annexation

They work great in dirtier water - I've had best luck using them in dirty water or faster current conditions in black, with a matching twin-tail grub for a trailer.

I like grubs better as trailers than a standalone thing, and in that respect I prefer the twin-tail variety. Smaller tubes on a drop-shot is high confidence presentation for me - some days they outproduce Roboworms on the same rig for me. On bigger tubes, I like to put some weight inside them and drag them across the bottom after they spiral down.

I'm going to try making this the year of the lipless crankbait - never caught much with them, and probably more pike than bass. I'll be giving them a more dedicated shot when the ice melts.

I feel lost when I've burned through all my Fat Ikas.

I always forget about these. Might have to give them a try; thanks!

I gotta go with hollow-body frogs. Man do I want to love these things, but two seasons of trying and I still can't buy a bite with them. Will try again this summer.

A black chatterbait with a matching twin-tail grub trailer always seems to find fish in dirty water for me.

They're ideal on a dropshot, but I've also had good results with them on light carolina-style rigs, like split-shot and mojo.

I was so geeked a couple years back to get the Alabama Rig; the prospect of nailing two fish in one go was very enticing. I dropped over twenty bucks for the A-Rig and never caught a single fish on it. It was very disappointing, but then, I was very new to fishing, also. I was throwing it on some pretty lousy gear to boot - it's been shelved for over two seasons. I ought to bust it out and give it a try again this season, this time on a more appropriate setup.

Green Pumpkin and Black and you're good to go! Green Pumpkin for brighter days / clearer waters; black for any time else. I'm not afraid to try the full range of colors (some days it doesn't seem to matter what you throw at them), but those two seem to be the best all-purpose producers for me.

Dragging Ikas!

I add a stout split ring to the nose of my spooks; seems to give them a better side-to-side glide.

Has anybody mentioned MegaStrike? Because I like MegaStrike. A tube lasts forever, it's easy to apply, and stays on a good while. Not to mention it's bought me a few bites I'm not sure I'd have got otherwise. Covers up the funky odor of my recycled Senkos like a champ, and gets that egg sinker to slide into my tube real easy like. That... sounded bad, didn't it?

It's gimmicky, sure. Doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun to throw one. It probably catches as good as any other crank of its type. That price, though.

If you want a killer soft plastic for dragging bottom in the shallows, I'd consider Yamamoto Fat Ikas and rig them backwards on a 4/0 EWG. After the results I got this season, I'll be buying baaaaaaags of them when the ice melts. Some green pumpkins and some blacks are all I need.

I just throw them in an old senko bag - easy!

I've noticed inconsistencies on Lewis traps in terms of hook quality. The red chrome and transparent traps I bought had really nice hooks that didn't need replaced, whereas the gold/black back and chrome/blue ones I bought had crappier hooks by comparison. The traps with the nicer hooks were comparable to Mustad #4 short shanks, so that's what I swapped on the others.

This place is has seriously upped my fishing game in so many ways, fundamentally and beyond. You guys are great.

Definitely, sir. I'll actually be giving every speck of advice given here some serious scrutiny to develop a good regimen to combat this crap in the future. I appreciate all the input, truly.

I had no idea this was even a thing until recently, and now I realize it's a serious and widespread issue. Thanks for all the input, guys. I'm going to go easy on my elbow until it feels better, even if it means fewer and shorter fishing outings. I'm also going to work on better casting technique - I've always been the type to whip it out for the longest cast possible, and now I see that's probably the main culprit. That article that was linked to early in this thread is a gold mine of preventive and recovery knowledge; thanks for linking that!

Yipes. Just yipes. This in the eye is like my worst nightmare.

My elbow has been screaming in pain lately, from things as simple as moving it or drinking coffee. Got back from fishing yesterday morning and my elbow was virtually unusable all day. It's the morning now and it feels better, but still considerably messed up. I looked up the symptoms and sure enough, it's tennis elbow. This has been ongoing for well over a month... I don't want to but it might be time to put up the poles for a while. For someone who goes fishing three to four times a week, five hours at a time, how am I to cope? HOW AM I TO COPE!?!?! [raises fists to the sky] ow ow ow....

Honestly, it just ends up all over the inside of the bag as much as it does the plastics. It's kind of a waste. Not to mention it loses its 'gooeynes's and dries into a sort of film that needs warmed back up with vigorous rubbing before it gets slick again. Just my experience.

In terms of action, it may overlap with the senko a bit, but I always bring a bag of Fat Ikas with me in case I need to outfish my partner. I don't know what it is, but around here they kill in every shallow water hole around. Rig it texas style with the skirt up front and drag them slowly across the bottom. Every. Freakin. Time. Beeeyaam Baby! Something about the bulk of the bait just turns bass on. It's basically an overgrown grub with a bunch of wiggly tentacles instead of a curly tail. They love it.

Made a newer batch that turned out nicely. I promised better pics, so here you go: Before the cut: After: A pair of them turned out a little short, but I'm sure they'll catch. I'll just use them in when the situation demands a 4" stick.