kikstand454

i have the 7'6" split grip crucial that i use for c-rigs. it is amazing. i solved the uninspired hook keeper problem with a cable ziptie. the kind with a loop to mount with a nail. works like a charm- i have them on most of my rods.

they make a lipless crank that is kinda like rubber on the outside... called "live" something... i cant remember... it has no rattles. i got 4 or 5 in a clearence bin at sports authority and man are they AWESOME. eventually i beleive that yozuri will realize that they can sell a boatload of their lures if they drop their prices. hopefully that wont equal less quality. till then i will go to every bargin bin i can and search for yozuri lures.

yeah.... i love strike kings stuff and the rage tail line is great but... i stopped buying the craws and chunks and have switched to pacas. its not really so much that i think that the pacas are so much better... but i know for sure that they are no worse and they are cheaper, and in my area- more available. i only use rage craws now in dark/muddy water because thats the only time that i think there is a clear advantage. for everyday flipping and pitching and jig trailer use i throw pacas.

i dont know... if the ride feels that unstable i would just cast. its no different at all than fishing a t-rig. not in that capacity anyway. towards the original question.... man i felt the same way you did about two years ago. i couldnt buy a bite on a jig. now its all i think about. i think i have a problem. lol.

i agree with the signature series comment to some extent.... that its more a ploy to charge a little more for a product. but id also like to say that just because it has a signature on it doesnt make it junk either. i think its really up to buying the right product for what you want. it doesnt make a difference if it has some pros name on it unless youre buying it ONLY because it has the name on it. and then thats kinda shortsighted. rick clunns crankbaits and reels, kvds crankbaits and rods.... etc.... good stuff. to not get them just cause they are signature products is kinda silly.

... for the record i would like to state that this is one persons experience and not in anyway a fact. i own 8 quantum reels and have never... ever... accidently adjusted the acs. nor the acs II. just saying....

I knew they hated lizards, but never thought about shakey heading a lizard so it nosed down in a bed. Great tip. Almost forgot how awesome a carolina rigged lizard can be. 8-) yeah... man i dont remember the last time i drug a lizard. i have tons of them too.... maybe everyone is finally not throwing them and i can go back to them? :-? c-rigging a big worm on secondary points near spawning coves will get your arm broke.

truthfully... almost everyone has really good rods at the 100 buck mark nowadays. its the go to price range. so really if you have a brand loyalty or preference than that rod will be fine. my suggestion would be if youre going to spend a decent amount of time c-rigging....esp in 20+ft. of water... then get the nicest, most sensitive rod you can. deep water dragging is all about knowing what the bottom is like and nothing else you can throw can tell you as much as a c-rig. its worth the investment cause you can use this same rod for deep jigging, casting spoons and slowrolling big spinnerbaits. i personally throw a 7.6 shimano crucial and 15lb. flouro.

well ill add this.... this time last year i probably coulda counted all the fish i had caught on a jig on one hand. but this year i told myself i was going to do it and made sure i did. so i was basically in the same place you are 10 months ago. the advice above is great. and ill say that the two things that have caught me a ton of fish this year (including a 4lber just yesterday...) are - throwing the jig! sounds funny but like mentioned above, confidence is everything. i just told myself repeatedly that this lure works... everyone else uses them...the pros kill on them... and just stuck with it. now i find myself throwing a jig almost everytime i go out by choice. the other is to finish my flip/ cast with my rod in the 12oclock or even 1230 position. to explain... i think my lure hits the water at about a 9 to 10 oclock position and then i feather off the remaining line and the engage the reel. this gives the the lure and initial 3 or 4 feet of slack line to fall exactly where i pitched it... and then having the rod so high, i can then follow the lure down as it sinks on a semi slack line. this is probably the most critical technique ive worked on as far as presentation goes. and fwiw.... i like a.t. jigs and paca chunks in black and blue variations.

good choice. 8-)

i think if youre going to have just one cranking rod... if youre only going to crank on occasion, then a 7' mh -m action rod is pretty versatile. a rod that size and action can throw shallow and medium cranks with ease and can also launch a deep diver decently. the advice using dual or multiple rods given above is spot on i.m.o. then again... i dont really have a specific "shallow crank" setup really.. i throw almost all my "shallow" treble hooked lures on the same setup - 6.6 m/f and a 6.3:1 reel with 12lb yozuri. my deeper cranking is a bit more specific, at least in my head.... but then thats because i find myself doing that much more than cranking shallow. right now i have an old abugarcia rod at 7' m/f and an old rick clunn 5.1 reel on it. its good but starting to show its age. im def. in the market for a new deep cranking rig and im thinking of going with a quantum kvd stick and a revo..... but what will probably happen is that ill go with a bps cranking stick and finding a 5.3 accurist pt. on ebay and saving myself 200 dollars!! lol. probably catch just as many fish too.

i just get mechanix gloves and cut the fingertips off the index and thumbs of both hands. works great. *shrug* down to about 30 anyway.... but im in florida so its rare that im doing alot of fishing in weather lower than 30. it was 37 last weekend here and i used those gloves and had no issues at all. and im glad i had them cause my partner didnt have his in the boat... lol. ive also done it with the cheaper cotton gloves with the "gripdots" on the palms... and that works great too... just have to keep them dry of course.

yeah thats true but a large portion of the reason i even fish a hollow bodied frog is for the topwater bite/excitement. when the frog fills with water it isnt as easy to work... it doesnt do what you want it to do. it basically feels like a crankbait with the line wrapped around a treble. i know of course that a frog thats just barely under the water can catch just as many fish if not more... but i just cant stand the feel and the action. not to mention how much it hangs up then. its just not worth it. if its not going to float then i can throw a horney toad or rage shad.

well i recently got a spro jr. and man do i wish i had that money back. all it does is sink. every cast i have to squeeze water out and it never makes it all the way back to the boat on top of the water. this was on the first trip. 9dollars? i dont think so. im glad they work for other people but i will not be buying another. im excited to try the ish phat frog. right now i think imma stick to scumfrog pros in the pads and good ol manns super frogs in the slop. they may not be the best but at least they are less than spros. and ive caught a ton of fish on them.

well i for one am a complete cavitron convert long before this post. as soon as i can im going to order plenty more as mine have all gone the way of chubbs petersons right hand... (eaten by alligators....) the black skirt with red blade has been a long time favorite of mine and really the only color i throw other than white/chart. in blue sky conditions.....

i switched to all flambeau boxes this spring and have been pretty impressed. like you said they are good quality and a good price. they have kept my feshwater tackle completely devoid of rust. more importantly and more impressive is they have kept my two boxes of saltwater hard baits completely free of rust. THAT is impressive... beleive me.

yeah i was pretty excited... both guys were so down to earth. actually in regards to the lures.... i have some of my grand fathers old lures passed down to me and i have some of my father in laws stuff that he was collecting. he is who basically got me into "serious" bass fishing, but he passed away a year ago. i was gonna take all the lures and those that i can get signed and stuff and either make a shadowbox display or a glass coffeetable display depending on how many i can get.... i thought itd be cool for a fishing room and also good for my daughter whos only two now but already loves fishing... to get to know her grandfather and great grand father a little more...

so i have had the pleasure of meeting both kevin van dam and hank parker in the last two days. this is mind blowing to me. both were very polite and answered any and all questions, and kevin even gave what amounted to a 40 minute crankbait seminar from the front of his boat. i got kvd to sign a red eye shad and hank parker to sign a C.C. redfin. i didnt get pics with hank though and the one of me kevin and my daughter isnt on a computer yet... but it was cool anyway! just thought id share.... honestly ive been a stagehand for going on 15 years now and dont get starstruck too often, but it was something else to shake hank parkers hand... i grew up watching his show religiously!!!

awesome!! congrats jfrancho!

man... the trick worm is probably the most versatile plastic out there. ive caught fish on a black trick worm in every season in every circumstance. its an instant "go to" lure to catch SOMETHING. i most often throw them either weightless on a 3/0 and twitch it over through grass, on a shakey head, or my favorite, on a c-rig. deadly man.

may want to look into the quantum pt kvd rods. god knows kevin has put a beating on them with the 7'10". that things a beast.

in the grand scheme of things... i dont trust/distrust my c-rig knots any more than i do a single knot to a jig or whatever. i throw a c-rig alot... and i never think twice about it. check your line every third or fourth cast, more if youre in shells or rocks and youre fine.

the best spinning reel available for 50 bucks is the quantum incyte. ive been championing this thing for four years. lol. no one is listening!!.... its better than the comparable daiwas and shimanos. or spend more for less *shrug*... up to you.

i typically use bandits or manns model cranks in shallow timber. i dont do it a whole lot and so i dont spend a terrible amount of money on it. one thing i have done with some great success is cut the forward facing treble hook off the front hook. this makes the bait so much more "woodless" that its insane. this may help you out INbassMAN. i havent noticed any change in hook up ratio with this hook missing. i do it on deep cranks too.

two days ago i was killing with lipless cranks. but i wouldnt wait till cold water before throwing the ol' jerkbait. as soon as you see shad moving up on points or back into creeks, id have a jerkbait tied on. somtimes the bass in fall can gorge themselves on the shad migration and its hard to get them to hit regular fall lures. i find some success throwing a jerkbait that is more lifelike and subtle when everyone else is slinging the crap out of a spinnerbait. jmo.