Choporoz

Blew through a package of these over the weekend. Bad news; the fish tear them up. Good news; the fish tear them up! I've never flipped so much in my life. Weightless and rage-rigged. Deadly. Little dip of JJ's and it was light's out. The real story, though, was that my wife was getting about the same number of strikes on other plastics and jigs -- but four out of five of the Rage Bug fish were bigger than every other worm/plastic fish. BTW, Mike -- Where's the Cut-R's?

Been a few years, but I used to rent at Lee Hall (little luck) and Wallers (lotsa luck.) By any chance do you have access to the military bases? That really opens up some options in the area.

What length on shakey heads? I only have 10" variety and that seems a bit much for a shakey head.

Nice!! I got the large ones last week. And they are, in fact, large! If you'd like to trade, let me know -- I don't think I'm going to run into that guy's brother any time soon

Thanks for the thread, Memphis! I wandered in this morning for this exact topic. I threw Owner's all weekend and absolutely love them. But two springs were lost on fish that didn't want to play nice.

First --- Blame shift! It's all BassResource.com's fault -- this place has certainly tested my self-control. Second --- Get creative; like BB86 said, there's opportunities for those willing to look and work for them. It's been a long time since I was 14, but I found ways to bring in cash to do get stuff I wanted. Third....and most seriously, get control of the bait monkey...I kid above, but if you don't develop the control to not 'overspend' (as YOU have implied) NOW....you're in for painful existence. Trust me on that last one. If you can figure out now how to make and stick to a budget, you will be a much happier person - money doesn't buy happiness.....but there's no doubt that debt can certainly deprive you of it.

Depends a great deal on what your options are. The water's always bluer up and down the bank. Then again, I can be a real sucker for a nibble or surface activity....especially if my options are limited. I've been known to spend hours fishing the only accessible spot with only a couple fish to show for it.

I can't help you better than the above posters. BUT.....someday you'll stop kidding yourself. (Unfortunately?)....Size DOES matter

When they're schooling late in the day and feasting on baitfish at the surface, I have most confidence in ripping a spinner bait just below the surface. Just seems to do a little better for me than a popper or a buzzbait.

Thanks, all! They now have my money.

Thanks for taking the time, SJ. Appreciate the info.

As to hooks, I was looking at the 25 count packs for a couple/few bucks that appear to be the same hooks that they charge a buck for as singles. Worm, EWG, etc. http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-round-bend-offset-single-worm-hooks-25-pack/pid-395351?N=4294966419+10001&Ntt=h2o+hooks&Ntk=All http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress-super-lock-single-worm-hooks-25-pack/pid-412251?N=4294966419+10001&Ntt=h2o+hooks&Ntk=All

Really? I need someone to tell me what NOT to get. This site is TERRIBLE about feeding the bait monkey.

It's always a surprise when I get a box from TW. Could be something I ordered last week....or maybe something I ordered months ago and completely forgot about.

Never been to Academy, but after all the mentions on here, I've been browsing their site. Just looking for general opinions on the H2O Xpress lures and terminal tackle. Stuff looks decent enough from pics and reviews. For example, swim baits, top water lures, hooks, jigheads.... Impressions? Thanks.

Over the years, I've accumulated a few plastics (curly tail worms, trick worms, stick worms, etc.) in blaze orange, bubble gum pink, methiolate, etc. I have tried them all and can't remember EVER catching a single bass with one. Is it just me? Just Virginia bass? Water conditions? Temps? Time of day? Should I continue to carry these? Or put them away until I go fishing in Texas or some other place where these are going to work better?

I can't seem to find a $50 pair of Costas. Where do you buy them? I find that I save my money by NOT paying four times as much as I need to for solid quality stuff.

For years, I only used the ones from the dollar bin at Walmart. It wasn't until I came here that I found out that they must suck. lol Honestly, I have more recently bought Booyahs, Strike King, Siebert, Terminator and something else I can't recall....but I can NOT tell you that they catch more or bigger bass than the WM dollar baits. I will say that they need less fine-tuning, hooks stay sharp longer and the skirts last longer....but I cannot tell a difference in 'catch-rates'. At all. Update: After 18 months of using the 'better' spinnerbaits mentioned above (plus MegaStrike Strikebacks), my catch rate HAS improved over the dollar models. What I have found in addition to points above is that a huge difference is in the action on 'the fall'. I hadn't fished spinnerbaits with much other than straight retrieves before last year. The more expensive baits with better swivels have great flutter action on the fall. The Walmart baits, not so much. Killing and/or 'dipping' spinnerbaits has increased my 'catch-rate' enormously, and those from Walmart have little or no flutter when dropping - at least not the flash compared to the better lures.

Thought I'd bump this to see if anyone has any suggestions on how to tune prop bait props. Seems that every twist and tweak I do, they only get worse. Thanks!

Resurrected because I didn't find much chatter about these. I was on a new-to-me lake a couple weeks ago - - largely sandy bottom bays. Easily the best presentation was the Dream Shot, t-rigged with a very light weight. Let it sink to the bottom --- one twitch was usually all it took for aggressive hits. I thought the coffee scent was for us, not the fish. But after good success with caffeinated Rage and SK, I'm a fan.

Well done. Lizard is probably my most preferred c-rig lure. Can be a challenge to cast with any sort of accuracy, even with a short leader.....and it is hell to fish through a forest, but c-rigged lizard is a great 'numbers' bait.

Ok. I can only guess that there's some very competitive Occoquan tournament(s) and you're worried about spies and competition? I've never fished a tournament, so I wasn't aware of the sensitivity. I spent most of Saturday on the water. Trolled south out of Fountainhead. Very slow morning. I made it a point to try to target larger fish, seems I've gotten more comfortable with the water there and felt I could catch up to 2# pretty regularly. But, the bite was very slow, I got frustrated and I slowly scaled down until I got to my confidence zone and started catching 1 to 2.5's the rest of the day. Senkos and flukes pitched into the shore made for a fun day of small bass. I have a lot to learn about that rez, however, and I am confident that once I feel the confidence (and familiarity) to target off-shore lmb's, I'll like it a lot more.

Good thread. I've read a couple/few articles here about reel maintenance, but they focus on baitcasters. I've generally done the same thing with my spinning reels for 30+ years: At the end of the season I take off the spool, clean any dirt or blackened oil off the spindle and visible gears; take off the handle and squirt some oil in from each side and put it back together. DVT, I assume you're suggesting much more should be done? I'm not trying to suction your business away, but would you mind a layman's description of what 'should be done' and why those of us that aren't very mechanically inclined shouldn't attempt the job? I'm also curious as to what you would charge for the recommended service. PM would be great. Thank you!

Never considered it. I figure they're designed with that weight/drag, and wouldn't think that the action would be right. It has taken a few years, but I've gradually become more and more comfortable fishing trebles around laydowns. I always carry a couple plug-knockers along and that also helps with the confidence.

What happens when you get snagged?