iceintheveins

Thank you, I might send them in this year when I'm done in November.

I have to say a jig and a spinnerbait account for more bass for me than any other two. This year has been no exception.

I don't think a bass 8 pounds or better would have any trouble inhaling a 16" baitfish. I wouldn't be shocked if that lure catches fish down to five pounds regularly, I've seen 8" - 9" swimbaits catch a fair amount of bass around 2 pounds or a bit under. Always I'm amazed at how big of a bait bass will tackle.

Eight inch swimbaits and 11" worms.

Probably a year or so but I still get minor overruns every trip, especially since the winds here change often and I set my brakes as light as possible.

I'll take your word for it. How much do you charge for a super tuning and cleaning?

I give my reels a deep clean once a year unless something else warrants a cleaning (dunking in murky water or grit gets in it which I don't allow anyway except a couple times by accident) and I clean the bearings probably three times a year with a mild degreaser, then an acetone followed by isopropyl soak. Last time I added blowing them out with an air compressor too. My reels cast well I just noticed a decline in the Curado casting two trips ago, and flushing did help them a little, it's back to about normal.

Two small channel cats so far this year on cranks, one deeper on a Strike King 3xd, one shallow on a Norman Fat Boy. My brother had a 6 pounder follow in a black and blue booyah jig when he was reeling it in to make another pitch this year too.

I really like good old original stren. It has good strength and little memory when some KVD L and L is applied liberally. For higher tests though (14 and over) I prefer Suffix Elite, it's more naturally limp and still has good strength.

Barely, all I do is try and limit the damage he does.

The pit boss gets the nod for me, but I need to dry some D - bombs it sounds like.

As the others have said, it's the worst, most brittle garbage ever.

I have been thinking of replacing the stock bearings in my baitcast reels, two curados and four pro qualifiers. Would upgrading to say hawgtech bearings give me enough of a casting distance increase to be worth the price?

OH HELL YEAH!

No braid for cranks!

Strike King Red Eye Shad in Chile Craw, 1/4 ounce for our shallow, weedy lakes.

Pflueger President 6930 or 6925. Pair it with a Veritas 6'9" ML rod and you have a fantastic combo.

Halo Fishing Cranking Rod, 7' MH.

I'd go with a cardiff 300 or 400 for a budget reel, or the bigger Curado E if you don't mind spending more money.

With their warranty I would just send it in unless the action being a bit stiffer/faster won't bother you.

Two other cranks I really miss are the bomber fat A, especially the 2.25", 5/8 ounce model that dives 10 - 12 feet, and the rattlin' fat rap.

Don't overlook slow rolling a spinnerbait in deep either, it just has tremendous fish attraction power.

For 10 - 20 feet I would say crank. Deeper than that, carolina rig or football jig. If the crank fails to produce in the 10 - 20 range, out comes the latter two.

What's your favorite bait for heavy vegetation punching? So far for me it's a pit boss or a paca craw/punch.

1. Bluegill 2. Natural Shad 3. Sexy Shad/Chartreuse Sexy Shad 4. Red Craw 5. Firetiger 6. Brown or Green Natural Craw 7. Chartreuse/yellow Those should do you on any fishery from crystal clear to murky. The clearer the water, the better you need to match the forage. The murkier, the more you need to stand out, by going bigger, brighter, and louder.