snake95

They are clearing out tackle nationwide as they reset the fishing section in each store. You will find that in general, similar things are on sale, and will drop in price at about the same time everywhere, but those are just generalizations. I'm pretty sure we have hit rock bottom on prices before they either get shipped to liquidation land or the stock gets ready to just languish, perhaps with prices increasing back to normal as they just sit there. That's worth bragging about. I once found Rick Clunn STX jerkbaits for $1 and also silver XRaps size 10 for $1. Once.

Sorry we didn't find you, Glenn. So many guys on the forum (or talked about like Big O) that I hoped to meet. It was overwhelming - in a good way. Next time.

Thanks. The Berkley rep running the tester even sort of stopped the show and called out to everyone about it. I felt the need to brag about that one, just a quick palomar (as carefully tied as I could in a moving line). I tied another one (double san diego jam) that only made it to 15.4.

Took my 9 yo to the Bassmaster Classic. It was our first time seeing the pros. Special thanks to @Sam for the incredibly helpful advice. We went up on Friday as early as possible, saw the expo each day, went to Saturday's weigh in and then watched the guys come in on Championship Sunday. Biggest single takeaway: the pros are just awesome guys and absolutely make the sport what it is. My son filled up a signature book, but far more importantly, every single one of them took a moment to talk to him: Rick Clunn, David Fritts, Zell Rowland, Gary Yamamoto, Skeet Reece, Chris Lane, Fletcher Shryock, Ike, and many others at the expo; even at the ramp: G-man spotted him and called him over to sign his book even as he and Lulu were rushing to get buttoned up on the last day, Aaron Martins chatted casually about drop shotting with us as he waited at the dock (almost as if he was just out for a leisurely cruise), and Jordan Lee said hello before jumped in the truck to drive up and win it. MDJ (Mark Daniels Jr) was all smiles and talked to us as he was pulled up from the ramp. What an incredible bunch of men. (We were a little torn up about Jason Christie, but that's fishing I guess). It was almost funny at the Bass Pro Shops booth when we talked to a bunch of older pros that I didn't know: they asked where we fish and he replied "mostly ponds" and the guys lit up like they were a bunch of kids themselves: "man, we love fishing ponds too." Topwater? "especially topwater!" Their enthusiasm was completely genuine. Oh yeah, we looked at a lot of cool gear too. Broke a 10 lb XT line at over 19 lbs in the tester (line failed, not my knot). Talked to rod builders and all kinds of gear reps. Went looking to meet Big O and just missed him. The Saturday weigh-in was great. Thanks again to Sam and A-Jay and everyone else for stoking the excitement with this thread. Had to be the best weekend ever for two fishin' dudes. Can't wait for the AOY. Correction: my son described it as "the best weekend of my life."

@Mobasser I wondered the same thing last year when I discovered old pork rind (I have a real, old fashioned butcher), and found that Tom posted the answer back in 2014. The end of Uncle Josh pork trailers was discussed extensively on the forums for several years and you can find lots of discussion on it by searching for it.

No it wasn't left out in the sun. Lure was left in contact with several others, and maybe some soft plastics. I have plenty of lures and this is the only one to experience this kind of paint failure. My best guess is that it happened due to contact between the paint and something in one of the soft plastics.

@tcbass from the moment I first heard of this, I keep checking this thread daily and ask "when the heck is TCbass going to post something on this frog??" Thanks for coming through for me! (I haven't tried it yet but as you mentioned noticed the legs are a key difference)

I regularly buy from there and you can mix and match. I took advantage of this deal earlier this week but stuck with all Ripstops.

I have a real, old-fashioned butcher that I go to weekly. I'm sure he'd give me the materials. Would be interesting to learn about how to cut chunks properly. I got 6 bottles of old stock last spring and eager to try them out.

@Tim Kelly thanks, I'm in business now.

Thanks guys; also, is there a way to "feel" for the tension to see if the knob etc. are working Ok before putting line on?

I'm putting a spool control cap on a C3 that came used without one. Parts pics added. Should the lock spring be added to the spool control shaft with the "wings" facing out (i.e. toward the cap) or in (toward the spool)? (I think it does, since there are tiny indentations in the spool control shaft). Also does the little square copper shim just sit between the cap and the lock spring? Thank you!

Rapala Skitterwalk Heddon One knocker spook Rebel Magnum Pop R But there are so many others that I could pick for top 3. I've caught more and bigger bass on the DSG Banshee buzzbait than any others. I really liked Gundog's response: trickworms are just awesome topwater lures.

$3.72 at ours. I've found these to be very effective also. I didn't know much about hooks when I first started buying them, but they've performed very well for me. For applications requiring or justifying a stronger hook (e.g. T-rigged craws or creatures, heavier worms), quite frankly I prefer these over the Gammy hooks OP is talking about.

@Mezrebel outdoors thanks for reviving this thread. Two years have passed, and for me that has been a period of "exponential" growth as an angler. Back then, I threw out the question, because we seem to be pretty concerned about hook sharpness for good reason. I deal with engineering materials and I am quite certain that when hooks and hardware from different baits bang together, there will be some loss of sharpness over some period of time. The question is how much, and how fast that happens. Could be a worthy science (more engineering) experiment for the guy that has been posting microscopic views of hook points. (Kind of joking here, but I wouldn't fault anyone for testing this out). The answer to this question I was really interested in, is basically, "not enough damage that it is considered an issue by more than a few anglers" The tangling issue is a different story. That's a true pain and the obvious solutions are smaller compartments, hook bonnets, and the elastic band trick. With two years of hindsight, here are my thoughts: I'm certifiably OCD. However, hook bonnets are just too over the top even for me. To each his own. I tried the rubber band trick. It works well with most baits. But it requires you to keep a stash of bands nearby. I'm not going to do that reliably. Also, the band eventually breaks down and melds into the side of the bait. Bands go everywhere and baits get tossed back without bands, when in the real world and fishing hard. After a while, I just gave up on this approach. I just do nothing. Interesting to see how A-Jay fares with this.

Trying hard to cut back spending on gear severely. Some good advice on the forum has been to learn to use what you have, and I have a long way to go to accomplish that. Its hard to resist the really amazing deals out there over the past couple of winters on standard-issue tackle: shad raps and senko packs for $2.50 each (if you buy 10!), Bandit and Norman lures for $2 at Walmart, etc. I've gone overboard for the rate of consumption and usage, and my goal for 2018 is to spend less time on tackle and more time on using it.

Maybe I am starting a rumor here, but the fact none are in stock fits the pattern for the demise of similar baits.

I might be the only one who cares, but it appears the Mighty Bug is being discontinued. Only one color and size left on the Yum and Lurenet sites. There used to be more sizes, but they whittled down to one last year. I have a small stockpile; started off as one of my first plastics, catch fish on them on T-rigs and also fished on surface as toad substitutes. Not too durable but they worked for me.

It helps me to focus on the responses more than the original post sometimes; and, I always consider the background and previous responses of the responders first. I worked for a senior professor who was very picky about who we cited in our papers: examples and findings generated by fellow experts who had earned his respect through high quality work were always given preference over those produced by those known for doing mediocre work. The same concept applies to reading through the threads and interpreting the responses; I've learned over time that even if a poorly-framed or "throw away" question is tossed out there to start a thread, it might still be worth scrolling through to see what kernels of wisdom have been left behind by one of the "masters." Responses by WRB, Catt, (and many others) get careful consideration from me, even if they are responding to a poor quality question or request for help, and even if the responder doesn't exactly answer the question I think is being asked. So I guess what I am saying is that it always helps to weed through the responses to pick out the ones from the anglers that respond with high quality input, and also to develop a sense for who consistently puts out responses worth reading.

In my experience, small grubs are one of the simplest, most effective lures for small bass. They cost about $1.50 for YUM brand in a small red pack available in just about every Walmart in North America. You can find small jigs nearby in the store. I have a little 6 year old girl who has zero problem casting and retrieving this type of jig, casting to targets, and catching bass. I have a boy who I started with basic cast-and-retrieve lures at the age of 5. I take kids fishing every few weeks, and every few days in the summer. I love teaching kids. I've found much depends on the kid, how motivated they are, how much sleep they've had, and how much sleep YOU'VE had. A lot of different things can work, and you will get lots of very different suggestions here than can and will work. The easiest and most effective for me has been a pack of live worms, and size 1-2 hooks and a small bobber. But using lures has advantages too. The key advantage is that you can have them on hand to use when you are ready. In my world, 20 minutes is a lot of time to spend getting ready with a little kid, so if you can reduce that time to 5 mins to tie a knot and cast the lure and get going, you're better off. I also find that you have to put their fishing at the top of the priority list, which means you won't do a lot of fishing yourself. Don't expect to get much fishing of your own in, at least the first several times out. But the time you put in now will pay off in terms of your fishing buddy gaining self-sufficiency a year or two from now. You have to take the long view. I also agree with the guys who suggested a small plastic worm with a bullet sinker, or a split shot, or just no sinker at all. The great advantage is they get snagged much less often that other baits, when Texas rigged. In fact, I could be convinced this is the best lure option, and because it is "weedless" a better option than my original jig suggestion. If I were there standing in Walmart looking at the vast array of stuff, I'd pick out a pack of Zoom U-tale worms (or two or three), in the colors your kid likes (green pumpkin or watermelon or junebug are good ideas, but honestly just pick something), and then a pack of Gamakatsu EWG or worm hooks in size 1/0. Worms about $2-3/pack, hooks in the same range. If they happen to sell 4" Roboworms, those are also a great choice, but not as common in my experience. Only a few years ago, I had never fished with plastic lures myself. Now, I teach kids to use them all the time; they are as easy and as effective as can be. I'd also grab a pack of Gulp brand "pinched crawlers" or minnows to put on a small hook, with or without a small bobber and/or a small spilt shot. They aren't much to look at, but they attract small bass and bluegills and catfish as effectively as real worms in many instances. I'd spend about $15-20 in there if it was me. The disadvantage of cast-and-crank lures, and any lure with treble hooks is that they will get snagged, especially with kids, and they can get frustrated and potentially sad when they lose their fancy lures. In retrospect, I'd say leave the little Rebel lures where they are, or get them and save them for later. Cast-and-crank lures can and will be effective for kids, it just helps if they spend a little time learning the basics of casting first, and also if you can figure out where the main snags are at your fishing spots. As others have said, the main goal is for them to catch something. The more luck they have the more eager they will be to go with you the next time. Other effective hard baits include Rebel and Rapala minnows, and small Strike King crankbaits. If your Walmart has them, the various Cotton Cordell lures they sell for $1-2 on the bottom shelf work great for small bass and other species. You will get a whole range of reactions to this post: you should pick a bigger worm, a different brand, pick a bigger hook, or you HAVE to use worm hooks not EWG, or you have to go weightless, etc. etc. These are just the options that work for me.

The microcritters have been next to useless for me and are so light they will not be much fun for anyone to throw. Every lure in the classic pack can and will catch small bass, except the tiny Pop-R might be a little less versatile. I'm sure many anglers on this board will recommend different starting lures for 5-year old, but I've been through this recently and if I had to pick one, I'd take a small white curl-tail grub on a light jighead to be my most effective for kids. Cast, let sink (or not) and wind. I like the 3-inch Yum grubs for less than $2 a pack at WM. Agree that 6 lb test on spinning is a good choice.

Maybe that's the issue, they work OK (and maybe even great in the right time and place) but they are in a crowded segment of the market, plus they probably cost more than the average Rapala bait to produce given their fancy finishes and rattle system. They used to sell for north of $12 US, which is on the high side for a Rapala bait.

@scaleface me too. I credit that lure with getting me into bass fishing again since I had so much success with it when I re-started; certainly responsible for my first multiple-bass days. I don't hear it talked about much though, and in recent years only place I could find them was in scuffed-up boxes on the bottom shelf at Walmart. @Turkey sandwich interesting and fair point. Living in north Georgia, I have not seen Fat Raps in many stores, and I've never seen anyone fishing one in recent years. I know they have been around a long time, since they were among the first crankbaits I ever used as a kid back in the early 80's, and they are clearly still enough of a seller for Rapala to keep them around in a small selection of basic and proven colors. I even picked up a few at a Walmart in Arizona last year. From this I have gathered they must be an effective bait, just with modest popularity -- enough to remain in production, yet relegated to Rapala's world of "all other lures" that don't get marquee billing: https://www.rapala.com/rapala/lures/all-other-lures/ Would be interested to hear if other guys would put Clackin Raps in a similar category; clearly Rapala decided they don't deserve continued production. (I learned that the Flat Rap is also discontinued by looking into the "all other lures" category. That's been a good bait for me).

The tiny Husky Jerk 06 in gold has worked for me, but only managed small bass so far.

@buzzed bait glad to hear that you helped me help out our local DSG's in the ATL area. I struggled to resist buying too much this sale period. I know there are no rules on who can take advantage of a sale, I sort of hated to see some of the baits going to guys to just turn around and flog for a profit. I plan to use this stuff!!! (and give a few away) Interested to hear how you do with those babies in our local waters.