The_Natural

Wow...old post. I can still say I am defintely still a tube nut. Like most, I have successfully worked a beaver in to the mix, but in postspawn....the spiraling tube is second to none. I attribute my tube fishing to Gary Kline back in '92. Even with the Sweet Beaver taking the place of the tube in a lot of circumstances...Kline even recently proved that the tube can still dominate. He set the 'A Day on the Lake with a Pro' record with a tube in smoke red. Smoke red or purple is probably the most underrated plastic color in fishing, but that is a different thread. I'll post pics later of how I rig my tubes...I never leave the dock without one.

I haven't been posting a whole lot lately....been sick and dealing with family. I'll post a few pics tomorrow because someone asked.

You will enjoy Cabelas; they seem to put a lot of money in the design of their stores. The one in fort worth has better aquariums than the two local bass pros by far, including an aquarium tunnel, separate Crappie aquarium, and a Trout stream that runs through the middle of the store so the kiddies can feed the fish.

The Vendetta's blank is pretty good, and Abu designed it well. Moving the reel seat up is something that I can't understand why other manufacturers don't do. The Vendetta's looks get people to pick it up, and the balance makes them buy it. Competitors like the Mojo would float in your hand if St. Croix would simply move the reel seat up 2 or 3 inches. Anyway, the rod that is a must have is the 7'6" MH. This is a poor man's BCR893. It is pretty light and balances well for a 7'6" stick.

As much as I got annoyed at the Grandebass hoopla on the Texas Fishing Forum (it got ridiculous); the Rattlesnake is indeed another classification of bait versus the standard ringworm (much to my shagrin). I reluctantly bought a couple of bags of Rattlesnakes at Academy, and found out they can outfish Senkos as far as a 'catch anything and everything' bait. The Hag's Tornado is a Grandebass Rattlesnake Knockoff with a floating tail. Hag's bait with the floating tail may benefit you if you use a rattlesnake on a shakey head, but I fish them wacky. The Grandebass bait seems to have ribs that are closer together versus Hags bait, and I feel it makes for a better profile, feel, and texture. Hags bait and the Rattlesnake both obviously work....the 6" Rattlesnake rigged wacky is just dynamite. These baits are probably the hottest soft plastics out there...

Yep. 7' rods are a newer trend. Years ago, your rods were either 6'6" or 7'6" for flippin'. I bass fished for years with a 6ft Berkley Lightening rod. Anyway, with what we know today, shorter rods still have their niche. My number 1 prespawn setup is throwing a jerkbait on a 6' spinning rod with 6-8lb fluorocarbon. With a short spinning rod, I can work flukes, hard jerkbaits, and topwaters better than with a baitcaster.

The GL2 doesn't get a lot of love, but all of the Loomis sticks are very good. My brother owns several GL2's and he swears by them. In the past, I've recommended Croix' Premiers, Shimano compre's, and similar rods over the GL2, but at this point I'd like to fish a GL2. The GL2 might only be an IM6 rod, but Loomis's secret is in their resin.

http://www.***.com/descpageLFS-LFFS.html The 4" or 5" is what you want. See Kelly Jordan's come from behind schooling session on Boyd Duckett in Ultimate Match Fishing. Flutter spoons work. I've added them to my arsenal. Fish will hit them on the fall (hence the name), but not all the time. You've got to really stroke it once it reaches the strike zone. This is a bait you must have confidence in for sure.

I think clear line color is the best and most versatile; It is the hardest for me to see in any water I put it in. As far as which brand of line; I like Pline, which is a high quality Japanese line. The CX premium is a fluorocarbon coated line that is very user friendly. It is extremely thin, and the 12lb would be great on your spinning rig or 15lb on your baitcasting.

I'd probably go with the Shimano Compre. I have the Vendetta medium 'mod fast' and medium-heavy 'moderate' rods, but they don't have the parobolic flex of a true crankbait stick like the Compre Crankbait or Loomis CBR's I've owned. The Compre Crankbait series also has the TC4 construction you find on the more expensive Crucial series. The MH Compre is very comparable to the CBR845....great all around crankbait rod you can throw anything with.

I'd go with the BPS rod or the Mossyback. I don't like the Carrot's guides at all, and the Magnesium rods are just ho-hum as far as balance and weight. Just my opinion of course...

http://www.leesglobaltackle.com/category-s/98.htm

Those 'Carolina Ready Rigs' will kill your sensitivity. The strike vibrations have to try and travel though all that metal wire to get to your main line. To get the most feel (and ease of rigging), use Carolina Keepers. Keeping your line intact telegraphs bites better.

I've used Owner St-36's (great hooks), Daitchi's, and Gammies. I swear the gammy bronze hooks are the sharpest on the planet. Gamakatsu (and others) coat their hooks in red or black nickel after they are sharpened. This only affects the point somewhat, but the bronze hooks are not coated and have a raw chemically sharpened point. If you are a gammy user...order the bronze next time just for kicks....I think you will be surprised.

Things are great other than the fact our Sooners suck balls.

I'm obviously no pro, but I think I am good enough with my airbrush to paint general patterns. I've made a few baits, and they seem to run OK, but no two baits run the exact same (this is good and bad I realize). Anyway...I just spent almost $100 buying some WEC baits (my favorite custom cranks), even though I thought I would never spend more than $20 on a balsa crankbait ever again. Honestly, That's why I got started in the hobby. Granted Ed has been making baits a long time and I can't expect to match him, I still thought I was done buying expensive balsa cranks because I can 'make my own'. Oh well.....

Just wondering if any of the crankbait nuts around here have purchased Ed's newest bait, the Balsa 13. It looks like a nice bait to cover the 13ft range (hence the name). http://cgi.ebay.com/ZOOM-BALSA-13-CRANKBAIT-CITRUS-VERY-RARE_W0QQitemZ220504156136QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item33571267e8

The most manageable fluorocarbons are Seaguar Inviz-X, Berkley 100%, and Sunline Sniper. Out of those, the Berkley Pro-Grade stretches less, and has significantly better abrasion resistance than the aforementioned lines. However, going on pure limpness.....the Sunline Sniper is the softest out there. It behaves like Trilene XL.

Absolutely...my opinion is no better than yours if we have both handled the rods. Have fun picking out your new stick...I love buying a new rod(s).

Definitely a Vendetta. I'm actually excited about forum members buying this rod, and can't wait for some reviews. The 'under $100' is the most popular rod price point, and there has never been a rod that performs like the Vendetta at that price point. These rods can hang....and they look hot to boot. It's quite refreshing to know that a $70 rod can still get me excited.

They are nearly identical; you can hardly tell that the Sol's spool holds 10yds less line than the Alphas series. The Alphas Ai 'ito' has a tuned brake rotor that neither the Sol or regular Alphas have.

The tip is an Sic if I'm not mistaken.

In a word; no. The Alphas Ai spool holds more line than the Sol's spool, and that extra line will negate any performance gained by the Ai's tuned brake rotor. Take the money you were going to use for the Ai spool and buy some ceramic bearings from Boca Bearings. The Boca 'Orange Seal' bearings are getting rave reviews on TT.

I generally recommend the IMX line when someone wants a Loomis; the IMX is 'where the magic starts happening' in the Loomis lineup. Most Loomis users will agree that the IMX and GLX are very close in performance, and the IMX is more affordable. If you shop properly (ebay), you should be able to buy a new IMX for around $200 or under all day long.