RajaCon

Sweet. Thanks!

Hey guys, It's August, and I was recently out at a lake in NC. It's Muddy, with water temp around the 80s. I found two active spawning beds, one on the north end, and one on the south end of the lake. From the best view I could get (1ft visibility in the shallows with glasses) they appeared to be bed of either shad, bluegill, and/or crappie. As still a novice to behavior, what would be spawning in August? Would bass be opportunistic in going after beds in the summer? The beds are located close to dropoffs. Thanks all!

Thank you folks! I have a follow-up question since I found an article mentioning this. Would the size braid affect the casting distnace of a particular size lure? If I chose to go with 50lb braid, could I effectively throw a 1/4 oz Buzzbait or a 3/16 oz Rapala Floating minnow? I do think it is a counter to the original question and all that has been said, but I have to ask for sureness. This is not a perfect setup I am going with, but I wouldn't want this to any more difficult.

So, I have this old spinning combo that my grandfather use to own. I am not using it at the moment, but I am curious as to what applications it could be used for (or would it be better for crappie?). It is a Tebco Gold IM-6 combo. 6-1/2' Medium Power Rod that can handle 6-12# line and lures from 1/8-1/2oz. The spinning reel is a GSP40 with 4 ball bearings. I am taking an educated guess and saying that the gear ratio is 5.2:1. Give me your thoughts. Thanks!

Does a spool have to be completely full in order for the reel to be very effective? I apologise if I am missing the point of the suggestion.

To you and @Mikeltee: so you have all that backing so you can keep the spool full without using so much braid? Or does it also have to do with slippage? I would think that 40 yds or so of backing would be overkill if slippage was the reason.

Hey folks! Please refer me to an existing post, as I have had trouble finding one to help me with this situation. I've done a lot of digging on braid line: I understand how it functions, tips on using what leader with it at what lengths for what applications. But there are two things that never seem to have been clear: what would be the average test for braid when fishing bass and when the rod shows X range of mono, can I simply use the mono-to-braid conversion to figure out what test of braid the rod can handle? I only have one combo that I would like to try and use in all applications with Braid, and mostly fish in murky water. The reel is an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 1003LP and a 6'6" Medium rod that can handle 6-12lb (I will eventually move to a 6'9" MH). I have an 8' rod that may be better in the meantime in terms of the line it can handle. Working with what I got. Thank you!

Hey folks! So I've recently been back into fishing; I've fished three times in the past month or so (Raleigh, NC area). I have caught only one fish in the first two trips (each a Bass, about 2 pounds or so), and then almost hooked one in (or maybe it was a crappie or unusually large bluegill?) on the third trip. On all three occasions, the waters were murky, the temperature was around 85-90, it was about 9-10 in the morning, it was either overcast or partly cloudy, and I was throwing a Rapala Original Minnow in the Silver color! No need to tell me twice about experimentation versus what tends to be lure/color of choice in these kinds of conditions, but I would like some thoughts as to what may have triggered bites on this lure? I did not use any other lure prior to the strikes, and the two instances I did get a bite, the lure was up near the boat, and both times I got to watch the fish come up into the one foot of visibility and smack at it. Since the fish only hit once each time, what could I do to possibly improve the chances based on this Rapala? Go with a different color? Change to a Husky but keep the Silver? Maybe jump to a square-bill crank? Thank you for any thoughts! Tyler

Hey folks! I've had this crankbait for a long time, and need help identifying it. Its rattles are pretty loud, and would guess it can dive somewhere between 2' to 8'. Thanks all! Wish this thing had any text etched on it!

Oh! Of course!

Thank you for the reply! I currently have a different set of trebles for a different application, so I might play around with them to get an idea. On a different subject since you mentioned it, what is an 'RES'? ?

Hey folks! I just recently came back to fishing and new to lipless crankbaits. I am wondering why the Rapala Rippin' Raps have two different size trebles (2-1/2" has a 6 and 8)? Is it for balance since the tail treble is at the very back of the lure? Is it to diminish the chance of hangups with the smaller hook on the tail? I have also looked into the KVD Elite trebles and am curious to know if I ever decide to add them to the Rippin Rap, if I should keep the sizes offset like the stock, regardless if I try to upsize? Thank you for the time!