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I think he does it to be noticed and so that fans will talk about him, like we're doing right now. Ike is an accomplished angler, there is no doubt about it. But for what ever reason, he hasn't been in the winner's circle much recently. So by flipping out, he gets noticed. I think it's an Act. I understand the his passion for the sport, but I think this is something else. It revolves around paying the bills. And he's the only one doing it. If Every Pro totally lost it every week - "Going Ike" would mean very little. I do not care for the "Loss of control" act he displays. Some do and the producers must like it also, as they ensure it makes it into every broadcast. It's like Reality TV, some like some don't. A-Jay

You are absolutely correct. Now, having said that, I have previously stated that one of the things that separates, or rather elevates KVD above many other pros is his ability to control his emotions. In so doing he does not waste time having tantrums or celebrating a good fish lost or caught. He may do such things, but I have never seen it when he loses or catches a hog. He treats it as just any other cast, and goes right back to fishing without wasting time emoting. That is something to be admired and emulated. I would say what really bothers me about Ike's outbursts is that some applaud them as something to be emulated simply because it's entertaining. My attitude on such things is probably based on my years as a commercial lobsterman. I had to learn to live with gear that got ruined or lost due to storms, or being torn up by draggers. I'll never forget one particular incident. We had seven hundred pots fishing very productive bottom. All the gear was well marked with high fliers at both ends of the half mile long trawls with radar reflectors at each end plus a flag on the northwest end of the trawl. They were also marked with inflated polyform balls two feet in diameter. On a calm clear night we witnessed a large scalloper towing through our gear. The high fliers were easily seen in the radar and they appeared as a series of blips on the screen. When all was said and done, the scalloper had towed up nearly three hundred of my traps which were never found. The average cost per trap including the ground line and terminal gear was over fifty bucks per, totalling fifteen grand, plus the catch they did not produce for the rest of the season. On that trip we caught over six thousand dollars worth of lobsters, or fifteen dollars per pot. Those three hundred lost pots cost me 4500 dollars in stock for that trip, plus what we lost in stock for the remaining two months of the season. Was I angry? Darn tooting I was. But I didn't react by destroying more of my gear. And one other thing. I had to pay for every bit of my gear. No sponsor to replace what I lost. That was neither the first nor the last of several times I had lost gear, but thankfully no others were nearly as bad.

I have a Curado 200e that I need to get a new rod for. What are opinions on either a Crucial or Dobyns Savvy. Planning to use the rod for bottom contact lures.

I'd tell her what I told my wife well ex wife I work to fish you buy what you want and i'll buy my fishing stuff as long as your not taking food off the table there isn't anything wrong with a fishing supplys . I also told her there were three things I was going to do in life fishing working and another word that starts with an f and fishing comes first.

Encroachment- I'll flat tell them to move along. If it's a tournament there is a measure of distance they cannot move within without your agreement. They won't get my agreement in that situation; almost without exception. Docks- No, I won't pull in several docks, or even a hundred and fifty yards in front of them. I'll fish directly behind them and catch fish they've missed. I've won quite a few tournaments from doing just that, that they not only donated their entry fee and then I caught my limits behind them makes it that much more enjoyable. I particularly love doing it when someone pushes in on me. Yes, I'm being cocky about it, because on the vast vast majority of the tournament lakes that I fish the greatest majority of anglers have no idea how to attack and approach the docks. Do it right and the rewards are there. Do it wrong and I'm gonna wax the floor with you by fishing behind you and catching everything you missed.

I always fished stingray grubs on an exposed hook jighead. Hookset accordingly, a short sharp snap of the wrists.

9 times out of 10 I walk it like a spook or a sammy. I use a quick retrieve (as fast as I can walk it) at first to see how the fish react to it. If no takers I slow down. I don't usually stop it at all, but have used a stop and go retrieve on occasions. This goes against the grain a bit, but I start the cadence up as soon as it hits the water and found that I get more hits that way then letting it sit until the water rings are gone. Hope this helps. Oh, I do one more thing. If I'm looking for a really slow retrieve, I snap the rod tip down hard and let the bait seal under water...it can be deadly at times.

Wow, that's impressive fosure! I'll have to look into Triline. Beautiful fish btw!

You definitly didnt waste your money, that might be the deal of the century in fact. I have NEVER had an issue with breaking dt's due to the fact that I a) don't slap them on the water to get weeds off I dont fish them very often in rocks. Since the dt series has come out, it has been one of my top producing cranks I have ever used - throw the bait with confidence and you should be just fine.

I have a tackle tray full of DT06's and have yet to break the bill on a single one. I bang them off of rock, wood, cinderblocks, bricks, everything, and not once have I broken the bill on one. I have wore the bills down on a few to where the front edge of the lip is fairly close to the eylet, but they havent broken. Not sure if ya'll got a bad batch or what, but they have outlasted most of the bandits, bombers, and strike kings that I used. More importantly, they run true out of the box. For a little over a buck a piece, you basically stole them. An EXCELLENT crankbait that has proven itself to catch fish and will be around for a while. As a rule of thumb, I dont smack my baits on the water to get weeds off period. Its a bad habit and could potentially scare fish in the area so I don't do it. As Sam stated above, cast them to shallow areas (4-5 feet) with sandy bottoms and let them stir up the bottom. I usually reel in 3-4 turns of the handle on a 7.1, then pause for a split second and start again when running it across sandy bottoms. This has produced well for me. If you find rocky bottom, do the same but retrieve the with a slower turn of the handle to where you feel the lure just barely nicking off the rocky bottom. I generally dont like the crank to dig too hard into the rock, just contacting it enough to cause a deflection of the lures path. Again, its a fantastic lure that you purchased dirt cheap. Dont hesitate to throw them anywhere, if you lose or break one it only cost you a hair over a dollar. Also, if you are fishing where the fish are, your gonna loose some lures so remember that its just part of the game. Best of Luck