The Rooster

I remember when the banjo minnow was being shown on TV late at night. A buddy of mine bought one when Wal-Mart had them on clearance for $10, and they ended up in my tacklebox after he didn't like them. I threw the hooks and that stupid spring thing away and just kept the bodies to fish like a fluke. They didn't work as well and I never caught a single fish on them. Unlike the fluke which slays the bass. Had a buddy who went on and on about the helicopter lure. Then he bought the kit. I was not with him the day he took them fishing, but it's been over 10 years since I've heard him mention them and I NEVER found out how good they were or weren't that day. Probably didn't want to tell me. : Then we saw the flying lure on TV, same buddy talked about how good that one looked. I don't know if he ever got that one though. The one lure I'd say I fell for was the Renegade Crippled Shad. It was a Wal-Mart brand lure (Renegade brand licensed by Wal-Mart). I'd say it's classification would be a topwater. It didn't have a lip like a crankbait does. It was an ugly looking lure that had a curved metallic body roughly shaped like a fish, with dimples all over it like a golf ball has, yellow 3-D eyes that looked like a marble cut in half and glued onto the surface, and it floated on it's side, and had a feather dressed treble hook in the rear like any other hard bait, but the front treble hook was attached to the lure body's side instead of the belly. The lure was bent in the middle to mimmick a dying fish floating on the surface with its head just beneath the surface. Like a ( that is. When you pulled on the line the lure would dive below the surface very lazily sort of using the head like a lip on a crankbait, and then float up again as soon as you let off. Otherwise I didn't find any other way to work it besides just letting it sit motionless in the water. It stayed in my tackle box for a few years, tried it a couple times, didn't like the way it worked at all, and never caught a fish on it at all either. I don't know what I ever did with it, likely gave it away. Paid about $4 for it so no big loss.

I've wondered a hundred times over what some lures actually look like from the fish's point of view. Don't have access to a pool though. Thought about having someone else cast into the lake with me in the water to watch them but didn't trust anyone not to hook me.

Thanks for all the reviews. Just one question........why have you owned all those reels?? If I had half of those I'd never need another one. That's a lot.

12 years ago when I first got into fishing, EVA foam grips were everywhere. Now the only rods I ever still see that have them are the Shakespeare Ugly Stik and a few other K-Mart $9.99 specials. About everything else has cork. Any reason why?? Not that I'm complaining, I'm actually lovin' the cork handles on my rods. All but one I own have cork and I'm likely to soon replace the one EVA foam handled rod I still have. Just wondered is all.

And just in case it ain't concrete, but instead plastic lined..........STAY CLEAR OF THE WALLS WITH THE HOOKS!!! ;D

Please do cause I was actually wondering how this reel would perform. I bought the Extreme and I'm totally satisfied, but still was looking at that reel you got just cause it is so low in price, and seemed like you really got a lot more for the money than it was selling for.

I took a look at that reel and it seems like a great deal, especially at the sale price of $40. If you want a good reel for not much money, then that's the only one I'd consider in that price range. I got an Extreme though and I love it so if I get anymore then that's what I'd have to get nexttime. The inertia brakes inside the Extreme are just too nice for me to go back to the magnetic brakes the Bionic Plus uses.

I actually read an article were Kevin Vandam recommended that so I'd say it won't hurt the reel. However the chemicals in the water, I personally would not want all over my line. So if "I" did it, I'd have to change my line afterwards, and clean the reel while doing so.

Quantum Dance Class spinning rod, Bill Dance signature series, 6'6" long, medium power/fast tip. Sold originally for $50 at Wal-Mart but I acquired mine in a trade of one rod for another instead of buying it. I had a rod/reel combo that was only $30, made by Mitchell, but had the FLW logo on it from Wal-mart. The reel went bad after only a couple uses :. I didn't care for the rod so I never used it again. My buddy had that Quantum rod and didn't like how long the handle was on it. I told him I had one that was shorter and we swapped them. He was happy............AND SO WAS I!!! I have a Pflueger President 6735 spinning reel on it, spooled with 8 pound mono and man what a cast that combo will make. With a 1/4 or 3/8 oz. bait on it, 70 feet would not be an exaggeration. Being that it's graphite, it's pretty sensitive (to me), but I don't really have a comparison on it to a more expensive rod cause up until now I have never been willing to pay more than $30 - $40 for a rod. Starting to open up to the possibilities of it now though.

I voted right handed exclusively because I reel with my right hand ONLY. I'm a right handed person but I believe I actually use a spinning rod/reel as if I was a lefty. For a spinning reel, I cast left handed and reel right handed. A buddy of mine was the one got me into fishing and he's left handed. He loaned me a spinning rod of his to use and he had them all set up to reel right handed. I watched him cast so I could learn and he casted left and reeled right, so that's the way I learned to use one. He didn't tell me they could be switched and I didn't know until I had already gotten used to it. When I got my own rod later that summer I still used it the way I had learned from his rods. I remember when I first was casting the rod it felt wrong cause I was using my left hand but I got so used to it that I cannot do it with my right hand at all now. Now a casting reel, I cast right handed and reel right handed also......yeah I switch hands after the cast.

Wouldn't you just be sick if they did though?? At those prices I could only afford one reel maybe. And if it fouled on me then I'd be out of anything to fish with. I feel the pain of cheap reels not lasting though. Been there, done that MANY TIMES OVER. Still doing it though to some degree. Finally did spend just a bit more for a spinning reel, $60 for a Pflueger President. To me that's a lot for a spinning reel, but I'm trying to make myself come around to buying better quality gear so it does last longer. $100 for a baitcaster is about my limit on that, and until recently I never paid more than $30 or so for a spinning reel. Even the Shimano Sedona I paid $50 for last year, I wound up hating it and thought for a while that the extra money I paid was just wasted. But this Pflueger is changing my mind on that now. Even the Trion I also bought which was only $40 is better than average in my opinion. Maybe Zel would like one of those?? They are really good reels for the low price they are, I'm amazed actually. Just awesome for that little bit of money. Oh yeah, and I'm sure there will be some people who think that if I'd only spent all that money the first time on a good reel, I wouldn't have had to replace so many over the years. That's probably right........but having that much money on hand at one time was never an option. So it always just worked out that I bought cheap spinning reels.

I don't know specifically how long they are but they are different for different lengths of rod though. The 6' length rod seemed to look like an average length handle to me, maybe 8 to 9 inches of rear grip length (guessing)?? The 6'6" rod looks like it gains at least 2 inches of handle though, which I'm not crazy about either.

Anybody know where a good smallmouth bass fishery is in eastern Kentucky?? I fish Yatesville lake, Grayson lake, the Ohio river above the Greenup dam, occasionally Paintsville lake, and that's about it. I've heard that several of these lakes have smallmouth in them but it's rare to catch one. Tygart creek was a great place to catch them at one time but I haven't had any luck at all in the last few years fishing for them there. Blaine creek that formed Yatesville lake used to be loaded with them but after they built the lake the largemouth became the dominant fish in it. I'd love to get into some good smallmouth fishing locally if possible.

7" Berkley black power worm. I used to be able to call my shots with this lure texas rigged a few years ago. One summer that was the hottest lure I'd ever seen. Now and for the last 4 years or so I haven't been able to even get a nibble on this lure. What's even more maddening is the guy who first got me to fish this lure has caught numerous keeper bass on them and even already this year he's caught one on it right out of the back of my boat with both of us fishing the same lure. I got nothing on it. Still do not know why either. He just swears that is the only worm he needs, and at one time I would have agreed. Oh well, other lures have started to kick in for me this year that I used to never catch fish on, like crankbaits. I've had a lot of luck on those this year.

Coming from someone who only fishes artificial baits, I wonder if the Rebel Bumble Bug would pass for a cicada convincingly?? Here in eastern Kentucky, their running wild in the trees right now, spattered all over the windshield, laying dead in the roads everywhere, and at the lake I fish, the wooded hillsides are screaming with them. It's almost eerie to be out there fishing and listening to that. Thought many times about getting one of those lures to try it out.........I'm a fisherman who always tries to match the hatch as closely as possible with artificials.

Welcome. I'm fairly new here myself still, but I joined up right away cause I like to talk. Sometimes I don't know when to :-X

I'm the same way as harshman on crankbaits, I made them my little project this year, and just like him......so far so good. Now I just need a crankbait rod, cause I've missed about 1/2 the strikes I get on them due to pulling the lure out of it's mouth. Still though, that bass in my avatar fell to a crankbait a couple weeks ago, and it was my first keeper in a few years, so I must be learning. And spinnerbaits, I'm just like skillet, started out strong on them, fished them every time I went out, but over time I slowed down on them cause they stopped being productive for me (or maybe I fished them too much and lost confidence when they didn't produce). Now I fish one every now and again only. When I do I manage to catch one fish, maybe two, but that's about it. I need to get back into it again, and just as skillet says, when they hit it's no tap, tap, tap.....they just slam it!! That's a heartstopping feeling when your rod about gets jerked out of your hand and you realize your spinnerbait just got blasted.

Whenever I get that stray loop in my spool like that, I just strip line off the reel right there at the reel until I pull it out. Then hold tight the line and reel it all back in. I change my line several times during the year anyway, so line twist is not that worrysome to me but starting to close the bail by hand may get me out of changing it at least one time this year. I'm going to try some of that KVD line conditioner. I'm also gonna have the local tackle shop put my line on for me from now on so I'll have to just spray it on the spool after they do that. Won't penetrate as well, I know, but it's better than nothing. The tackle shop can spool it cheaper than I can buy it and do it, and I'm getting the same line.

Carp on a crankbait!!!! That's crazy. My brother is a carp fisherman and he's gonna flip when he sees that picture. That's just nuts, he'll never believe it. I wish I could catch keepers out of that lake like that. I did manage to yank one in this year though, so I'm on the board at least. Gonna try the U-tail worm more now. I usually do good with the red shad color, but I also have the june bug and pumpkin/chartreuse colors as well. Had them for a pretty long time now though, but still all fresh in the packages, not dried up. The red shad is about the only one I usually use. Otherwise I usually fish a Berkley powerworm, black 7" long ribbontail worm.

Oh, I've had countless tackleboxes in the past, HUGE big possum bellied ones, and they had spinnerbait racks in them. The thing about those is they didn't hold as many other types of lures as the bag system does. I'm really big into inline spinners like Roostertails, and I have about 100 of those in their own tray in the bag. None of the big boxes I ever had allowed for that kind of storage for those lures besides just dumping them all in several trays that allowed them to get tangled up. The tray I have them in keeps them separated by no more than 3 together. Plus it's really convenient to store soft plastics in their bags they come in along the side of the main bag inside the zipper compartments. Tackleboxes I've had in the past always had trouble storing more than a few bags of worms without sacrificing room for other things. Only one time after going to the bag did I lose my head and go back to a box again, and that was right after I got my boat and thought a box would be nicer for it. Didn't take long to sell the new box in a yard sale and go right back to a bag again. They're just soooo much nicer for tackle storage (but I have to design my own, haven't found a premade bag I liked better yet). If I can solve the problem of spinnerbaits in it, then I'll never look at a tacklebox again.

That's what I have right now too, have for years. But lately I've been wanting to consolidate it all into one carrying system instead of having a separate box just for spinnerbaits. Only thing I can think of though is one that allows them to lay on their sides. I keep buzzbaits that way, but the way they lay they are not kinked up in a bunch like spinnerbaits will be. Their shape allows for storing them in a rectangular section of the boxes and it keeps them laying out straight. The spinnerbaits would need a larger, more square shaped section and it will allow them to flip around and get knarled up pretty good. Just wondered if the skirt strands would form kinks in them if that happened. I don't really have a problem with the strands sticking together on my buzzbaits so I'd say the spinnerbaits wouldn't either. But I store my tackle in the house right in my bedroom when not using it, so it's air conditioned in the summer, and warm in the winter. It's never stored in extreme temperature areas where that might happen. I use a duffle bag for a tackle bag, filled with Plano boxes of various sizes. I'm either gonna get one of those to use for spinnerbaits (likely NOT the one they make for them), or use a spinnerbait wallet with the zip up pouches inside it like a worm wallet has. That way I can stuff it in one of the zip up pockets on the side of the bag. As it is, I currently carry about 30 or more spinnerbaits, the box will hold 33 the way I put them in it, but I probably don't use more than the same 7 to 10 baits.....EVER. I could probably get by with less than that. So carrying all those others is pointless for me.

What is ICAST?? :-? I have always thought Quantum made good reels. Just always found something else I liked a little better is all. Only own one Quantum reel and it's 12 years old now. An old EX250, 2 bearing baitcaster, bought at Wal-Mart way back when for $50. Still using it today though. It doesn't have 12 years of use on it though, for a long time it sat in a drawer at home. Just this year and last year after about 5 years down, I got it out and have began catching bass on it again.

If I store spinnerbaits inside one of the wallets made for them, or in some other container that does not allow the skirt to hang down in straight strands, will it kink the strands in the skirts having them all bunched up in a wad?? Similar to how a soft plastic worm develops a kink when it's bent inside the bag for a while. I'm wanting to put them in a Plano tackle tray to put in my tacklebag instead of carrying a separate box for them.

Does that not make the line greasy feeling?? Like Armor All on a car dash??

Hey, what are you talking about spooling your line in the opposite direction?? I have tried spooling with the label up on the roll, and then with the label down. Sometimes it works better one way but not the next time. Don't know why. Now I have started doing it the same as I do for a baitcaster, rolling off of the spool and onto the reel. More recently, I've decided to start letting the local tackle shop do it for me since it's so cheap and they have a machine to do it. And I took my new reels fishing today and made sure to close the bail by hand. I think I like it. Gonna start doing it.