IndianaFinesse

Thanks for the reply's! Should I go with the 6'6" medium heavy moderate version or the 9' medium heavy moderate? They don't have anything in between those lengths in the medium heavy power.

Thanks, I was planning on using it for a general purpose cranking rod, so I would be throwing everything between big o's and bandit 100's to kvd 2.5's and little n's. I wouldn't be using it for deep cranks much, mostly just shallow and mid depth divers. Would you go with the medium or the medium heavy for those?

Thanks, would the medium heavy be better for smaller cranks like bandit 100s to?

From what I've heard tatsu is extremely abrasion resistant.

A pair of needle nose pliers with line cutters. I have been stuck without anything to unhook a deeply hooked fish to many times. They also serve as line cutters, there have been a few times where I was without anything to cut the line with, and I was using braided line that I couldn't break with my hands, so I had to look around for something with a sharp edge on peoples docks to cut line with. Not exactly ideal, but I have learned that the edge of aluminum drain pipes are very sharp.

I love to go ice fishing when I can, but the ice is very hit and miss here. Its not the same as open water fishing, but it helps get me through the dreary winter months.

I look at the whopper plopper as a floating buzzbait, so I use it in the same conditions. Windy, rain (this is my favorite), early and late in the day, anytime you think a buzzbait will work a whopper plopped could be the ticket. It shows them something different than all of the buzzbaits they see during the sumer, plus it has the added advantage of being able to pause it around fish holding cover.

Never been to that one before, but I have been to the Indianapolis boat, sport and travel show. Tons of tackle in tackle town, probably even more than bass pro shops has. Some good deals in there to, if you look around. Scored a bunch of $3 shad raps last time I went, plus all kinds of other stuff.

I agree with the hooks and hook hangers, I change them out on jitterbugs to. I tried using the stock hooks and hangers, but it seemed I only landed every other fish because of them. I just found it ironic thinking that people were probably saying that storm should clean up the edges of the wiggle warts mold, but when rapala did clean it up, they ended up ruining them.

True, but I bet that's what rapala said when they "fixed" the wiggle warts.

Has anyone used them?

This is what I would do in your shoes. I don't own either rod, but I've played with them both in store and the mojo is far more sensitive. The difference is way more than what I would have guessed, in my mind well worth the extra thirty dollars.

By far the gary yamamato senko, it's not even debatable in my mind. Senko's usually outfish dingers by a five to one ratio, and often more. That being said I rarely fish senko's outside of tournaments, because of the cost I use BPS stick-o's. Even with stick-o's the senko usually outfishes them by a margin of at least two or three to one. Edit, I forgot to mention the colors I use. I like to keep it simple with colors, I don't really think color matters much. I only use three colors, green pumpkin for cloudy days, some kind of sparkle green pumpkin for sunny days, and occasionally junebug.

Never heard of any crooks that were made saints...

How could you or anyone else ever be done collecting any category of baits?

Anyone have any experience with cabela's whuppin stick casting rods? Do you think the 7' medium power moderate action rod would work for crankbaits? They're on sale for only $20, and are often on sale for even less.

No different than fishing around other weeds, except coontail seems to be somewhat brittle and easier to break off with a quick pop of the rod. As such fishing a rattle trap or jerkbait right above them works well, occasionally jerking it threw them and popping them off erratically.

I haven't tried the big TRD or a four inch zinkerz, I just also prefer the zinkerz over the TRD so I figured a four inch zinkerz might work better. I bet they will work at times, but to me it really isn't a "Ned" rig, more like a shaky head/jig worm, but both have their places.

$50 a month is not most peoples idea of a limited budget, that's abut four times mine. Be thankful for what you have. I use kvd 2× short triple grip for crankbaits (unless they already come with good hooks), and I usually just leave the stock hooks on jerkbaits unless they're junk. The sharpness is more important with jerkbaits cause the fish will often bit on the pause or just slap at it, but quality jerkbaits often already come with good hooks.

Instead of buying the big TRD, just cut an inch off of the zinkerz if you want a four inch bait. Same shape and size as the big TRD, except softer and slower falling.

Has anyone tried using cabela's Whuppin stick for crankbaits? It's on sale for only $20 (and is ruitenely is marked down even lower). I've been eyeing the seven foot medium moderate rod to pair with my bantam for cranks.

They are built to last forever, and cast fairly well. They are good reels, the only downside is they are a little bigger than newer baitcasters. This bothers some people more than others, so either you love them or you hate them. $79 is a decent price, about what most people sell them for. That being said I have yet to find someone who isn't willing to negotiate a little, so you could probably talk him down to around $70-$75.

Yep, definitely coontail.

There are a number of them here on bassresource.

I only have a few casting reels, an old shimano bantam, and old gallion, a black max, and the new exceller. The rest for whatever reason don't seem to be that way. I figured out the rough spot when I took it completely apart later, there was some dirt or something on the spool shaft. So after cleaning that off, I spooled it up to seen how it worked. Now that it was clean and oiled, it was as smooth as silk and it turns out I never had to tighten the spool tension down enough to affect it much. It casts amazingly well, far longer than the bantam cu-200 or the black max. I can't fish with it yet because the lakes are iced over, but after I got it cleaned up it definitely feels like a great reel.