tyrius.

Should I be removing any split rings if I use a snap?

I think what RW is getting at is to just make a LARGE loop and you shouldn't have much of an issue. To me it seems much easier to use a palomar knot on a snap/clip and then connect that to the lure.

Actually, from what I have read the bait typically NEEDS a split ring, snap, or rapala knot to function correctly. The rapala knot puts a loop in the end of the line. All of these allow the bait to wiggle without moving the entire line through the water. With a direct tie like a cinch knot the bait is forced to move the line through the water which requires more force so the wiggle of the bait is impaired. At least that's what I've come to understand.

You'll catch fish on a 3" worm. Those fish could be anything from bluegill, to bream, to crappie, to bass though. In order to weed out the smaller fish it is typical to use a bait that is larger than a 3" worm. I typically use 6" berkley power worms.

I just wanted to try and include everything. I also don't see how it would be very easy to tie a palomar knot on a crankbait or even worse a jerkbait, but just wanted to throw it in there.

So, I've just started fishing crankbaits and other hardbaits and am now trying to decide what the best way is to tie these things on. I've done some searches and found A LOT of differing opinions. Reading Rapala's site they recommend the Rapala knot. Reading other custom crankbait makers opinions here they seem to recommend the snap. It looks to me like tieing directly to the lure (no split ring) with a knot other than the Rapala would have a detrimental effect on the lure action. Since, I'm fairly new to all of this stuff I thought I would poll the audience and see what I could gather from your collected wisdom. Thanks!

I'd mainly change the shad crankbait colors to bluegill or bass and the spinnerbait away from white to more yellows/greens/blues. There aren't any shad in the waters that I fish so I need to match to the forage of the water I fish. I would say that for cranks you need to match the dominate forage and then have a bright color too, same with the spinnerbaits.

The biggest problem is that your "Eat-Fish-Sleep-Fish-Repeat" quote will turn into Work-Sleep-Work. Owning a small business take a ridiculous amount of time and can rapidly sap the enjoyment from one's hobby.

I agree. To quote Reel Mechanic. I think 15 years is a pretty good lifespan for a spinning reel with a trigger. ;D I actually liked his point on the reel being better balanced without a trigger. That one makes a lot of sense and would probably justify the extra steps in having a reel without one.

I hear this all the time, but I've used my current reel (with trigger) for 15 years and don't notice a difference in hooksets with it compared to a baitcasting reel. With my hand on the handle I can control any backplay in the hookset. Maybe I'll just fish with the current crappy reel with instant anti reverse and see if it makes any difference in hooksets. I know that that reel takes much more effort to cast though.

That was my exact reaction! It's amazing how one can do things the hard way for so long and never realize that an easier method exists.

Some really great advice that I read here regarding the palomar knot is to put the end of the line through the eye and then put it back through the eye to create your loop. This way you don't have to force the folded line through a small eye. I never used the palomar before that because I hated trying to get the loop started. After reading that simple piece of advice the palomar is MUCH easier now.

Is this really only a concern in presentations such as trolling or dropshotting or other presentations where your hand is not on the reel handle at all times? When reeling in with my current trigger reel I've got my hand on the handle pretty much at all times so my hand is keeping the reel from reversing. Decisions, decisions, decisions... :-/

Why don't they prefer them? Is it the non-instant anti reverse? I really like the trigger on mine now and am leaning towards getting another, just trying to see why they are not preferred.

I've got one right now. It was my first spinning reel and I still use it (it's oh probably over 15 years old)!! Shimano makes GOOD stuff!!! 8-)

I've never fished one yet. I don't doubt that they work well for many people, but he said it isn't working for him.

You may want to think about throwing some shallow cranks patterned like the baitfish that the bass are feeding on. I grew up fishing ponds just like this and that's still what I fish. These bass typically eat a diet of little bass, sunfish, and if they are there minnows. They'll look at a fat ika and say what the H is that thing!?!? But throw them a bait that matches their natural forage and you'll more than likely catch them. One of my most productive baits ever is the Rapala Jointed Minnow in silver. The next most productive is a 6" power worm in motor oil color. I never caught a fish off of a jig or a spinnerbait until I fished a few lakes in college. Fish that are feeding will seek cover to ambush from. As someone said in another thread if I had to fish a perfectly circle lake with one rock in it, I concentrate on that single rock.

So, does anyone here fish with the trigger systems (like the Shimano Quickfire) on their spinning gear? I'm trying to decide whether or not to get it on my ultralight setup. I like it because it is very easy to cast. However, like all of these systems it does not have instant anti reverse. Is this just an area of personal preference or should I really go without the trigger system?

It is kind of difficult to tell what you are asking. Are you talking about feeling the blade vibrations coming through your rod tip? If so, that's good. It puts you in better "contact" with your lure so you know exactly what is going on with it. If you go through some weeds and the blades get fouled you'll know immediately. You'll be able to feel the lure hit anything in the water (wood, rocks, weeds).

I've got the black one with the red blade. No luck with it yet (but I haven't fished it too much either). So, here's to hoping I can get out this weekend and try it out.

Are you saying that the actual individual molecule of oil blocks the fish's olfactory lobes? It seems to me that an oil based "attractant" will not disperse well in water and since it does not disperse the bass will not be able to "smell" it from a distance. However, the oil will remain on the bait and once the fish gets close enough to that bait (or even bites it) some of those oil molecules will pass through the fish's olfactory system and be registered. That is unless a single molecule of that oil is too big to interact with a fish's olfactory lobe. This doesn't seem to make sense though as those molecules are still relatively small.

He's got it on his website. http://www.bassprofessor.com/askdoug.php

Added it to the wish list!!! Thanks.

Sure you won't, but getting a pretty good idea of the spring time water temperature helps to determine the manner that I will be fishing the pond/lake. Getting a reasonable approxiamation will hopefully limit some of the time trying to figure out what to fish.

Snopes isn't saying that this forward is untrue. They are saying that they are still researching it. My feeling is that everything in it is probably true, but would not effect the actual cost of filling up significantly.