ChrisD46

Interested to try adding a wake bait or two to my top water bait inventory - in the small crank bait size category of wake bait what do you like ? Any time of year or specific technique you have found effective ?

I tried painting lead bullet weights with limited success using a exterior spray paint from a hardware store . The paint would chip off fairly quickly ... I thought about spraying a primer on first then the exterior paint but never got that far befor swtching to tungsten weights ... If I were to attempt it again I would focus on using powder paints which use heat & a curing process to harden and adhere to lead weights MUCH better I believe . A you tube serch of using powder paints with lead weights will provide a lot of good information I believe .

Depends ...If standing on the deck of a bass boat then a 7 ft. rod could work - all around I believe a 6'6" ft. to 6' ft. is better and a 6:3:1 reel speed is fine for poppers , twitch baits and walk-the-dog spooks . I believe you only need a 7:1 reel if you are using your rod with big sweeps to move line (jig , carolina rig) and need to catch up to a fish quickly for a hookset .

In the $100 to $150 range it is Lew's Tournament & Daiwa Tatula for me .

Curious what you think of the Strike King Spit-N-King Popper ? ...Decent price point and curious about the performance .

Netbait makes a 12~ 14 inch T-Mac straight tail worm ...Let 'em see something different !

The Damiki D-Pop 70's are on my short list as is (believe it or not) the new weight Rebel Pop-R . I plan to sand the lower lip of the Pop-R (make it a spitter) and upgraded treble hooks with a feather / mylar tail ...Poor man's Rico .

You wouldn't know it by many areas in the 90's currently - but soon the bass will begin to move from their Summer deep water haunts to follow the shad moving into shallower water through the end of Fall . Will you be throwing a new top water popper, chugger or walk-the-dog type bait through the Fall - or stay with a tried and true selection ? I'm going to do a little bit of both I believe : For tried and true , I am going to make a more concerted effort to the Lucky Craft Gunfish 95 & 115 . For the new , I'm open to new top water baits being recently released ... What will you be throwing for top water action soon ?

For the money and specs listed - the new Lew's reels look to be the better buy in their respective classes ...Until you use one though will not know if it is built as well as previous Lew's models .

Current fav little gem (H2O Express Mettle) has centrifical only brakes, so I use 2 sometimes 3 brake pins out .

I will be interested in the new breed of light weight reels Lew's just introduced at the ICAST show ... Should be nice !

I go to WM and pick out a rectangular plastic container with lid to store my soft plastics in their original package . I have a container each for : Worms , Creature Baits , Craws and Trailers ...Works for me .

The Lew's Super Duty may be under appreciated as compared to other reels in the Lew's line up .

A larege line capacity and a slow gear ratio on the Lew's BB-1 go hand in hand and are a perfect match with cranking applications ... I want to hear from Lew's owners what other Lew's baitcast reels , gear ratios and applications / tactics you feel are a perfect match for each other ?

Now that AS has released the Mette 2 at $59.00 the lowest you will see them priced on sale now is between $39.00 ~ $49.00 . Only available in 6:3:1 gear ratio though ... For a few $ more if needing a higher or lower gear ratio is to move up to a BPS PQ which go on sale between $79.00 ~ $89.00 ...Hope this helps !

I have seen a trend where Sniper is more popular in less than 20 lb. test however over 20lb. test I have noted Bass Elite Pros are regularly using Invizx 20 ~ 25lb test for a number of applications ...Not Abrazx , not Sniper - but Invizx ...Go figure .

Never heard of it - where to buy ? I just have coated my cork grips when new with a vinyl and leather protectant for cars - I let it soak in then wipe off the excess . Not sure if it actually helps or not ...

Mike - I wanted to add that if you develop a football jig that hangs up less in rocks , it doesn't mean I will buy less of them . In fact , it will allow me to explore deeper into the football jig category with additional colors , sizes , etc. then just staying with 1/2 oz. Green Pumpkin and Black / Blue (because I lose so many of them) .

Mike - If you are impressed with the new design (as it is now) over a standard football jig then I would be a potential customer for the popular weights and powder coated lead head is fine ... Any additional improvements you make is just icing on the cake !

+1 ...What masterbass stated .

Big Bite Baits Cane Thumper cut down 1/2 inch to 1 inch ...

Mike , for a football head to sit up at a 45 degree angle is plenty - if you want more stand up capability then there is always the Dredge Head ... Besides , a V&M Mud Bug or Z-Man craw will give you all of the floatation you can ask for in a trailer - but no trailer makes a bit of difference if your losing football jigs to rocks ! ... I am in the camp that wants you to stay the course to develop a football jig head that hangs up less in the rocks !! ... Also the recessed eye is a big plus as is the brush guard which should not be too stiff to prohibit a good hook set from a distance ... Moving on , a good barb to secure a trailer securely and a 2X hook that allows for a easier hook set at a distance (as football jigs are generally cast versus pitched)... Lastly offer a couple of different densities of wire wrapped skirts (rubber & silicon) as you do with the Meta and your other jigs - plus all the detailed colors you are noted for ! That should cover it ...

Try flipping / pitching the Devil Spear with a pegged bullet weight into cover or rig it sideways (cut down slightly) as a jig trailer.

Try flipping / pitching the Devil Spear with a pegged bullet weight into cover or rig it sideways (cut down slightly) as a jig trailer.

The Arky style is a good all - around style jig but mainly used for pitching , dragging or bottom hoping . The Brush style head is best if you have stick ups or other obstructions you are trying to fish a jig through . If your not sure what you will encounter then you can't go wrong with a Arky style jig ...