Smallies

Dude @Jigfishn10 this chart is MONEY! Thanks, man!

Thanks @Bluebasser86, that's really helpful. Didn't realize that with the short shanks, so awesome info. I know changing the hooks up a size can affect the action of the lure, but what about changing down a size? Do you feel like there's an advantage to using as small a hook as you can get away with, or do the cranks just typically move so fast that it doesn't matter and you'd rather have the increased hook-up ratio with larger hooks? Also, I like to yo-yo my deeper, heavier cranks so I wonder if having smaller hooks might be better...

Hey guys, Just getting into customizing, or upgrading the hooks on my crainkbaits — both square bill and lipless. What do you guys do as far as choosing a size for the replacement hooks, EWG vs. Round (From what I understand EWG gets through grass a little better?) and short shank vs. regular etc. And for the size, I want to use as small of a size as I can get away with, and also I don't want to negatively affect the action of the lure, so I'm thinking I want to stay around size 6, but this may be too small. I notice, depending on the crank, some cranks have different size hooks for the front and back. I guess, how do you determine the size of the stock hooks that are in the lures, in order to change them out with the right sizes? I'm lost LOL!

This was gonna be mine. SUCH an amazing film ... and the entire movie is a metaphor for the typical "I caught a fish THIS big" story. Only, what you find out in the end, is priceless!

Those look good, man...nice work! Must be pretty cool to fish with your own personal lures. At least you KNOW the fish haven't seen 'em.

Well, I bought some, so we shall see ...

Yup, This. I'd love to be able to someday look back and say, yes that lure is definitely producing during the winter for me on this body of water, so why am I going to spend money on a bunch of different lures. Of course, that can change from season to season, and as fish get used to a bait, but mostly it's just me getting my data analysis fix. I do it with my trading too, and I'd be completely lost without it - journaling (or logging) as well. To each his own, though. If it felt like work to me, I would stay far away! hah

Took at look at these, they look pretty awesome, and looks like not a lot of guys are using them. When you say 7/10 casts were fish, was that one one outing I'm assuming? Also, what type of water are you fishing? And were you out deep or close to the bank? Obviously, the Bait Monkey is on my back ... @WRB ever fish blades in those waters, Tom? Maybe too shallow?

That's so funny, I'm the opposite there, too! I can't remember anything that happened in the past, always have been that way. I have what I call "movie amnesia,", meaning I can watch a movie I've seen 1 or 2 times before and I forget what happens and it's almost like watching it again for the first time. So, that, too, is a blessing and a curse lol! That would be amazing, and maybe I'll get there someday, @flyfisher. I could definitely see myself doing this at some point. Still a bit new to the game, and green in the gills if you will, so you never know what my OCD might produce someday! haha Yup! I can relate! Oh Yeah! That's what I'm talking' about!! Looks like your conclusion should be ... you're just a good fisherman!

Maybe I'm weird, but I've started doing this recently. My spreadsheet is VERY limited at the moment because I just started keeping it, but I'd be interested to know if anyone else does this and what the results have been. What's your number 1 lure for different seasons, etc, based on hard numbers? What's your number 1 crank bait (lipless / square bill), Plastic worm, Jig, Jerkbait etc.? I know there have been other posts on the topic of best lures, but I think it would be cool to see in black and white with numbers. Also, if you haven't been doing this, and you want to start, I'd love to see what the results are and I think others would too. Obviously it will be different for different guys/gals depending on bodies of water fished and location, but I still think we could get some good hard data going here if anyone is interested.

I've read somewhere on these forums that the Plano plastic in the boxes reacts with the Elaztech, and can make them gooey. Maybe someone can confirm, but I store mine in the bags in a speed bag.

Anyone having trouble using PayPal at TW? Also, right now and for the past hour or so, TW website is offline. Don't know if it's scheduled maintenance or what, but kinda weird ...

I realize this is old, but just out of curiosity, isn't this the park that has the 27 hole Disc-Golf course? I used to play disc golf there all the time, didn't realize it was ok to fish. What have you caught there?

My two cents... Schooling is completely and utterly overrated. Notice, I didn't say education is overrated, just schooling. Before I go on, I graduated from Pepperdine with a B.S. in computer science — Perfect name for the degree, IMO. you don't need to go to college, UNLESS : You want to be a lawyer or a doctor. Otherwise, forget about it. It costs WAY too much money, and you'll be paying off those loans forever. Instead, educate yourself in the field that interests you the most — the thing you LOVE doing. The thing you're really really good at. The thing that, when you do it, time seems to fly and you can't even believe that eight hours went by, and you can't wait to wake up and do it again the next morning. THAT thing. Then, figure out how to make money doing it. Spend the four years you would've spent at college and the 50-150K you would've spent starting a business doing THAT thing. Thank me later. Since college I've done the following : Worked at Oracle in the marketing department - office job, hated it. Thought I wanted to be a firefighter, so for 5 years I tried to get hired full time - was an EMT on a 911 rig for a major fire department, volunteer firefighter, etc. and realized it was too much like the military and I don't like authority, so I quit. Thought I wanted to be an actor, so for another 5 years or so I pursued an acting career. Had some roles, did kinda well, but soon realized I wanted to have a family and it was gonna take another 5 years or so to be successful enough to actually make any good money (based on my friends' experience). So I quit. Worked for a tech company for a little while, it was a startup. Used my comp. sci. background to get in and then sold my shares when we got bought out. Cashed in, which was nice, but the job itself sucked (IMO). — Mind you, I didn't use any knowledge I gained from my college time to get this gig — everything I learned about coding and computers I taught myself starting at about age 13. You could say the degree helped me get this opportunity, but really it was right place right time - I knew the founder personally. I worked in hospitality all through college and through my other jobs, so I thought I would open a restaurant. Boy did THAT suck! Everyone told me not to open a restaurant, but I didn't listen. 4 most stressful years of my life, but I learned a lot. I learned a LOT about what I DIDN'T want to do with my 80+ hours a week. I had a son during this time, and that's what made me sell the place. Made a little bit of money and sold 1 year before COVID. What a miracle! Since then, and actually during the time I had the restaurant, I've been trading (day trading stocks) for a living and LOVING it. Found out, I didn't want to be a computer guy, a firefighter, an actor, or a restauranteur — I wanted to be a Dad! And now I work from home, and love what I do every day, and get to be with my wife and kids. It's amazing! TLDR: Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. Why spend 40-80 hours a week making someone else wealthy and happy, since THEY get to spend time doing the things THEY want to do, and spending time with the people close to THEM while YOU are working your tail off? Where there's a will there's a way — don't take the "easy" way out (which is really the long, hard, day in and day out, clock in and clock out way) and just get a J-O-B. Find out what you love, what you're good at, and how you want to spend your life. No one ever said on their death bed, "Man I wish I would've worked more." It's always, "Man I wish I would've spent more of my time doing ______" Also, since you're young, find a way to put $300 - $500 a month into the stock market. Pick 5 companies you believe in, and that will be around forever (Think Apple, Tesla, Nike, Starbux etc.) and buy their stock each month, no matter what the current price is. In 30 years, you'll have millions. (maybe instead of one of the stocks, invest in BTC or ETH). Jim Cramer's first book, "Mad Money" is a great place to start. He will show you in that book how to pick 5 companies that are diversified, and how to do your "homework" on them every quarter, listening to their earnings calls and reading their balance sheets / cash flows etc. in order to either stay invested each month, or to move to a different company. Let your money work for you, and one day, you'll never have to work another day in your life, unless you WANT to. Hope you find this helpful, and best of everything to you. Oh, and tight lines!

Oh man, wish I could just do that ... fishing from the bank, so I'm gonna have to work it a little.

Nice fish, Blue! And beautiful Golden ... love those dogs. So looks like you don't (or didn't) shake it on the initial fall, and then sort of shake and retrieve at the same time. I gotta play around with my retrieve till I find what works, but this is where I'm gonna start.

Dude, this guy has got to be well into his eighties now, and he looks GREAT in this video I just watched where he says he's 80 - 25 fish an HOUR is his goal, and has been since 2008 or so. What a champ. I couldn't dream of anything near that. It's a Looooong video, but worth the watch IMO. So, it's a let it fall on it's initial fall, while shaking during the fall. Then, reel it a couple full reels (which, b/c you're using a really light Ned Head, it will make it come up in the water column a few feet). Then, the glide is the bait pendulumming (is that a word?) back to you and during this glide back you are shaking as well — do I have that right?

This just blew my mind... Are you referring here to the original Ned (forget his last name) and that video where he explains all the ways he retrieves the Ned Rig? Gotta watch that one again, and commit those to memory.

Karl's Bait and Tackle has pretty good prices and free shipping, but only IF you become a member — the price is $50 / year. I think TW is pretty good, as long as you're spending $50 or more, you get the free shipping so ... For me, I only go on eBay for cranks you can't find anymore, like the Norman DD14 etc.

Thanks, brotha — I appreciate the advice. I went ahead with the rod and caster @MN Fisher recommended. Stoked to get it and spool 'er up and practice/learn how to Baitcast hah. Now I just need to figure out what lures to buy ....argh. ?

Sweet, thanks for the info. Two more questions, if you have a sec... 1). What are your thoughts one lipless vs. square bill crank baits? I fish here in Cali at Casitas mostly, and I've fished both in the past but the lipless tend to get hung up a lot. Is there an advantage to lipless over square bills that makes it worth the risk of losing more baits? And then, what specific baits would you recommend for divers? I usually fish down to about 20ft from the bank, mostly 10-12 ft. 2.) You recommended the hybrid line. On my finesse rig I use 20lb braid to 8lb or 6lb flouro. Can you use a braid/flouro combos on a bait caster? (I mean, I know you can, but should you)? Is there a reason why you want a little stretch in the line for cranking, I guess is the question. And is 6-8lb flouro too light for most crank baits? Thanks, MN, you're the man!

Thanks. The Daiwa reel seems to be unavailable until March on TW and can't find it anywhere else, unfortunately. Must be a good one, hah @MN Fisher Do you think the 7.3 is too fast for cranking? It's the only one available on TW at the moment.

What's the 705CB? looking at TW now and can't find it .... is it a 7'0" like this one :

So, currently I only have a spinning rod, 7' medium fast and I use it for all my finesse stuff (t-rigs, wacky, drops shots) but I really want to start cranking a little too, in order to find out where the fish are and get them when they're more aggressive. So what I'm gathering is that, for cranking, you want a heavier rod, so what like medium heavy? But some are saying you want the tip to be kind of fast. Also, I guess I'm looking at like a 6.3 bait casting reel. Any additional info or clarification (or specific recommendations) would be appreciated. My budget is around $200-$300 for the rod and reel. Thanks guys.

How have I never seen a worm rigged this way, it's like a Texas/Wacky rig. or a weedless Wacky without the guard. So how do you fish this, then? Pulling it up in the water column and letting it fall, like you would a wacky, or dragging it along the bottom like a T-Rig?