Cgolf

I have fished SK bleeding bait spins side by side with the back seater fishing a war eagle I gave them and got out fished at least 5 to 1. Only heavier wire bait that has come close is the Nichols 33 mini, but that is a really compact bait so that may help. Could see different results on different waters though.

The spinner bait blades I am ordering. I have noticed the last couple of years that lighter spinnerbaits are crushing it on the waters I fish and the standard heavier baits don't produce near as well, probably 10 to 1 favoring the light baits. My guess it is a pressure thing and the fish don't see light baits often. I will admit to buying almost 40 spinnerbaits for under the tree, but with how well humdingers and War Eagles work, I buy in bulk when I can because they can be fragile. So will be ordering a bunch of unique blades from Barlows to hopefully give new life to the heavier spins. Only other new bait to me this year is the Rage smokin rooster and they better work since I bought 20 packs lol.

SK RES 1/4 and 1/2 6th Sense Quake 70 and 80 and Suspending Quake Three others that catch fish for me but nowhere near as consistently as the above two are the Bill Lewis Trap, Cordell Spot, and Rippin Rap.

Jades Jigs is doing 30% off on their site through Monday the 29th 11:59 PM. No code needed. Their free shipping threshold is at 25$ which is really nice when ordering jigs. These are really nice lead alternative Ned heads and mushroom head jigs. They do run lighter due to the material, but work really well. I am not associated with them other than being a really happy customer.

Am I missing something this year or did all the sales seem a little lighter? I am not complaining because my selection this year was on at least a 20% of at TW or ALF. Just noticed TW had way less brands at an extra 10% off, DSG hasn't done a free shipping deal yet below 50 or put much fishing on sale (father in law is getting my gifts from there) and the two shops that were my backup if TW didn't discount St. Croix products did 10% instead of 20% like last year. Did others notice the same?

Really impressed, ordered from ALF on Monday and it was on the doorstep today. Also want to thank many on the spinnerbait rod thread I started. This was the rod that I chose that hopefully will fit my needs. If not I also have a MHM Victory on the way and this will be a square bill or lipless rod.

The victory I bought was listed at 190 and was 152 on the order email so it got the 20% off. I did confirm via the live chat this was the case before I submitted the order. I got my order in around 1:40 and got the email right away. I think I got lucky and caught it before everyone realized it was happening.

I own 2 that would fit what you are looking for. I have a 6’6” medium original style ugly stick and a 6’6” medium GX2 ugly stick. Honestly I like the original a little better than the GX2 and both are bullet proof. I river fish 60-100 days a year on my way to work and this rod stays in the truck all summer. Both are 2 piece sticks. Are they as sensitive as my way more expensive Dobyns or my St. Croix sticks, nope but they have caught more big fish than the more expensive sticks. I fish everything from Ned rigs to crank baits on them. I even use them in the boat for lighter jerk baits. I know Uglies get looked down on as beginner rods, but they are strong and versatile rods. I have no problem switching from an expensive rod to an ugly, each has their place for me. I have landed many 17-20” smallies on my old ugly along with some giant carp and it never flinched.

Got my order in to TW, I think before they got slammed and used the live chat to get a question answered. It was super quick and efficient way better than calling. If you need a question answered this seems to be the way to go. Finally got my medium heavy moderate victory ordered after seeing it earlier this year in a shop and 20+ spinnerbaits. First year that I had no plastics or crank baits on the order. Also added a TW long sleeve shirt for 5 bucks, can’t beat the price for quality shirts.

I did pretty well with the hyper jerk this year working it very fast, but only have a weeks worth of vacation fishing history with the bait. If you are ordering from them a few of the hyper jerks are priced really low and I really liked the bluegilla color that is at 4.88. I bought a bunch during their summer sale. other bait of theirs I like are the quake lipless series in general and the Quake suspending is a very nice bait to have in your Arsenal. Being able to burn and pause a lipless is pretty cool to me and the fish lol.

Their 6th sense jerkbaits for me are my top performers. My most expensive jerkbaits though are Jackall ReRanges so I haven't compared them to Megabass or anything like that. @Bluebasser86 likes them and has fished a wider variety of jerks than me, maybe he can add some more info.

Nice, panfish flies, or bass too?

One color for me with crankbaits that initially defies logic is firetiger. It is a great color regardless of water clarity. Thinking about it though it does make some sense because our forage base up here includes gill and perch, which those colors are loosely represented in firetiger. As far as plastics go on clear water, on overcast and/or windy days where light penetration is poor water red works best, and when relatively flat and sunny smoke red or smoke purple work best. Best I can figure is looking at a gill under different light conditions this makes some sense. That is about as far as I go thinking about color.

Thanks for this! I am given an amount from my parents to spend now that I am over the hill and having that total is huge and will let me hopefully pick up a St. Croix rod from TW. To complicate matters we are adding gifts for my wife's dad once I get my total. Wouldn't be a big deal, but TW is my last spend so you are a lifesaver, well rodsaver in this case.

So learning from my tackle warehouse mistake I signed up for the newsletter on ALF and got an extra 10% off the Kaden spinnerbait rod I wanted. Hopefully the extra saved will let me get some fly tying supplies as well to tie up more of those bunny bugger jig flies.

It could be the case they are sending them out in batches to limit the traffic to the site and make it easier to efficiently get orders shipped out?

It’s not April 1st is it;)? I will say the link Glen had up for a while did at least show some baits with the extra 10 percent off just not the standard 20 percent.

Thorne Bros I am getting 2 rods and some spinnerbaits, 400 goes fast. I get a certain amount to spend each year and that is my remaining total. Regardless of the budget I have I find ways to fill it to the max and then have to trim a lot. I wasn’t bragging or complaining, just my reality this year, so sorry if it seemed that way.

Worst case the store over the border in MN will likely do a discount again. That is where I got my Premier musky rod last year.

Just a little bummed having spent a decent chunk of my fishing budget, roughly 80%, the last 7 years with them that you had to be signed up to the email list to get in on it early. That said does anyone know about St. Croix and does it show up before you check out? If it shows up later I know of another place to order from. I am on a tight, 400 and change budget to allow a Barlows order for spinner bait blades. FYI Do not ever go back and add up how much you spent at TW over the years. I just did that and I am glad the wife was not in the room. Considering I only bought a few rods and tackle from them the number was eye popping to me. This isn't a cheap hobby!

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So do you need a link to see it?

When on the local lake which best case happens every other weekend, but realistically once a month this is exactly what I need to do for the 2-3 hours I am out there. A lot changes in two weeks and you are essentially trying to find them A and what they will hit B. I do mix new baits and techniques in there too so that I can eventually expand my confidence lures. The lake in particular I fish is really difficult, it is a flat mostly featureless, and really ugly looking water. The couple of pieces of structure along with docks just get pounded so those fish are a touch bit picky. When I am on a fishing vacation I have 4 days to a week to pattern them and includes spending 10+ hours a day on the water. It can be tough to consistently catch fish when you fish a highly pressured body of water only once a month. So I think I follow the junk fishing definition. Maybe someday I will be able to pattern the local lake, which would be fun. especially the big toothy critters.

Kalin's Ron's Craw. This color catches a lot of fish in clear and stained water. Very versatile color that I wish was also available in other bait styles. Motor oil red also catches em in both water types, which was a surprise in clear water but not as much as the above color.

I throw everything but the kitchen sink many days to get a bite and possibly learn some new tactics and baits, but the where is always an educated guess, but definitely could be new water to me. Junk fishing is when I learn the most about what the fish want, it puts me outside my comfort zone which is why I try to do it a lot.