iceintheveins

The damiki air frog.

I even argued with a couple people on this forum who think that endangered species should be protected above all else, no matter how much it costs or no matter how many sportfish (oops invasive) fish they damage to "help" the natives. I don't think that way and neither do most anglers and the general public.

Very true. The rich enviros have a lot of power. I hope if it comes to that and they start killing bass that someone goes vigilante on their butts. No endangered fish has ever been aided by trying to kill a nonnative species. It is almost always habitat degradation that harms native fish. In my mind too, sport fish trump obscure or rough fish, and it's that way with the majority of sportsmen and the public in general, but California is very liberal with lots of enviro extremists so this could be a DANGEROUS thing for clear lake. Stress habitat improvement and show opposition to any removal of sportfish. Mechanical removal of sportfish is relatively ineffective anyway, at worst causing moderate declines of the fishery (but this is unacceptable in a place like clear lake). It's also hugely expensive. Remember when Lake Davis was twice poisoned to kill pike, and each time the Game and Fish said it would "kill every single pike"? WRONG, the pike have returned both times (although at this time the numbers of them are still fairly small). Once a nonnative fish is in a system, for all intensive purposes you cannot get rid of it and long term, permanent declines are RARE. So it's a total waste of time and money, and as far as it not helping native fish, science is on your side. But most biologists in western states are driven and controlled by environmental extremists so they are NOT to be trusted.

Go with the older micro guide Veritas for $80. I have the 7' MH and it's fantastic for pitchin' jigs and creatures in light to moderate cover. Heavy cover and big bass calls for the H.

Also are you saying the Chronarch E casts 1/4 ounce and light baits better?

Which reel casts a crank in the 3/8 to 7/16 range ounce farther? Are you saying the Curado will launch a 1/2 ounce crank better than the Chronarch too?

Always have wondered myself. One year cranks rule, the next they drool. Same with lots of different lures. Spinnerbaits have been less effective this year for me than in years past, especially than in the last 3. They still have caught plenty of bass, but who knows. Are fish becoming more conditioned to them in this lake? Perhaps. But the fish in this little lake are heavily pressured, see every time of bass lure, yet I can still catch them on basically every bass lure.

They are so so. Like others have said, go simple when it comes to jigs. I use only three colors: Green pumpkin, black/blue, and brown orange. Get jigs in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 ounce sizes. Then use a matching rage or paca chunk, and you will catch tons of fish. My favorite jigs are the pepper jigs from pepperjigs.com. A basic jig kit would cost you $40 to buy these three colors and a bag of trailers. Get some mend it to keep your trailers in good shape when they tear, and you will be set for a season. Augment your existing jigs with backups in case you lose them or they are damaged. But the pepper jigs are the best on the market IMO.

Actually when I reach for topwaters, they are the best type of lure to throw in terms of numbers of bass. In lowlight conditions they outproduce everything else usually. On thick mats of vegetation, a frog will outproduce just about anything most of the time. When it's cloudy, a topwater is the first thing I reach for. If it doesn't work, I'll switch to a spinnerbait and that usually nails them when a topwater won't in cloudy weather.

Rage Anaconda.

Anyone here fished both the Curado I and Chronarch E? I'm looking to get one or the other for casting deep cranks. Any differences in performance? I know the E has the old style VBS and the I has the newer one with the additional external setting. One thing that turns me off is I hear the I comes PACKED with grease that negatively effects it's performance.

Have heard good things about the Mojo Crankers and the Halos.

What is your favorite rod to bomb big cranks (1/2 ounce or over) a long ways on? Needs to have a good moderate action too?

Centipedes on a mojo rig, jigs, creatures, frogs, and various topwaters.

Topwater is always good here once the water is in the low 60s (usually mid april) and lasts through most of October. Just generally have to concentrate on the mornings, evenings, and cloudy days. Frogs will catch them all day though in the right areas and conditions.

Terminator used to be. Their spinnerbaits are not nearly as good anymore, especially the double willows, the front blade often won't even spin. Now, it's Pepper custom baits and Nichols. Need to try some war eagles, revenge, and northstar.

The BPS plastics I have used are very good, most of their lures period are.

Braid is the only way to fish a frog.

The only colors I have are green pumpkin, black/blue, and brown/orange. I like to match the color of the trailer to the jig. The rage chunks and paca chunks are the best trailers imo. A bite is generally a tick, movement in the line, or a feeling of weightlessness if the bass takes the jig and swims toward you. The best way to fish jigs is to learn to pitch. Docks, logs, brush, rip rap banks, and weedlines are the best areas to fish a jig imo. Pitch it to the target, let it sink of a semi slack line to the bottom, shake it, and then hop it up 1 - 3 times off the bottom, then reel in and make another pitch. Once you get comfortable and catch a few fish off it, it will be one of the first lures you reach for. I like to use the lightest jig I can get away with because a slow fall generally seems to get more hits. In calm wind in 12' of water or under, I use a 1/4 ounce jig. In deeper water or if using heavier line over 20 pound test, a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce jig is great, or if it's too windy to use the 1/4 ounce. I use the 1/4 ounce probably 80% of the time.

I'm gonna go with a Chronarch E since they will probably discontinue them and the price will go down.

I've never had this issue with quality hollow bodied frogs, spro included.

It's a great lure. The only one heavy enough to throw on casting gear is the #13.

Don't have one but this is what I'd go with.

I too am disappointed by the casting distance of my tournament MG. It throws the heavier cranks I'm using with it reasonably well but it doesn't bomb them into the next zip code. I'm selling it and getting a chronarch. I've noticed the spool tension doesn't seem to have much in the way of settings, seems to have about the same about of tension no matter how tight or loose it is as long as it's set loose enough for the lure to fall. It doesn't backlash any more than other reels, but the casting distance is disappointing. I'm throwing it on a 7'11" BPS MH crankin' stick, and I even flushed the bearings and cleaned the reel (as it came with lots of grease) and THAT didn't help either. Chronarch for me.

A little over five on Colorado's Yampa River, on a buzzbait. Five minutes later I got a 38" pike, numerous other 2 - 3 pound smallies, and more pike up to 8 pounds. All the the span of 15 minutes around dusk.