BayouSlide

Certainly haven't noticed this in the two I own. My Vanfords lived up to my high expectations and I will be purchasing another. I would contact Shimano or your retailer regarding return/exchange due to your concerns.

I use 4# Trilene XL for all my UL and panfish rods.

Chatterbait and spinnerbait trailers. No reason they wouldn't make a great swim jig trailer as well. 👍

6.24# caught yesterday on a 3.5 in. Mischief Minnow in bone color. Rather than a steady retrieve, I slashed it like a topwater jerkbait, splashing and stopping once in a while. Makes it look like an injured shad struggling on the surface. 😎👍 Gar loved that retrieve as well. 😉

I have a number of 70 size Curados on lighter rods used with lighter baits. Haven't been "spooled" by a bass yet and fewer backlashes to boot 😉👍

Sorry you have trouble with this bait but I'd definitely reach out to the manufacturer with the request to replace it because it doesn't run right. I doubt they'd be happy if you're unhappy. One of mine lost a blade when I nailed it into a hard object and I wrote asking if I could purchase a blade. They sent me a brand new bait: an example of going beyond the expected in customer service. 😎👍 BTW, I use straight flouro so I don't think line will make much of a difference.

Dang, I must have received some magic 3.5s, all three work exactly as they are supposed to. Some guys are just lucky 😉👍

Nope. I hate rigging rods in the boat when I should be fishing. Make my plans the night before and rig accordingly.

Sorry it didn't work out for you but, when retrieved at a decent clip, the blade churns the surface quit well. Consider it a hard bodied buzzbait 😉

Good info. I would have contributed much less to the bottom line of lure manufacturers had I considered all this when starting out. 😉👍

A number of companies offer dual mounts so you can stack or arrange side by side. My G3 requires the mount to the right side. With a RAM mount, it overlaps enough to work well.

Guess I've been lucky. Been using MK remotes for Ultrex and Talons for years (6 total, currently have 4 fobs in operation) plus foot remotes (two), plus autopilot remote: no problems with any of 'em.

Nearly all I fish is stained or muddy water and I throw crankbaits a lot. Never any luck with chartreuse. White and silver are my go to, heavier rattle types in muddy water.

Came back from a trip to Georgia recently with a bunch of spotted bass. Where smaller largemouths are numerous I may keep a few. Catfish, crappie, bass all make great fish tacos and other table fare. Then again I grew up eating limits of trout pulled from the rivers in northern New York. If you caught it (or shot it) you ate it: perch, pike, pickerel, smallmouth, largemouth, bullheads and, especially, trout. But Catt raises a good point: often I won't keep fish even though my wife begs me too because, after a long day on the water, it's just too much work. 😉

Good advice, and also the correct per-weight dosage of Benedryl to minimize swelling until the dog can get to the vet. 👍

This thread brings up memories. I don't fear poisonous snakes but I respect them. In bird hunting trips out west I've run into prairie rattlers and let them be if they were no threat to me or my dogs. I know numerous occasions of dogs that have been struck by rattlers or cottonmouths, some numerous times in their lives, to no ill effect except severe swelling. Sometimes all required is a dose of Benedryl and antibiotics. Other cases dogs have died. Not every snake strike contains a lethal dose of venom. But there is always that danger and, as mentioned, preventative snake vaccine is expensive and not always effective. Antivenom after the fact is hideously expensive and not always available. But two years ago, I was hunting in Montana with two partners and we had two dogs in the field. It was a sandy area near a rocky hill and I thought "This looks like a place that would hold snakes." Not five minutes later I heard a buzzing and immediately yelled "Snake" to warn my partners. I saw the coiled prairie rattler probably 10 yards away and my GSP Max was approaching it. Subconsciously my mind determined that I had a split second to safely shoot and took off it's head when Max was less than two feet from it. Reality took hold and we regrouped for a moment to catch our breath and reflect on a way-too-close call and the potential for danger in the uplands. I took no joy in having to kill it, but it was necessary to save Max and, perhaps, the other dog or one of my companions from a possibly fatal or expensive and painful encounter.

Yup. Try a #5 or 6. You need to go at least a size tighter than whatever VMC recommends.

Tackle Direct is offering 20 percent off today thru 5/27

BTW, it not only works great on crankbaits but has saved me many shaky heads and even smaller lures. 😎👍

I have had similar experiences with flat sided crankbaits from a company with the initials S_ K_.

I have a Frabil telescoping retriever and a "hound dog" type on a retractable dog leash, but my home-made knocker is what I turn to first and it usually does the job. Like VTFan, I started out with spark plugs but ran out of old plugs left over from my motorcycling days.

I have always used Gulp! spray in crawfish scent on my plastics. I always use it so any fish I catch is only when I use it. Therefore it must work, right? 😉👍

First fish of the day Sunday morning, a double when two spotted bass competed for my Yo-Zuri Rattl'n Vibe 😎👍

Glad you're stocking the Spunk Shad now, it's my favorite trailer. 😎👍

I like the use of buss bars on your setup. Trying to maintain proper contact through a thick stack of terminal connections on a single battery pole can be problematic. 😎👍