Danny_716

Do you prefer "shad" shaped heads, ball heads, bullet heads...ect. and why? I've been thinking about getting these homemade 1/2 and 3/4oz jigs with 5/0 mustad hooks on eBay fairly cheap in either shad profile head or ball head, or the conquistador bullet heads from TW in the same sizes. What are your preferences when it comes to swimbait jigheads and why?

Thankyou everyone for the recommendations, I ended up going with the fs905 and cb907. Hopefully they'll do what I'm looking for, and if not I'm sure I'll love them for some other use regardless

I think I'm going to go with the FS905 and CB907, a little stronger for both to make them more versatile

I'm actually holding both right now at a local shop, they do have the same rattles

2 day tournament and a day or 2 of prefish hopefully. But yes I fully intend on have a DS rigged up at all times (One of my favorite methods, only second to flipping structure).My main rigs are going to be cranks, swim baits, DS, t-rig, and jigs I believe

I agree, I've never been a huge crankbait guy but I have a big tournament on Pickwick this may and all my research is leading to deep crankbaits (among a few other techniques) on off shore ledges. Problem for me is I live in New York and would need to have all my tackle prior to ever wetting a line there...And don't know if the fish are going to be sitting at 10', 15', or 20' etc. Untill I'm there. So I guess I can specify from the original question a little for my personal needs.... Out of the dredger series are there any sizes you wouldn't bother with, or any I should get more than others of? I'll list the specs below. Model-->length, weight, dive depth 10.5 --> 2.25", 1/2oz, 9-11.5' 14.5 --> 2.5", 5/8oz, 12-15.5' 17.5 --> 2.75", 3/4oz, 16-19.5' 20.5 --> 3", 7/8oz, 20-22.5' 25.5 --> 3.25", 1 1/8oz, 22-26'

Hello, This is sort of an odd question I'm sure...But what are your key depth classes for crankbaits? For example; 3-5', 6-8', 10-12'...20-22' ect. I know the obvious answer for most of us is all of them, but what if you were to "build" your crankbait assortment from the ground up, which would you focus on? Would you get, say, 1 crank in 2 or 3 patterns in every size of a series (6',10',14',16',20',25'..) Or would you focus on 2 or 3 key depths (10',17',20'..) and get duplicates of the same few patterns? Of course I know the depths vary depending on where you're fishing so I'll use myself as an example... I'm gearing up for a tournament on Pickwick lake and plan to get an assortment of Berkley dredger crankbaits seeing that I receive a ~35% pure fishing collegiate discount. How would you go about building your collection?

I've built one casting and one spinning with the airwave sets, they're nothing crazy but they work as intended. Aren't as appealing on the eyes as others, but they do their job and are easy on the pocket. Also, the "no ring" is similar to PAC bay minimas. Haven't had any issues with them yet but they don't get heavy use.

First off thankyou for the compliment sir, means alot since I'm only 20 and have only put together 7 rods haha. And I wouldn't be shortening any blank, just extending. And the 2" is just the size of the eva butt peice I like to use ( I glue the butt to a section of donor blank etc. Then glue that peice inside the blank giving ~2" extension at the very butt of the rod, maybe even balancing it due to the extra material).

I use a MHX mb843 I extended to 7'2 (so basically the 873) for my jigs 1/2oz and under. Feels great with a finesse 3/8 or 1/2 football head. But it may be a little light for full size skirted 1/2oz jigs with a large trailer( total weight will probably be over 3/4oz).

Hello all, I'm building a pair of rods to use on Pickwick lake hitting the ledges etc. One for crankbaits and one for swimbaits/ bottom "stuff" 1/2oz+. I am undecided on specifically what blanks, but I do know they are definitely going to be MHX. Rod 1: primarily Berkley dredger cranks in all sizes but mostly the 10.5-20.5's (the 20.5 is 3" and 7/8oz) as well as rapala dt-10's and dt-16's. As of right now I am leaning towards the cb905, but am not dead-set on it. Rod 2: building it for use with big bite baits 5.5" BB kickers and 5" suicide shads on 1/2-3/4oz jig heads but would also use it for 3/4oz jigs and t-rigs ( 3/4's feel a little heavy for my mb843). I'm between the FS904, which would appear to be similar to the cashion's f90476 that Michael Neal used for those exact setups on Pickwick, or the mb874 which I'd probably extend another 2". Or any other suggestions... Please help me make a decision, I've been wasting too much time and energy trying to decide. Thankyou!

Update: the tournament is may 25-26, not sure if that makes any difference

I'd be going for a college tournament haha, only reason it's a maybe is because we have to find/fix a boat and drive it from Buffalo, NY.. is yours the Cabela's championship too?

Hello all, I could possibly be taking a trip to Pickwick early-mid may and am looking for any advice (tactics, things to look for, etc.) I've never wet a line south of NY and I'm sure things are quite a bit different down south... any advice would be great, as I'm sure my gear/ tactics will need some adjusting.

Hello all, I have recently acquired a few new rods/reels and am thinking about switching up what reels are on what rods & lines etc... I'll start by listing the rods and reels I'm talking about. Rods: #1) Berkeley lightning rod 7'6" H, fast (heavy jig/t-rig, frog) #2) MHX MB843 7' MH, fast (jig, spin, chat, ect.) #3) Cabela's tourney trail im7 7' MH, mod-fast/fast? ("backup" to #2, deep cranks) #4) Abu Garcia vengeance 6'9" MH, fast ("backup" to #2, jerk, top) #5) MHX CCB834 x-glass composite 7'2-7'7 (adjustable butt) M, moderate (cranks) Reels: #1) Daiwa exceler 100HLA 6.3:1 #2) Daiwa tatula 100HL 6.3:1 #3) Abu Garcia Revo S-L Ambassadeur 6.4:1 #4) Abu Garcia black Max 2 6.4:1 #5) Shimano bantam mag plus 251 (older w/ on-off back-reel) 5:1 Currently have them paired #1 to #1, #2 to #2 etc... But some I haven't gotten to test yet.