TournyFish001

I bought some 4.5" hollow body paddle tails for the first time just last week. Asked the local pro at the shop all about them took them to the lake and had some success. It is all about how fast and deep you want to fish them. What worked for me was heavier weight slow retrieve for deeper water. Unless the fish are really active I hate to see my bait the whole retrieve it means the bass can definately see you. I fish very very clear water. Light weight on these baits and they are very very shallow runners. This being said I just bought several more with a wide variety of hook weights (they are now officially a part of my arsenal after holding out(now there are a TON of people making these and there are some fantastic colors and sizes out there, they are a viable option especially when they are hitting spinnerbaits)- I like the wighted extra wide gap hooks with the spring to screw into the head of the bait. A lot of guys use to small hooks and you will have a hard time knowing you are getting bit on this bait if you don't acutally hook the fish, the bite is very different sometimes its a "push sensation". One thing about this bait is it can excell anytime you are fishing when you would normally use a spinnerbait.

The spinnerbait hasn't produced very well for me this year. This thread proves you have to be diverse.

d**n if gas gets to $2.00 a gallon I will buy a g loomis rod, shimano reel spooled with Yo Zuri Hybrid 8 packs of GYMCB senkos some Gammy hooks and fly down to TN and fish with you. Well I just might buy all that stuff anyway since I am a fan of it all, well minus the hybrid lol... Just playin but man I really hope the gas price drops a bit OR A LOT- its tuff on us bass fisherman. When money is tight recreation is the first thing to go- that aint cool now is it?

I do not know about your Walmart, but I would not let the store here touch my truck with a 10 ft. pole, and my wife works there. From what I understand is that they had to replace a customers motor, because they left the drain plug out or so loose it fell out. Engine blew less than two miles down the road. That could happen to anyone at least they got a replacement engine, if you would have done it you would be out an engine.

I seriously hope they come out with a 201E5 :-[

megabass deep x 200t Luhr Jensen baby hotlips RC 1.5 Yozuri Vibe 3/16oz shakey head with a smallie beaver drop shot with roboworms Eakins 5/16oz jig No particular order all have worked well.

I have a tube from baitsmith that works pretty well

useful information is never a bad thing

do they like to be fished faster or slower? I have a 3.8:1 reel also a 7:1. also do you make contact with the bottom all the time or catch suspened fish in deeper water?

I like the DD22 but for smallmouth specific fishing I think a smaller bait would be better.

anyone like these crankbaits? Just bought a couple in "bumble bee color". I like the size and profile, I fish for smallmouth the majority of the time.

Yep probably a bad spool, I got a bad one of Halo last year. It was so brittle. Said id never buy another spool of it again till I borrowed a rod from my dad and loved it. Now I use it all the time with no trouble.

I own both reels and have a hard time picking out which one is better the MG is lighter but not by much- if you find a deal on either one jump on it- cant go wrong either way if $50 is a big deal get the curado if not still get the curado- In my opinion.

welcom aboard- I have owned both those reels- they are extremely different from each other. Oh I just saw that you included the 200 on the curado. Well the 100D is a lot smaller than the 200 and the PT1160, its(100D) great for smaller baits- although I still own it and love it for multiple applications great reel. I cant speak for the curado 200, have held one in a store felt big so I went with the 100D my dad has the 200 High speed version and loves it. Now for the PT1160, I gotta be honest and gave that reel many chances but I had an opportunity to sell it so I did without hessitation. Here's why; the reel will NOT cast lite baits period- anything over 1/2oz and wind resistant it will handle flirt with a light spinner bait like I have and you will be very frustrated- I'm not saying it can't be done but it is sure a process to do so- In my opinion there are better reels for the money- If you know you are only throwing heavy traps or pitching large plastics you may consider although there are better reels out there.

Special request for a picture of the new curado- well if it is reality.

I am going to go home and pray that they come left handed... Might look a little creepy here at work

beat me to it, that strike king looks good BTW- if you look hard you will find a few tilapia imitators in hard baits- you can match it with soft plasitcs too

I believe he does- skirt up/backwards T rigged weightless

I concur with the others the live pointer just plain sucks I have put it through many tours of duty- I gave it to a friend and he has since given it away. Every now and then you try something new and it dosent seem to work out-

For our application fresh water "bass Fishing" you will not get spooled out- unless you do not have your drag set and then you deserve it. Most reels have at least 8lb's of drag and over 100yrds of line capacity- 99.9% you will be catching 1 to 5lber's. Even that .1% and the very rare double digit 10-12lber should be landed with out losing half your line capacity. An arbor knot tied to the spool not going to slavage a double digit fish or any other knot for that matter- The Cali Big Swim Bait guys are a different breed- bigger gear across the board- but I would be willing to bet they are not being saved by a single arbor knot. How many times have you seen/heard an elite series angler saying how an arbor knot saved his day- lol

x2

I have had pretty good luck with jackall great baits

palomar

I have had some luck with "sunfish" lately- looks just like a perch in the water.

If I had all my tackle disapear... The next day I would buy a rod/reel, some bill lewis rattle traps and a couple packs of senkos (you could do this for under $100). I wouldn't be happy only having that but I would feel confident that I had what it took to catch some fish.