iceintheveins

Bingo, I am the exact same way except I use a 7' Heavy action rod for my frogs and a MINIMUM of 50 pound braid. I also think poppers get a better action on monofilament than braid.

My favorite finesse jig is the Pepper Custom Baits Micro Jig. A tiny paca chunk or a zoom creepy crawler is the perfect trailer.

I like the Rage Anaconda and Recon Worms best, but I also like Old Monsters, Berkley 10" Power Worms, and the 10" Lake Fork Worm. Most 10" worms need at least a 5/0 EWG hook or even a 7/0. I generally use a 1/4 ounce weight with them unless I'm Carolina Rigging them or trying to get through thick vegetation.

Yeah I don't add much, just one spray. The bang spray has never altered my baits in any way.

Yeah setting the tension too tight can cause a backlash too, lots of people forget that.

Wish they still made the Chronarch E it was as good or better than the Curado E. A lot of people say they were the same reel and they might have been pretty much but I'm not sure because I never owned a Chronarch E, just tested one out. The Curado E casts 1/4 ounce lures better than any other baitcaster I've owned (BPS PQ, LEWS, Quantum, ABU).

I was going by the old E series, I have yet to fish a Citica I. The old Curado E casted light baits better than the Citica E and was a little bit smoother, though both were good reels. My experience so far with the I is that it casts great and is pretty smooth, but I use it for heavy lures (big cranks) so I don't know how it performs with light lures.

I usually just call those a quick release unless it's a tournament, then of course they don't count. The main thing I've found is to keep the right amount of tension, a low rod tip, and to use the proper rod so they don't get slack, along with premium hooks. Even taking all those steps though, sometimes there isn't much you can do.

What would you guys say is your average five fish bag? I live in Colorado where the average largemouth is 1 - 2 pounds and a 3 - 4 pounder is a decent one, and anything over 5 is fairly few and far between. So in my limited selection, my average bag is probably 10 pounds and a great day is 20, but those are uncommon. Fifteen pounds deserves a congrats in our mediocre waters.

I've found setting the tension as tight as he recommends is good for small docks or slight overhangs where you don't need to skip a long ways. But in serious skipping water distance means a lot more.

So where do you guys set your spool tension when skipping with a baitcaster. So far I've found I get less backlashes set the way Denny Brauer does but I don't get as much distance. Do you set your brakes light or heavy as well?

I think they are too close in price to justify buying a citica. If they go down to $130 like the old citicas they will be worth it. The old Citicas are better than a BPS Pro Qualifier by a bit but not quite as good as a Daiwa Tatula or Curado.

I'm using a 7' M Berkley Lightning Rod shock for cranks and traps under 1/4 of an ounce. For 1/4 of an ounce or heavier I just use casting gear, but straight balsa 1/4 ounce cranks like shad raps still need to be thrown on spinning gear IMO. Even a #7 shad rap doesn't throw well on casting gear.

What does it do to damage your baits?

It's the most horrible, brittle garbage ever.

d**n right when I have no money. Rat L Traps are still a money bait.

Regardless of how you cast a spinnerbait, you can get them to make a pretty quiet entry if you thumb the spool at the right moment before it hits the water.

I spray bang craw/shad combo scent into my bags of plastics since I use mend it to repair my baits and it has an acetone smell. I also think it helps keep them from crumpling up to have some lube in there, and plus extra scent never hurts (though it makes your plastics oily and messier). Who else here does this?

Of the rage line, the menace or grub.

Roll or sidearm casting is ideal, but I usually don't honestly have a problem bombing a spinnerbait with an overhand cast either.

Should work in a river.

Haven't fished for smallies this year yet, but last year a 3/8 ounce cavitron black skirted buzzbait caught my first smallie of the year, a 13" 1.25 pounder. A 1/4 ounce buzzbait of the same color and make caught my biggest smallie of the year at just over 4 pounds.

Chronarch 50E. As the others have said though, use a rod light enough to throw light baits though by checking it's ratings and how it loads.

I've also found when casting that even the bigger deep cranks don't go much past 20 to 21 feet, even on a long cast with 10 pound fluoro. But if you want to grind rip rap or ledges in the 15 - 20 foot range, big deep cranks are tough to beat.

Correct! Crankbaits like 6xds and bigger do put quite a bit of strain on you while retrieving. I find a slower reel is good for preventing you from fishing too fast as well, but the comfort is the main issue.