J Francho

My biggest improvement has been swinging for the fences to get a lunker. The downside is you sometimes get skunked, or get a little discouraged, but it has been worth it. My other big add is fishing tournaments again for the first time in twelve years. I'd forgotten how fun it was.

I've witnessed small, swimming rodents getting eaten by some predatory fish - maybe a bass or a pike, but man they hit it hard. As a kid, I had a little mouse lure, and caught bass on it. Snag Proof has a plastic mouse similar to their frogs that would fit the bill. I've seen them in all the major sporting goods stores.

I haven't caught too may fish on the solid rubber frogs, mostly because I use other baits, specifically hollow frogs. I've done a lot of hollow body frog fishing this year, and hadn't given much thought to why I had just a few Snag Proofs in my bag in years past. Here is what I came up with: Snag Proof: all around good deal, good at weed/padless, good hookup ratio, durable Scum Frog: softest body out there, and best hook up ratio, tears up easily, inexpensive Spro: sublime action, tunable: cut one "leg" shorter than the other and you can walk the dog, body is too thick, you really have to wait to set the hook, lower hookup ratio, best colors, last forever, pricey Furbit: flat out unbelievable when nothing else works, pricey Basyrisky: they don't work, forget the name... :-X, actually, they are a different bait altogether, I like the smaller size Scumfrog Bigfoot: another weirdo hybrid, club/paddle feet are great for going through open water, then pads all in one cast. I think this is the bait that replaces all the paddle tail plastic frogs for me.

You need a decoy rig on your front deck, like a UL rig with a 3/4 oz. Cleo with a pink Senko trailer. Also, if it s a two day job, and you'll have a different non boater each day, put your console FF in demo mode, LOL. Seriously, I would guess that you know the hows, wheres, and whens about your "secret bats" - which are no secret at all really - and I'd think you'd almost always outfish the copy cat.

I hear you John. And I think its always good to question the what exactly the person was testing for. I don't feel that Dr. Jones is as interested in interpreting the data in a way that is favorable for his company as he is interested in finding some truth that his company can exploit to bring better products to the marketplace and more profit to his company. I work with statistics everyday, and the only truth in them is what you carve from the recordset to get your intended results. Four out of five dentists may actually only include five dentists, and four of them work at Crest, LOL. In this case, the good old plastic worm has proven one thing to me - it usually will catch some bass. There are better baits, sure, but its one bait you can set someone up with where they can actually learn how to fish. Its the second bait I like to introduce a newbie to, after a Senko .

The Plueger Element is a Purist with a paint job. They are sold through Dick's and the like.

But have you hooked them? What do you think the problem is? Maybe we can change that statistic for you . A Great Lakes 6lb. LMB on a jig:

Braid as a leader? NONE. I use Gamma or P-Line 100% Fluorocarbon Leader for abrasion resistance. Its worth noting I fish in zebe infested waters.

I've gotten hung up cranks back using mono or FC as well. You end up replacing the trebles at least once a year anyway, so bent hooks are a small price to pay. Using the "bow string" method usually pops it out. Sometimes just popping the line before the first guide is all it takes.

Nice rig. Switch out that Curado for an Alphas, and I'd be all over it . Let us know how that Castaway holds up in six months. Its on my short list.

You'll get a gamut of answers here. I use FC because it sinks - specifically 8-12#. I'll use mono as well for shallow, because it floats. So conflicting isn't it? LOL. I've even tried straight braid and with a mono leader, but it never felt comfortable to me. I have friends that are very good fisherman that use this setup and do well. You gotta try a few things out, and see if it works for you.

Use artificial bait. Its more sporting.

Too light for weeds.

I use a medium power graphite rod for cranks, but its the action that is different, due to a moderate taper blank. It has a slower bend. Avid AC70MM. Eventually, I'll add a medium heavy crank rod to the mix, probably an Avid AC70MHM. I find the slower rod helps absorb the initial shock of the reaction strike, and also helps me keep constant pressure on the fish to keep it from throwing the hooks.

Not really. I'm currently using All Stars and Kistlers, both cast and spin.

I like it too. T-Rigless!!!!

Darn it man, too many words! ;D T-rig has a weight. What you wanna call the weightless version? LOL.

I'll havta agree with ya their!! ;D I would like to hear your experience with both the weighted and unweighted snapper, how did you reach this conclusion? Muddy, my comment had absolutely NOTHING to do with the effectiveness of either rig at catching fish, but referred strictly to what we call a "Texas Rig." Without a weight its just weedless on a worm hook. I wish someone would name it though, it must be jealous since most of the other rigs have a name.

Although you are technically correct, I think common fishing nomenclature would include both weighted and weightless presentations. I'm on a mission to standardize rigging nomenclature ;D

Again, what kind of jigging? I've used 1# FC leaders for steelhead jigs, all the way up to 80# braid or 25# FC for heavy cover . In general, i'd say 12-15# mono/copoly or 50# braid for weedless jig n' pig type stuff. For finesse stuff, you can go lighter.

This is actually much closer to what I've seen naturally occurring in the waters I fish. Perhaps its the pollution in the Great lakes, LOL. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.petfish.net/articles/pix/1crayfish_lynn.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.petfish.net/articles/Invertebrates/blue_crayfish.php&h=312&w=325&sz=25&hl=en&start=7&um=1&usg=___TZPKcYItRWzbLBgpZw7eIg78wc=&tbnid=l1nAOrHKXbq6EM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblue%2Bcrayfish%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

LOL, Check this guy out: The color is natural, and selectively bred in captivity, BUT>>>> On my home waters, I have caught several crayfish that have blue highlights (not electric blue) in their coloration. I also think blue is a key color in lakes that contain alewife. I'm not a huge color guy myself, but I can accept that blue works pretty often. BUT>>>> as you have pointed out that many catch fish on such and such color in such and such lake because that is all they throw, I made a discovery this past weekend that I suspect was influenced by color. Red GYCB twin tail grubs flat out fished black. It didn't matter what color the jig or the skirt was, as long as it had that trailer. I still slap a black or black blue trailer on 99% of the time, since that's what I have in the box. ;D

Personally, I think you can do most everything with a heavy or medium heavy x-fast casting rod. In fact, I'm adding six to the old gun rack this winter. Add in a DS rod, a shorter TW rod, a cranking stick and you have it all covered. You might add and x-heavy flipping stick, if that's your style as well.

I guarantee they aren't hobos. Aluminum is getting good money these days (ask yourself why Lund is building glass boats) and the current economic climate is like throwing gas on the crime fire.

Nice with the iron stomach. I'm crazy, but man, are you coming out ahead long haul with that stuff? If you are - kudos, because it takes a lot more research than I can deal with. I consider "short term" stuff as a quarter by quarter thing. I don't have the skills to do what you are doing. Wow.