papajoe222

Berkley Havoc baits

My favorite rod for flipping is an older AllStar that I've been using for ten years or so. I need one more project to get me through the winter, so I decided to strip the guides off and replace them with titanium nitride guides. I'll only be using the rod for flipping and the occasional short pitch. Could I do an acid wrap placing the guides in the same positions as the ones I removed, or am I better off going with the original configuration?

If I know that I'll be encountering all three, I'll tie on a Terminator Pro Series. It performs well, bot if I'm looking for optimal performance, I'll use one designed for the cover.

I stopped carrying all the soft plastics I once did, but still keep way too much on board. If I'm heading out on someone else's boat, I carry one of my Flambeau 1/2 Satchels. It'll hold twenty or so bags. I keep three bottles of Spike It dye in a pocket of my tackle bag and that eliminates carrying a bunch of different colors.

Is the IPT listed on the box?

I like using a RocketShad with an Indiana blade one size up from the stock blade. It's a great combination of spinnerbait and chatterbait.

I thought the season didn't open unti May up by you. Did the DNR finally come to their senses?

A word to the wise for all you young married bucks and to al the others that, like myself, have STML (Short Term Memory Loss); NOW IS THE TIME TO GET THE HONEY DOs DONE! I needed to yell because some of us that suffer from STML are also hard of hearing. Trust me. You do not want to wait until fishing season when your better half mentions that project you've been meaning to do, especially if it will take a day or two to complete. You don't want to waste a day, or possibly more of fishing time to complete something she feels is more important. Do you? Get them done now. Then when she comes up with some other mindless project, you can always remind her that she should have said something before the season was in full swing. You're Welcome Papa

I had mine done the second week of Feb. last year and was out there chucking and winding without any discomfort on tax day. I'd been on the water a couple of weeks prior, but cut the trip short (4hr.) because of discomfort. I'm 65 and had zero physical therapy after the surgery. Deep cranking was the only thing I couldn't tolerate, even six months later. I ended up changing the way I hold the rod to accommodate prolonged cranking

I'd give the Costa top honors, but any Rx lenses are made for your prescription and I don't think you can compare them to ones that are made specifically for dealing with the sun and reflected light. The WileyX would be my choice if looking at cost. Mine are four years old and get a lot of use on the water. Take care of them and they'll serve you just as well as Oakleys.

If you're fairly confident you can find the spot AND you really want to retrieve it, go for it. If the water is only 3ft. deep, you can use a garden rake to scour the bottom. I retrieved one of my favorite combos that way a week after I lost my grip on it while casting.

My 580Gs don't have the G on the lens, just 580. I'd send them back and contact the seller and inform him why you're returning them

I have a pair of Costas, Oakley, and Wiley X all polarized. The Oakleys are for driving and the Costas and Wiley Xs are for fishing. The Costa 580G are my favorites,mainly because I have color perception problems, but on a sunny day the Wiley Xs do a great job. They will scratch a lot easier than the glass lenses, but if you do a lot of high speed running from spot to spot, I'd trust my eyes to them.

I don't have a favorite brand of tubes. I match the thickness of the tube, along with how I rig it, to the conditions. I prefer an internal weight, be it jig or tube weight, mainly because they don't inhibit the tube's inherent action. That factor isn't important when dragging a tube or flipping, but I do both with internal weights. You can even rig a tube weedless on a jig head. A tube's action occurs on the fall, so that (vertical) is the type of presentation I suggest you start with. Like most any soft plastics, they can be rigged and used differently in many situations. I'm not suggesting you only use them for a vertical one, just start there. Use the lightest weight you feel comfortable with. More so than many soft plastics, you need to be a line watcher. Let it fall on slack line and count it down. Don't hesitate when setting the hook, the fish will swallow a tube quickly because it's compact and soft. One last thing, Glenn has a video on here about tubes. It's well worth your time to find and watch it.

share the secret, I gave up just after the site upgrade.

This happened back in the mid 90's on Table Rock. I'd found a small point with a lone stump about half way up a good size creek arm. I figured since it (the point) wasn't on a map that it didn't receive much pressure and that lone stump was a dream come true. I was using a new, low profile reel on my favorite worming rod and had spooled it with 10lb. Stren. I cast past the stump and worked the worm until it bumped the stump and then I just let it sit. The line barely moved, but I knew a fish had taken it. I did my normal hook set and thought I'd hooked the stump until my line took off. I knew it was a big girl and tried to wear her down. About ten feet from the boat, she came up and toward me opening her mouth that I swear I could fit my fist inside a boxing glove into. The only problem was my T-Rig was flying out of that monster mouth and straight at me. That fish just had just clamped her big mouth shut on my worm. There were bite marks on it, but the hook point never exited the worm. I bought into the Tru-Turn hook hype after that.

I can't offer any suggestions, but I have a very good idea what is at the root of the problem; the natural forage base of perch and sunfish has been over harvested due to the high creel limits. As a result, the pike are looking elsewhere. The fishing season, by you, opens late to afford the pike, Muskie, and walleye the opportunity to spawn. The sunfish, and the bass don't spawn until after the season opens and a majority of bass anglers practice catch and release. What you're experiencing is the result of decades of unchanging controls.

If I might inquire; How proficient are you at fishing jigs and T-rigs? A shakey head is, after all, a jig and a great way to learn and gain confidence in fishing jigs. If jigs are one of your strengths, learning to drop shot will add another type of presentation to your bag of tricks. For a beginner that really wants to learn, I'd suggest the jig. For someone that is more interested in just catching, I'd say drop shot.

I just built a rod specifically for 1/8 & 3/16oz. tube fishing. It's a 7ft. Med power, fast action. For river fishing, I'd recommend a rod that's a little shorter, but the same power and tip. Check out walleye rods at your local shop, there are quite a few built on those specs at moderate prices. Look for something with a rating that has 1/8oz. at the low end. Between the tube and the jig head, you don't want a rod that maxes out at 1/4oz. plus there will be times when you'll need to go heavier because of a stronger current.

When you say 'blade bait' are you referring to a bladed jig or the lure?

I don't see why your buddy considers regular drop shot hooks weak, after all it is for the most part a finesse presentation. If line twist proves to be a problem for you, a spin shot hook is a great way to go.

I'm an avid user of mono, so it's so called stretch is of no concern to me. It sounds to me as though this line is going to give me an alternative to braid for my single hook applications and it will also give me another option with many of the treble hooked ones as well luckily, on many of my reels the spools are interchangeable and I can keep one spooled with it. Thanks for all the replies.

I was thinking that there shouldn't be a lot of stretch to it and that would make it a decent choice for single hook applications. Would using it to get cranks to run shallower affect their action too much?

I've never used mono heavier than 12lb. In a Christmas grab bag I got a spool of 20lb. GrandSlam Mono. Other than use as a leader for C-rigs, I have no idea what to use it for. I was thinking topwater, but I'm sure it would limit the lure's action. Suggestions?

Check out bulk treble hooks on eBay, or Amazon, unless your local WalMart carries bulk packages.