Shadcranker

< 50 degrees - Goretex thinsulate hiking boots with smartwool socks > 50 up to 70 - tennis shoes 70> Columbia sandals I also have a pair of North Face lightweight boat shoes that I like.

Zoom Ole Monster in Plum or Red Bug color here. Also like Junebug in really stained water. SC

#5 and #7 shad rap and Norman Deep baby N- spinning tackle all other CB fishing- BC gear. far more power ad control with BC equipment, plus you can throw 10 lb line on BC gear, make a super long cast, and get it down where you need to.

You can cover water with a heavy one (3/4 to 1 oz). Like most baits, there is no one best way to fish it. I use two basic retrieves when fishing it on deep structure: 1. Slow slight lift and drop like a standard jig or worm. 2. Crawl it slowly down the ledge by simply dragging it and keeping it in constant contact with the bottom (just reel up the slack). I've seen times when if you hop it off the bottom you can trigger fish. Experiment, and let the fish tell you how they want it. If you're looking for a good football jig, I can recommend three brands: 1. Jewel 2. Omega 3. PJ's

My tackle is always organized. It is therapy for me in the evenings. Some folks enjoy a cocktail or a fine cigar after work. Me, I like triming jigs, and sorting soft palstics into zip lock bags by type. I have a "man cave" in my basement complete with TV, refrigerator, fishing tackle room, collection of 15 years of fishing mags, and all my tackle catalogs. I can always find something to tinker with down there. It is a sickness, but hey, it beats most other obsessions I know of.

I'm 6'1" tall, and I have found that a 6'6" to 6"8' Med moderate action rod does the trick for JB's. I own a Powell 6'8" CB series rod that is perfect for jerkin. I do not like a 7' rod for this tecnique, b/c I end up hitting the water or the boat gunnel rails too much.

I'll defer to the stae fisheries biologists and wildlife resource regulators on the subject. They set size limits and creel limits for a reason, and I do not have a problem with people harvesting legally, as long as they have a license, and eat what they take. I personally choose to practice catch and release, b/c I don't want to hassle with cleaning them, and if I do want meat, I'll go catch crappie or walleye / sauger. From what I read, selective harvest of spotted bass and smaller LM / Sm is a good thing in many fisheries. SC

Buzzbait only here. I think 7:1 reels are overkill for most applications. I own around 18 Bc reels, with three being slower ratios for cranking. The rest are mostly 6:1 reels which is a good general purpose ratio for me. If I had six reels, I would not add a Burner yet. I can really do fine without mine, but I have it. I seldom use it.

Yep- if you want to unload any of those crappy old Curados, let me know. I might just take a few off your hands.

Welcome to the world of quality, precision engineering, and reliability. Don't ever look back my friend.

I have two of the Crucial CB rods. They are a different blank matrial than the other Crucials (TC4 blank which is parbolic action). I have the 7' M and 7'MH. I use the M action for 200, 300 Bandits and Rattletraps. the MH is reserved for Series 5, Norman DD14 and DD22's. For the Money they are a great rod. SC

Bandit, Norman, and Luhr Jensen

Check out Gambler Baits' web site every now and then. Their closeout bin is great. They will have overruns of certain colors for $.99 (regular $4 or so. I've gotten some really good stuff there. www.gambler-lures.com

I'm ready. Riskkid and I were supposed to head down last weekend, but I ended up with the darn flu. We may try to head down this coming weekend to do a bit of scouting. For what it's worth, here's my tackle list for the big trip later in the month: - Strike King Series 3 and Series 5 CB's in shad and Chart patterns - XCalibur XR 50 and XR 75 Rattlebaits in Red and shad patterns - 3/8 oz Gambler Swimblade in white (Chatterbait type) - 5" and 6" Senkos in Watermelon and green colors - 6" and 8" Zoom Lizards (greens) - 4" Flippin Tubes (greens) - Yum Doozie tubes - 8" Zoom Big Dead Ringer in Watermelon (for swimming) - 3/8 oz white and chart spinnerbait - 3/8 oz jig in Green Pumpkin / Blue combo - Swimbaits in shad patterns (King shad and Basstrix) - Pointer 100 Jerkbait in shad patterns - #7 Shad Rap in shad pattern - Stanley Ribbit (if water gets in 60's) Primary baits in bold

Awesome bait. Much easier to walk the dog with this than the original Spook or the Sammy IMHO. Size of the bait and finish really does a god job imitating threadfin shad around my area. A++ bait.

Two price points I like (own two of each): Shimano Crucial Crankbait blank (7' Med action or MH)- The blank has TX4 or something like that on it. Just make sure the label on the rod says crankbait. $139. Powell 703, 04, or 05 CB (blue wrap)- around $170. Both of these series are graphite, with parabolic action (rod bends fairly evenly down the blank to absorb the pressure of the fish). I am not a big fan of glass rods due to the extra weight, although I understand the Lamiglas Skeet Reese crankin rod is fairly light weight. Make sure and pair it with a slower gear ratio reel (5:0 to 1 or 4:7 to 1). High speed reels will work the bait too fast for most crnaking applications.

Tx Rigged on a 3/0 EWG red Gammy. I always add a nail style weight to the fluke to keep the bait down a bit. Without the nail, it seems to dart out of the water head first too much.

Trailer hook for sure. Set the hook hard.

Flippin: Oldhams, Peppers, or Tournament Force Footballs: Jewell Mike Mclelland models Finesse jigs:Eakins jig or War Eagle heavy finesse jig

For mono, McCoy mean green is the best spinning line I've found.

I own the terminal box and love it. You can organize all your weights, hooks, swivels, etc., where they are easy to identify. I don't own any of the other Falcon boxes b/c they are too small for me.

All year, but there are times in the Summer that a worm does better on deep structure (ledge fishing). Some days they will rip the jig out of your hand, and other times a big 10" Ole Monster seems to catch more fish. I think the big worm deep has a more subtle action that appeals to some fish. Other situation I favor plastics is punching mats in grass. A TX rigged tube, craw or compact worm tends to get though it easier.

Definitely the big flutter spoon on our TVA Lakes and to learn swimbaits. My goal this year is to target big fish all year. I tend to sucked into the numbers game, catching 20-30 fish per day. I need to learn to leave those fish and try to catch 5-10 good ones each time out. Plan to do it is to get off-shore more, slow down, and fish big fish baits more.

Flippin Jig: Zoom Super Chunk Swim Jig: Zoom Fat Albert single tail grub 3/4 oz football jig: Zoom Speed Craw or Gamble Ugly Otter (small) Bitsy Bug: Zoom Super Chunk, Jr. Heavy Finesse jig (7/16 oz Eakins): Zoom Lil Critter Craw

Strike King has combined the hotest lure class of '07-'08, the Basstrix type swimbait with "sexy shad", the hottest lure color scheme ever marketed (thank you KVD). Check it out. http://www.***.com/descpageSWIMSTRIKE-SKSAL.html# Brilliant marketing. I've also noticed that SK has come out with a "Sexy Spoon", which is a big 4" and 5" flutter spoon, to capitalize on Kelly Jordan's whack-fest on KY Lake in UMF '07. I wish I owned part of Strike King. Guess I'll have to have some. Anybody else going to take the bait?