calandra

Braid is my favorite but not all apps call for braid. Been experimenting with Fluorocarbon instead of mono and so far I am liking it enough that I am thinking of replacing all my mono rods with it.

I think we have all falling for some gimmick lure at one point or another, but there was one that actually kicked some bass butt that seemed to disappear as fast as it came out. The company was Mega Bait, No not the Mega Bait Company of today, at least I don[ch8217]t think there related. This company made plastic craws with real parts of crawfish in them along with claws that you inserted round plastic rattles in. Man did they ever catch fish. No clue what happened to that company or where the Mega Bait company of today fits into the picture, but man do I miss those craws.

1. Charlie Worm: Black Grape 2. 3/8 oz Picasso Spider Flip Jig Wide Gap: Black/Blue With Matching Charlie Craw or Gene Larew Salty Hawg Craw 3. Scum Frog Popper: Natural Black & Green 4. 3/8 oz Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special: Chartreuse/White 5. Mann[ch8217]s Elite Baby 1 Minus: American Shad

From low end to high end, Solar Bat makes some good glasses. A buddy of mine picked up a cheap pair at Wal-Mart and they do the job. I personally have the higher end of there product, but. Next to actually seeing some fish, what I think the big advantage is, is being able to see the structure better. Talking on the cheap end of the Solar Bats for example, in this pond my buddy and I fish when where not out on the big lakes, there[ch8217]s a ton of timber and underwater vegetation in the water that you just will not see without polarized glasses. With his cheap pair of Solar Bats from Wal-Mart you can see the timber and weeds as clear as day. So yes even some cheap pairs can get the job done.

STX

10[ch8221] worms in dark colors such as Black Black Spinnerbaits If you can find them anymore, I have had great success with Norman's Big [ch8211] N or Shakespeare[ch8217]s Big- S Crankbaits at night. Like the Big- O but bigger. Devils Horse Buzz Baits Bigger baits, dark colors.

Black/Blue Jig.

Nice!

I have tried a lot of different brand scents over the years and so far MegaStrike is the winner for a couple reasons. 1. It[ch8217]s not a mess like sprays are, 2. It[ch8217]s not so strong that after taking a whiff you pass out and fall off the boat 3. It[ch8217]s seems to stay on the lure longer. 4. Although I have not witnessed and increase in strikes, the normal amount of strikes I do get with MegaStrike the Bass eat the bait and won[ch8217]t let go which does in effect make for more hookups and less missed strikes. In fact I won[ch8217]t fish a top water frog without the stuff for I can honestly say it has increased my hookups with such baits. I have witnessed scents such as BaitMate kick but on trout and crappies and I have had some good late night Cat fishing with Smelly Jelly, but I have yet to find a scent that actually attracts bass the way these scents attract other species. In fact I have used some in which I have seen the bass run away like I was trying to feed them the plague. In fact at one fish show I went to this pro staffer was trying to show off this product called Fish Force, only problem was every Bass in the tank ran the other way. LOL I have one buddy who swears by Yum and another that swears by Hot Sauce Jell, so I guess the best is what you[ch8217]re confident in using.

Bandit 200 Luhr Jensen Speed Trap Mann's C-4 Elite / Baby 1-Minus Elite

When looking for active fish I throw the Zoom Horny Toad. When there not so gun-ho, the Scum Frog Popper. I always use braid with the frogs and I change out the hook on the popper to the Gamakatsu Frog Hook. One other thing I do is lightly coat each with MegaStrike sent. I don[ch8217]t think MegaStrike or any other scent product for that matter really attracts Bass, but they do hold on and try to eat that toad once they get a taste of it.

Well I am not sponsored by them. All's I can say is the line has worked great for me. Allot of the bad was with earlier versions of the line. If you have not tried it in a while, try it again. If you still feel the same way then so be it, but for me it does the job. Like I said I will be trying the Fluor for the first time and have no opinion on that yet. Not a lot of good has been said about Stren Supper Braid either, but I have pulled out some hogs in some heavy cover with the stuff and it cast very well for me, so to each his own. Oh and for the record roadwarrior, I agree there is no best, its just personal choice.

Like oldschoolbasser said, it depends on what that company means by super tune. I repair and maintain my own reels along with my friends reels, call it a hobby if you will, and do take the extra steps to make them as smooth as possible, but super tune can mean a lot of things from like some said, high grade oil to changing drag washers to smoothies to allot of things. I would contact the company and ask them what they mean by super tune. 40 bucks may sound like allot, but it all depends on what your getting for that 40 bucks. If there sanding and polishing and all that, it takes some time to do it right and is worth 40 bucks IMO, depending on how much you love that reel and want it to last, not to mention the performance gain you can get if done right.

I would say I am brand loyal as much as I can be. For example G-Loomis is my rod of choice but due to the pricing of these rods it[ch8217]s kind of hard for someone with a budget such as me to have nothing but G-Loomis in the rod box. Now if I win the lotto, not only will the rod box be full of G-Loomis rods but so will my basement be full with a lifetime supply. Same can be said about my reels. To replace all my reels with my favorite is going to take some major cash. As for lures and such, I defiantly have some loyalty. You[ch8217]re going to have to shoot me dead to get me to throw any other spinner bait then a Hildebrandt Okeechobee Special, where going to have to fight till the death if you try to take my Scum Frog Popper away from me and I can guarantee world war three will start if someone touches my Charlie Worm[ch8217]s LOL. Loyalty is based on confidence and when I have confidence in a product I stick to it. Of course I am always open to trying new for without new you will never get to the confidence level. All products start out new to the user at one point. The better products IMO are by companies that keep pushing the limits. The kind of companies that say man did we ever make a good reel this year, but next year where going to take it a step further.

My favorite would have to be Vicious Fishing Ultimate. I just ordered there 100% Fluorocarbon and will be putting that to the test soon.

TY ReelMech!

Thanks for the reply. I know allot of companies use plastic for these gears, I am just saying, since he is about the worst at taking care of his reels, something has to give at some point and in his case it[ch8217]s the plastic gears. I have a few older Bantams that used brass for these gears and wish more companies use such, but then I guess he would be breaking something else anyways. As for what he's not doing right, consider a ton of gunk in the worm shaft causing it to jam on the cast. Either the paw gets whacked or the gears. The paw on this reel is also plastic, however it has not broke yet. When fishing the nastiest stuff on the lake, of which we do, you[ch8217]re bound to pick up a lot of stuff in the worm gear. I keep mine clean and have never had a problem, he does not. I am not knocking the reel or the parts inside it; I am knocking the bonehead operating it. Whatever the cause, I just wanted an opinion on Grease or Oil for the worm shaft due to his lack of reel care.

I own both the Abu Garcia Revo STX and the Shimano Curado. There both very good reels IMO. I do however find myself picking up the Revo more and more these days; in fact I may just replace all my bait casters with the Revo. Can[ch8217]t help you on the Team Daiwa for I have never owned one.

I am currently working on a buddy of mines Quantum AC500PT. It turns out he broke both the O/S Drive Gear and the O/S Pinion Gear upon which I have ordered and should have later today. This is his second Quantum AC500PT in which this has happened and from what I can tell it[ch8217]s due to lack of maintenance and the fact these gears are made from plastic instead of brass, in fact both reels are a couple years old, used almost dailey and he has not added a drop of oil let alone done a complete take down and clean. My question is; since he takes such good care of his reels, LOL should I use grease on the worm shaft/line wind gear or should I just oil it. I have already totally cleaned the reel; um I should say scrubbed the heck out of it, and will re-oil the bearing and grease the gears, but was just wondering about that worm gear. Grease or oil? Thanks in advance for any advice on this.

IMO there very good jigs but the price is a bit crazy.

Along with the suggestions here I would add to it a black grape Charlie Worm Texas rigged, A 3/8 oz black/blue rattle jig and matching Charlie Craw or a Gene Larew 5'' Super Salt Craw or for kicks a 3/8 oz white rattle jig with a Zoom white Big Salty Chunk, a scum frog popper white/green, and last but not least, a black/gold or silver Bagley Bang-O-Lure tail spin. The key is to fish each of these as slow as possible. With the Scum Frog Popper and Bang-O-Lure tail spin, a light twitch, twitch followed by a 15 to 30 second pause. I would also use low vis green fishing line in the 12 to 14lb range and coat each of these lures with Mega Strike, not so much as to attract the fish, but I have found that with Mega Strike on my lures, once the fish bites he don[ch8217]t let go. In fact I never fish a frog bait without it. As for the White Jig, it may sound funny, but for some reason in ponds such as you described, I have had great success with this combo. If the slow retrieve don[ch8217]t produce, swimming this jig in a yo-yo type retrieve has produced some of my best catches in small coverless ponds.

Solar Bat Amber on cloudy days, Grey on bright sunny days. Best glasses I have ever owned and I have tried many. H30 would be a close runner up, also very good glasses.