fishwizzard

I would rather fish off of a couple planks of wood nailed together with an $800 seat strapped to them than the nicest kayak in the world with an old style buttbucket seat.

The other advice I would give is to look around on YouTube try to find a video that show someone casting a swimbait with a nice wide full body shot. It took watching a bunch of the TB videos on a rainy day before I really figured out what I was doing wrong in my early attempts at lob casting. That, and maybe go out and buy a big lead sinker that weighs the same as your a-rig to see if you can cast that with your current combo. If you can't get any distance out of an aerodynamic sinker, then something is really wrong.

I really like their 1\4oz lipless cranks, I have a few of them and they all run true at most any speed and produce well for me. They also seem to cast further then the SK 1\4oz ones.

Even just throwing a 2oz swimbait, the difference in comfort between a lob and a normal cast was unbelievable to me. My upper back would get all knotted up after a few hours before I embraced the lob.

I don't really have a need for a new perfect pitch, but I'm so dang curious about this amazing tip everyone seems to talk about that I think I'll be forced to pick one up if the reviews are as positive as they were for the old model.

Only you and the monkey can answer that question, but I just discovered that I absolutely needed an old Alphas 103 for about the same price, thanks for the code!

I have a polyester longsleeve sunhoodie I got from Cabela's that I have use the last year or so with complete satisfaction. I wouldn't go with anything cotton on a garment that I want to wick sweat away from me, but it would stink a lot less than a polyester one, which is my only little complaint with the one that I have.

I am close to 100% online, with maybe 1-2 trips a year to SFT when I go smallie fishing in PA. There is a Bass Pro I hit up occasionally when I am in the area, but I never buy much. I would prefer to have more inperson options, but I live in a very salt-focused area, so most local shops don't have much for me.

I have found a couple smaller manufacturers selling jig heads on eBay poured from a tin/bismuth mix. Just do a search for "lead free" in the fishing section and a ton of stuff will come up.

A 3.8" FA weights around 3\8oz just buy it's self, and with a 3\0 by 1\8oz swimbait hook, weighs almost 1\2oz on the nose. I throw them on most any rod that will load well with them and have never noticed much difference, leaving aside considerations of cover.

I never really understood the whole "vertical drop" thing. I do all my fishing from the bank or kayak, so maybe I'm missing something, but when I'm fishing most lures my line is laying on the water before the lure has sunk more than a foot or so, so the handle is engaged or the bail closed seconds after the lure touches down.

I would be up for that, assuming my wacky work schedule allows for it. I even have a spare bare-bones fishing kayak, but I'm not entirely sure if I can transport it and my main one at the same time. I've never been to Black Hills on a weekend before, how crowded does it get?

The small size of those is a great compact plastic, a little smaller than a zoom super, but a little heavier as well so they cast further and sink a lot quicker. I use small Owner twist lock hooks on them and it really really helps with the durability. The big ones are pretty heavy and cast very well on rods that are too heavy to really load up with a zoom super. Flukes and the Ned were the first presentstions that I really started catching bass on and I still love them both.

I have a Phenix Recon2 L/F and like it a good bit. It's a slower fast, but still has enough juice to set the hook on the t-rigged plastics. I have a Megabass Black Themis on the way that was either going to replace/complement the Phoenix, depending upon how differently they fish. If you are serious about getting into BFS stuff, the best thing you can buy yourself is a small digital scale. Figuring out what the lures you would tend to throw actually weigh is incredibly helpful in figuring out what sort of rod you really need. In my case, 1/8 ounce lower end of the BT isnt an issue as, other than very small crank baits and in-line spinners, nothing I would throw is going to weigh less than that. I have one of the Tetons as well, and I agree with what everyone has said about it being a much softer trout/panfish rod. I have caught a few bass on it, but I would never deliberately target them unless I was somewhere with no cover or somewhere or I could wade over and free up fish that had gotten tangled up.

I don't have one in front of me, do you mean to cut the tail into three independent sections?

Has anyone had any luck with the Berkeley version of the trash fish? I bought one of the big ones and is obviously a ton stiffer and less detailed. It doesn't look nearly as convincing when it's being swam, but interested in a cheaper alternative for pulling through heavier grass and laydowns.

Yep! Love the fluke but think the Texas rig senko is maybe the most boring thing out there. I can usually fish one "the right way" for about half an hour before I start twitching it like a fluke. I did a little playing around with a double fluke rig over the winter and was really surprised how rarely it tangled. I live in fear of slamming that swivel into my tiptop guide, so I might try running a Carolina Keeper in front of the main line swivel to sort of act as a bumper.

The GYCB D-Shad and the Strike King...whatever its called, both are salted and sink about as fast if not faster then a senko. I use Zoom Supers in Pearl most all of the time but have recently noticed that the other colors with glitter in them sink noticeably faster than the plain colored ones.

Nice! Whay kind of wire bender do you use? I want to start making some in-line spinners using 1/8oz tungsten worm weights as the body so I can end up with a lure that is heavy and compact.

Man, I could not disagree more. I find a fluke to be one of the most fun to fish lures out there. I love how much and how varied an action I can get out of them. Twitching a fluke is great fun imho.

I have had a little luck with them, but they are really fragile. I swaped out the cps keeper on the 6/0 with a large one and it seems to hold a lot better.

I throw the 168 on a XH/M rod and have managed to land two rainbow trout that were either trying to eat or mate with the s-waver. The stock hooks are pretty beefy and dont seem to rip out even with the XH rod and a fish too small to realy load it.

I do make a 1\2 speed false cast almost all the time before I cast for real. It's a time waster 95% of the time but it has saved me a few rod tips for sure. I've gotten to the point where I don't even think about it and just do it as a reflex.

Nope, St Mary's Lake. I spent the day hiking with a friend and fished a couple hours right around dusk. Saw couple pickerel during our hike hanging out in shallow water and when I started fishing they were grabbing at my fluke by the middle and I couldn't get any of them hooked up. Switch the Ned Rig and landed a small one and then the big boy in very short order. Cash closed until the middle of March or maybe the beginning of April? I barely went to cash last year as I skunk out there more often than anywhere else, but it's the closest place to launch my kayak and I'm going to hammer it this year, with my goal being at least one kayak trip there a week.

I perfer the SK Swimmers for trailers as they are tougher and the slow speed wiggle of the Keitechs is kinda wasted as a trailer. 3.8 is my preferred size for trailers, the larger ones I fish on an underspin or swimbait hook.