papajoe222

I think you're talking about split rings here. Again, get some different sizes. One way you can add weight to a crank or jerkbait is to add an extra one to he hook hanger, or the split ring that the hook is attached to.

Expect them soon. I got mine today.

Not really fishing them as a jerkbait, but I was Carolina rigging them in the early 70's for walleye. I've been doing that for bass for decades and I'll let the cat out of the bag; you can do it with cranks, too. Bass rarely, if ever, see a small crank in 15ft.+

Sushi Heck I'm shot down already if I get to TN this year. I have a better shot there than the bogus IL record LM

You can 'walk' a bait to run left or right with a combination of short and long pauses, but need to run straight. I will 'tune' a crank to run left or right when targeting docks, or a line of standing timber, so it will run under the dock before hitting a support and then back under.

I will normally start out small and slow. As I target deeper structure now, a blade bait is hard to beat, smaller/compact jigs with a subtle trailer like a Zoom Super Chunk Jr. I like to hit shallow bodies of water now as they warm faster, so for those I'll give a Mepps spinner and a smaller jerkbait serious consideration. If you're more of a soft plastics guy, a 4in. stick worm Texas rigged and worked like a jerkbait (you can go with a Fluke) or a tube bait on a light jighead can be worked anywhere in the water column.

Profile, for me, is much more important than color. If short and fat isn't working, I'll switch to long and thin before experimenting with color. When I do focus on color is when I start getting light hits or barely hooking on the rear treble. I'll vary my retrieve speed first, but changing color then has proven more effective.

Whenever I needed a kicker bass in a tourney, more often than not, I threw a buzzbait. Like jigs, they are big fish catchers and I'd want to cover water.

One of my favorite modifications. If it's a salted bait, I will scuff it to bring the salt to the surface, but I fish a lot of baits without salt as I prefer plastics that float.

I have three identical reels and two more that share the same platform. No matter what I do with, what I call the problem, one I can't get a smooth flow of line out of the drag. It will jerk as it first gives some line and then skip from a steady flow to a stop and go kind of feed. I've checked the drag stack, greased the washers,polished the surfaces, etc., but it still does it. Any idea what may be causing it?

Try it when you're 75. It takes me a week to recover from half a day outing. Speaking of muskie baits.........I've caught my share of LM on muskie baits. I've even used them strictly for bass fishing on more than one occasion.

The best season for me is 'open water' season. I've never had a bass come up through the ice for one.

I did that a few years back, just the hard baits. When I hit 24 spinnerbaits, I stopped counting, Spooks after 12, topwater, counting frogs, after 30. I have four categories of cranks and every one is in the three dozen or more. I don't fish chatterbaits, but I have around a dozen. If I were to keep counting I'd begin to think I have an obsession. That's an argument for the bait monkey and he makes so much sense, that arguing is fruitless anyway.

I have two that I rely on when they're making beds to when they're on them. The first is a small topwater. I like the Crazy Shad because those blades spin with the slightest twitch and if you let one sit above a bed long enough one of those blades is going to turn enough to elicit a strike. Prior to actually bedding, you can work it like a jerkbait. The other is a tube bait because of it's compact size, if a fish goes to move it off a bed, chances are good that it has the hook in its mouth. On a light jighead, I can work it traditionally, or like a Fluke.

I'm always on the look-out for another TD Sol or older Fuego. I picked up an older Alphas last September, but I don't know if it's more than 10yrs. old. Some of my baitcasters are more than 25yrs. old.

Both can produce based on the fish's activity level. However,the jerkbait will produce when the fish are neutral, while the flatside may or may not. That's what I'd start out with. For spots, I'd go with a smaller jerkbait or crank. Sadly, most flat sided cranks are around the same size, 2.25-2.5in.

I base rigging and more importantly the soft plastic lure itself on what I want that lure to do. If I want it on the bottom, moving slowly without much action, a pegged Texas rigged straight tail worm would fit the bill. Swimming something most likely would have built in action like a Rage Tail and I could rig it a number of ways. An action tail worm, can be rigged Texas with either a pegged weight for targeting brush or rock, or unpegged for yo yoing it. What I'm saying is; ask yourself where and how you want to fish a soft plastic bait and then choose a bait and rigging that will fit that situation the best. You don't need to know a dozen different rigs to accomplish that.

I'm not a fan of using a swivel snap on any lure that doesn't have the potential of causing line twist, like an in-line spinner, or spoon. I use snaps for ease of changing baits, but in the summer, I'd much rather tie directly to the line tie, or split ring. I fish a lot of deadfalls and chunk rock and retying frequently is a must. I get lazy when using a clip or snap.

I used this type of spinnerbait for the last few years on my big bass lake and it never failed to produce (when I used it). On my last trip there, a bowfin ended up with it and left me without it. I need to replace it, but I don't remember who made it. I know Booyah makes one, but I know it wasn't one of theirs. Anyone know of another company that offers them. I know I could make my own from a twin blade spinnerbait, but I really liked that one and would like the same. I thought it was a Hart, but can't find it on their site.

My deep cranking rod is 7'3" MH/MF paired with a Daiwa Fuego with 5.9:1 gears. I added a110mm handle and although I don't do much deep cranking anymore, I use it for 6-8in. paddle tail swimbaits. Unless you plan on doing a lot of summertime deep cranking, you can stick with baits like a DD22 and a good cranking stick will suffice.

A-Jay Is that Jeff in the bottom pic with you?

The week-end of April 12-13, 2016. Muskegon MIchigan. Temp. at launch time was 29 wind was steady at 23mph and it started snowing just after we put in. To say we froze is an understatement, even with the snowmobile suits we had on. First day, my son-in-law and I boated five walleye over 30in. The second day temps. were identical, but the wind died down to 15-18mph. The only thing we caught was a cold. We've been back a few times since. Every other time the weather was about normal for April, but only once did we get anything over 30in.

Now that I'm healthy, I'll be spending more time on the water than the last couple of years. I'm looking to get my first 7lb. largemouth and 5lb. smallmouth since 2004. It'd be a big plus if the grandson can top his PB, too.

Deep Little N Wiggle Wart (I know it won't get down to 12ft., but I'd start shallow and work down) Ratl Trap Rage Tail Craw on a belly weighted hook Any other two lures you're not afraid to loose : )

About eight years ago I purchased a cheap, BPS popper. After switching out the hooks and adding an oval split ring, it sat in one of my topwater boxes. On a rare night outing with my son-in-law, I tied it on his rod. That night, it was the only hard bait that produced and man, did it produce. So much so that it's the only topwater he'll throw. 'The Pop Special' he calls it. Go figure.