Brad_Coovert

I used to have too much tackle for the boat. Now I have paired down quite a bit of it and take my entire selection with me. Thus, I am prepared for everything. Over the coures of the year, I will use each class of bait a few times. Brad

Kinami has a new 4" Swimming Senko. Same colors as the 5" Swimming Senko. Just an FYI for you swimming senko fans. Brad

Same plastic, same molds. Kinami has a few different colors that GYCB does not have. Brad

I have cut the tails off a used a GYCB Hula grub and fished them like an Ika. They are smaller than a Fat Ika, but a little bigger than a regular Ika. They caught some fish, but not like the Fat Ika does. Brad

None of the above. But, if I had to pick from that list, I'd take Powell. Brad

cart I agree that Shimano is missing the boat on the trade in sale and it will hurt them with some purchasers, primarily new buyers. The trade in I believe is only good at the store, which is a small amount of reels. A lot of people are not close to a BPS and they will have plenty of places to buy online, BPS or other, and they are not gonna spend a lot of gas money to save a few bucks on a reel. Of course, BPS can be hard to do business with as well, so I am sure it is not just a one sided problem. Brad

Shimano is VERY controlling of their product prices. They are the Loomis of the reel world. Their top shelf products must be ordered direct from Shimano and they cannot be bought from a wholesaler. Shimano must approve all "sales" that a store wants to run on topshelf. Obviously, they have a problem with the value of the trade-in coupon versus reel price. It does give BPS a HUGE advantage over any store when they run that special. Brad

For Carolina rigging and weightless rigging, Gammy EWG hooks. For Trigging in cover, a straight shank, round bend Gammy. Brad

They're a pretty cool bait. Lots of movement. I got some in from Roboworm last fall and they sold out pretty quick. I have to get more on my next order. The very color you posted is the best one IMO. Brad

RoLo, frogs are gonna leak. Every frog I have used will leak a little because they have a place on them that allows air to escape on the hookset to that the frog body will collapse easier. Just squeeze out the water and resume fishing. There are a lot of great frogs. The only frog I have fished that I did not like was a Boze Sumo. They were pretty stiff plastic. That was two years ago, so they may be better now. Brad

Booyah Buzzbaits w/clacker Accent Buzz B 2 Double Buzzer White and Black are the only two colors I use. BRad

NetBait Paca Baits. I use the craws and chunks. Great swimming action. Brad

Gabriel, I sent you a PM. I'll help you out getting RI baits. I sell baits all over the world, so shipping to Italy will be no problem. Brad

They are a good Carolina rig bait and are also good on a light Texas rig and swam around shallow cover. Brad

Looks like I'm gonna have to try these out. How easy are they to fish shallow at a slow pace? I know they are heavy and that usually means they have to be fished faster to be kept off the bottom. Brad

My best colors are the darker colors, green pumpkin, black, etc. I also like the chartreuse/chartreuse flake and baitfish colored ones. I fish these quickly like underwater spooks. With some practice you can get them to walk th dog nicely under water. I have done well doing this fishing the White River in Muncie for smallies during lunch or after work. I've had some viscious strikes. Brad

RW, In no way will I question your soft plastic fishing tactics as I know you are far better at it than I am. Just thought I'd pass on that tidbit from GYCB for discussion fodder. Another problem with fat baits like tubes and Fat Ikas is that sometimes, the bait will move the wrong way and the hookpoint will bury back into the bait instead of popping out of the bait. I noticed this happening when I buried the point back into the bait too deep when skinhooking the bait. Brad

Our club has a rule that no two boaters/non-boaters can fish together twice in the same year until each boater and non-boater has fished together at least once. This insures that all of our nons get top fish with all of our boaters and that they get exposed to a lot of different techniques. Brad

I assume that you will be pairing up boaters and non boaters at your club meetings before the tournaments. After the meeting is a good time to get with your partner to discuss riding to the tournament together, where you will meet, general expenses, if you can share his boat cooler or need to bring one and how much/what type of tackle you should bring. No sense bringing deep water stuff if you're gonna be fishing a shallow creek off a river all day and no reason to bring a cooler if the boat cooler will hold both angler's stuff, etc. At the ramp, offer to help with unstrapping, uncovering, etc. and make sure you will not have a problem backing down the boat. When in the boat, make sure you do your best to keep the boat free of clutter to avoid tripping, tangles, broken rods, etc. Be careful with scent bottles and treble hooks. Watch the back end of the boat if you are fishing around docks or standing timber to help avoid major scuffs. Be quick to point out of your snagged so your boater can get back to your snag quickly. Basically, treat the boat like it ws your brand new boat. At the end of the day, offer to clean up the boat and make sure you get all your trash out of the boat. Enjoy your time in your new club! If it is a good club, you will learn a lot. Brad

Here is a paragraph from an article on the Fat Ika..... "On the hookset, because it is so fat, you cannot bang-set on them with this bait," says Russ. A fast power set will only take the bait away from the bass, probably ripping up the Fat Ika in the process. When a fish has got the Fat Ika, it will usually turn and move away with it. If not, a little rod tip pressure - putting a little load on the rod tip - will get the bass moving off with its meal. A stiff rod is needed, but not a stiff tip. The soft tip develops tension pressure as the fish moves off and the line tightens, loading the tip, pushing the bait down from the barb, exposing the hook point which catches behind the lip bone or in the corner of the mouth before the bait pops out. Don't worry, the bass will have its lips pursed down and its mouth cavity depressed to prevent the bait from squirming out. When you sense that happening, you set using the power in the stiffness of the rest of the rod to drive the hook home. All this happens in a slow-motion instant. I think the above is a good way to describe it - hard to put into words - but easy to get the knack once you experience doing it.

I get mine from me. Wait a little longer and the new Tiny Paca Craw will be out in all the colors. Then you will have all three sizes to choose from. If you fish for smallies, the new Tiny size will be a good bait. Brad

Ditto. Do now know if this number is still good... Toll Free - 1-800-527-0918 Brad

They have a smaller Tiny Paca Craw coming out very soon. Should be killer on smallies and spots. Brad

Man, what a game! I've been waiting for this since the Colts came to Indy. Now it is here! Manning has his ring. Marvin has his ring. Tony has his second ring, 1 as player and 1 as coach. Man, I'm not gonna get to sleep til sometime early in the AM. Gonna be a tired day at work! Brad

Someone tell Rex, the brown thing is the football and you're supposed to grab it and do something with it.