Stringjam

The Fritts reel that I use is 21" IPT (4.7:1) Oops! Correct comparison, wrong number -- -- the Curado 5.1 is also 21" IPT (not 23")

How long of a leader would be good? I was kinda looking for the same info. What's average length for a leader, and with the knot, you don't reel it into the first eye do you? I usually go from 6' to 8' or so - - - a well tied Albright or blood knot makes a very tidy little connection, and it will barely be noticed going through the guides. I used a uni to uni knot. I put 2ft but I'll trim it down a bit. BTW.....that was 6 to 8 feet.......just in case of misunderstanding. It's just personal preference. I fish some water with up to 20' visibility, and I have experienced some instant feedback from the fish concerning line shyness. There are simply situations that the braid's visibility deterred strikes.......I've been fishing with this stuff since before SpiderWire even hit the shelves at BPS, and that has just been my personal experience in high pressure/high clarity conditions. Your mileage may vary.

How long of a leader would be good? I was kinda looking for the same info. What's average length for a leader, and with the knot, you don't reel it into the first eye do you? I usually go from 6' to 8' or so - - - a well tied Albright or blood knot makes a very tidy little connection, and it will barely be noticed going through the guides.

The IPT of the David Fritts sig reel is the same as the 5.1 Curado (they both retrieve 23" per turn) - - - so check out the IPT to really compare retrieve speeds. I fish deep cranks a lot, and don't like reels any slower than those - - - I feel like I lose contact with the bait too much. These are a happy medium for winching.

Braid is more sensitive (by far), and less abrasion resistant to rocks and wood than mono is. Braid also has no memory and lasts and incredibly long time. I have used braid for the past 11 years or so on every setup I own, and couldn't do without the supurb sensitivity - - it does, however, take some getting used to as far as handling and rod movements go. BTW......I fish some very clear water, and fish DO see this line and it will negatively affect your catch rate if you tie straight to the lure. I use a monofilament leader 99% of the time with my braid - - a method I much prefer, and find more effective than using green markers to try to disguise the braid.

20 lb. Power Pro braid with various sized copolymer leaders - from 8 to 20 lb. test depending on the cover - - - but I throw a crankbait where most people throw jigs.

One confidence bait that covers every situation? I just can't do that - - so like any good overly analytical guy I'll categorize: Soft plastic: Homemade 5/16 oz. Eakin's-style jig w/a Garland double Hyper Tail grub Topwater: Storm Chug Bug Crankbait: (I could easily sub-categorize for days here...but I digress) Rapala Shad Rap Spinnerbait: Homemade 1/4 oz. white bladed single willow Jerkbait: LC Pointer

Some of my most productive plastics have no scent or salt at all. I still have bunches of the original Bobby Garland hula grubs and they flat out catch bass for me....Bobby would not impregnate his lures with salt because he believed it stiffened and hampered the action of the plastic - - I would tend to agree, because when his grubs hit the water, they're a thing of beauty. I've pulled numerous bass all the way to the boat with these baits without even setting the hook. I'm sure using scent isn't going to hurt anything, but I've used a ton of it over the years and abandoned it completely at times - and I've yet to see any appreciable difference in my catch rate. My partners always use it, and they've yet to stomp me because of the scent use. I'll keep an open mind, though - - as anything that appeals to the senses of a bass is probably going to put a few more in the boat on certain occasions - - - I'm just way more confident that putting more effort into the visual presentation of a bait is going to make the difference for me

In certain conditions, yes, they're outstanding.....there are conditions that I much prefer other baits. There is, however, no "need" to pay a lot to catch bass......but I share a similar outlook as Avid. This is the enthusiast side of the sport, and it is not as much about need as it is "want," and an appreciation of design and craftsmanship. I just enjoy fishing with and buying cranks from the lowest end to the upper end, and one day I'll hand down what makes it to the kids. I know fishermen that spend more than $20 in beer every weekend that think I'm crazy for buying $20 crankbaits - - but when the weekend is over, I'm still digging my little shad-shaped pieces of art and they're just pi**ing in a toilet with a headache.

If you're going to fish crankbaits a lot, make sure you get a nice telescoping retrieval pole. I'm a crankbait nut and throw them year-round and almost every trip out - - I wouldn't even tie one on without my pole.....get good at using one and you will almost never lose a crank. BTW.....I don't think $20 is ridiculous for a lure I'll fish for years. Disposable soft plastics @ $5+ a bag is way more expensive in my mind.

LuckyCraft RC 1.5 for shallow water Poes 200 for shallow/mid depths (great heavy cover crank) Catching Concepts DC2 or Competition Cedars 4400 for low teens Lee Sisson P-20 for heavy cover deeper than that.

Do you have any tackle at all at this point? Are you new to bass fishing? The appropriate answers to your questions require some more information - - like what kind of lakes do you fish, what your budget is, etc......

As you know they've been discontinued for some time. This place carries a lot of dsc. lures and has several Arbogasts, but they are almost ALWAYS way more expensive than....um......well, ya know. I've bought a lot of Mudbugs in all the various sizes from....ya know....and prices generally aren't too high.

I'm not convinced at lightless depths that the color is going to make much difference, as whatever color it is will be muted by the time it gets down there (ask a diver what color your crankbait is by the time it hits 15'). That said - - a highly contrasted back to the sides seems (to me) to cause a bigger visual cue of movement - - a bright pearl bait with a black back is a good example. I dig that color as well as any (and the yellow/black back pattern). Good choice.

Crankbait line must be abrasion resistant over almost all over factors (to me). Mainly because if I'm throwing a crankbait, be it deep or shallow, it's going to be crashing into all kinds of scary stuff. I use 20 lb. PowerPro braid for a mainline, and tie a leader of whatever size mono I think I need at the time. The PowerPro is very strong and will let you feel every pebble (I can even feel when a bass is looking at it funny), and the leader takes the rocks a lot better than the braid (as well as having lower visibility in clear water). P-Line CXX is some tough stuff.

Do you sell these, BTW? If so - do you offer Lexan lip, too?

Fantastic looking baits, Whittler......the med runner is killin!

I've seen a few guys heat up and bend the Lexan lips to increase the angle on Bagley DB3's and DB3 Mags, but I'm guessing that would be difficult with the thicker, molded in lips that you're going to be dealing with on the Model A's.......but perhaps an interesting experiment.

Your options become more limited with the need of a crankbait that will run 13'-18' deep. The 2 lures I can think of offhand that will actually go that deep, and also resemble the rounded, fat body of a goby are a Jackall Muscle Deep 15+ And the (discontinued but still pretty available on ebay) Rapala FR7 Down Deep Rattlin Fat Rap: Both of these lures have a wide, flat head like a Goby and will get into the low-mid teens with the proper equipment.

Big fan of painted blades. They seem to perform equally well in dirty or clear water, and for sm, spots, and largemouths. Where they really seem to excel (for me) is during low light conditions. I started spending more time with painted blades after fishing a local tournament with one of my friends - and being schooled with a painted double willow bait. I have put a lot of miles on painted blades over the last 12 years since then, and probably use them 80% of the time I'm throwing a spinnerbait - - they're just very consistent on my home waters. Don't limit yourself to just white, however. I have done VERY well at times using a black spinnerbait with black blades - a look fish rarely see.

Interesting............ Colors, boats, moon phases, line diameters, and lure mojo are just another facet of the sport that (for some) add another level of enjoyment (the tinkerers, if you will) - and (for others) detract from it. Both groups dig their approach, I'm sure. I dig mine. National tournament fishermen, local tournament fishermen, weekend anglers, big bass hunters, guys who like Moon Pies and RC Cola, etc.etc. I do, however, don't see any need for one group to condecend the other.......there's more than one way to enjoy the pursuit. FWIW.....I'm sure KVD, Denny Brauer, etc would have substantially different "statistics" if they were fishing the home waters they knew like the back of their hands, as opposed to a spread of lakes they may or may not have much familiarity with.......but I digress. Interesting post, Catt .... I dig "thought" posts.

Canyon Plastics original Gitzit, Bud'z Fishin Wayz, or the Gambler Hibdon series - - - none are injected with salt - hence - great action.

Bowfishing for rough fish is very popular around here - - I don't see any problem with it at all......matter of fact I wish more people would get into it because some areas are really overrun with gar and large carp. I don't see how it could be considered any more cruel or unfair as any other type of "hunting." I don't care for seeing trophy gamefish speared - just my opinion - but apparently it's legal there.

That's a pretty broad one depending on what kind of water - - - - if there is still flooded cover available, I like to swim a Zoom Mag II weighted lightly through everything, it just seems to catch better quality fish for me than a floating worm. Other than that, I'm happy when fish get on a crankbait bite, since that can also produce some big strings.

Storm Chug Bug - - one of the greatest topwaters in life. Oh yeah - - - getcha a buzzbait, too.