Shadcranker

Flick Shake is mucho $$$$$. I bougth two bags of 5.8" (7 ct per bag). They were $4.90 per bag. If they're not durable, I will definitely not be buying again. That said the GYBC Senkos are the least durable lure I've ever seen. I'd say either way you're looking at spending some cash.

Hate to add to the list, but I had a bomb dropped in my general direction at work today, and I cannot take off that week after all. I think my pal, Riskkid is coming on down without me. :'( :'( Hate to miss it. I may come down one day if possible. You guys whack em good now. Don't get discouraged if it gets slow during stretches. Keep covering water, and when you find em, sloooooow down. They group up in that grass. You guys will love the lake. For those of you that want to make a short field trip one day, or go there by boat (dock right accross from store), Waterfont Grocery is a must hit local bait store with food and nice folks running it. Most of the guides hang out there. The bait monkey lives there, but he's a friendly little primate. SC

Two issues: Pro-Ams and Clubs or draw tourneys. I've fished club and draw tourneys as a boater and non-boater, and I've seen bad from both perspectives. As a boater, I've had non-boaters bring another boater in and fished water we fish the day before together (with $ on the line)- not good ethics. As a non-boater, I've been scolded for casting too far forward, when i wasn't, and I've had my boater get mad when I've caught "his fish" out of the back of the boat. I fished the BASS Weekend Series national last year as a non-boater, and the guy's pattern was paralelling rip-rap banks in 3ft of water, and casting directly in front of the trolling motor all day, leaving me 0 water to fish all day (I actually sat and read the newspaper for a while). I'm in the Elite Series KY Lake event at KY Lake this June, so I'm anxious to see how I'm treated by the pros I draw. I've heard some horror stories about pros, but most of the guys I know that have done it said the pros were really nice, but certainly down to business. My philosophy is going to be to stay out of the way and have some conversation, but not talk to him all day. He's doing his job, and I need to respect that, but if the guy is a jerk right off, he hasn't earned my respect. I'm going there to do well, but the main reson I'm there is to learn and have a lot of fun. As far as clubs go, you really need to understand the philosophy of the club you're joining. Our club is funa and learning based. We don't fish for money, just bragging rights, and we try to help our non-boaters learn, b/c most of them are wanting to buy a boat and fish more. I've developed good friendships with several of our co-anglers, and a few of them go with me fun fishing a lot. if the club is super competitive, you need to know that going in. Bottom line is ethics and sportsmanship. Boaters need to allow their non-boaters an opportunity to fish and not get in their way, and co-anglers need to respect the boaters' time on the water finding fish and enjoy the opportunity to be on the water and learning. It's really as simple as the golden rule. Unfortunatley, with fishing, esecially when money is on the line, sometimes greed and control come through. I've learned to take the bad with the good and to keep fishing in perspective. It's a hobby, boardering on a passion, but many folks take it way too seriously. SC

It's been tough with all the fronts coming through. Water is just now warming up, so we shoud have big waves of fish moving shallow. I am going this weekend. Will report back.

I have three Powell CB series rods in graphite. My favorite is the 706 CB model for deep cranking. If you like split handle designs, you would really like it. Around $170. I have a Loomis cranking stick, and I like it also. I just favor the Powell design.

It's my go-to trailer on 1/2 and 3/4 oz football jigs fished deep on structure.

Powell has a great Flippin series for around $199. Super light ans sensitive.

I also prefer a MH fast action stick in 6'8" to 7'. I feel like I need the MH action to drive the hook home well, especially when slow rolling fairly deep. If pitching a SB under and around shoreline cover, I like a 6' rod better, b/c I can duck under limbs and stuff up river and keep from banging the rod tip around in the wood.

Two baits I've had a lot of success on on the SH: - Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver - Netbait baby paca craw Both are deadly on spots and smallies

Symetre best value for the money by a long shot. I have some Stradics, but the Symetre is my go-to spinning reel now, b/c it is just as good IMHO. I will go one step further and say that it the best value in fishing tackle when you consider the quality and how little it costs.

I use peg board and put the outside of the guide on the peg hook, holding the rods vertically. Put the hook b/w the line and the blank to keep it from slipping. I read somewhere once not to hang them horizontally, b/c it could damage the blank. I have some 24 rods, and they fit nicely on one wall side by side.

Went to Big G today-TOUGH! Only caugh one fish in 6 hrs- solid 3 lb fish on a deep CB in 8 ft on a grass edge. Had two other bites. One tap on a tube and another swipe at the CB. Water was 46 when we launched and 51 when we left. Calm blue bird skies and extremely high pressure. We had 5" of snow in our area Friday night and Sat, so I'm sure the front hurt em, but it was brutal for me today. Good news- weather calling for lows in 40's- low 50's and high around 70 much of the week. The water should be up to 60 by next weekend, and if it holds we should have big waves of fish moving up for our trip. I doubt many fish are going to spawn on the March full moon around the 21st. Maybe some will be on bed upriver. I think we'll be on a pre-spawn pattern for sure, with lots of fish up shallow looking. Found lots of good green grass and fish all over the graph. Fish just had lock-jaw today. Still a nice day to be out on the water. SC

Powell 703 C with Chronarch 50 MG. Feather light stick.

I like keeping them in the original bags and sorting them by type into freezer bags, and keeping all the zip-locks in a gym bag or boat bag. If the plastics have heavy salt content, they tend to warp the plastic dividers in the 3700's over time.

Power Pro here. Love the stuff. Actually I hate braid, but when I'm frog fishing it's mandatory, and Power pro is by far the best I've found.

Thanks. Is it a pain keeping up with all the loose sleeves when you have a bunch of rods out, junk fishing?

They improved on them greatly. They redisigned and re-branded their BC product line. The Citica was upgraded a bit, and put in the price point of the old green Curado. The new Curado is nice, but I wouldn't say greatly improved. I think Shimano was smart to change their price points and capitalize on the success of the Curado name. The old green Curado is probably the best quality reel ever for the money, and with so many Curado fans out there (myself included) it was easy for Shimano to move us up to the $200 price range. It was primarily a branding and marketing plan, and I'd say it's worked well, especially with the rebate deals.

As heavy a mono as you want. Line size really doesn't matter with TW's. I use 15 lb P Line CXX, but if you're fishing around heavy cover, you could go much heavier.

Look very similar to the Huddleston Shad

In my opinion, you can't get much for under about $100. the Citica with the rebate is a great deal. I have two of them, and they are terrific. I favor the 100 size. the only lower priced BC reels I've ever owned that I really liked are my old round garcia 4600 C's. they cast a mile, and hold up well over time. They don't have all the ball bearings, anti-revers, etc. you get on the new stuff, but they are a classic and high quality.

http://www.deloscustomtackleshack.com/accessories/storzit.html I've seen these and also the Stik jacket kind. i think I like the Storz it ones better. Just curious if these eliminate the need for rod locker organizers (tubes)? Think the bait monkey is pushing in this direction.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_59192_100011010_100000000_100011000_100-11-10 I use this BPS carry bag. It fits easily in my boat dry storeage compartment, and with the handle it is easy to take in and out. SC

I've written several posts to the same effect as I will discuss below, and most of the time the bait monkey's followers take issue with my opinion, but here it goes: I try to keep color selection fairly simple. Most color variations are put out to market and sell more baits (i.e the sexy shad craze). How much of a sales increase do you think Strike King has seen in it's hard bait line with the success KVD had winning 2 Elites last year on the Sexy Shad color? If I go out to buy a new soft plastic, I only buy two colors- one dark and one light or translucent. My basic go-to colors are watermelon Pepper for light, and Junebug for dark. Sometimes, I'll substitute balack n blue in dark or watermelon candy for light. But regardless, I usually just buy two bags. The only excepetion to this rule in soft plastics is when trying to imitate a shad. For example, 90% of my fluke fishing is with Pearl White, b/c I'm fishing it as a shad imitation. Swimbaits, trick worms, and sometimes Senkos fall into theis category if it's a shad related bite. We have shad around here, both Threadfin and gizzard shad, and they are the main foreage base. For hardbaits, I take a very similar approach. I but three basic patterns for crankbaits- shad, chartreuse / blue, and craw colors. I only buy the craw colors in 2-8 ft models. If I'm deep cranking, I either use shad or Chart / blue. For rattle baits, it's chrome n blue or red 90% of the time. For Topwaters, it's 70% shad and a few gold or chartreuse patterns. For jigs, I use three basic colors- green / brown combo, green pumpkin / blue combo, and black n blue. Trailers to match. By keeping it simple, I can cover 99% of fishing situations without having to have 15 colors in all 50 variations, sizes, shapes of baits I use. I also carry a good selection of dipping dye in the boat in case I need to add a touch of chart, orange, or red. Just my two cents worth, but it makes buying baits, tackle storeage, and on the water decisions much more simple. Fight the bait monkey! You willnever win the war, but you can prevail in an occasional battle. SC

Yep- they are the class of the on-line tackle world. Best selection, service, and deals on the web. No disrespect intended for any UBFR advertisers here, but TW has it figured out. The free shipping and no sales tax is just a bonus IMO.

I have the Crucial DS rod, and IMO it is way too soft for worm or tube fishing. It would be very diffcult to drive a hook home with that stick. With a small exposed drop shot hook, the fish tend to hook themselves, but with a shaky head / tx rig, or tube jig, you really need to be able to set the hook fairly hard. I use it for two things- drop shotting and fishing a #5 shad rap. The extra length helps in casting the shad rap, and the soft acton helps in keeping the fish hooked up on the shad rap.