Crankinstein

Their *** rods are great for the money and their really light. They have good action too. I'm curious to see what their reels are all about. Just saw they have another new series as well, the green series. I picked one up at gander and it felt pretty nice, I think the *** black is still lighter though. The green retails for $120.

+1

I bought some Costas on that auction site for $75. If you search around on there long enough you can find some good deals.

I think Bryan Thrift was using a 6/0 beast hook when he fished the air frog for his TW vid. I'd recommend checking it out, he shows how he works it and rigs it. I have'nt picked any up yet but as soon top water heats up later this year I may buy me a couple.

I did'nt like the crank that much but I did like the scatter rap countdown. I fished it during a tournament and it worked very well, I caught all my fish that day on it. I used three different retrieves. One was a a jerk bait style retrieve, one was a steady crank bait style retrieve, and the last was a slow steady retrieve almost like a spybait. In all cases I used my graph to figure out the depth the fish were at and then "counted" the lure down to that spot. I liked that the lure did'nt snag up a lot and had good versatility.

I caught my first bass this year on a Rapala husky jerk fishing real slow with 7-10 second pauses in between jerks. It was actually the exact same lure I caught my first one on last year too. In addition to that I also have 2 drop shot rigs, a jig set up, fluke, shad rap, and a DT6 on my deck to cycle through if I can't figure them out. I have a feeling the husky jerk and the drop shot will be my go to set ups early on.

I must have been the only person in gander that didn't notice this deal until I got up to the register, luckily the clerk gave me a card and I scratched 10% which was pretty cool. Unfortunately I wasn't buying a whole lot, just a couple DT6s, pack of jig heads, and some zoom trick worms. Always cool to save a little cash though so I can't complain. Looks like you had quite the hall and I definitely agree with going back and grabbing more when you saw the 50% I would have done the exact same thing. I love those *** rods btw, I just bought my second one earlier this month.

Yes! another fan of the missile baits Fuse 4.4 I love those things on a shaky head.

Actually just bought my first pair of Costas two days ago. I was wearing some amber vicious sunglasses last year(malice model) which worked pretty good however my eyes never seemed to get fully adjusted to the amber lenses so I'm trying some smoke ones with the Costas. I know a lot of guys prefer amber when it comes to your ability to sight fish but my lakes are always murky so I'm gonna roll the dice and shoot for comfort this time around and see how that works. Good thing is I bought my Costas(Corbina model) from a friend of mine who just got a new pair so I got a really good deal on them. I'm looking forward to getting on the water and doing some fishing with these bad boys and see what all the hype is about.

I generally tie mine direct. I've used swivels in the past and when my bait gets hung it seemed like the swivel would always bend and I'd loose the lure, tying direct seemed to result in me generally pulling my bait free a lot more often. As far as action goes I never really noticed any glaring differences. I can see a purpose in swivels when your changing out baits frequently trying to match the right color or depth to conditions but once that's dialed in I'd say tie direct. Using different knots like a loop knot or rapala knot can also offer some more of that free motion but I usually find myself tying a palomar knot most of the time.

Awesome collections!! and what makes them even better is they all seem to be lefty(just like mine) so I can visualize myself fishing them.

I've been using a small piece of plastic tubing and its worked just fine. The only real difference is there isn't a taper on one end so its a little tougher to slide the o rings on. The added benefit to that though is your free to slide the worm in or out as much as you need.

I agree with the posts above about the natural movement however I think the rig could be worth experimenting with. The traditional drop shot is a subtle presentation used to intice bites when more aggressive techniques don't work. Throwing creature baits or glide baits at a bedding bass however usually finds us trying to make a bait move or look a way that threatens the bass resulting in a strike. This is where I could see something like this being used on a drop shot or Carolina rig in an effort to create more movement possibly on a bait with more action than a traditional worm. The end result would probably be a new rig entirely and could be a cool idea. I say test it out and experiment and see what you find.

definitely check out some cranks with different bill styles too. Luck E Strike RC Freak and Freak Jr have a deep diving square bill lip that offers some great action. River 2 Sea cranky M is another good one. If your looking for more main stream brands I'd recommend Rapala DT series as well as SK KVD series plus the original SK series as well. As always replace hooks and make sure your baits are running true. For colors I'd say fire tiger, craw, sexy shad, and natural shad are all good starting points depending on water color and available forage. You can always sub a few colors in and out depending on what you local lake has to offer.

I dont think the core will be "obsolete" in a year or two. Its still an amazing reel and a new reel is'nt going to suddenly change that just because it has a couple new features. That being said I do really like the metanium and I think you would be happy with either reel. One thing to note is the handle length, the metanium has longer handle. Both are excellent choices and would work well for that application.

+1

favorite worm (t rig or weightless) - 5" Senko Flipping bait - KVD Rodent Shakyhead - Missile baits Fuse 4.4 Drop shot- Robo worm Jig Trailer - Rage Tail craw

Nice vid! I upgraded the spool bearings on mine a couple weeks ago but havent done the knobs or the worm drive yet.

Not to sound like a broken record but I agree with the majority here, it's Luck E Strike RCs and KVD 1.0 and 1.5s for me. My all time favorite is the RC "Freak jr" I'm not sure if it fits for this discussion though because its an adaptation of a square bill that is essentially a long square bill that allows it to dive deeper while still retaining the action and deflection of a classic square bill.

To answer the question I've heard the batteries are supposed to last two years. As a crank bait addict ive been watching these new lures with quite a bit of curiosity. I'm waiting for a little more feedback before I decide to try one though. Its definitely an interesting concept and it reminds me of the hydro wave a little bit. So far my favorite new crankbait design has been the Rick Clunn designed "freak" and "freak Jr" which has a deep diving square bill which is virtually snag proof and also has incredible action.

The lowest in shimano I have is the citica 201e and the highest is a core 101mg. I personally feel like they have quality in all of the reels and that higher end just offer extras like light weight, casting distance, and smoothness as well as just more refinement of the same tech found in lower line ups. I still use my citica quite a bit and it has never let me down. I agree with the above post as far your question goes, spend as much as you want and the quality will always be worth more whether its a $129.99 citica fishing like a $150 dollar reel or a 349.99 core fishing like a $500 reel. Just my opinion though

I have the mojo bass and its a great rod. I personally really like split grips but its all user preferance. If you decide to look at them in store I'd say check out the *** *** rods while your there. They're in the same price range and are also great rods for the money, I liked the action so much I put my shimano core on one for fishing small cranks.

Nice set ups! Those hawgtech handles look cool and I like the color matching with the rods.

Tatula type R. Added some hedgehog studio custom parts and Air ceramic bearings.

I picked up a Tatula type R a couple weeks ago. I haven't fished it yet but I did take it to a pond and cast around to get used to it and see how it feels. My initial thoughts on the reel are very favorable. It casts very far and adjusting the brakes did not take long at all. The T wing does seem to make flipping and pitching easier in my opinion and I was able to flip a jig backlash free very well. The slightly wider spool and size of the reel didn't bother me and I am an angler that generally prefers smaller reels. To me the weight was more noticeable than the size and the reel is just a little bit heavier than most of the ones I use. I don't think its huge issue though because having an aluminum frame would be my choice over graphite or some type of plastic that could be offered in that price range. I plan on using that T wing system for flipping and pitching so the choice of aluminum works as a compliment to that feature in my opinion. I think the bottom line is that you need to assess what features you value most. If your looking for strength, casting range, and technique specific innovations like the TWS then the Tatula is a good choice. If you looking for light weight, easy to palm shape, then it is not.