GetFishorDieTryin

Thats really a tough one. I like the ghost colors you can get with plastic, as well consistent action, however I prefer balsa. Its very close between the PH Customs SB 1.5 and the BL Wreck. Gun to my head, I guess the Wreck gets the nod. My favorite plastic SB really isnt even a square bill, which is the Fat Baby John. If the Ima Square bill had a silent version that would be my favorite plastic crank. Other notable baits would be BL Ricochet LC silent 1.5 Rapala Clackin Rap KVD 1.5 shallow

The buzzbait was one of the first baits I really had confidence in as an 11 or 12 YO. The fist few I bought from the Greater Sportsman Show in PA, which were homemade. I had bought some cheapo buzzers from wal mart and quickly found they werent as effective as the homemade custom ones. The blades were much smaller, the hooks weren't very good, and the blades would stop spinning often. I tried SK buzzers next and they weren't as good as the ones from the show either. I still stuck with them for 2 or 3 years until Booyah launched. They were as good as the homemade baits IMO and I liked them more than the SK ones. I went to grab another black on black booyah on day and my local shop was out of them. The owner suggested a Cavitron and he was right about evry other suggestion so I grabbed a few. I liked the large blade and the holes made a good bubble trail. They come up on plane very quick and dont get bogged down easily. Ive never had a reason to look for a better buzzbait as I like everything about the Megastrike.

Very nice. Ive watched videos where Ben from THT explains the color tags, but not to that extent. Never knew about the racing colors. Dont they have a tag for half mirror laminate colors like clear laker, Ito Wak and other ghost laminate colors?

The value of a bait is subjective. Ultimately each bait is a tool. Some guys prefer to use different tools to do the same job. Whether the majority opinion on that particular bait or company is negative, or if Swimbaitstud fishing it unconventionally, hes found a real niche for it. Hes not just catchin fish in the spring when they're eating anything they can get, looks like hes got at least a solid 2 season pattern and likely it would be 3 if the water didn't freeze for so long that far north. If the bait is a real dud like Millikins swimbait, I could only imagine what SS could do with a hinkle shad or some other high quality swimbait. I fish swimbaits in the surf, like dannys and the big Magic Swiimmers when bunker are around. FW the only ones I have used and done really with are the old Sebile soft Magic Swimmers, which I just fish on a heavy power. Hes got me thinkin about investing some $ into a legit swimbait outfit and some of those TKs. What is you're go to swimbait Jedi?

Im very leery of fishing baits I cannot replace. If I do fish them, I fish "cheap" and avoid potential snags, which has a detrimental effect on my results. I have some confidence in certain red baits, but very little in others. I do well with most red cranks, but tomato red senkos or other soft plastics just dont produce as well for me as more natural colors do. I suspect that one of the reasons that red baits produce so wel, is that everyone is used them. If all you throw for 4 weeks is red, you'll certainly catch some fish on it. It looks good. I think bold colors have good results in mid and deep running baits because those colors show up well and aren't as bold when there is less light penetration. Although red has worked for me, I actually have more confidence in orange. Ive been catching fish on orange baits since I was 10. Naturally I have more confidence in bright orange vs red. A little orange in a jig, orange bellied senkos, orange or brown back orange cranks and orange kicker blades have produced well for me for years and years. You could be right. IME the red bait thats gets the most attention is the lipless and other cranks to a lesser degree. The JB is IMO is THE winter hardbait and slowly gets replaced with the cranks as the fish become more aggressive and move shallow. To be honest recently strolling baits and the jigheads to use them on have dominated sales. Really? It looks like a glide bait for sure. Who makes it?

Holy crap, thats awesome. Thanks for effort good sir.

Absolutely. Just about all the lakes and ponds around here are millponds. They're rarely an average depth of over 3.5', with very little hard bottom and or rock. The most abundant cover is either submerged tree stumps, or lily roots. The big fields of lily roots serve as excellent cover for late winter and prespawn bass. Prior to the pads growing in too thick, I find bouncing cranks and chatterbaits through the roots to be fun and very effective. Some of the flatside/subtle cranks I use early and chatterbaits I use early have a hard time coming through the roots. A swim is one of the few baits that can get through the tangles of roots without sinking a hook into them. The roots are so hard that once a hook gets buried it can be really dificult to get out. You can always run the boat into the pads, but that blows the area out and the fish will shutdown for quite a while. Ill also use a swimjig when the conditions are too calm and clear for a bladed jig/spinnerbait . They also work really when after the pads get too thick for other baits. The type of jig matters too IMO. I want a jig with a stout brushguard and a hook that isnt gigantic, so that it wont snag as much if it rolls over a root. If I could fit a heavier brushguard into Beasts Coasts working man swim jig, I would go with that, but until I figure that out, Greenfishs' Swim Jig is my go to.

If its like other MB SW editions of FW lures, its just got heavier hooks. LC, Duo and Ima have suspending FW baits, but the SW version will sink or have a slow sink instead of SP. The Karashi has to have a sink or slow suspend to work properly. The sink rate may be a little faster, but I dont see it being too fast. Ultimately the larger Karashi will lilkey be very similar to Duos' Underwalkers and LCs Wander.

They dont get enough credit. The alive shads are one of the best DS baits you can possibly get. IMO the wind is really important during late winter into prespawn. Any structure or cover that is windblown is going to get my attention.

I generally start with a more subtle or finesse bait that can cover water, like a swimbait under 4"/finesse swim jig, wacky rig, or even a silent crank. If the waters dirty or the conditions are right or the water is dirty, Ill start with a more aggressive bait on a wind blown corner/point or other structure/cover. If they don't get me bit within a half hour I'm going to go finesse in the same area.

IMO $200-$280 was a sweet spot for rods and reels. Now its $230-$320. Most $300-$400 rods have blanks that are very similar to flagship models. When you upgrade to a flagship rod, many times it will be that lower PP point blank with upgraded components. Ti Sic upgrade to Ti torzite or Recoil guide trains.

Check out Molix Nano Jig. Compared to other jigs, you get a lot for your money with the Nano. The skirt is excellent quality silicone thats handtied. The hook is a #1, but its a medium wire limerick bend, which makes it very strong. The painted heads are very detailed and Im not sure what kind of process they use, but the paint durability is impressive. They work really well on the bottom, but I use them as much or more as micro swim jigs.

BL has a few worms that caught my eye as well. I really wish they had a GP option. It would be great for a mini evo

Those Dobyns jigs are the best deal going. 3@ $10 for hand tied rubber/silicone hybrid football jigs with a 604 and one of the most effective keepers around is a steal. If the spinnerbaits are half as good as the jigs, I need to grab a few.

Theyre most likely the magnum wire through flash minnows for surf and pelagics. 2oz baits arent too rough to throw for a few hours. You run into problems with when you have those heavier baits that dont cast well, which the flash minnow is a good example of, and you spend half of the outgoing tide, trying to really send it past a sand bar or to school of balled up bunker at the very edge of casting distance. Guys on boats are casting at blitzing fish or troll those heavier minnow plugs.

Red square bills, flat sides and especially cranks have been hot late winter-spawn colors for what seems like decades. Only in the past few years have I really seen red JBs offered in popular lines. I feel like the color doesn't translate as well to JBs, I know what I think but what do you all think and why? Also, who here uses/used them and what was the result? TYIA

Within 10 seconds of picking up the rod, I knew it was bad news. The composite cork and clunky plastic handle assembly was a real turn off, but my head almost spun when I saw the price tag. The mojo lines, mojo surf, mojo inshore and mojo bass offered a great value and performed exceptionally well, which is why they were some of the best selling rods SC ever had. It would have been much better IMO if they had not sacrificed a line as loved as mojo for what boils down to a curiosity of a rod line. Realistically Black Bass is the successor to Mojo bass and Mojo trigon was something entirely unique upon it debut.

I was pretty much exlusivley using SCs for fresh and salt water, for over 20 years. A half dozen or so broke, however it was due to freak occurrences or user error. Although I own a few new SCs, I liked the older actions and powers, I think they were more durable. Certain lines were tough as nails. The purple mojo and mojo inshores were hard to break. Theres a video of a guy lifting a 20lb weight with a 7'6 ML mojo inshore. SC is a conservative company, or at least they were. Years after split grips became popular, they finally designed one. The whole trigon thing is kind of a gimmick. Pelagic rods were fitted with triangular grips over a decade ago. They feel good in hand, but after a prolonged with a tuna the apexes create hot spots in your hand and cause cramps. I they're really like the plastic they used on the mojos either. It feels super cheap and bulky. That they're line or whatever they're called have outstanding blanks and components, but the trigon handle and grip ruin it for me. Same with the new Legends. Those purple inshore mojos have a cult like following. I really like the look of the newer inshore won't they look very similar to one of SCs best lines ever made the Avid Inshore. The new inshore mojos look great, but they had a failure rate of at least 50%, likely more. They had to know it Unfortunately user error, but still charged money for replacements and replacements of the replacements. I had heard that it was at least 1, likely 2 defective batches of blanks. SC officially said it was defective blanks, but it took months. They did try to make it right, by replacing mojos with the Avid inshore, a rod that's close to double the price. Unfortunately the damage has been done. I know 2 guides who used mostly SCs because of their durability and customer service, both said they won't buy SCs anymore. I hope they come around. They have their work cut out for them, as their reputation has really taken a hit in the past 4 years.

The perfect bladed jig rod is subjective. Some people like heavy powered moderate actions and others like MH fast actions. Line choice, jig weight and whether youre fishing open water, ripping grass, or close to cover, all matter in the equation.

As lovely as high end loomis rods are, there are outstanding bladed jig rods that are half the price or less.

You ever try Zooms fluke sticks? Its just zooms version of a senko, with an added split tail.

If that Tatula is the Feider 7'6, Im sure you'll like it. The Johnson Hair Jig is nice, but it just isnt as versatile.

When a couple guys are doign well on a certain crank, it doesnt mean that much. When hundreds of sharpies swear by a bait like people swear by the frittside, there's more than personal bias at work.

I always favored Lunker city's plastic over Zooms. I use to crush em on garlic scented grape fire tail bass assassin worms. I like BA/SWA's flukes over Zoom even more than the worms. I like the staight tail over the split and again I just feel the plastic is higher quality than Zoom.

Shakey head 1/16 or 3/32 with my favorite shakey head being the Gamakastu Tricky head by a long shot. DS would be 1/8 tungsten closed eye cylindrical DS weight Hair jig depends on the amount and type of hair, as well as depth anywhere from 1/16 for smaller ones to 3/16 for larger heavily tied marabou and craft hair jigs. finesse jig is 3/32 to 5/16 with 1/8 and 3/16 being used often Nekos for me vary from 1/16 to 5/32 most often. I use lead Damiki weight in 1/16 and 1/8 most often. I use tungsten nails from 3/64 to 5/32 in a ton of different weights. I would suggest getting 3/32 and 5/32 in tungsten nails. Lead nails can be good too. You can break lead nails to dial in the weight and theyre cheap.