Big Easy Bassin'

What do you mean when you say "buoyant" crankbait. One that doesn't dive as deep?

Thank you sir

So I'm not sure if this bottle is supposed to have some kind of directions on it, but the one I got does not. Never used this before, and even though I feel kind a dumb asking, how do I use it? Just squirt a little onto the line? And when is the best time to do this?

Let me just start off like I normally do when I post about rods or reels by saying that I only use spinning gear. That being said, I broke my rod that I use on my moving baits setup. Moving baits being lipless and squarebill cranks, spinnerbaits, and chatterbaits. I fish very grassy ponds, so I don't like glass or moderate action, and because I fish multi blade spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, I prefer and MH. Just a preference. Anyway, I ran to Academy to pick up a new rod. I've said this in previous posts, I prefer not buying from Academy and shopping at my local tack stores, but both of the stores I have near my house open at 10am and I was in a rush to go fishing lol. I'm currently in the process of getting a custom rod made for moving baits, so I didn't want to spend too much money on a rig. As I looked around I saw the Lew's American Hero spinning rod. I picked up a 7' MH-F. For the price I feel like this can't be beat. I also grabbed a 200 series American Hero spinning reel. Not the best by any means, but 25 bucks for a 6.2:1 spinning reel can't be beat. I will say that the rod is a little bit on the heavier side of medium/heavy, but not as much as say an Abu Garcia because I've used those before and they are definitely an action up from what they say. All in all, if you're looking for a good spinning combo under 100 bucks, I would definitely recommend the Lew's American Hero Combo.

Got ya. Thanks. I notice that with the FC my lure tends to run a little higher in the water column. They stay out of the snags which is great lol

Jig with a craw trailer has been my something I've wanted to throw a little more. The bite where I fish has mostly been a lipless or squarebill crankbait bite from first light to about 9 or 10am. When that dies out I usually go to a Texas rigged or shakey head finesse or trick worm. I'm a bank fisherman so thanks for that advice. I fish a park lagoon/pond system. Not much rip rap but I did find a pond that has a line of rocks running all the way around it about 5 feet from shore. It's probably about a foot high and 2-3 feet wide sitting in about 2-3 feet of water. Ran a lipless crankbait directly over the top and picked up 6 bass today, but they were small. All between 8 and 12 inches. Gonna have to try a spinnerbait bc I lost 3 SK RES on the rocks so that's about a $20 loss in the hour and a half I fished lol

Got some ?? What do you mean?

I know I'm supposed to search before I post and I apologize. I was actually looking for some answers that were a little more vague lol. No particular brand, just a style i.e. Lipless crankbait or squarebill. Sorry

Just wondering if there are any other members on this site located in the NOLA area... Always looking for new fishing buddies, and a friend of mine and I are trying to get a bass club started down here.

Ok, so everyone knows that the dead of winter and the peak of summer are typically the toughest times to catch bass. I know it may not be full on summertime yet, but down here in New Orleans we're already seeing temps in the 90s, so summer is officially here in my neck of the woods. I am a bank fisherman so I try to travel as light as possible, especially when it's 100 degrees outside. I'd rather not be lugging around my backpack/tackle box with 100lbs of gear. Looking to see what y'all like for summer bassin'. If you guys could only have 5 lures, what would you choose for the summer?

Ok, so now I have to update everyone. I broke my crankbait rod this morning walking out the door to go fishing, so I ran to Academy to see what I could find. I usually try to stay away from Academy and shop at my local tackle stores, but the 2 stores I frequent don't open until 10AM and I didn't want to wait. I'm still in the process of designing my custom rod for cranks and other moving baits, so I didn't want to spend too much. Found a Lew's American Hero combo with a 7' MH-F rod and a 200 series reel. FYI I was pleasantly surprised with this rig. It actually performed quite well today. But anyways... I was looking to get some 20# Power Pro to put on the reel, but in typical Academy style they were out of everything but 10# and 65#. I saw that they had Sunline Super Sniper FC, and I've heard nothing but good things about all of Sunline's products, so I grabbed a spool of 12# and bought it. Needless to say, everything I have heard about Sunline is true. GREAT LINE!! It does have some memory (line staying kinked from being on spool) but nowhere near as much as some of the others I've tried. Very little to no stretch which is awesome. Just enough stretch to not pull as many hooks as I normally would with braid. All in all I've found the line I'm gonna use for my moving baits. While I was at Academy I looked but didn't see the Mustad KVD Triple Grips. Going to order them this evening. Definitely need them bc I hooked up with a nice one today and lost him close to shore. Sure enough I grabbed the lure and looked and 2 of the hooks on the rear treble were just about straightened out.

Ok I was confused. I'm not used to the # hooks. Didn't know that the higher the number the smaller the hook. I was thinking it was like 1/0 and 2/0 and so forth lol. Would you stick with a #6 on a 1.0 or change?

I've been using a SK Pro Series Model 1XS. Really like it bc I can run it extremely shallow when casting close to shore (I fish from the bank so this is helpful). I need to order some more, and TW says it uses #6 hooks on it. I just feel like that can't be right.

Thanks for the tip. I've thought about changing out hook a lot recently. I throw a lot of Strike King cranks, and they come with decent hook (VMC I believe), but I agree they'll be no match for a 7 or 8 pounder should I be lucky enough to hook one. Do you stick to the original size that comes on the lure or do you prefer a different size? PS - I normally have my drag pretty darn loose when cranking. At least as loose as I can get get away with. This helps keep me the fish hooked up on the hookset.

I posted about cranking with braid a while back, and have taken the advice of a couple members and deleted my flouro leader and am now using straight braid. The water I fish certainly isn't clear, and it obviously hasn't had an affect bc I'm still catching fish. But now I've started throwing squarebill cranks a lot more, and I love them. Easier to throw along the bank in the shallower water, and I don't get snagged and lose lures as much (big plus bc crankbaits ain't cheap). I know that line diameter dictates diving depth, but I also know that the manufacturers given depths aren't based on using braided line. This question goes out to you other fellas cranking on braid... What is your go-to braid diameter when it comes to cranking squarebills?

Fishes in trees, I can't go with anything much bigger than 7'. You hit the nail on the head when you said shoreline vegetation is an issue. It's a big issue lol blckshirt98, the only reason I use the flouro leader is to help with pulling the hook. And I just realized that the last time I bought line I decided to try P-line Floroclear, which is actually a co-polymer. I've had that in 15# test and it has seemed to help me with pulling hooks crankzilla, I honestly just don't want to take the time to learn. I work Monday thru Friday, usually 10-12 and some 13 hours a day. So on Saturday and Sunday all I want to do is fish. And I've tried to use them but I get one backlash and I put it down so I can keep fishing and never pick it back up. I also feel like I can do pretty much anything I need to with spinning gear

Thanks everyone. Y'all just helped me make a final decision. I'm gonna go with a 7' medium fast. Only difference in my setup will be that I like braid with a flouro leader. I normally use 20# Power Pro with 3-4' of 10 or 12# Trilene 100% flouro. Was thinking about trying Sunline though. I've heard nothing but good things about their Flourocarbon and all of their other lines in general.

I'm one of this strictly spinning gear guys, and I've been doing some research about a rod for lipless cranks (because that's the only crank I throw). I bank fish in a park and 99% of the time I fish these lipless cranks in pretty shallow water over pretty thick grass. I'm in the process of designing a custom rod, and I just need a little more input. I was thinking about a glass rod at first, but bc of the vegetation in the waters I fish, I've decided against that. My last decisions are: 1 - 6'8" or 6'10" or 7'?? 2 - Medium or Medium-Heavy power?? 3 - Moderate or Moderate-Fast or Fast action?? I'm just looking for a few more opinions before I make this decision One more thing to add... I throw a 1/4oz lipless crankbait 95% of the time. Occasionally I will go to a 1/2oz, but that is a very rare occasion.

Riverbasser, I don't use a swivel. I use the FG knot. And the water is not clear at all. Stained at best. Dirty most of the time lol. I just felt that the braid by itself was really slow sinking with only a 1/4oz jig. Thought maybe a leader would help

That's a good idea DVT. I've always got one with me and I never thought to use it for that. And Tom, I don't use mono for anything. Don't even have any at home much less carry it with me. I like the sensitivity of flouro. Plus I grew up fishing for speckled trout in South Louisiana, mostly under a clip on weighted popping cork, and a 4-5' leader of 10-12# flouro is all I've ever used. Just slide the cork up and down to adjust depth of the lure. Guess it's a comfort thing more than anything

MickD, I don't use very heavy weight. Today I was throwing a 1/4oz Strike King Bitsy Flip. The spots I'm fishing aren't deep at all... The fish I caught today were probably in 1-2' at the most. I'm technically not even "fishing" heavy cover. I'm fishing from the bank over the heavy cover, and my issues have come bringing fish through likes, grass, etc.. As far as knots go I have never had a problem getting hung up in the eyes of the rod since I switched to the FG knot. Yudo1, I learned today how hard it was to break 50# braid when snagged. Luckily it was toward the end of a cast. Didn't want to break my rod so I cut my line lol

Just that flourocarbon sinks much faster than brain does. Or at least when I throw my other setups with a flouro leader it sinks much faster than when I was using the straight braid today.

Thanks for the post Chris. I recently started throwing squarebills and this was very helpful. I've only thrown lipless cranks prior to this, and that enhanced wobble and vibration has been giving me trouble. Also, when it comes to line diameter and depth, what effect does using braided line with a flouro leader have on depth? Does it go by the equivalent of the braid diameter to mono/flouro?

So let me start off by letting everyone know that I strictly fish from the bank, that I just started using the "flipping" technique, and that I use strictly spinning gear..... Anyways, I just invested in a 7'3" heavy action rod and a 3500 series 6.2:1 reel for flipping heavy cover. I love braided line, and I use it for most applications, and I normally use a flourocarbon leader. For example, my general soft plastic setup is a 7' medium action rod with a 2500 series 6.0:1 reel spooled with 20lb PowerPro and I normally a 15# flouro leader but will go to 12# sometimes. I had this flipping setup rigged with 50# PowerPro and I had pretty good luck today with a 1/4oz SK Bitsy Flip with a modified Pit Boss trailer. My only issue with the straight braid setup is the sinking factor. I just wasn't 100% sure about tying on a leader. Do any of y'all use a flouro leader directly tied to braid when flipping, and if so what would be a good diameter to pair with 50# PowerPro. Thanks in advance for any tips/advice. PS - Sorry if I'm repeating topics. I searched for about an hour but couldn't find the answer to my question lol.

Thanks for all your input everyone! Went out today with the intentions of throwing nothing but the jig and it paid off. I fish from the bank in a park lagoon/pond system. Caught 7 all together. No fish under 2lbs and the biggest just over 4lbs weighing in at 4lbs 2oz. I bit about 1.5in off of a 4in Pit Boss and that seemed to do the trick lol