ChrisD46

I like red during spawn but that's it really *Red from Feb. to Apr. - then it's on to shad and bluegill colors until Oct. when I start mixing in the craw brown / orange color cranks over the winter.

*That's the new Damon Wayans "In Living Color" model spinning reel ! ... I'd pair it up with an all lime color spinning rod which would be my go to set up on cloudy days (lol !)

I see a few new crank colors that make sense to have … *Who's that knocking at my door ? … Why, it's the bait monkey - come on in pal and make yourself at home , can I get you a cup of coffee ? (lol !)

I do have KVD L&L spray - I'll dampen a spot on a small rag and wind line on my reel between thumb and forefinger and then also give the line on the reel a few sprays during the line wind on process ... That should work !

Tom , I read that article / introduction … They look nice and Gary knows a thing or two about foot ball jigs for sure ! The colors , quality and price are right too - I expect Dobyns to do well with these jigs as he is offering a little something different (especially the spotted bass football jig ) .

*Thanks for the suggestions - keep 'em coming ! ... I have a feeling for most lipless crank depths (except FL.) that #12 lb. to 17 lb. line size range is what most people will be using ?

*For those that use a 1/2 oz. Strike King Red Eye Shad in fairly open conditions (i.e. sparse grass lines , rip - rap in reservoirs with gravel and rock) what co-poly , mono or FC line and size are you using currently ? In my inventory I have InvizX #12 lb. , Big Game #12 lb. , C-XX #12 lb. & Yo-Zuri #12 lb. Hybrid line . I am not opposed to going up in line size to #15 lb. or down to #10 lb. if there is a benefit in using with the 1/2 oz. Red Eye Shad for straight retrieve and especially with a yo-you retrieve (which the Red Eye Shad excels at) ... Thanks in advance for your replies !

A larger Sammy would have a place in the tackle box.

Copper blades have their purpose along with nickle and gold . Colored blades (white , chartreuse and orange / red) interest me now (orange / red in the spring) . I want to experiment with painting the smaller Colorado blade on existing spinner baits I have in a orange / red color for Spring . I also want to try painting the larger willow blade white or chartreuse on a couple of spinner baits and see how they produce ... Anybody painted their existing spinner bait blades (especially the smaller Colorado blade orange / red) for Spring bass ? *Try Bronze too !

*Academy has been selling them in a couple of colors for the last couple of years ... Very supple feeling but do not look like they would last more than one fish or two.

#15 lb. AbazX for Football Jigs are made for each other !

I prefer the 3/8th oz. spinner baits fishing from the bank - I bought a few in 1/2 oz. to try but not sure if I really need them in shallow water unless the wind is blowing or I want to retrieve the spinner bait faster ? Again , mostly fishing shallow water lately from the bank .

"One can never defeat the Bait Monkey - you can only hope to co-exist with him" ... I now set a limit of say $50 and then start moving things from my wish list to the cart . Then I go through several rounds of reductions in my cart until I get down to $50 - the rest goes back into my wish list which depending on the season might get called to the cart later and make the final $50 cut .

Very useful detail James - thanks for posting !

Thanks for the replies !

With a 3.8th oz. football jig + trailer or chunk I will be at 1/2 oz. ; with a 1/2 football jig + trailer or chunk I will be at least 3/4th oz. in total weight . *I tried to extrapolate detail from the Fury and Champion series - however I believe the rod bend points (blanks ?) are different than on the Sierra series ?

*I'm on the fence regarding which of the above Dobyns rods to use for 3/8 oz. to 1/2 oz. Football Jigs plus twin tail , craw or chunk trailer using #15 lb. FC line . I fish wide - open reservoirs with expansive flats made up of clay and gravel bottoms . Football jigs have the lighter hooks (typically) versus pitching or flipping jigs which of course would have heavier grade hooks ... Thanks in advance !

*Frog'n Only ...

I like it ! ... Now I can return the $38 third arm assist tool plus the 30 minutes needed to tie the FG Knot (lol !!) Seriously , if this Lefty Kreh knot holds at 90% + and goes thru the rod guides using #10 lb. braid to #8 lb. FC leader - then I definitely would adopt it ! I then would try it with #40 lb. braid to #12 lb. mono for my bait cast top water set up ... This could well be the best tip of the year !

+1 on this advice for the Daiwa Fuego CT reels - you can pay more for a reel but not get better quality and performance than the Fuego CT ! ... If you buy one - you will want more . Of course if you like Lews - then you could consider a higher priced model from Lew's or if you only want one reel then perhaps there is a higher priced Shimano that fits your situation .

+1 ... Day in and day out - it's tough to beat the gold standard Zoom Super Fluke for cost AND performance ... True , Strike King , Yamamoto, etc. have their versions that may excel in a certain situation - but cost twice as much . Others that may cost similar (Big Bite Baits , YUM , etc.) do not work as well as the Zoom Super Fluke nor do they have the colors Zoom offers . *I may be biased being from Georgia (Zoom Head Quarters) but as Gerald Swindle once said of the Zoom Super Fluke size & color line up : "If Zoom ain't got it - then you don't need it" !

A nose hooked green pumpkin ZMan Zinkerz stick bait (i.e. elaztec senko) using a VMC swivel shot 1/0 hook and a 1/4 oz to 3/8th oz. drop shot weight .

Back in the day (Florida) I would observe an older retired fellow on a dock solely fish a 6' black grape trick worm T-Rigged with a small bullet weight ... He'd stitch that worm slowly through emergent bottom grass and catch big bass . That's all he used was a purple worm or black / grape worm T-Rigged ... He might not have caught great numbers but his bass were all larger than average .

*SX1 #12 lb. is a great finesse braid line ! The Power Pro Hi - Viz Yellow checks most boxes for me plus I can find locally : #8 lb. PP Hi - Viz Yellow (Ned Rig) #10 lb. PP Hi - Viz Yellow (drop shot , shaky head ) #15 lb. PP Hi - Viz Yellow (MH shaky head set up , compact jigs on a spinning set up)

+1 on the VMC Crank Bait Snaps size #0 , #1 .