catchnm

I fish Rage Craws and Baby Brush Hogs more than any other baits I own. I like to think of myself as "old school" with a mix of new techniques as well. Rage Craws are poured backwards to me. The eyes are on the wrong side of the bait according to where the hook slot is. I do, however always rig them where the eyes are up, which means the hook slot is on the bottom, or hook bend side of the bait. Tex-Posed always for these. It's easy as thru the head past the point, out the body, lay the hook flat against the bait and mark it with your thumbnail at the fartherest reaching point of the hook. insert completely thru the body there and then skin-hook back into the bait. I use mono or Yozuri Hybrid Ultra Soft line. 10,12,or 15lb. tests, a standard lead weright never larger that 3/8 oz. and I don't peg it. I do not however pitch or flip into really heavy cover where I fish, there just isn't any. Check your hook point aften to make sure it stays skin-hooked and these will catch most any fish in any waters. Retrieve techniques would require a completely different thread but be sure and stay flexible and experiment a lot with different speeds and actions. Swimming the Craws is always a killer. Baby Brush Hogs are also poured with one side meant for the bend side of the hook to be on. Pull the appendages up on one and you'll see that one side is flat and attached to the bait a bit higher up the body than the other side is (best way I know to expalin it) this is the side I put the hook bend to. Same tex-posed style with the same weight rigging. I use 2/0 straight shank Gammys on the Baby Brush Hogs and 3/0 or 4/0 EWG on the Craws. I do Rage-Rig both from time to time and have had success there too. Shaky heads are great too. Don't overlook a wacky rig on both of these baits on calm days either. Hope this has helped.

Thanks

I know they are made by Daiwa and are similar to the Advantage series but are they pretty much the same reel? Which ones are the best to try to get hold of, both new and used?

In the early 1970's I first started fishing "rubber" worms. That's what they were called then and they were made by Creme for the most part. They were hard as a peice of tire rubber and the way we fished them was texas rigged (no one actually called it that then) 1/8 to 1/4 oz. pinch on sinker - the kind with the wings on both ends - and we would throw them out and then just let them sit on a slack line. If the line began to go out then you waited until it got taught and tried to jerk the fish's face off. That's just the way it was done in my area. We didn't have a name for any of it but it darn sure worked. I caught many lunker bass and saw many others caught from Texoma using the technique. I once threw this rig in a pond using my Zebco 33 which brid's nested on the inside when I cast it. After several minutes undoing the mess I started reeling in to make another cast. Lost a huge fish that day because I didn't realize he'd picked it up and didn't set the hook, i.e., jerk his eyes out. The worms back then were made of such hard plastic that if you didn't jerk the fire out of your line when they picked the worm up then you couldn't get the hook thru the worm. I was just a boy back then and these comprise some of the fondest memories of my childhood. We've come a long way since those days.

The H20 Xpress Mettle reel sold at Academy is another amazing reel for the money and can cast light lure combinations well. They are on sale right now for $29.98 online!

I've spent a lot of cash and time in search of the right BC reels for light lures. I wouldn't even attemt to throw ultralight cranks on a BC though. I do however, throw light t-rigs, and many light plastics rigs on a BC, even 1/8 oz. cranks. The Citica 200E is the most efficient that I've found for this. I'm talking 1/16 - 1/8 oz. T-rigs. I use 10 lb. YoZuri Hybrid or even the 12 lb. usually. I have found that a lot of whether or not you can - is in how you do. I mean, don't whip the rod like a buggy whip but you have to cast more in a 'lob' fashion. I recommend Bassresource's vid on throwing flukes on a baitcaster for a visual of what I'm talking about. A medium action rod is ideal and some company's medium/heavy rods will work as well. I have a rod made by Gander Mountain that I paid $30 for that is a speckled trout rod. It's light action but has a a strong butt section, a fast tip, and has amazing sensitivity. It has handled bass up to four pounds. Check out some of the other manufacturer's inshore rods. My buddy uses one made by All Star. Do some searching and field testing before you drop a lot of bucks on a Sol or 50E. It's not really neccessary. One more thing, a reel that has a centrifugal braking system instead of the dial-it-n magnetic system will work better for you.

This might answer a lot of your questions. http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/110819-any-idea-who-makes/?hl=+gander%20+mountain

Congratulations to Jeff Reynolds. Bass fishing pro from Calera (Platter) Oklahoma on his FLW BFL Regional win this weekend on Lake Texoma. A whopping 3 day, 15 fish total of 42 lbs. 2 oz. with a 6 lb. kicker. Awesome!!

I have both also. Like everyone else has said, both are fine rods, but the warranty alone makes the Avid the obvious choice.

I got a brand new Avid through the Gold Star Service Plan last year after I slammed the pick-up door into mine. Second to none indeed!

I have two 6'6" light casting models. They'll handle a good fish ok. Don't let theat tip fool ya.......it's tough as nails. Mine are awesome for casting really light stuff on light line. I also sometimes use these with a spincast reel for ultralight cranking.

Awesome!! Back monkey.....Back!!

Ok...................so has anyone actually purchased one of the reels and tested it yet?

Yea sorry....theirs is the craw not the frog.

Go to their website and order there. I assume you're referring to M1$+er Tw1$+3r

That shorter handle makes it an awesome jerkbait rod. They are also very sensitive and I've utilized mine (7' M) for a soft plastics rod in a pinch.

Lobster = Baby Rage Craw all grown up!

Been checking out all the posts and reviews. Gonna give 'em a try. Practically all the bass fishing I do anymore is with soft plastics, weightless to 1/4 oz. weighted. So I'm thinking a medium action might be best for me at this point. I have several 7' MH rods. Don't fish from a big boat so 7'1" or 7'3" is about as long as I wanna go. So.....what do you guys think? OBC71M, OBC71MH, OBC73M, OBC73MH? I'm not ruling out the MH rod but I think I'd like a medium action at this point.

Arrived by Fed Ex Ground today. SUWHEEEEET! A bit surprised actually, I figured a Mettle with 7:1 gears....nope a much higher quality reel. Smooth as butter! Cant wait to get it to the lake.

I pulled the trigger on one. We'll see.

Here's some that I made. I got all my components off of Ebay. #2 split ring to the hook, #1 to the weight. I tie to the #2 ring. An option would be to attach a snap swivel to the #2 or to add an additional split ring to tie to. I opened to eyelets of the DS weights a bit to better allow to get the ring on and it allows the weight to swing on the ring as well. The hooks are Eagle Claw Lazer Sharps which in my opinion, are not too heavy or too light for this application. I have them in weights from 1/2 to 1/8 oz. A pair of split ring pliers would be a good investment if you're going to make your own. These rigs really turn the fish on with a Rage Craw attached and slowly drug around and over the cover.

Anyone have one of these? Basically its he 7:1 version of the Mettle reel. Input?

It'll get ya bit for sure.....but watch your knot closely. Sometimes the rig will roll and the line gets caught up in the split ring. I've broke a few off.

They are packaged almost identical to the way an Excalibur product is.

I hve one of these New-out-of-packaging. Never wet. $150 shipped to your location. http://www.walmart.com/ip/20449428?wmlspartner=wlpa&adid=22222222227000000000&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=&wl3=21486607510&wl4=&wl5=pla&veh=sem