iceintheveins

American Rodsmith's makes a David Fritts signature crank rod, pure fiberglass, for about $100.

By far weightless with twitches, and long pauses.

Cavitron, no other buzzbait compares.

By no means. The fluke has a much different action. It sinks slower, is more erratic and you twitch it harder than a senko. I use senkos in deeper water for more sluggish bass. I use BOTH all the time. Neither could replace the other.

I have a pack but haven't used them. Would they be a good choice in murky water?

How exactly do you guys set the hook with a sweeping motion?

Biggest fish I've hooked is probably either a Channel Cat, Northern Pike, or Lake Trout in the upper 30s (pounds).

Biggest largemouth I've hooked was about 8 pounds, biggest smallmouth about 5.5.

Does it seem that the more confidence you have in a lure, the better it works? That is what it seems to be for me even if I'm fishing the lure the same way or an equal amount of time.

Sometimes I don't switch lures enough because I have so much confidence in what has worked before. I also need to really improve my pretty much non existant flippin' and pitchin' game. I probably fish finesse presentations and slow plastics a little too much when there might be times I could catch more on cranks or spinnerbaits.

All I use are Gammy EWG and if a bass takes the bait I don't miss too often, and they don't come lose very often either. I should try the Owners though, because sometimes the Gammy's point rolls over.

I don't have a problem with baits not sinking after they hit the water with casting gear. The spool tension should be adjusted so your lure falls freely but not super fast, and makes no more than a half turn of the spool when it hits the ground.

I've had nothing but good experiences with BPS rods, I have three. I had one cabelas rod break but I think it was operator error and not the rod.

I haven't tried it yet but I have lots of action on regular frogs.

Rage tails, bigger buzzbaits, prop baits, and big dog walkers. Too much wind can kill a topwater bite though, and I can catch bass topwater easily in glass calm conditions if I use smaller poppers and buzzbaits.

Yep I got four on a Popn' image Jr. two trips ago and had one blow up on a Zara Puppy the other day. Not nearly as much topwater action last time as it was post frontal though. Water has been in the mid 60s both times out.

I use a low vis mono leader for topwater presentations (just frogs with braid) or a fluoro leader. P - Line XPS fluoro leader material is by far the best.

Power pro all the way!

So far I've noticed that gulp doesn't seem to work better than a traditional plastic, but about the same. So with the mess and the fact that they dry out, it may not be worth it.

Thanks I will try that.

Baitcasters take some of the strain off of you when throwing heavier lures or working deep cranks, since they have more cranking power. You will wear out faster with spin gear. I fish with about 70% spinning gear and 30% casting gear. When I go on the water I usually take two spinning and two casting.

I will fish it with weightless plastics in more sparse timber, or pegged plastics or a jig if it's heavier. Spinnerbaits are a good option but bouncing cranks off the wood can be even better. In the evenings and mornings, poppers, buzzbaits, and other topwaters can be killer.

Great heavy cover bait and a good big fish bait. I usually use a parasite weights bullet sinker to peg it to the hook, and work it through brush. Once you are free of the brush, hop it a couple times and then retrieve and repeat.

Decent line if you don't wanna spend money on P - Line XXX premium. It has a lot of memory so buy some KVD line and lure conditioner. Tough as nails though.

The citica is great but the curado even better.