Bdnoble84

What gear ratio you guys prefer? I’ve always been under the impression a moderate gear ratio would be best for these kind of baits. I’m working in current so i have to be able to move some line.

Digging the paint on those walleye heads. What did you use?

What are some good option for a baitcaster under $150 for light cranks and jerkbaits- 3/16-3/8 oz berkley flicker shads, shad raps, 75-100 size jerkbaits.

Couldn’t help myself, i just orded the 7’10” HF. Putting it with the Cardiff 300 i just picked up barely used with a full brand new spool of braid for $60

I’m not as seasoned as some of you in the world of spinnerbait making. That being said spinnerbaits are probably my favorite lure of all time. For me it all started with the safett pin spinner, an 1/8 oz jig head and a twister tail i found hanging at my grandpa and grandmas cabin in wisconsin. They day i tied it on, it was amazing, particularly for a 12 year old kid catching northern, crappie and bass. On top of that my grandpa told me his 2 biggest smallies came on a spinnerbait. It was rubber skirted with i beleive a single colorado. Unfortunately, i proceded to have a nice 5-6lb northern bite it off. when i was in 8th grade a family friend who had a cabin next to ours told me he made his own. That was when i got the itch to make my own. When i was 19/20 a 3/16 oz strike king with the fire tiger blade i discovered could be burned through a riffle repeatedly until a big smallie or northern would get ticked off and crush it. 20 years later i bought a poisontail mold and modified it to take the wire. I finally found a spinnerbait that i could make fish the way i wanted in current. What i have found is the rounder head with a lower center of gravity keels better when burning in current. spinnerbaits to me are a platform for a miriad of possibilities. Changing a variable changes the function of the lure. A 3/4 oz bait with a number 6 willow can be fished off bottom effectivly in 2 feet of water. Shorten the wire to a short arm bait and the vibration becomes akin to a blade bait. Lengthen it and it moves smoothly through the water. A 1/4 oz bait with duel #3.5 willows is a compact option that will run strait at highspeed in current. Uping the blade size allows you to sliw down with the same lift. as i said spinnerbaits offer a miriad of possibilities. They also trigger some extremely viscious strikes and play on predatory instinct. Thats why i love them.

I like that those are flat on the bottom, the ones the have the mirror top and bottom dont hold up great for me on a jig because they start to split open.

Rock river is in the upper 40’s. Ponds might be slightly warmer. I would say no, but this warmup could definitely get them movin.

Hair!!!!! Bucktail jigs, deceiver style flies on a 3 way rig, and ofcourse the venerable bear hair jig. Tubes are also a good bet.

Black bear. Taxidermist friend hooked me up with a piece 12”x6” or so

I have a big swath of it if you want to make a trade

Thank you. Makes sense about the thread.

I have deer belly hair in my barlows cart. The ones i made were body hair/ rump hair off bucktails. I have a brassy packer in my cart as well. I’ve been watching a ton of videos lately. I will check him out. I used UTC 140. Its what i’ve been using for everything for the last couple years. i havent done much flyfishing in general. I bought a 7:8 weight a couple years ago but never really put any time into it. i’ve tied about 25 bucktail flies to pull for walleye plus a couple spey flies and one galloups bang-tail. I’ll post pictures once i take some. I need to finish some hair jigs so i’m prepared for the spring bite. Got distracted by fly tying and about out of my jig patterns. A few pictures i do have.

Thank you. Definitely struggled getting that little mousy one packed. I think i lost as much as i put on. Just have to keep practicing. My natural hair was very short and it kept inverting on me and i broke the thread a couple times. Havent tried it out yet to see what the zonker does. my green frog i did test out and it floats and pushes water. The legs kick nicely. I didnt pack that one as tight as i could have so we will see how it holds up.

Boy oh boy, it’s starting on the Rock

Fastest tie i think i’ve ever done. Bear hair is rediculously easy and it produced the first smallie of the year.

Trying my hand at spinning deer hair. Its definitely a learning curve. Cant wait for the summer frog bite.

If you thread tie your skirts you can make it flair by tying with close tight wraps up against the head. You can do the same to the inside skirting by tying tight up against the collar on the jig shank.

I really like 3” and 4” largo shad. They have really good body roll and present a nice profile. Because of the body roll aspect they double nicely as swim jig trailers. (I have to say though, its hard to beat a 4” easy shiner, espesially when they are alittle more finicky.

Cool

Are you thinking suspending, slow-rising, floater?

Love that paint scheme

Modified poison tail head. I like .031 super-stainless.

I love my ml/xf st croix bassx but i sure wouldnt be using a 1/4 oz texas rig with it unless i was in a real pinch. For that presentation i would definitely start at medium action. As I said i love my bassx but ive never used anything higher end than that. For me and my budget that was a high end rod (i know that in reality it isnt). Im really not sure how much more i could gain going more expensive. I use it for 1/16 to 1/4 hair jigs and I love the feel and an occasional wacky rig or ned rig.

My experience with bait roll has to do with match blade size to the head, having the bait properly tuned and head style. I think wire length has an affect but havent experimented on that enough to be sure. I find a head with more of a keel style runs more try than a bullet style, especially in current. (Love the modified poison tail for this reason). I also think maybe swivel spin freedom has something to do with it as i theorize more blade rpms would result in more roll but this is also unfounded. an example of matching blade to weight is i run a 3/4 oz weight with #6 willow and i can burn it under the surface with zero roll and plenty of lift (also a ridiculous amount of vibration). A 1/4 oz with tandom 4’s is prone to roll burned but a 3.5’s wont. as for the willow/colorado. J experience more roll burned if i use too big of a colorado but i havent been fishing a tone of those in a long time since i started making my own.