scott k

Excellent post! Thank you. I also like to pitch into the thick mat using heavy bullet weights (1 to 1.5 ounce) with T-rigged plastic craws, preferably Powerbait Chigger Craw. That has become my favorite way to fish.

Rob, I just got the letter from FLW yesterday stating that I'm on the waiting list, of course they dont tell me how far down the list I am. I didn't have a boater to register with for "guaranteed status".

KVD, he's obviously a great fisherman but he also loves deer hunting and Metallica! If I ever met him I'd want to talk about bowhunting more so than bass fishing.

Hey Rob good luck at the upcoming tournament! Lacrosse is my home and Pool 8 Clinton St boat landing is my main launch site, I entered as a non-boater... so see you there!

Is there somewhere I can buy an extra spool for a new Curado 200D? I did some quick Yahoo and Google searches but didn't come up with much. Thanks.

You said summer so I'll just assume you mean July for the sake of my ideas. Here's where I'd start: The bay on the bottom left where it goes slowly from 2 to 14 feet. I'd probably start in the morning tossing some topwater in that bay starting at one of the manmade points and working my way around to the other. Then I'd go across the lake to the inside bend which kind of starts near the 16, start at that manmade point and work your way north. Then motor up to the next little bay to the north and try that. If there's wood in there I would think this would hold some fish. As the day goes on and the sun comes out I'd get into the weeds and pads in the backs of some of the bays and maybe around those islands. You'll need to get some more info or time on the water to determine amount and extent of timber, rock, and/or weeds. 300 acres isn't very big, you can cover a lot of water and options in a day. Good luck.

I agree with the last couple of posts, when I first got my Curado I was trying to adjust the brakes whenever I changed lure weight. Lately I just leave it alone (I think they're all "on"??) and it works weather I'm pitching, throwing spinnerbaits, or throwing a Moss Boss. Like I said in my other post, the Curado wins this match-up in my opinion.

I'm with you man! I can't catch jack-freakin-squat !! If I wasnt fishing an area that I know has good bass population (Mississippi River pool 8) I'd think there wasn't any bass around at all. I'm out 3 or 4 times per week from 3 hours to 10 hours per trip, and I dont think I've caught enough "keeper" bass total in the last 3 or 4 weeks to get on the leaderboard of a 1 day tournament. Thank god bowhunting is just around the corner, I'm getting very frustrated.

I have new (this year) a Curado 200 and a Revo STX, I definitely like them both but the Shimano is my favorite. It seems to be a lot "tighter", although I agree with other posters that the swing-away side plate to adjust the brakes can be a real pain in the azz. The Shimano is a much better pitching reel, if you're going to be using this for jig fishing does that mean you'll be doing mostly pitching/flipping right in the cover or are you going to be using it for deep water where you'll be casting? The Revo is a much better casting reel. My belief why the Revo casts better (less backlash problem when casting, more backlash problem when pitching) and the Shimano pitches better (less when pitching but more when casting) is because the different braking systems, magnetic brakes are better for casting and centrifugal brakes shine more when the spool speed doesn't get real high. So you have to ask yourself how will I most use this reel? I find both reels to be comfortable but they are also both different, that being said, after using the Revo for an hour or so it's almost like a hand massage when I pick up and start using that Shimano.

I had always been using the EWG hooks, I was running low on hooks last week and bought both the EWG and straight shank remembering (I think) that straight shank was supposed to give a higher hook up percentage. I tried the straight shank one afternoon and had 3 fish on and they all came off, after each of the lost fish I examined the bait and the hook didn't come far enough out of the plastic to get past the barb. Not sure I'll give em another try or not, depending, I guess, on what others here have to say. I was using a 4/0 t-rigged powerbait chigger craw.

I think the question was more theoretical not what actually happens in real life. Obviously a bass isn't going to pass up an easy frog meal because he wants to check out some rocks later in the day for a crayfish meal or he knows a school of shad has been hanging around some offshore structure. If you could somehow give a choice of those three to an adult bass, and the options all required the same energy to obtain, provided the same amount of substance/calories, and were all just as readily available which would it be? I change my answer from shad to crayfish after reading these repies.

A couple of weeks ago the question during the show (and online) was something like: an adult largemouth would prefer which of the following over all others? 1) crawfish 2) shad, 3) frog. Well obviously I waited too long to check the answer on his website and the correct answer has stumped me and a few friends. Does anybody KNOW the answer? Thanks. Edit: my answer was shad.

What are you going to be using it for? I've been using a Revo STX for the last month or so and it is a fabulous real for casting but it doesn't work as well as my Curado for pitching (and the Curado doesn't do as well as the Revo for casting).

Rebel Pop-R's for open water. Moss Boss for weeds and lily pads. Do any of you guys cut the factory hooks of of your Jitterbugs and replace them using split rings? My girlfriend's dad uses these all the time and they are a fantastic lure but he seems to lose more fish than he should and I think some split rings may help that. Any ideas?

Just wondering how often you guys re-spool your reels. Do you go by your gut feeling, when the line starts acting "not new anymore", after you've had a few snags and you needed to break them off, after fishing in and around lots of cover, once a year, the first of every month... Does the same apply in this instance whether it be mono, braid, or flourocarbon? I think I read once that KVD re-spools his reels after every single day of fishing because he feels it's that important, and let's face it, although he probably gets his line for free the cost of new line is still a very small fraction of the total fishing expenditures for the rest of us.

The Moss Boss is my first choice when I get INTO the slop, that thing really catches fish. Gander Mountain carries them.

I have the Lowrance x-125 and really like it. I think it was around $300 and I had to buy a hose-clamp type of mount for the transducer.

I have the same problem with the same line. I just let out a bunch of line while slowly motoring my boat, in essence trolling but without any lures/hooks/bait on. Drive for a hundred yards or so with the line under tension then reel the line in. That helps a lot to get out twist.

Hey RW: I started using this on my spinning tackle due to your recommendation and really like it but please clear something up for me. You always state that you use "#6" (number six), I haven't seen the Yozuri listed as anything other than "pound test". When you say #6 do you mean the 6# line? and does that have an actual breaking test of 11.9 lbs? Thanks.

I've always thrown a Moss Boss into that stuff and that works real well, but just tonight I picked up a Scum Frog due to recommendations from people here. I'm going to give that a try tomorrow.

Here's a few things that I think are required to have in a boat that aren't directly fishing related: Sunscreen Bug spray Handi wipes (I eat lunch most times out) A small plastic bag for garbage Spare fuses A whistle & maybe a couple of emergency rain ponchos I've been wanting to buy a spare prop and carry an adjustable wrench in case I hit rocks and need to change over while on the water but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Try a Moss Boss! Good luck.