bunkerbstr

Yea, I had the same thing happen with the Sexy Spoons. I bought a half dozen of them and 4 out of 6 are now 100% silver, the other two are still in the pack. SK has decent customer service and will likely replace them for you, but the same thing will happen again unless they've changed the paint. It's tough to get paint to adhere to them. I suppose you could try using some sort of clear coat on top of them, though I've never tried. I'd be inclined to try Envirotex but would likely alter their action. That said, I've used them and they work with or without the paint.

I'd go with Trilene XL for spinning reels. Fairly inexpensive and high quality. BPS Excel mono is another great line and very reasonably priced. I'm not sure who makes that stuff for BP, it is very strong. I love Big Game but it is stiffer and seems more suitable for B/C reels.

I picked up one of the Subwalks last year. I tied it on and messed around with the retrieve. The mentions above of working it like a jerkbait is where I've had modest results. Give it a rip with some slack in your line to allow it to dart in each direction - the more slack you give it, the more it will glide. Overall, the action seemed pretty cool, just like a Sammy/Spook but underwater. If you're a fan of the sure-set hooks, it has them, though I ditched the feathered treble on mine and it helps it walk a bit better. The feather seems to drag it down. I did catch a couple of fish on it, nothing more than a couple of 2 pounders though. To be honest, I don't think I've used it more than an hour or so. I won't totally knock the bait but IMO there are other baits that may be better suited for an erratic sub surface action, i.e. LC Pointer. ;D

Awesome baits, seems they get lost in the box when we have Sammy's, Wake Tails, Spooks, etc. Thanks for the reminder though, I'm gonna dust them off. Agreed, the black jointed (the big one) is great in the dark. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgple, kablooosh! Haha.

I recently picked up one of those Plano Line Spooling boxes from BPS. It definitely is easier than having my wife hold the spool with a pencil. Haha.

Agreed. Top: Yo Zuri. Middle: Mann's. Bottom: Possibly a Bandit, I recognize the lower half body paint as a bandit, but not the top as mentioned likely a repaint. The only thing that is throwing me off from it being a Bandit is the line tie - it looks like an old Bagley's in that respect. Sometimes it's easier to tell the brand by the shape of the lip of the bait too.

They'll work fine on a dropshot and you'll catch a few more fish on them too. Roboworms are great but rarely do you get more than one fish on a Roboworm. Give them a try, if you don't like them for Dropshotting, TX rig them, Shaky Head etc.

It looks like you have enough space to mount the charger. Those things get hot so you'd want to have good ventilation. Though it appears you have the 5-5 which doesn't get quite as hot as a higher amp model would. Ventilation is always a good thing. I've had a few of those BPS chargers go bad on me over the past few years for heat related issues - the good thing is BPS customer service exchanges it no problem. If possible use the heaviest gauge wire extension cord you can while charging and keep out of the hot sun when charging. I'm not an expert in this area but I've heard this from guys who know about this stuff. Good luck.

Rage Tails or twin tail grub.

Correct, the MD is the Medium Diver, there will be a deep diver coming out in the near future. I haven't seen the DD in person, but we can assume it'll be a bigger size than the current models. That new Bream color is sick.

Never ceases to amaze me the size of the fish that come out of that lake. Congrats, great catches.

Lipless crankbaits ripped off the bottom. If the water is clear, try the jerkbait too. SM or LM will eat either of these choices. Mix sizes & colors up to see what they prefer.

Agreed, great baits. Like most guys, I have at least a dozen of them and get beat up, which is a good thing. The worse a bait looks the better. I've yet to find a place where the 1 minus didn't work when the fish are busting stuff near the top.

I had a chance to check out some of John's prototypes he was carrying around a few months ago. There are several new colors coming out in the near future. In addition to new colors, there will be a deep diving model that will be out later this year - likely debut at the ICast show? The protos I saw were: Bream and a few variations of old favorites. Good looking baits, quality components and paint.

Oldham screwlock heads are nice. I'd get a few different weights 1/8-3/8 depending on depth you're fishing. I like the kind with the wire weedguard. Give the weedguard a few ups & downs to get it flexible. If you can find the light wire hook version get those, if not the heavy hook is good too. I've never fished the twin tails on these heads only the single tails, but I'm sure it'll work just as well. Check out some of the Football heads too if you're fishing around rock.

The Spro Frogs sit differently and their action is a lot different than the Scum Frogs. One thing that helps with hook-ups is if you open the hooks up a bit. They'll fill with water after a while so either cut a small hole in the rear or give them a squeeze every few casts or they'll begin to sink and hinder its walking ability.

It sort of has the look of the Gamakatsu G-lock hook. Pretty darn close.

I picked up a couple, they're still sitting in the box though, but not for long. ;D They look good. If they're anything like the original I'd say they'll work just fine. Speaking of which, Spro is coming out with a jumbo frog soon.

Thanks for the welcome Basser89. Kar, There is limited access on Rocky Gorge from shore. You can fish near Scott's Cove (launch ramp/moored boat area ) and around Suplee ramp. There was a ramp off of Brown's Bridge road but I've heard they closed it a year or two ago. It was very shallow up there. That said, it was a decent place to fish years ago, but I haven't fished Brown's area in at least 5 years. I've never fished from shore at Rocky Gorge, always from a boat. Permits are available on Brighton Dam road at the guard house. They really went up in price this year. The annual is $60, the daily use is $5.

It's good to practice & stick with a bait until you feel comfortable and have confidence with it. Use it on different bodies of water under different conditions and see what works best for you. I'm not married to any specific bait or technique. I like the bait(s) that work on any given day. After a few years of trying new baits/techniques you will have several things that you know you can catch fish with and have a lot more options which in the end will make you better. Good luck.

Stanley Ribbits are sweet baits. I've been on them for a few years now and have had my share of problems with them rolling over and ultimatley costing me fish. Stanley makes a hook with a light weight at the nose (mentioned above) that works well and is the best I've found for overall consistency. I've also use the Zoom Frog hooks on them, though they are not weighted so they'll roll on you. To remedy this, try using a lightly weighted swimbait hook. You don't want a lot of weight, just enough to act as a keel. One other thing, make sure you right it perfectly straight, if you mess it it up, re-rig it till you have it straight. It will help with the rolling too. Good luck.

Slug-Gos are cool baits. It's one of those baits that is seldom thrown anymore. Everyone throws a senko. A different action with the Slug Go and can be fished any which way just like the senko. TX rig and Carolina rigging is how I've fished them. Been a couple of years since I have. Thanks for the reminder, I've got a few bags I'm gonna dust off and give them a soaking.

I second the Chronarch BPV. I've had that reel for a few years and love it. Casts well and the bigger deep divers won't beat ya up so bad with the slower speed. Only drawback I hear about the Chronach's from people is their smaller spool/less line capacity. It hasn't gotten in the way as far as my fishing goes.

Great advice from everyone. I will concur. When you start them out, it's all about them, leave your rod at home and be there for help when needed. One other thing that's cool, is if the fishing gets slow, take them around the shoreline, show 'em a crawdad, water bugs, dragonflies and stuff like that. My son always seems to come home with some type of souvenir from the lake. Food & drinks a must. Enjoy and take some pics for memories.

Gamakatsu has a pretty decent hook for wacky rigging. It's a light wire hook and I think is what you're looking for. 4-5" stickbaits I use the 2/0 size. I've used these for several years and they work pretty well: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_54751____SearchResults