S. Sass

I have this Gander Mountain bag. It holds 6 or 7 of the 3700 boxes in the large compartment with big pockets on each side. It really gets way to heavy. I just use it for the boat mainly. It doesn't have any of the binders as you described in the BPS Extreme President 360. But if you only used like 4 or 5 of the large boxes it easily can hold 2 of the small BPS worm binders or maybe one large in there. I just have the small BPS worm binder and I have carried it this way before. http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Fishing-Tackle-Bag-Blue&i=778152&from=grid#2

Exactly ^^^ Would definitely want to know where I was going first before I made a precise decision. But if I had to pick something different from Catt see below: Mann's Baby 1-Minus or another crankbait like a Bandit Series 100, Bomber Square A 3/8oz., or a square bill Seibert Dredge Brush Jig 1/2oz. with a Baby Paca Craw trailer Either a Original Culprit worm 10" or a 8" Mann's Jelly worm Rod: Fenwick Aetos 7' Medium / Heavy Reel: Lew's Tournament MB 7:1 Line: Big Game 15 lb.

Well that about covers the gamut. I would say this is a pretty good selection of choices. They are the most popular. For something like the OP describes the Cotton Cordell on average (not including sales) is more often than not a reasonably priced proven lure. It is a lure that is readily available almost everywhere, decent color selection, and is well cheap. As for the all time best lipless Catt nailed it Rat-L-Trap is the best bang for the buck. It has a excellent reputation tons of colors good hooks American Made and very reasonable price. The younger generation and some older fellas are now claiming the RedEye Shad is now the ticket. Around here it is the most expensive lipless you can find. Probably not the best bang for your buck if you know you're going to be losing them frequently. The alternative to the costly RedEye Shad may be the Banshee from Dicks. I haven't seen one but claims have been made its a RedEye Shad in a Dicks wrapper. I have no idea what retail is but it should be more reasonable and might be the ticket if you really want that RedEye Shad bait but know it's realistically to expensive for what you're doing. Personally I would use the Rat-L-Trap or Cotton Cordell and or maybe the Banshee if I had to have that style and the pricing was similar to the RT and CC. Just a side not the Spro Aruku Shad has been a decent bait and the H2O XPRESS™ LCR from Academy has also worked well for me. Currently the H2O XPRESS™ LCR is on sale also for $2.99 Also a good thread for lipless opinions

I have caught them on green pumpkin 2 1/2" tubes 1/8 oz jig threaded from inside. I have also caught them on Mann's BABY 1-MINUS seems the silver blue back one was a favorite. Don't ask why they couldn't even get it in their mouth but the back treble was working double time. These are not probably the best lures for them but they were working as good as or better than live worms.

Exactly why everything you own you should snap pictures of. Because in a situation like that who is thinking about $2000.00 or more of just lures right? But seriously to me it wasn't just the lures. Heck I bet there are over a grand in just nicknacks sitting around my house and I know others have way more than that. It's all the small stuff that is so easily not thought of that you are trying to remember. Heck you would be amazed at the obviously big stuff that is easily overlooked as well. Like I said I have been through this once about 20 years ago. And it is amazing some of the things that many years later you realize you completely forgot about. Not to be obvious but thought I would remind or share there are apps that will add time and dates to your pics if your phone doesn't already do it visually. If you do decide you feel the need to print them don't store them at home. Take them to a loved ones home for safe keeping or use a safety deposit box etc. Interesting I will double check this I wasn't aware of that thanks. I would highly suggest talking with your insurer about what they require. Also I have found its always best to get documentation of these type things as well. So a email asking for this or asking where this topic is in your policy if you don't know where it is. And if you don't understand the writing get it clarified with your insurer,lawyer, or someone you trust.

I was just thinking about all the insurance I have on things like my house and boat etc. I was at the table messing with my lures and it crossed my mind there is no way I will remember exactly all the stuff I have. I actually remember my insurance guy telling me take all the pictures I can inside and around my home. Then upload them to somewhere on the web like a image hosting site. I recommend to pick a place that lets you lock certain folders from public view like photobucket. Some stuff I personally just don't want to advertize like my gun collection. You just can't imagine how easy it is to forget things especially in a major event like losing your home. I have been there once already and it is no fun. So considering many lures are $3 and up I started snapping pictures of my tackle as I hadn't taken any pictures of my tackle for my records at least not any recently. Also the way that bait Monkey always seems to be adding. So I just snapped some as I was putting away dry lures from my last outing. Do any of you do this as well? I can sure glance at these and will not forget a single lure unlike trying to remember every one from memory. And this is a very small portion of mine and I am sure many of you have tons more than me.

I don't consider size having anything to do with depth, or profile unless you're speaking of the bill/lip length. I consider the size usually referring to the length of the bait not counting the lip generally speaking. With crankbaits all aspects can be really varied with tons of combinations and options. The key is to keep it fairly simple starting out. I only fish cranks down to about 15' so its easy for me to have about 4 different depth crankbaits. Early on the smaller tweaks like flat side, silent, or wide wobble vs tight didn't play a big role if any into my choices. Not that it doesn't matter but I just haven't seen it making a huge difference in the bite for me. The correct depth to me and the color did seem to play a bigger role. If you want to sure pick a few based on what is kind of common knowledge for example the tight or wide wobble, or rattle vs no rattle for certain temperatures or seasons. I just wouldn't get all hung up into that when I first started out. I hear bass up north are smaller but even the small bass here will eat a 2" crank. This is why I feel many companies make a line in the 2" to 2 1/2" range. As you can see Bandit has made that a key to their line. No matter what depth they kept a 2" profile. Bandit® Lures 100 Series 2" Crankbait Dives 2' - 5' Bandit® Lures 200 Series 2" Crankbait Dives 4' - 8' Bandit® Lures 300 Series 2" Crankbait Dives 8' - 12' These are some excellent starter colors. I could easily condense the Silver Black or Silver Blue into one. Here the Blue back might have a slight edge over black but if they are hitting one I can get hit on the other 98% of the time. I have lost my last Blue and went to Black and never missed a beat. Also the Firetiger to me works about equally with the Chartreuse or Chartreuse Black/Blue/Brown back. So you could go either way on that as well to me. One color you might ad to the list would be a Red Craw. But other than that those slight optional variances I totally agree those are great colors. Also a excellent basic starter list ghoti. Out of all the realistic colors Baby Bass from Mann's BABY 1-MINUS has been a go to bait for me the past year or so.

Fenwick HMG 7'2" Medium Lew's Tournament MB 7.1:1 Berkley Big Game 12 or 15lb

Go to 14:18 and 14:55

I noticed no year or any of the inherent things that might possibly help determine longevity. I have a 2000 115 Johnson and it still runs fine. I have no clue how it was treated with the exception of the last 3 years. So it is possible something was done to it that may shorten its normal life but who knows. It runs great and hasn't shown any signs of problems but it is 17 years old, it "could" throw a rod today or run till I die. All I can do is do good maintance on it and based on this particular model it "should" continue to run for as long as I am on this planet.

Just remember the more you leave open the bearings to the elements the quicker/easier they can get dirty. So unless you are going to maintain a religious schedule cleaning the reels I would leave the covers on when you finish cleaning them.

It appears to me but not positive the Dredge Football Jig doesn't have the recessed eye. Also the hooks are definitely different. Email Mike there he usually answers within 24hrs or no less than 2 days from my experience.

I highly suggest checking to see if there is anyone local who can wrap guides for you. I needed to fix one and turns out a local guy fixed it for $5 and I didn't have to buy the parts. Really good guy and was a long time angler was easily worth $5 for the fishing stories he told while I was there. Plus got a professional quality job done. Even knowing what eye was repaired you couldn't tell it.

Just barely out of the weight range you might do OK depending on how forgiving the rod is. Every manufacturer seems to tilt a little one way or another vs their ratings. Probably still won't be optimal. If you haven't purchased the rod I would suggest finding a rod that is in the proper ratings. I use a Fenwick HMG Crankbait rod that throws the small Bandit 100, 200's, and Mann's 1-Minus extremely well. But as you can see it is 1/4 to 1oz ratings do put the 3/8oz lures right in the sweet spot. If that is a great deal you might go ahead and get it for your larger crankbaits and see how it performs in the real world with the lighter ones If you throw or plan to throw bigger crankbaits. On the flip side if you're like me and don't throw many large cranks a $ bargain it won't be a deal not so much if its hated or never used.

One of the videos I already saw a pump truck pouring earlier today.

Well hopefully things will change for the better. I live very close to Red River. Many lakes drain off into it and can easily be flooded. Cattle, farm land, and farm and ranch equipment are serious business. The ranchers and farmers must know and have coordinated efforts to avoid flooding especially during the winter months. Amazingly Oklahoma and Texas have done a really good job communicating and working well alternating the lakes spillways to not flood downstream. So I know it can be monitored better hopefully they will get it under control.

Hoping everyone is safe and learns some lessons so this doesn't happen again. I still don't understand how some things like the main spillway were not inspected regularly and kept in excellent shape. How the lake was at such a high level with all the technology we have saying what(weather snow etc) was coming. Just a lot of questionable decisions seemed to have come to light at a dire time.

This is very nice.

Same ^^^ 10" is my all around favorite length Mann's Jelly Worm was the first worm and only worm I had for years when I first started fishing back in the 70s. I still use them today.

There is a Gander Mountain where my daughter lives and a Academy. I can't speak for the employees knowledge as I didn't ask for any assistance. But just store vs store Academy stomped Gander Mountain in the ground. Way more inventory and the prices were way better overall at Academy. It wasn't even comparable. Gander Mountain looked like it was literally closing to me. A lot of empty shelves and floor space. Maybe they are but there was no signs indicating such.

Actually the OP question was about To Leader or Not To Leader. However In your response you brought up the relevance of line resistance saying knots banging off things didn't effect your casting distance. I just asked a question concerning your expressed experience vs a relevant question concerning Daiwa claims that it is related to. I didn't say you were right or wrong it was a question I was trying to see if you had the same if any experience or thoughts on that as well. I went on to respond to the OP thread as to my thoughts there as well.

So you two think Diawa T-Wing is nothing but hype / hoax? I mean if your banging knots through multiple guides and can't tell a difference how could anyone notice a difference in the smooth line going through a T-Wing vs a standard opening once? I agree with Catt. It's a waste for me. I generally don't buy the most expensive braid and 9 out of 10 times I don't have to cut my line anyway. I don't care to waste time adding more knots and worrying about the $2 I save in line over a week. Just seems like a lot of bull for no measurable gain to me.

I have used straight braid with a typical jig with no issues. I actually prefer it at times for the sensitivity and hook setting ability. Strait braid is not a problem driving a nice meat hook home.

Hugs? You lost me... Personally most of my waters are not crystal clear to start with. But sometimes it is pretty clear and most of the time it is slightly stained. All that in consideration I have never found running straight braid to end or slow the bite. All I can say is A rigs, Spinnerbaits, and I am sure other baits like huge wood fish with hinges get bit all the time. If the difference in a small semi clear mono or fluoro line is that much better than braid to you and makes you feel better by all means add a extra knot to your line and have at it and whatever else floats your boat. Nothing anyone else believes should dictate what you should or shouldn't try. What works for me or anyone else may not be the ticket for you. That is what is great about fishing.

I do all of the above.