Bazoo

I've always just used whatever came on the reel, but after trying a Lews reel with their flat paddle style handles, I'm considering changing my main reels to that type. My 2 main reels are Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier 2 reels, and while I don't dislike the handles, I loved the Lews handles I tried. I gave the Lews reel to a friend that liked it better than I did. Now... there is another thing. I never caught a fish with the Lews reel. I did fish it some, but very little; I mostly casted with it in the yard with my boy. I cast it quite a bit. I think it'd do well actually playing a fish.

This is interesting, as I'm interested in modifying rods to suit my fancy. Did you ever find a solution?

I don't currently have a bass boat, but I couldn't stand on one for very long if I did. I have poor balance due to some medical issue. I don't fall a lot, but I feel off balance a lot. I prefer to sit anyways, so if I ever get a bass boat, I'll be setting it up for primarily sitting.

I've loved the Excalibur Spit'n Image since I was a kid. I have only ever fished it one way though. That is by giving it short, medium power jerks, thereby causing the lure to cut sideways a bit. If I do it right, I can work the bait in semi-circles a long ways. It seems to be the best way. Once in a while I'll get it to jump out of the water too, but I haven't mastered how to make it do that yet. I never really "learned" how to fish the lure, I just started playing with it and ended up with my technique. Is this the way others fish it? Do yall walk the dawg? Am I missing out on something great?

Texas Rig, weightless and weighted (with the option of converting to Carolina rig by adding a split shot up the line to peg the weight) Crankbaits Spinnerbaits

Interesting and informative conversation, thanks all for sharing.

I have one I use quite a bit. It's smooth, balanced, it has a good drag, and is just a reliable workhorse of a spinning reel. I've used mine about a year, and it was used when I received it as a gift. I prefer it to a Pflueger president, and for that matter, to all the other spinning reels I've owned or tried.

Lots of interesting information to be gleaned here, thanks all for sharing. Thanks Tom for sharing your knowledge. I'm learning Carolina riggin', and as such, I came across the split shot rig as a finesse type of the Carolina rig. I think both will be great additions to my arsenal.

Thank you. I've not tried any floating plastics yet. I bet that BPS floating lizard will tickle my fancy as I already love Zoom lizards.

I have always liked the Excalibur lures. I have an original Spin N imagine I take with me all the time. I can’t say it’s much different than the new spot n imagine but I seem to have more confidence in it. I like the old fat free shad and the new fat free fingerlings and guppy too. I don’t have any more of the old ones.

While I do have occasional bycatches other than the intended quarry, largemouth is my target species. I don't specifically target smallies, but of course, they get in the mix anywhere you fish for largemouth in their respective range.

This crankbait was a gift, and in a color I wouldn't have chosen for myself, I caught several on it until it "went under". The walmart crankbait worked well at the river. I still have it after several trips to the river, which is somewhat headshaking, since I'd rather lose a cheap $2 lure than a $6 lure. It does work though and seems to be holding up well. They didn't like this one, only fish I caught on it for a long time of trying and then lost it. Lost the bandit 100 unfortunately. That color worked well and I can't find another one locally. This one was a nice one, love the orange eye too. Carolina rigging in current works! I used this one for my phone's lockscreen picture. Carolina rigged a hellgramite. Surprised I didn't lose the deep diver... but she's still in the box. Might not be "my type", but sure is a healthy one. Got these at a private lake... only thing that was working one hot day. Coaxed one with a lizard. Went to the river one day and didn't get anything but this gar... but wow! I'd never caught a gar before, and since they are so hard to hook, I was surprised. I lost the crankbait shortly afterwards.... darn it. It measured 34" long. I didn't weigh it but it was about 5 pounds. If I recall correctly, the state record is 40lbs. An interesting side note... I was down to the same spot fishing yesterday evening, and with an identical replacement crankbait, and I hooked another gar, a smaller one. This time I had it foul hooked in the tail. I had it almost in, and was fixing to reach down to try to land it and it broke the line and swam off with a crankbait in it's tail. I hope someone catches it soon and removes the crankbait.

Thank you. I missed you too. I been reading here and there, but not able to post much because of poor phone service. I use my phone for a hotspot.

Love the dark spots on this one. Same fish as above, but better picture. Pretty

Been getting on them at a neat spot on the Nolin River. Lost most of these lures too! And here we are a private lake with willing participants. I try new colors, techniques, and new spots on the 2 acre lake.

Howdy, hope you're still around! I have been learning the Carolina rig, and I always thought it a deep water lure. But I was wrong, having succession the shallows with other techniques have failed. Thanks all that have contributed.

Interesting conversation, and one I've pondered some. I prefer offset worm hooks to EWG hooks. I use EWG sometimes, if they happen to be the size I need for the baits I'm rigging, or if I feel I need the extra gap for a thick plastic. Most of the time if I need more gap, I go to a larger hook size rather than to an EWG.

An interesting thread and full of information, thank you all for sharing. I'm learning Carolina riggin' and I've had a little success so far, enough that I think it's going to be a great addition to my arsenal. Thanks all again.

Losing the lure would be the most common reason. I always consider changing whenever I'm doing well, just to experiment to see what else works. Sometimes I'll change color/size with no change, and sometimes with a noted change. I've never had the occasion to change between brands of otherwise nearly identical lures. I have though had the occasion that the bite died down with one color of crankbait, but changing to a different color of an identical model continued to produce.

I heard Bill Dance say that he thought that a given lure/color combo would work regardless of the company that made it. So if, for example, a crankbait in sexy shad works from Berkley, and you switch to another brand, but the same style of crankbait in the same color, it should continue to produce fish as if there was no change. Has anyone found this to be true?

Thanks for the replies. No, the rod wasn't free to begin with. I suppose the new rod is worth $10, though I don't particularly care for the action of the one I have. I like it okay for spinnerbaits and some other things, but it's not what I consider an all around rod, which is what I was wanting. I was under the impression a Berkley Lightning rod was considered decent quality. I wanted to try it, and I was in need as I lost the tip-top insert out of the one this one replaced. I would like to try some rod covers since I've never used one.

Hmm... How does it work? Thanks Glenn! I appreciate you chiming in with videos. Thanks Glenn! I appreciate you chiming in with videos.

I contacted Berkley and showed them pictures. Their response was, paraphrase, "We'll send you a replacement rod for $10."

I enjoyed reading this thread, thank you all for sharing.

@ol'crickety I'd very much like to hear your assessment of my rating.