mheichelbech

Anyone aware of a spinnerbait that will run straight, less than 5/16 oz, with a single no. 4 Colorado blade? Not the thin Colorados but high end ones like a Hildebrandt.

How much would a used St. Croix Premier be worth? Good to great condition.

It actually brought back good memories!

Haha I have caught bass on one of those old pocket fisherman outfits! Be good for skipping way up under docks!

Will be using braid.

Looking to get a spinning rod primarily for fishing lightweight baits (3/16 and less) and trying to determine if I would be better off with a short or long rod. I fish a lot around docks and other close quarters environments...a lot of pitching to dock corners and running baits parallel to docks. Any experience or suggestions appreciated! Whatever I get, like to keep it below $100.

It’s hard for me to see how tournament fishing survives long term when it seems like you need $50,000 minimum worth of equipment to get started.

I have one...I like it. Was more just curious about the different Shimano and how they’ve changed up their range of reels and options. Was curious also if that DC braking was more effective for skipping than the Tatula SVTW that I currently use.

So it used to be that Shimano had 3-4 different baitcasters with 1 maybe 2 in each price range (under $100, under $200-$299, and over $300). Now I see a Metanium DC and a Curado DC...a Curado in similar price range as a Chronarch....if your in the $199 to $299 price range how do you decide? Is the DC braking preferred? Thinking of a reel for pitching/skipping.

Mostly skipping docks in tributaries and marinas off the Ohio River...for slotted bass.

If this fish are shallow and/around shallow docks, Mann’s Baby Minus One.

Is there one producer of tube baits that is better than others?

This is my thinking. I’ve had some break after a lot of use but I have some the old terminator titanium’s that are still doing well.

Does anyone know of major differences in effectiveness between spinnerbaits marketed nowadays versus those from 10-15 years ago or more? Or are the differences just general fishing marketing hype?

Anybody know where any of the old Mepps Spinnerbaits, the “safety pin” style, not the inlines, can be found? Are they a collector item now? Also, just curious what do you guys think are the baits today that will be a collectors item in 20 years or more? I have seen some lures on eBay and even pork trailers going for crazy prices.

This is just a psa, to warn others not to be as dumb as I was. Went fishing Tuesday after work, caught a couple on a baby minus one. Got home and forgot to take the lure off and store it away. I keep my fishing stuff in a remote corner of the basement. It’s just too wet and moldy in the garage this time of year. Anyhow, my daughter’s 6 month old kitten found the lure (smell of fish I guess) and got the trebel hook in its paw. A terrible situation! It ended costing me $383 at the emergency vet yesterday evening. A lot more than I ever planned to spend on a stray kitten rescue but oh well. Just posting this as a warning to beware and keep your hooks away from animals. Not good for the conscience, the wallet or the animal!

Where can articles about the classic be found? I was surprised there wasn’t much written on the website.

I have one of these...where you have to tape the reel ontot he seat. Is there a right or wrong way location to place the reel? Obviously too far back wouldn’t be good but I had thought about placing it further forward instead of the middle.

The one thing I can’t figure out is why, when I was fishing tournaments that it was so easy to lose a fish but fishing for fun, can’t hardly shake ‘me off! Loss rate may be the same and I only notice it in tournaments...I dunno, sure is heartbreaking though! Its funny how I’ve had days in tournaments when, no matter what I did we landed the fish and other days, no matter what I didn’t they got off!

This is what I wonder about...is the whole don’t grab the line thing a farce and the fish I lost before, prob would have lost them anyway? One I’ll never forget is my them, 9 yr old daughter had fought an easy 6 pounder all the way to the boat when I grabbed the line at the last moment and it flipped off. She didn’t know what she had...I was extremely disappointed.

I was always thought and learned through experience to not grab the line in those last moments of landing a fish. However on TV in tournaments, I see a lot of pros grabbing the line, etc. What is the deal with this? I’ve lost more than a few grabbing the line like they do..

I have had many instances where I switched from a spinner bait to a shallow running crankbait and vastly improved my catch rate. I have also had instances where I caught them only on very specific patterns but it didn’t seem to matter what lure I used (within reason) as long as I fished the pattern, for example, rip rap, grassy points, brush piles or beaver damns, and so on. I guess to me it’s a lot like deer hunting, sometimes it’s one thing, sometimes it’s many things and sometimes you just can’t tell.

What do you all think is the most common reason (or combination of reasons) for a fisherman of reasonably good ability not catching fish on larger lakes...especially lakes in which you cannot reasonably fish all potentially good areas in a day of fishing. Is it: - not fishing in areas where there are a lot of fish? - fish are in the area but not using the right lures or the right technique e.g., jig be crankbait or soinnerbait vs crankbait or wrong colors? - not fishing lures correctly I.e,, reeling to fast, too slow or not at the right depth? - fish just not biting good that day? Any other common reasons? I’m curious because when I’m sitting on the couch watching MLF or the Bass Pros, I’d think there are fish everywhere and I could catch if I just use the right technique like they do. However, when I get to a big lake, and I’m not catching them it feels like there isn’t a fish around for miles and I’m in the wrong spots. I had my eyes open several years ago when a buddy took me fishing in the winter and we were catching 5-7 pound bass in 43 degree water temps (20s outside) in 3-5 foot of water. We used rattle traps and jigs on brush piles. I also learned that technique and feel with a jig is critical as he kicked my butt with it. Had I been fishing by myself I would’ve said I couldn’t find the fish or they weren’t biting. The same thing happened with another guy on jerk baits one time. Besides technique, I got the notion that the fish are there and I’m just not doing it right for that day when I’m not catching them. I just am not sure how often it is technique vs no fish being around.

I think you have to fish a specific lure quite a bit to tell a difference. For example, I fish baby minus ones a lot. I can tell which ones run like they should. I like to say the minus one is a $18 lite because you have to buy 3 to get one that works right. However, the one that works right is worth $18 to me (actually more as they have won me several thousand). On the other hand, almost all LC, KVD, etc. squarebills run right. What I have seen is, that for cheap lures it’s a crap shoot on whether the bait will operate how it is supposed to. There is a lot of inconsistency in manufacturing and they don’t have the durability of the more expensive versions.

Curious about the BFL complaints. After a hiatus from tourney fishing to raise my kids, I’m considering buying a boat and getting back into tourney fishing. I’m thinking that fishing a BFL tourney as a co-angler would be a good way to judge if I have the desire and competitiveness to tourney fish again. My main concern is getting paired with a jerk.