Shadcranker

As with almost all "what's the best" questions posted in this section, it comes down to personal preference. At a $200 and under price point, you have a lot of high quality options. Shimano, Diawa, Abu, and Pflueger all have a nice product line. My personal choice would be the Curado with the rebate. I have around 15 Curados, some old green ones and some newer models. The Curado has stood the test of time from a quality and durability standpoint, and I am very comfortable with them. If you go Shimano, I would strongly consider the 100 size. They are lighter and fit my hand a lot better than the 200 size. Line capcity is fine for me on the 100's. Go pick up a few, and see what feels better to you.

Smallie Beaver makes a great shaky head bait for smallmouth and spots. I use the larger on as a fippin bait when pitchin to buck brush and isolated wood, laydowns, etc. SC

Hey thanks. I may order some more. SC

Tackle warehouse has a great selection of baits under "Drop Shot". My favorite was a bait that was marketed by Culprit a few years ago that is a 3 " shad shape bait called a Zeal worm. Closest things I can find are the Roboworm Alive Shad one and the Skinny Bear one. The GYBC shad shaped worm is somewhat similar. In clear water I like a green with no flake, or is it's a heavy shad feed, a natural shad color. If you're in Ohio and fishing the Great lakes, the goby imitations seem to be the deal.

I personally use Mono for 90% of my fishing b/c I'm comfortable with it. I like the added stretch of mono when fishing trebel hook lures like cranks, b/c you're less likely to rip the bait away from the fish. I use 15 lb P-Line CXX for most BC applications and 8lb P-Line CX or McCoy Mean Green for all my spinning applications. I will use 50lb Power Pro Braid when fishing a hollow frog or Ribbit. I will also use braid if Flipping stained water with real thick cover or flippin matted grass. The braid cuts through the grass and has virtualy no stretch, so you can turn her head and horse the fish out of the thick stuff. I also like braid on my main line for deep Carolina Rigging b/c of the feel. According to "the book" you should use flourocarbon when fishing Senko type baits, b/c the line sinks. It is also recommended for most deep water "feel" presentations like dragging a big football jig or finesse fishing deep. I have tried it, and I just don't like the way Flouro handles. I do use it for leader material in clear water occasionally.

The fact that you were fishing in a pond probably has a lot to do with it. The DS really shines in deep, clear water when fish are relating loosely to cover (suspended over stumps and rockpiles). I usually only drop shot in at least 15ft and usually in 20-40 ft. The baits are genrally smaller and more natural, and typically you are seeing the fish off the bottom using your electronics. The DS is a great tool for "sight fishing" deep if that makes sense. Find them on the graph, and drop (thus the name) the bait right down to them. For most shallow or stained water applications, traditional power fishing tactics, like TX rigging will work better.

I thought the coverage was marginally better than 07. I can't stand listening to Dean Rojas yammer on. I liked the other pros. Rojas just seems like a complete ego-maniac. I have it out for him, b/c a friend of mine fished with him as a co-angler, and he said Rojas was a real jerk (sit down, shut up, and don't talk to me). The other thing that was painful to watch was Casey Ashley's recording session. I live in Nashville, and there are 2,000 folks here, working at mini-marts that can sing that well, and most of them can write songs too. His singing was decent, but the song was so corny that I was embarrased for him. It was uncomfortable to watch. "Back the boat in at the ramp, hope I don't fish like a tramp. Cold front blew through last night, hope the bass are ready to fight. Flippin stick or finesse pole, think it's all about to roll, blah, blah, blah". That was brutal!:-[ Part of the problem with the coverage was that the leaders were not catching tons of fish other than the first day. I think A Jones had five all day Sunday. Hartley only caught 2. Hard to show someone just casting and not catching.

is the long or short lipped version better? I assume the long one puts out more vibration? Thanks, SC

Smithwick Suspending Rogue in 4 1/2 in in gold or shad. I've caught more on it than any of the expensive brands.

DD22 in Lavendar Shad. If they're chewing it on Barkley in the Summer, it's always a blast.

Let us know what all you buy. SC

Pearl 70% of the time. Will use Ark Shiner occasionally and bait Fish or White Ice in real clear water.

I use 15 lb CXX on all my BC reels, and it's plenty tough for most any application. If I'm fishing really thick stuff, I'll use braid anyway. For spinning tackle I use the CX or McCoy Mean Green.

if the jig has a trailer keeper, I usually feed the trailer up the hook, which gives the bait a more ompact profile. To accentuate the trailer, just trim the skirt up to it's in line with the hook bend.

Fluke in Baitfish color or another clear pattern would be my first choice if the primary foreage is shad. If it's a rocky lake with lots of crawfish and smallies, I would throw a 1/8 to 1/4 oz hair jig in green or brown with a small trailer. Also, a finesse worm on a shaky head is always a good choice, as is the drop shot. Suspending jerkbaits, small buzzbaits, and all other topwaters are good in real clear water too. In the mid to late Spring periods, a floating worm and Senko work really well.

I'd go used higher quality reel if you can find one. Look on EBay, find a good seller, and buy a higher end reel.

I own both styles, and I favor the split handle design. I like the looks, and I think that the reduced amount of grip material does reduce the weight and add slightly to sensitivity. Main reason though is I like the looks and the way the rod feels in my hands. My personal choice is the Powell Max series. I own around 6 of them, and for the $, they are the best deal out there, IMHO. It is, like much of the discussion in this section of the board, a personal choice. Handle each, and decide for yourself. SC

Suspending jerkbait, shad rap, jig, finesse tube, and 300 Bandit CB in Craw color. If all else fails throw a shaky head wom on 3/16 oz head deep.

Well, you asked for two or three each, but I'll just give you the whole arsenal. Really depends on where you fish, water clarity, cover, etc. Base what you buy on the prevailing conditions around you. If you're flippin shallow dirty water all the time you'll need tons of jigs, creatures, spinnerbaits, etc. If deep, clear water with sparse cover, then more finesse baits like drop shot stuff, shaky heads, finesse jigs, etc. That said, here are my go-to baits by type: Plastics (1/2 translucent colors like watermelon seed and 1/2 dark like junebug): 6" and 8" Zoom Lizards 4" Flippin Tubes (Prowler) 3" finesse tubes (Prowler) Finesse worms for shaky head- Zoom or Roboworm 3" drop shot bait- GYBC shad shape worm 5" Kalin Grubs Creature baits- Zoom Super Hog and GYBC Kreatures Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver and Smallie beaver Zoom Super Fluke in Pearl white GYBC 5" Senko " Swim Senko 6" Zoom Trick Worm Gambler Swebo Worm (wacky worm) 7" Culprit Worm 10" Zoom Ole Monster worm Zoom Super Chunk and Super Chunk, Jr jig trailers (black n blue and green pumpkin) 4" and 5" Basstrix type swimbait in shad color Zoom Speed Craw for Football jig trailer Zoom Little Critter Craw for finesse jig trailer Stanley Ribbit and Bull Ribbit in white and Caterpilla colors Gambler Flappin Shad 6" in white and green Zoom Speed Worm in green and also in red Cranks: Shad Rap in #5 and #7 deep diver in craw and shad patterns 200 and 300 Bandits in Craw and shad patterns Strike King Series 5 CB in Shad and Chartreuse patterns Norman DD 14 and DD 22 in shad and chart patterns X Calibur XR 50 Rattlebait in shad and red patterns 1/2 oz Rattle Trap in Chrome n blue Spinnerbaits: Not a go-to bait for me, but have an assortment b/w 1/4 oz and 1 oz in various blade combos and I stick with basic colors (white and chartr / white) Chatterbait type: I like the Gambler Swim Blade and Booyah Boogie Bait in 3/8 and 1/2 oz. in white or bluegill colors. Buzzbait: Cavitron 1/4 oz white with gold blade Jigs: Flippin: Peppers or Tournament Force jigs in 3/8 and 1/2 oz some in dark, and some green based. Swim Jig: All Terrain or Strike King swim jig in 1/4 and 3/8 oz in white or shad color. Finesse jigs: SK Bitsy Flip in 1/4 oz. and Jewell Eakins jig in 1/4 oz in green based color pattern. Football Jig: Jewell Mike McLelland 3/4 oz in black n blue and green based. Shaky head: Davis Original shaky head in the LS (Long shak) version. Jerkbaits / Topwater: Smithwick 4 1/2 " suspending Rogue in shad and gold #100 Pointer in shad color #100 Sammy in shad colors 650 Pop R in shad colors Spro Bronzeye Frog XCalibur Spitin Image in shad color As far as terminal tackle goes, get a bunch of high quality EWG hooks like the Gammy EWG's in 2/0-5/0. Also, get Carolina rig weights, bead, swivels, etc. Then, you'll need bullet worm weights in various sizes 1/8 - 1 oz. That about covers most of what I do and what I own. Anything else I buy is just b/c the bait monkey made me do it. Buy things in small quantities untli it becomes a confidence bait for you, then stock up. Spend most of your time locating fish, and with a basic collection of go-to lures, you will consistently catch them. You could have the finest tackle collection in the US, but unless you can find the fish, and figure out what will make them bite, you will not maximize the fishing experience.

I've seen it on local bait shops. What is the deal? Best i can tell it's design makes it swim like a Chatterbait, but it's for finesse fishing with a tiny fluke or alike on the back.

1. Structure (some kind of edge), preferably with cover on it. 2. Baitfish If I can find cover on structure with shad in the right depth, I can usually catch em good. Ideal stuation would be a channel drop from 6-20 ft, with stumps on the drop, and bait fish working in the 6-12 ft zone right on top of the drop. Other would be a grass edge where it drops from 4-10 ft on a deep flat with bait fish active near the drop.

I'm becoming a bit of a jig snob the more I look at them. For Footballs, I really like the Jewell Mike McLelland model, and for small finesse jigs, I'm a big fan of the Bitsy Bug. Aside from those mass produced jigs, I have found some flippin jigs that are pretty sweet: I saw the Peppers jigs at a local bait shop last week, and I had to have some. The silicone skirt is extra fine cut, with great paint jobs on the head, and Gammy hooks. Also like Conquistador jigs, Tournament Force Tackle, Tight Line, and Choo-Choo jigs. Anybody else have any non-production jigs that they really like? Thanks SC

Hi. I'm Shadcranker, and I'm on Bass Resource.com too

I feel you my friend. West End and Waterfront @ Guntersville are two of my three favorites (other one @ Lake Barkley). That's why I voted for "local" shops. Anyone traveling down I-65 b/w Nashville and B'ham, should make the quick 15 minute detour down 72 to the shop. It's a great one.

I'm for Jeff Coble b/c he's gotten in two times as the Weekend Series Champ, vs. a bunch of weekend warriors. The fact that he has won it two of the three years that it has existed is amazing (he was top five at the Nationals at G'ville in 07 too). Only one spot for the Weekend series guy vs. 6 spots for the Federation nation boys. If he can't win it, I'm for Timmy Horton. He is one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Very humble and he loves the sport and wants to make it better (he was a driving force behind the PAA). If you ever watch him on The Bass Pros or even on Bassmaster TV, he always goes into great detail to explain what he's doing and why.