Crankinstein

Whats the news on the new Revo Elite Aurora? The old Auroras always peaked my curiosity but I never owned one. Any release date out there yet? Im gonna grab one of the Aldebarans for sure and depending on this new Aurora I may have to grab one of those too.

I've got three on the way, they look really nice. One of the new lakes I fish has a lot of rocks and also has a powerplant keeping the water in one area of the lake warm year round, I foresee a trip up there as soon as I can get my fishing buddy off the couch!

Aarons morning dawn. Bait ball. Margarita Mutilator. Aarons magic

I throw a craw type bait rigged either t rig or on a larger shaky head the most. I throw a drop shot a lot around docks as well, its a great neutral to inactive fish bait that let's me drop it in front of a fish and coax him to bite when they won't hit the craw. When the fish are really active I actually skip the flipping baits and throw a popper and either throw it underneath the dock or along the edge parallel. The active fish really slam the popper and I had multiple trips where I could slam several solid keepers off the dock in a very short amount of time.

I've heard the new spro rock crawler that's supposed to come out in a month is a lot like a wiggle wart. Really curious to see how it compares.

When the water clarity isn't very good and I still want to drop shot I usually select a brighter color for my bait. The "hot tips" robo worms work really well. Their essentially regular robo worms with a chartreuse tip on the tail. I also use a larger worm too, going from 4 to 6. Another thing you can try is a shorter leader. I generally use long leaders in clear water and shorter ones in murky water.

I think you may be sensitive to the force. May I suggest a trip to the local bass jedi council for further testing by masters KVD and Yoda. I once thought I had this power however I was foiled by the nemesis of all bass jedi, the one known as darth log.

Pop x and pop max

I use the 13 Crankinstein for my 10XDs, just too hard to resist buying a cranking rod that has the same name as my username. The 806cb, Cashion 10xd rod, and the Halo deep cranking rod would all work great as well. I haven't gotten to fish the 8.0 yet but I'll probably start out with the crankinstein and see how that works. My other crankin rods are all 7ft as opposed to the 7'11 with the crankinstein. The 8.0 being 3/4oz would allow it to be fished on a lighter setup than the 10xd for sure though as mentioned above, I think a 7'4 or 7'6 cranking rod with a 1oz or 1 1/2oz rating would handle it perfectly.

I'm using a 13 *** black 6'10 Md Lt with a Pflueger Supreme XT spooled with #10 FC. I'll try to snap a pic later.

Same as the above post for me. I have one drop shot with a 6-10in leader(I try to get it around 9) and then one that has a longer 12-16in leader. I use the shorter one 90% of the time and only use the longer one in water deeper than 25ft.

I was on a much smaller budget this year but I was determined to get a combo for throwing 10XDs. I picked up an Abu Orra winch and a 13 7'11 Crankinstein rod for$230 and saved big. Now I'm ready to roll and have a rod that matches my username!

The latest bait monkey attack resulted in two separate tw orders plus one from a local shop for some shellcracker G2s. I told myself I'd just do a small order which basically means I had to do a follow up order for the stuff I "forgot" haha. The bait monkey has no mercy.

As mentioned above the Spro little john series has a lot of great flat sided crankbaits plus they come with good hooks and have a large color selection. I use the little john md almost year round. The Crush crankbaits are great too from what I've heard. I just ordered a bunch from TW but haven't gotten to fish them yet. They look solid though

I'm looking to pick up a rod and reel combo for throwing 10XDs. I've got a good handle on what I'm looking for in a rod but I'm wide open for a reel. What's your opinion on gear ratio? Is a low 5:X:X ratio a must have? Is extra line capacity needed or can a shimano 200 sized reel hold enough line for say 12 or 14lb FC? As for rods I'm looking at the 13 crankenstein, Cashion 10xd, Dobyns 805/806, but all suggestions will be considered. I'm also interested in how different reels balance on the rod. Thanks in advance!

Agreed with the posts above a 7' M should get the job done just fine. I use the exact same rod for my shallow cranks

Pop x/pop max Biffle bug on hardhead jig Ima roumba

Agreed with the post above, you can drop shot on anything between 6-15lb depending on water clarity, type of cover, depth, and type tackle used. Take a look at your local lake and make an assessment on those factors and they can help you decide. If I'm fishing a drop shot in water that's 25ft deep around submerged cover and that water's stained or on the murky side I'm going to use a little heavier line so that I can use slightly heavier weight and probably larger hook and worm. The opposite happens if the water is gin clear and I'm fishing 5ft around moderate cover. Its all based on conditions. I would recommend watching every Aaron Martens video you can find and you'll be a master of drop shot in no time!

I use 1/0 VMC spin shot hooks because it makes attaching a leader very easy. I use VMC pencil weights in 3/16 and 1/4oz weights. I use the 3/16 the majority of the time. As for baits I use 4" and 6" roboworms. If you really want to get into drop shotting I highly recommend watching all the Aaron Martens vids. His vids are great and he tells you everything you need to know.

Check out some VMC spin shot hooks, they make tying on your leader really easy.

Topwater and crankbaits

Pop X in white python

I like to cast it right on a piece of cover and pop it once or twice and then let it sit. In open water I walk it a few times in between letting it sit. Almost every strike I get is when its sitting neutral. Great lure! Its been my go-to topwater bait all year.

Think he's referring to the fact that even though their reversable spinning reels are almost always left hand reel in their "default" position. Anytime your up at bps or gander you'll see that 90% of the spinning reels have the handle on the left and they don't expect every right handed buyer to immediately switch the handle to the right. Its because a large amount of right handed people reel a spinning reel with their left hand and you would think that this would transfer into a decent amount people doing the same with a BC yet manufacturers don't focus nearly as much on their LH reels which doesn't seem to make sense.

I don't know what the distribution is but it seems like there are a lot more people who use LH baitcasters in Japan than here in the US. I don't think it has as much to do with actually being right or left handed as most people think. I'm right handed but use a LH baitcaster like several people have brought up. I think the preference of what hand you reel with has to do more with the region you live in and the style you fish. I would love to see some stats on a map about US vs Europe vs Japan on LH and RH reels and the species of fish targeted. Some comparisons about what the average outdoor shop has to offer for reels would be interesting too.