Shadcranker

I like the baby craw better than the large one. We use them on a shaky head or spot remover for spots and smallmouth. My favorites are mostly the greens and pumpkins for clearer water and the darker colors for stained. The craws have great action on the fall, but they fall over on their side on the bottom. I mostly use it to fish around objects or bridge pilings for more aggressive fish (ones that will hit it on the fall). It does not do as well in a true finesse slow crawling presentation.

Depends how much back bone the M action packs. Is stiff enough, it would be a good finessee jig and Tx rig rod. If not, it could be a great spinnerbait or rattle trap rod. If none of that works it could be a great ebay rod.

I had along time BPS employee tell me (at the store) to buy Shimano Curado over the Johnny Morris reel. He said they had gotten a lot of the BPS's back and never see the Curados come back. Of course, this was "off the record". I have one of the cheaper D Fritts crankin reels that was on sale for $49. So far, so good, but I consider it disposable if it goes bad.

Saeguar is my favorite. A good friend of mine, who fishes a lot of tournaments, and uses flouro about 1/2 of the time, uses it, and he has tried them all. he is not sponsored by anyone, so this is objective advice.

Go with the 683; I have it, and it's awesome for the $, or regardless of the money. Lifetime warranty, extremely light, and very sweet. Hey Risk, get to work pal.

Negotiate on the Nitro with a 200 to get close to the Pro Craft price. I have a 19ft boat with a 150, and you'll always wish you had the 200. Of course it depends on the weight of the boat and hull design. My 19 with 150 will get all the way on the pad with me in it and limited weight. When I fish with someone else, loaded with gas and tackle, it just misses getting all the way up. The boat is designed to run on the pad. If I was considering the 150, I'd test it with the dealer (2 people, loaded with gas). If you're financing, even if it's a bit more $, the payment will be very littel more.

Try www.boattrader.com a great online surce for bass boats, You can search geographically, by age, size, price range of boats, etc.

You're looking at her- 5 1/2 lb, caught on 4" prowler tube on TX Rig 1/4 oz.

My take on Loomis.... If I was going to pay the price to buy a higher end Loomis blank (an awesome blank BTW), I would definitely hire a custom rod maker. The production rods cannot have the quality control of a custom stick. The spines on the Loomis production rods are not always done right. Finally, if I'm going to shell out $300-400 on a rod, I'd like to be able to pick the handle design, thread color, hook hanger placement, etc. That said, I've found a near custom feel in a $170 rod that I love- Powell Rods. www.powellco.com Kistlers are very similar- cutting edge lightweight design, and a similar price point.

The new 7:1 Pfleuger Summit is nice. If you can get by with 6:1, the Shimano Citica is a good reel. Or, you could try to find one of the old green Curados on e-bay (some new in box ones still on there from time to time - @$125 for a new one on ebay). As far as rods go, I'd look at the Shimano Crucial series (gret stick for the money at around $129)- go with 6'6" MH or 6' 10" MH. Or you might consider the St. Croix Premier Series (around $100). If you want to step up the rod a bit, you can look at the St Croix Avid series ($160 ish), Kistler MG TS line ($179) or Powell Bass Max Rods ($169). If I was looking to step up the reel instead of the rod, I'd go to te new Curado by Shimano ($200, but worth it). For $250, you should be able to get something nice.

I prefer P Line CXX on my baitcasters; use it all the time except for when I throw a Senko (flouro) and a toad or frog (braid). On my spinning tackle, I've gone to McCoy Mean Green. It's very limp with low memory, and it will not kink or jump off the spool like many stiffer lines. For the budget minded, the BPS Excel mono in bulk spool is a very good line for the $ (best on BC reels).

Russ Lane- he knows this lake better than anyone there.

Powell Rods and Kistler are both great if you want a light weight rod with great design.

Get a degree, learn to sell, and become a takle rep for a wholesaler. Rep several lines, and use your tournament success to promote your products to other fishermen, and work those companies for sponsorships as you become more succesful. You will have lots of flexibility with your time, and you'll be in the industry.

I like: 1. Roboworm 6" finesse 2. Gambler needle worm 6" 3. Zoom finnesse worm 4. Netbait Any other good smaller companies or hand-pours you like?

Hands down, and not even close IMHO, it's the Cavitron 1/4 oz. They are disigned to plane out quickly, and they can be reeled extremely slowly. Also have holes in the blads to make a bubble trail. Only knock on them is they tend t ride over to one side, so you have to tinker with the adjustment a bit.

The Rig is my # 1 confidence bait from Spring through late Summer. it's a great way to cover water, feel what's on the bottom, but still offer a fairly finesse type of bait. A couple of tips: 1. Go with a lighter weight if you're hanging up in rocks. If I'm fishing chunk rock in 12 ft or less, I will use a 1/2 oz weight. The lighter weight seems not to hang up as badly. 2. Use an offset, wide gap hook. My missed fish went way down by using it. 3. Use a shorter leader than most use. I usually go with 12-18". This reduces the amount of line you have to move to set the hook. 4. To add sensitivity, use braid on the main line and a mono or flouro leader. The braid will transmit the feel of the sinker much better. 5. Use a lizard around the spawn, and then switch to a centipede or worm post spawn. A shad colored centipede is deadly when the fish move out to their summertime spots, especially if they're feeding on shad.

I've had good luck lately with: 1. Oldham's Screw Lock Jigs (great colors, Needle Point Hooks, and I like the screw lock feature for trailers. 2. Tournament Force Tackle (a web site tackle dealer). They use an Arkie style head, Ultra Point Hooks, and they have a trailer keeper built in. Wide range of colors too. 3. Also like the Lunker Lure Monster Grass Jig for grass and flippin. Good paint jobs, and a strong flippin hook. They're hard to find, but they seem to be higher quality than the regular Triple Rattle Back they make. Anyone have any other jigs they recommend (other than the big comapny production types at BPS, etc.)?

Don't worry about the hook H

Green pumpkin candy.

I'm new too.

Mainly posting to see if I can make the picture appear. Glad to be on.