profile and gets attention when its in the water. When it gets really cold and the fish are stubborn, I'll texas or carolina rig a senko style bait or a big tube and fish them SLLLOOWWW around ledges or breaks. Bulky hair jigs with pork trailers work well too.