Shadcranker

Curious to see who likes what and why?

I will say that I did buy an Avid on sale for $99 at Dicks' last year. If you shop the sales, occasionally you will find a deal. I still say that they do not have much of a fishing dept compared to other stores in my area.

It sucks imho. We have Academy Sports accross the street, and their fishing dept is twice the size. Dicks has horrible rod /reel selection and limited tackle. One step above Walmart.

I use two styles of shaky heads, one is a regular one with a baitkeeper barb, and the other has the screw on wire bait holder. If I'm fishing around a bunch of small fish and spots, I like the screw on type, b/c the bait doesn't get pulled down as much. If I'm around bigger fish, I like the regular style. My favorite for each type- Wire screw type- Picasso (pricey :'() Regular type with barb- Davis original Shaky Head in SL verson (super long shank). You can order them on-line from Coosa Tackle. best buy is the bulk pack of 25 for around $10. I buy 1/8, 3/16, and 1/4 oz size and throw 3/16 most of the time.

Good for you. At least you're concentrating on your fishing!

There are several types / styles of jigs for different presentations and depths, so I'll just outline here my "go-to" jigs for each type: Finesse jigs- SK Bitsy Flip in 1/4 oz (Watermelon or black) with Zoom Super Chunk, Jr. Deep Finesse Jig- Jewell heavy Eakins Jig in 7/16 oz with a Zoom Little Critter Craw Flippin Jigs- Tournament Force web-site jigs (Arkie style head) or Oldham's screw lock in 3-8 or 1/2 (Pumpkin w/ Green flake or black n blue) with Zoom Super Chunk trailer. Football Jig- Jewel Jig by Mike McLelland in 1/2 or 3/4 in same two basic colrs as the flipping jigs above. For trailer, I prefer a Zoom Speed Craw. Swim Jig- Outkast Tackle Pro Swim Jig in 1/4 oz with single tail grub trailer. Grass punching jig- All Terrain Tackle Scott Martin Grassmaster jig in Watermlon Red or Black 'n blue with a Zoom Speed Craw trailer to match. My guess is that you are looking for a good, general purpose casting or flippin jig, so I'd go with something in 3/8 to 1/2 oz in two basic colors (one green and one black n blue), and match it with a Zoom Super Chunk Trailer. Just make sure if you buy a "production", mass produced jig, that they use a good quality jig hook, like a Mustad Ultra Point. If you just want to get a bunch of bites on a jig to gain confidence, I'd recommend the Bitsy Bug.

I'm sure it's a calculated business decision on their part. I'd say the provocative images, packaging, names, colors, etc. get them a lot of business, but I know for a fact that it costs them a ton. On balance, I'd say it hurts them. heck, just look at the lack of pros that promote them. I'm sure most of the touring pros don't want their name associated with them. Bass Pro Shops will not carry their brands beacause of the image issue. Imagine how many Sweet Beavers (huh?), Ball Breakers, Vixens, etc. that BPS could have sold in the last three years or so since that the Sweet Beaver came out. To me, they have gone too far with much of it, but I still buy some of their stuff.

I saw these at my favorite bait shop the other day, and they look really cool. I asume it's a sinking bait that acts like an underwater dog walking bait. They were out of the 100 size, and the smaller one (80 I think) looks too small to me. Just curious if anyone has used them and where to find them? I can't find them anywhere. Do they still make em??? Thanks SC

I hate to make light of your reasoning here, but surely you know that Denny and KVD have MAJOR sponsorships with SK. Not sure if they are a real objective source for a product endorsement.

My new Bassmaster magazine came today. the Astro / lunar table shows Full moon, Friday the 21st. Watch the Gutersville water temps (you can usually see them on the guides' reports on Bass Fishing Home Page). If the surface temps get into the low to mid 60's by that week, we should have a big wave of fish up shallow and bedding. If the temps stay in the 50's, we'll have some up scouting, but the vast majority of the fish should still be pre-spawn or at least not locked on yet. Either way, I think most of the fish are going to be pre-spawn, which sets up for a good "hardbait" bite in 3-8 ft on the flats, points, and outside grass edges.

Use a screw in weight or peg a weight (as light as you can -usually 1/8 oz) and swim it over submerged grass like milfoil or hydrilla. I basically fish it like a spinnerbait. Sometimes, when the grass fish turn off the SB, you can throw a white one to mimmick a shad. Most times though I throw a green one.

I TX rig the larger ones, and for smaller craws / night fishing or clear water I rig on a shaky head.

Pound for pound- Shellcracker (Red Ear Sunfish). If they grew to 10 lbs, we'd be using Penn International Saltwater reels to catch em. Other than that I say a tie b/w smallies and the big spots of the Coosa chain in AL. Smallie's jump more, but those darn big ole spots never quit.

Whichever is on sale I guess. Ever since the Paca came out, others have tried to duplicate the action. Berkley has one, Gambler does too, and now SK. Very similar baits, although Netbait has a better selection of colors, if you want to get real color specific.

Sexy shad is a nice shad pattern, but so is Lavender Shad, TN Shad, Gizzard Shad, Chart Shad, etc. I don't think the Sexy is a magic bullet color. I've caught more fish on the SK TN Shad color (Green back) down at Guntersville than on Sexy ayway. I own some of each, but this is largely a marketing scheme to capitalize on KVD's two wins last year using the bait. Color is overrated IMHO, as long as you are in the basic hue of the forage (i.e. shad, bluegill, craw). Only exception to this I feel is in gin clear water, and a Crankbait is seldom a fisrt choice in real clear water anyway. Kudos to KVD and SK for marketing the color so well. BPS has hundreds of the Sexy S color in stock here, and they keep flying off the shelves. I'd say whatever SK is paying KVD is not enough. He is the Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods of the Bass game as far as moving product. SC

If this is your mid-life crisis, you are getting off cheap. Most guys I know end up buying a sports car, get a young chic that bleeds every penny out of them, and then they end up getting divorced, and giving half of thier stuff away in court. Compared to most obsessions in life (drugs, women, alcahol, gambling) fishing is pretty darn harmless.

gimmick to the highest degree. Don't fall for it.

I'm going to Palm Beach next feb myself, and I was looking at a FL map, and it looks like Okechobee is fairly close. You could probably do a combo Largemouth and Peacock Bass deal down there too. I'd just do a Google search for Okechobee bass guides and read reports on Bass Fishing Home page. Many good guides post there. Good luck, and if you think about it, PM me where you wentr, guide, etc., and how it was. I'll be looking for next year. SC

100 exclusively. If I want a smaller bait, I throw the Excalibur Spittin Image.

I would be caerful with tackle, b/c you will have to figure values and likely put on a depreciation schedule. With mine, I write off all legitimate travel and entry expenses, such as gas, hotels, tournament entry fees, licenses, etc. You can treat it oneof two ways: hobby or a business. If you treat it as a business, you need to show a profit every now and then, or the IRS will consider it a hobby and you can't write off as much, meaning, if you get audited, you could have problems. The tax advice of a CPA is definitely worth the money you pay in this area, especially if you have significant income and exoenses associted with tourney fishing.

I bought some Venom keel weighted EWG hooks for using with Basstrix type swimbaits. The hook lines up really well in the bait when rigged. We'll see how they hook fish. www.venomlures.com/venom_hooks_weighed_xwg_sickle_hooks.htm

to echo many posts above, Norman, Bandit, Luhr Jensen all quality baits. norman and bandits run great out of the box, and they both have a great varierty of depths and colors. I truly believe that the fish can't tell the difference b/w them and a high dollar bait in most cases. Original rattle traps are great too, as long as you replace the hooks.

Stradic x 2 here, but in that price range, you can definitely get quality. If you have a BPS or Cablas close by, go by and handle a few and see what feels good to you.

I'm not an expert on these baits at all, but I am an expert at buying stuff thanks to the bait monkey. I live in TN, and I have bought a bunch of SB's in the 4-5 inch range. Some of the best looking ones I've found: 1. Huddleston Shad (pricey!) 2. California Swimbabes' Tiny E and Little E 3. Basstrix Paddle Tail Tubes in 5 in (buy 5/0 keel weighted hooks like the Falcon or the new weighted Owner twist-lock). 4. Strike King's King Shad is a good looking hard swim bait. That's waht I own so far, and I'm anxious to give them a shot this Spring. From everything I've read, these baits are best in clear to slightly stained water, but what do I know? Like I said, I've never used them. One other, relatively cheap option is the BPS XPS swimbait or the Storm baits. they are readily available at BPS and won't cost you much.

I hate to be skeptical, but this smells like gimmick to me. I've never used them, so I may be wrong, but my theory on scent and taste is that they might make the fish hold on to the bait longer, but I seriously doubt that any scent really makes them bite. Just my theory. That said, I do use BANG Real Craw on my craw imitating plastics to mask any unatural human odors and hope that it makes them hold on a second longer. I would think that if coffee was such a strong attractant, bait companies would have scientific research to suppot it, and more companies than SK would have them out by now. I can't imagine that they could get an exclusive patent or trademark on coffee scent for soft plastics. Just my opinion, but hey, if it makes you more confident in what you're doing, go for it. Confidence is a key deal in fishing for sure. Also, coffee sure smells better than Power Bait or Gulp, so I wouldn't mind having it in my boat.