Shadcranker

I don't think I'm letting him back in the boat with that rig. That rod deserves much better!

I bought a couple of packs in the medium bill version. I'm assuming the bill length dictates the amount of kick or vibration that the lure has? Is this correct? Thanks, SC

Ideally two or three, meaning, I'm on a solid pattern and bait. Usually, though, I'll have 4-5 on the deck and around 8 more rigged in the rod-lockers. The life of a weekend angler, you know. I'm usually looking for fish to a certain degree, b/c I haven't been out there in a week or so, so I typically move around a lot until I find groups of fish, and then I'll slow down with a jig, tube, or worm. For instance, I'm rigged for Saturday, and here's what's on: Spinnerbait Bandit 200 Shad Rap Carolina Rig Trick worm Finesse tube on jig head Tx Rigged tube Tx rigged craw Senko Hair jig Grub I'll start out fairly fast with the CB, Shad rap, and SB, covering water. If that doesn't materialize or the bite dies, I'm going to back off and slow down some with the trick worm, tube, Rig, hairjig and grub. If I can't find them on platics off of the bank, I'll head in and look for bedders with the craw, tube, and senko. Because of all of this moving and searching, I like having everything pre-rigged. I usually can't fish all day, and I hate wasting time retying if I don't have to. SC

CX is definitely more limp and handles better on spinning tackle. It's all I use on spinning reels.

I'd find $10 more bucks and definitely buy a Shimano Crucial CB rod. I own 2 of them and for the $$, they are awesome. 7' MH is my choice for deep divers. 7' M action is my trap rod.

IMHO, it's much more about the rod, line, and most importantly the tecnique of fishing the frog. Use a heavy action, long rod with braided line. Then, when you see a fish boil at the frog, WAIT, count to two or three, let the fish get the bait, and then set the hook hard. Most missed frog fish are not the reult of a bad hook or lure design, it's the fisherman taking it away from the fish. One trick I've used lately with good success is to not look directly at the frog while you're fishing it. Look slightly off to the side, keeping the bait in your sight. Then, when you see a boil, react slowly, let the bait diappear, and then set it hard.

Best round ball jig head I've found by far is the Davis LS (Long Shank) in bulk pack. You can buy them on-line (Coosa tackle in AL). They come in a bulk pack for around $10 for 25 jigs. Great quality lead pour and nickel coated Mustad Ultra Ponits. Great quality and value. SC

I trim the weedguard to just in line with the hook point. More important though is thinning it out some and spreading it out so it's even. I don't fish real heavy cover much, so I get it thin to where it will colapse fairly easily allowing for good hook penetration. As far as the skirt goes, I usually trim it up to in line with the bottom of the hook bend. Trimming the skirt up will give the skirt more of a flair to where it puffs out from the hook, making it look more alive. Also, I think it gives the bait a more compact profile and shows the trailer better. SC

Mine: Jigs: Finesse- Bitsy Flip 1/4 oz Flippin- Oldham's 3/8 oz Football- Jewell Lizards: Zoom 6" and 8" Worms: Floater- Zom Trick wm 7"- Culprit 10"- Zoom Ole Monster Wacky- Gambler Sweebo Shaky- Zoom Shaky worm and Netbait Tubes: Prowler Stubby and 4" Flippin Tubes Grubs: 5" Kalin Soft JB: Zoom Super Fluke in Pearl Toad: Stanley Ribbit and Bull Ribbit Jig Trailers: Zoom Super Chunk and SC Jr. Zoom Speed Craw on Footballs Buzzbait: Cavitron Spinnerbait: Booyah 3/8 and 1/2 oz. tandem blades in chrt / white Cranks: shallow to mid-depth- Shad Rap and bandit deep divers- Norman DD 14 and DD22 Rattlin- 1/2 oz Rattle Trap in chrome n blue Topwaters: LC Sammy 100 and XCalibur Spittin Image Rebel Pop-R Jerkbaits: Smithwick Suspending and Floating Rogue in 4 1/2 in models Rapala X Rap

my home lake usually turns on on TW around 64-70 degr. Best transition lure I've found b/w the JB and TW is a fluke or floating worm. they'll eat it once the water gest around the high 50's.

I have the 7'0 Medium action CB series rod and the MH one. I use the medium action rod for 1/4 oz to 3/8 oz CB's and Traps. It's primarily my trap rod. I use the MH model for larger crnaks like the DD14 and DD22. I don't think either one is ideal for shallow Spinnerbait or buzzbait fishing. The MH model would probably work well for slow rolling spinnerbaits deeper. So, to answer your question, if you have a limited budget for rods and can't really specialize, I would take it back, and get a good general purpose rod in the 6'6" MH range. it would be good for SB's, BB's. Traps are tough b/c the MH fast action rods will tend to load up too quickly, and you will lose some fish on those trebels. Good luck- SC

I fish DD22's all Summer on Ky and Barkley with a 7'0 rod and have no problem casting the bait a mile and keeping it on the ledge in the right depth. I use 10lb test P-line and KVD Line Conditioner, and and I can fling it farther than I need to. The line diameter has as much to do with the running depth as anything. Plus the tip action on the rod really makes a difference in casting distance. If you get a quality, light weight, graphite or composite rod with the right tip action and a parabolic bend, a 7' rod is plenty long IMHO. Most of the 7'5" and 8' Cranking rods I've seen are Fiberglass and heavier than what I'm comfortable fishing with for hours. I had a Berkley 7' Fiberglass CB rod, and it was so heavy that I couldn't fish it for more than an hour or so. Later- SC

I'd guess 5 lbs, +/- 1/2 a lb. The de-liars are the way to go. I can usually take off half a pound from my first guess, once the fish is weighed.

I have two and I like them both a lot: Shimano Crucial 7' MH Crankbait series (TC4 Blank)- $130 Powell 706 CB 7' Cranking rod- $170 I use both for the big plugs. Two different price points but both excellent quality. SC

We want details. We want details. Beautiful fish. Nice work. Tough day all in all. Caught on Percy Priest Saturday. The lake had risen 3 ft in 3 days due to the heavy rains last week. I was on the best pattern I'd been on on that lake in 15 years for the last two weeks. Had been catching pre-sapwn fish left and right in 4-8 ft on a shad rap. Mostly smaller fish with 6-10 keepers per trip. I had 7-8 key spots that were really dependable, and the fish vanished on tournamant day on all but two of them. Caught a 3 lb Lm on a Wiggle Wart in about 8 ft on a staging bank early, then we struggled for a couple of hours. Caught the smallie on the Wiggle Wart on a staging point in about 6 ft in one of my key areas, but that was it as far as keepers go. Did win big fish for the day, but finished second overall with almost 8 pounds. It was tough for everyone due to the water level change. if I had it to do over again, I would have fished the two spots I caught them on, and then moved way down lake to find the cleaner water. The guy that won our event was way down lake in clearer water. Good learning experience as always. First time ever to throw the WW. I think the shad rap was just too subtle in the off-colored water this trip. Later- SC

My take is they are discontinuing the D and just going ith the DSV for higher line capacity since most pepole are going with the 100 size. 200 is just too big and heavy IMHO for the price. I doubt they will totally scrap the line. The Curado is a great product, but the D in the 100 size doesn't hold enough line. SC

4 3/4 lbs

I resized the pic for him. Here it is.

pic attached.

I'd say personal preference mostly. It's a tough call with established companies with great reputations vs. innovative newer companies that might be hungrier and put a new spin on something. In the rod game, I personally like the split handle, no foregrip designs that are out there now. You can certainly see the influence of Kistler, Powell, Dobyns, and now e21 in the market, as Quantum, Shimano, Diawa, St. Croix and others are rushing new sleeker and lighter designs to the market. Kudos to these newer companies for making the entire industry more innovative. Competition is a wonderful thing. So to me, it comes back to personal preference. I personally like the newer type design features and at the $170 price point, the Powell is a perfect fit for me (not to mention an over the counter no questions aksed warranty at the shop where I bought them). Consider it all, see and feel the rods personally, and see what looks / feels best to you. But, also look at the reputation of the company and their warranty. In the $150-$200 price range, you have lost of good options, so it's hard to go wrong. IMHO, once you go below the Shimano Crucial at around $130, the quality options really go down quickly. I fish a lot, so I need a lot of rods and above average quality.

Here's my take on Rick. First of all, he is a bit strange with all of his philospohies of life and nature and how he ties them to bass fishing, but who can argue with his success. His greatest abilities in my opinion are honing the mental part of the game and doing his own thing (fishing "blind spots" and ignoring dock talk) finding the magic spots on a given body of water (i.e the "Clunn Hole"), and developing a pattern. He seems much more interested in reading water, spending time developing a pattern, and fishing than he does in worrying about all the variations of tackle and equipment. To me he is KVD with out all of the micro details of line, rod action, lure color, etc. Maybe that's why Kevin wil take his place as the best ever. I think he's just simplified a big part of the game to allow him more time to research the lakes and patterns to get in that "zone" he is looking for. SC

I use P-Line 15 lb CXX for 70 % of my baitcasting applications. Highly abrasive resistant and lasts a whole season, but it is a bit stiff. KVD Line conditioner works wonders on it. I use 10lb on my cranking reels and 50 lb braid for frog fishing and some heavy grass flippin / punching the mats.

If I'm flippin a tube in heavy grass or buck brush, I always use a tube rattle. i think it helps them find it.

It is not twice the price. I think it's $50-60 more than the Curado. It's a good price point IMHO, b/c you pay $60 for a reel that is super light. SC The Curado 100b was $119; the 50 Mg was not changed when the Curado 100d came out. Therefore, the 50Mg was twice the price of the comparable Curado. I see where you are coming from, but the old green Curados are gone anyway, unless you can find them on ebay. When comparing the current models, the Chronarch is a good value vs. the new Curado, if weight matters to you. Personally, it's not a big deal to me. I only own one MG and ten to twelve Curados. The MG is a luxury item for me but still a good value when compared to the other "light reels" in the market.

I'm sure they are awesome, but I don't frog fish enough to justify the expense. I wanted a rod that I could use fo heavy flippin and deep structure jiggin as well. I'm sure the Loomis stick can be used for those applications as well. If you want a great frog stick for less $$, I can strongly recommend the Crucial CRC-76H 7'6 H Action with a split handle. It's a round $140, very light, and super sensitive. It's technically their flippin stick, but makes a great rod for braid and frogs. They have one specifically recommended for frogs- CRC-X72H, which is a 7'2" extra heavy. If weight is an issue for you (see Pencil's comment above), the Crucial might make more sense, and also Diawa has a Frog rod in their LT series which is super light. SC