fin

And does it clear from the top down or the bottom up? Or maybe none of the above? (It’s the same density, top to bottom.)

I see that at grocery stores all the time. It's like standard operating procedure for raising prices with them and it has been going on forever.

It varies for me, depending on which banks I’m fishing. Some are a short walk, some are a hike. For the longer walks, I tend to carry less stuff overall. Usually I use a sackpack (drawstring backpack) that weighs nothing. Sometimes it’s packed full, sometimes practically empty. Sometimes I fish strictly soft baits, so no Plano. I’ve got a variety of sizes of Planos and use the smallest I can live with. Sometimes I do the pocket thing, and it feels great until I wish I had that one lure… I like the waist packs, I just haven’t run across one locally that I like, at a decent price. I’m about to come into a fish scale, which is going to throw me a curve. It’s not my style at all to carry something so big and bulky. I don’t know how I will cope with carrying it. I sense something new may be on the horizon.

I just got finished tying my first braid rings going by Ott's instructions, and if Milliken ties his the same way, there's no way he could end up with a larger loop on the first hook. So that larger loop is either intentional or he ties it a different way than Ott.

Just adding this for anyone else interested - These are available on Tackle Warehouse for 12.99, but after reading some of the negative reviews on there, one mentions that the pins are made of plastic, which you can see in the illustration on TW, but the one @heavyduty is holding has metal roll pins as you can see in the picture. I don't know what to make of that. Is the TW image just out of date? The bad reviews are from 2019 and earlier. Maybe it was upgraded around that time.

Appreciated. I imagine a lot of what is available out there is junk that won't last. I wonder if Accu Cull just slaps their own label on that. They look the same to me. Yeah I read somewhere you lose one pound per fish right off the bat as soon as you buy one.

I've noticed Academy has started doing that on their site. "Hot Deal" used to mean a discounted price, and they would show both the regular price and the sale price. They still do that, but they also mix other items in with it that don't look discounted at all.

The more I think about that front hook hanging lower, I wonder if it might be like a trailer hook or assist hooks, getting the hook further away from the body and the lip to get a better chance to get that hook in the fish. I’m trying to remember how many times I’ve had the front hook on a three treble jerkbait get in the fish. It’s not something I pay attention to, but my best recollection is it’s not often. What kind of knot do you swimbait guys use to tie on hooks with braid?

I haven't yet, but I have some that I'd like to lighten up a little. I may give it a try. The longer connection on the front hook makes me wonder if he understands something I don't, but when I look at the sloppy job he did on the lead, it makes me think the longer connection is unintentional.

That looks good. You recommend it @heavyduty ? Feels well-built, sturdy, etc? No dropped fish?

Yeah, I know about the Rapala 6". They're not available locally, and I'm asking about smaller stuff. If I'm going to have to order something online anyway, then the smaller the better.

I’m looking for some kind of clamp to add to a scale. I fish from the bank and backpack, so I try to keep everything lightweight and compact as possible. A friend is giving me the scales, and they sell for like $20. I don’t want to spend more on the clamp than the scales are worth. lol. I saw a clamp made by Daiwa that was like $60! I’ve seen those plastic fish grippers being recommended. The grippers I see at local stores are 9”. I’d like to find something smaller. I know 6” are made, and I’ve seen even smaller ones on Ali express. I’d be afraid the ones on Ali are junk, but I see some that have the Mustad name that look interesting. I’m wondering if anyone here uses something smaller than the typical fish grippers for this, or maybe something not even made for fishing, from the hardware store or whatever?

The keep-it-simple principle applies. The more details and colors you add, the more likely you are to add something that stands out as wrong to the fish. With some baits, motion/action is sacrificed in the name of getting the details to look the same as the original. When you create a soft plastic that looks exactly like a crawfish, it’s just about guaranteed it’s not going to swim like a crawfish.

Big Bite Bait is too, but I don't remember the code. Maybe BBB30? I wonder if all the companies in that conglomerate are having 30% off sales? Big Bite's product selection seems to be a lot smaller than I remember it.

Yep, another good video, and you keep getting better. The old videos start off with footage of you catching fish, but now you jump right to the point and still show the fishing footage later while you’re doing the voiceover. I think that’s much better. I’m hoping one day you’ll get into underwater filming. I have no idea what’s involved in that. Water drones?

Got clay? @Huckfinn38

There is a value in being able to see the bottom in your mind through your lure, but like you say, if you don’t catch anything, the value is moot. You can see your lure on the top of the water, and you can feel it on the bottom, and everything in between is mostly a mystery. I think the value there should be obvious. It’s like feeling your way through a dark room. If you can’t feel the wall, you don’t know where you are. Just because you don’t catch a fish the first time you fish along the bottom doesn’t mean that that you didn’t learn something of value, even if you can’t see it or appreciate it. It takes a long time. The way some people describe their skill sounds like bull, but that’s due more to the fact that they’re trying to describe vibrations through words. It’s not something that’s easy to describe. There was a time when if I felt my crankbait bump into something on the bottom, I would then avoid casting to that area because I didn’t want to get hung up and lose my lure. Eventually I learned to try to find things to bump into on the bottom, because that’s where the fish usually are. I enjoy fishing crankbaits a lot more now because of it. I still suck at jigs. I'm like you - I can tell the difference between mud and rocks and grass, but that's about it. Also, obviously if you don't have a sensitive rod, it's almost impossible to feel anything.

The one in the video is made by Ledgerock. TW has them on clearance, not much left though. I can't believe that price is right - 5 of the 6" for $3 😳 https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Ledgerock_Lures_D-Claw_/descpage-LDRDC.html EDIT: I feel I should point out that I searched for their website (Ledgerock) but got a security warning from my browser extension, so I wouldn’t recommend visiting their site directly. It may be okay, but it's on a list of sketchy sites. It does some kind of redirect.

I like that one too, but I wish they had left the silver stripes off of it. I can't imagine what that is supposed to represent. I think they're more for the fishermen than the fish. Without the stripes, it's basically Green Pumpkin, which is a hugely successful soft bait color that is under-represented in hard baits.

Anyone know what brand this is? I'm thinking it might be an older Livingston Dive Master? The bill is kind of unique, the way it comes out straight and then bends down. It looks like a Norman bill, but the eyes are obviously 👀 not Norman. I see some online like this that look like a Chinese knockoff brand, and that paint job looks like one I saw in another thread that was from Ali Express. I'm curious what the original brand is.

I'm no longer a workaholic. I'm completely recovered. I'm 13 years clean.

I took about a 30 year break to become a workaholic.

I hope so too. I'd like to see more videos like this. I don't watch a lot of videos, but I love videos like this that compare how well different baits swim, do it very well and get right to the point without a lot of talking.

Yeah, you have to look at the label. Where yours says "Super Salt Plus", the others will say "The Original". I think of them more as suspending than floating. If they rise in the water, it's so slow that I don't have the patience to see it. When you buy them online, sometimes it's impossible to tell whether you will get Super Salt Plus or The Original.

I’m even more skeptical of using attractants on hard baits. The reasoning for using it is it covers human scent and the fish might hold onto it a little longer. With soft baits, okay, maybe that makes sense, but I don’t think a fish is holding onto any hard bait, period. Unless the fish is used to eating rock hard and pointy foods, like turtles, and you're using a turtle lure.