Lucky Craft Man

I actually have two sets of rods. I have about 15 one-piece rods that I use for bass when I am fishing local and about 10 two-piece rods I use for bass when I have to travel (I also have 3 three-piece rods for travel). Though the one piece rods are nice, there isn't a huge loss in feel or fighting ability with the two-piece. Most of my two-piece rods are Cabelas XML rods and with how well the graphite is today, there is not much difference between my 2 piece XML's and my 1 piece XML's. Plus, I have never had the tip of my rod come flying off while casting. Though, I have developed a habit of repeatedly checking and "tightening" the tip of my two-piece rod when using it. So I would assess your needs (i.e., will you be traveling a lot with this rod and only have a small car to transport it in or do you have a truck that could easily accommodate a one-piece), before you write off the two-piece.

Thanks Flechero for the response.

I have a G Loomis IMX rod that I want to put braid on. I was wondering if anyone had any issues with the guides grooving on the IMX rods? I heard there had been some issues with the GLX rods doing this, but wasn't sure if anyone had problems with the IMX. Thank you in advance for your help.

I never used the G Loomis Drop Shot Rod, but I have the 7'2" Medium Power Shimano Crucial Drop Shot Rod and I couldn't imagine a better rod for drop shotting. It is perfectly balanced right at the exposed blank in the foregrip and it works great for drop shotting for smallmouth in 30 ft. of water. I don't think you can go wrong with the Shimano and with the extra money you save from not buying the G Loomis, you can buy a nice spinning reel to match with the rod.

Another thing i can think of is that my black one I got when the first came out and the green was a newer color and maybe they changed the bait a little, another thing to try would be the bronzeye frog JR or the new jungle frog. If you like throwing swimbaits spro just came out with a new bait designed by Bill Siemantel the BBZ-1 here's the link to the New trailer for the bait http://spro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=29 I purchased the black one when they first came out as well. Maybe they changed the density of the newer frogs. That swimbait looks awesome. Where I am there are a lot of musky's around, so the swimbait might serve as a nice musky bait when the bass arn't biting.

I know it's not a choice, but Cabelas Ripcord Si Plus is an extremely good braid. I have used many braids and I like this one the best. It's very limp and knots hold very well. They offer it in Green and Yellow (depending if seeing your line is important or not). In my humble opinion, there is nothing better then their braid.

Are you waiting long enough until you set the hook? Maybe your reacting to the strike and setting the hook immediately which makes you think it's the frogs fault and not your own. Just a guess, could be wrong. Let the bass take it down for a second or two, then set the hook. I use a 7' Heavy Rod with 30 lb. braid for my frogs. I was fishing a thick mat of slop when I figured I would try my SPRO frog out. The first fish blew up on the frog and I didn't get a hook in him. I just figured I didn't wait long enough. The next blow-up I waited until I felt the fish. I set the hook only to have it come out again. 10 blow-ups later without a fish, I had enough of that frog. I put on my old faithful, the Mann's rat, the next four blow-ups resulted in four caught fish. So to me, that SPRO's frog wasn't worth the money. Maybe the SPRO frog is better in situations outside of thick slop (like sparse lillypads), but for the slop, it do well for me.

I personally like the Cavitron. You can really reel it in slow and it stays on top of the water (it also works well when you burn it). I have caught many fish this past year with it and it has held up nicely. That would be my recommendation.

I have had a lot of problems hooking up with fish on the SPRO frog. I have been fishing hollow bodied frogs for a long time (as well as rats) and my hook up rate with the SPRO frog is the worst of them all. The plastic body seems very rigid, which I heard varies from SPRO frog to SPRO frog. Maybe I just got a bad frog, but I don't want to spend another $8 to find out.

I use this reel on my frog rod for fishing the slop and have been more then pleased. Great reel with a very good casting distance. I would recommend it.

small jigs= Floro. big jigs=Floro. (or Braid) Spinnerbaits=Floro (or Mono) jerkbaits=Floro topwater=Mono (No Floro at all) t-rig=Floro c-rig=Floro (or Braid) tubes=Floro finesse worms=Floro drop shot=Floro shakey head=Floro deep cranks=Floro (or Braid) shallow cranks=Mono flippin=Floro (or Braid) pitching=Floro (or Braid) buzz baits=Floro (or Mono) frogs=Floro (or Braid) slop fishing=Braid (Niether Floro or Mono Here) This is just my humble opinion and what I use.

The Blood Knot is not good at all for super line to mono or floro leader. I tried it and had horrible results. The blood knot works great though for super line to super line connection or mono to floro connection. In this monthes Salt Water Sportsman, there is a new knot that some captian uses to tie floro leaders to his braided line (I guess he was sick of the double uni knot failing him). I will post a diagram of this new knot later (if I can figure out how to post images).

I was at first heistant to spend so much money on a Lucky Craft. I bought my first pointer 100 off of eBay (you can get slightly better deals there) for around $10. The first day I used it I caught around 20 bass. After a year with it, I would estimate I have caught over 100 bass on it. That translates into 11 cents per fish. To me I would gladly pay 10 cents a fish and my first pointer is still going strong (though the finish is pretty much shot and water has leaked inside, so it's a slow-sinking bait as opposed to a suspending one now). Since then, I have purchased a lot more Lucky Crafts, because I have confidence in them and I feel they catch more fish then comparible conventional lures. So to me they are worth it, but I haven't lost one yet.

Just one question: What do you guys do for a living? Whatever it is, I am changing careers.

Though Roland is bad, the big guy from Fishing University is the worst. The whole show is based on a product. This past week the show was about lures made from real food that you can eat. He caught a smallmouth, then he bite his lure and half and ate it (to demonstrate you can really eat the lure). I want to see the next day where he was stuck on the toilet with disentary from the bacteria that was in the water and on the fish that rubbed off on the lure before he ate it. Now that would be a show.

SLOP, SLOP, SLOP, and more SLOP. There is nothing better then fishing thick mats of slop and have those bass blow up on that frog from below. Then you end up winding in 20 lbs. of junk where you anxiously dig through to see how big your catch is. I can't wait for the summer slop.

Favorite Plastic: Berkley Gulp 4" in Green Favorite Hook: Gamagatzu 1/0 Drop Shot Hook Weight: Depends...Big Waters I could go up to an ounce, but usually 3/8 oz.

I am looking for a boat that will fit the following criteria. If anybody has any advice or knows a good place to look, please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help. -$10,000 limit -Has a main engine along with a kicker (9.9hp) -Can handle the great lakes on a calm day (specifically Erie) -Suitable for bass fishing (with a front casting deck) -Can fit in my garage on the trailor (which is 19' long and 8.5 feet wide) I found a couple of boats that might fit the bill, but I just wonder is there is some other boats that would be a good buy. Thanks again.

I've used BPS, P-Line, and Vanish florocarbon. As mentioned before, I had a terrible time with Vanish. It kept breaking when I just hand tightened my knots. P-Line and BPS florocarbon have worked quite well for me. I tried florocarbon on my topwater rod and halfway through my retrieve (usually with the sammy or zara spook) the lure sinks under the water. I had to switch back to mono (which floats).

I would place 8 or 10 lb. Hybrid line on the spinning combo. With this you can cover small soft plastics, shakey Heads, Drop Shot, etc. I would place a 30 lb. braid or heavy floro (17 lbs. or heavier) on the procaster matched with the flipping stick. You could use this for jigs, carolina rigs, large plastics thrown in heavy cover, and small swimbaits. Then I would get a good quality 6'6" M power Fast action rod for the Quantum Accurist and place 12 lb. mono of this. You can use this for everything else, spinnerbaits, shallow crankbaits, jerkbaits, topwater, etc. I would suggest just one more combo (if you have the extra money) for all your plastics (t-rigs, senkos, frogs, etc) and that would be a 7' MH power Fast action rod with any 6.3:1 ratio reel. I think the flipping stick would be a little to stout for these applications and the 6'6" M rod might be a little to limber (though, I do know a lot of people who like medium power rods for plastics). I think with these four combos, you can fish any situation thrown at you. (Disclaimer: this is just my opinion and I am in no way an expert at bass fishing - so before people start tearing apart for my suggestion, I just wanted to clarify that).

Rod: G Loomis IMX 7' Medium Heavy Power - Fast Action (MBR843C) Reel: Daiwa Viento Line: Cabelas 30 lb. Ripcord Si Plus Lure: Wave Worm - Tiki Stick

I very rarely lose lures. If I snag a crankbait shallow or in a laydown, I am going after it (especially if it is one of my Lucky Crafts). I may lose an occasional lure deep and I have been tempted to jump in and get the sucker, but I haven't yet. I know I ruin the spots if I go in after the lure, but with the price of some of those lures, no spot is worth it.

I only use a "burner" reel on my jerkbait rod and my topwater rod (so I can quickly wind in the slack between jerks). I tried a burner reel on my frog rod and worm rod, but didn't like the extra speed. I prefer a 6.3:1 ratio reel for everything else (besides my crankbait rod, which has a 5.2:1). At the Classic when it was held in Pittsburgh, Randy Howell said that he uses the highest speed reel he can find for everything, because it is easier to slow down your retireve then it is to try and speed it up with a lower ratio reel. I guess it comes down to personal preference (like everything else in fishing).

I found myself in the same predicament. I used braid for senkos, but I didn't like how the braid would float, thus altering the fall of the senko. So I switched to mono. Though mono floats, the surface resistance was less then it was with the braid and the senko's natural fall was not as disturbed. But, there was a problem with the stretch of the mono that I didn't like. I moved onto floro. The floro had low stretch and sunk, which I thought would be perfect for senkos. The floro worked well, but as you mentioned, it would coil up and watching the line for subtle movements was a little more challenging. Therefore, I have come to the following set-up for my senkos. I use braided line, but add a floro leader to it. The floro leader sinks with the senko and I have the low stretch, low memory braid (which I can see easier) floating on the surface. I haven't been using this combination long, but it seems like the solution I have been looking for.