iceintheveins

Not much more than $100.

Still use them all the time, especially for smallies but largemouth too. I use both single and double tail grubs. Yamamoto, Berkley Powerbait, Kalin's, and Mr. Twister are my favorite ones. With single tails I usually go with 4" grubs or 5" grubs, but will downsize to 3" as well. With hula grub/skirted types the 5" grub is best. Green Pumpkin, pearl white, watermelon, motor oil, and black/blue grubs are my standby colors. With jigheads it's mostly 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, or 1/2 depending on depth, but anything under 20' feet, 1/4 of an ounce is as heavy as you need to go. With hula grubs, I usually texas rig them with a 1/0 EWG hook and a parasite weight pegged to it.

I wait till about the low 60s, which is usually Late April here in Colorado but we've had a cold spring, so the water is upper 50s still. Below that it's fewer and farther between and other lures just work much better.

Does anyone know of a good spinning rod, 7' or longer, that is a good cranking rod for throwing lighter balsa cranks like shad raps? I know Browning makes a 7' Silaflex, but I'm wanting something a little more quality. Looking for a glass or composite rod.

For affordable, a 7' BPS Crankin Stick, Medium Action, and a BPS 5.2:1 Pro Qualifier reel is the best combo for under $200 around.

The veritas and quantum alliances are very good, as well as the BPS extremes and bionic blades. The best value were the old tourney specials for $50. They aren't as good as the veritas or alliance but they were good. Now they changed them and the ratings are lower.

Norman cranks rock. Period. All of them I've ever had ran true and were durable.

I think the bass assassins have a little bit better action than the flukes at times, though they are more buoyant and less durable, but still I really like them. The sluggo has the best action IMO but it sinks VERY slow and doesn't cast as well. Overall, I still have yet to find something better for all around soft jerk use than the fluke. Zoom just makes flat out the best plastics bar perhaps yamamoto.

Topwaters before the sun comes up, such as rage shads, buzzbaits, and poppers. If they don't work, go with a 1/4 to 3/8 ounce spinnerbait depending on the depth, tandem or even double colorado. I would go with bulkier creature baits like space monkeys and the like if the water is stained or murky with the weight pegged as far as slower applications go. Topwaters work well during cloudy weather too, and don't forget spinnerbaits in cloudy or choppy weather. Shallow cranks or even a light swim jig during calmer conditions. Let me know how these work.

I wait till I feel the fish almost always, or reel down and feel them if the lure is gone and I don't feel them. Using a glass or composite rod helps with topwaters, as well as keeping them hooked.

I catch an equal amount on the scum frog popper and the spro frogs. The scum frogs have a better strike to hookup ratio because they completely collapse. The spro frogs have better colors and walk the dog better. It just really depends on what the bass want. The spro casts better being heavier, but the action of the popper is what the fish want at times.

Depends on the water temperature and clarity. Give me details and I will tell you what to throw.

I have two of them, a 7' M and 7' MH. They are great rods not only for crankbaits, but topwaters and spinnerbaits too.

I have two BPS crankin sicks and they are great for the money. The Wright and Mcgill S Glass crank rods are also very good, with a slightly slower, softer action than the crankin' sticks.

They work on carolina or mojo type rigs too.

Parasite weights. parasiteweights.com

The pro qualifier reel is the best $100 or under reel out there. I have five.

I use almost exclusively mono still because it's so much more versatile than braid or fluoro. For hard jerkbaits braid is much better because you get better action, and of course for hollow bodied frogs braid is key, as well as very thick vegetation for punching. Orginal stren is great stuff.

I use senkos when they work better than anything, which is generally in fairly shallow water, in clear, calm conditions. I caught 14 bass Friday and used only two lures all day, a spinnerbait and a jig. I have no problem throwing senkos, but there are plenty of times when other lures DO work better.

I use a 3/0 EWG Gammy and rig the hook in the belly slot. I fish flukes fairly slow, letting them sink to the desired depth, and I will twitch them, and then pause anywhere between 5 and 20 seconds. I alter the number and intensity of the twitches, and the length of the pauses. One of the deadliest bass lures of all time for clear water.

They are fantastic lures. The pit boss is one of my very favorite creature baits and catches me tons of fish.

It says 3/8 of an ounce for the KVD 1.0, which means it will be easy to throw on casting gear. But I noticed how small the lure is. Does it REALLY weigh 3/8 of an ounce?

I use spin gear for any crank under 1/4 ounce or for balsa cranks of 1/4 of an ounce.

The shad rap is king in cold water if you are talking billed cranks. Lipless cranks like Red Eye Shads, Super Spots, Rat L Traps, and Clackin' Raps are very good though too.

Curado 201E5