SoFlaBassAddict

So I decided to increase my crankbaits a good bit and bought a few Norman Cranks. The company website says every one of the comes with Gammys on the lure. Today while fishing, I was catching a few peacocks on the smaller lures when one came back with a hook slightly bent. Figured I may have hit a rock. Changed lures later in the day, landed another couple of fish and had another bent hook. Now, it was just one single shank on the rear treble. The fish were just barely grabbing it. Should I worry about replacing them right out of the box with something like triple grips, or should I be alright for a while? I've never been much of a crankbait user, but lately I've been having a lot of fun using them on the really active fish we've had down here lately. The peacocks just love the small 1/4oz cranks.

Thanks again to all of you guys at Pinnacle, once I receive the rod, I'll be sure to give it a thorough workout and post up a solid review of it. Pictures included. I may just end up having to buy another new reel to add to the collection now....

Nom nom nom! Cobia = gooood food Nice fish, love catching them when they're around.

So um, yeah. How's about you come down to southern Florida and teach me a trick or six? HMMMMMM? Keep at it NewAngler. Eventually you'll get bit with a Rage product. Like other people said, it's not a replacement for other plastics. They flat out work if they're presented in the right place and right time. Apparently shoestrings do also though......

Yes. Specifically Section 2.4-1 yet I've had zippy success. Tried the Toad again Saturday night and people were missing fish on frogs left and right. "I'll prove myself wrong! I'll try my RageToad!" Nothing. Tied on my 8" swimbait and got 6 hits in a row in the same spot. Swimbait, please. Big- O- thanks for the words of inspiration. I may not count them out completely, but I will keep them in my bag for when I'm just catching too many fish and will try to gain confidence in something else. Josh, You just have to try a Craw T-Rigged with 1/4 oz tungsten and 4/0 Gammie EWG. I telling you my friend it is the bomb when the bite is tough. Good job with the swimbaits. Same basic way I rig mine. Works great.

Yeah, there are some ridiculously big carp in that lake. Theres gotta be some that are easily 40 pounds or more.

Down here, at least on my lake, the fish get really active at night. The water cools back off, stuff starts happening. I've caught most of my largest fish on glow in the dark baits. The hard part is finding quality lures that really glow, and glow for a long time. I've had some custom poured plastics made that are just outstanding.

Probably the second I see the head come out of the water. Thats when my heart really starts going and I start saying stuff like "Oh god, stay on...stay on...."

You know, I've got side imagine for my offshore boat and absolutely love it. I bass fish out of a Jon boat, I've been sitting here for a while telling myself how cool it would be. It's just a little impractical to put a thousand dollar set of electronics on a boat I slide in and out of my truck bed. That being said, don't be surprised if I end up buying one at some point anyway....can you mount that side imaging transducer to a TM? ;D

Well, I'm comparing it to the big lakes in other parks of the country. It's by far the largest lake in the area. I don't know how to calculate the acreage, but it's big (at least to me).

The big girls are still around evergladesbasser, I caught some nice fish earlier this spring after the cold. In the hot weather I haven't had anything over 5 though. Live bait is definitely the key for the larger fish though. Glad you had a good time Backwater4. South Florida really is the fishing paradise it's made out to be. Next time you come down here, you've gotta take a day to go catch some Peacocks. 2 pound peacock fights like a 6 pound largemouth .

Sounds like you had a great day. The fish have been super active lately. Best part, the solar chart in Bass Master magazine said today was going to be one of the worst days of the month...yeah. I caught a bunch myself, my arms are still sore.

It's right there on Miramar Pkwy and Dykes. In the same shopping center as CVS. Tati's Bakery. Just says Bakery outside of it though. Right next to the Gamestop. Food and video games in one shot, fantastic.

If I remember right, we have a member here who is a Bluewater Dealer or Installer. Everything I've heard about them is fantastic. The installation should be fairly easy after reading the material on the Bluewater website. I've been meaning to buy some for a while now to light the floor of my boat.

While heading back to the launch today, I came across a giant hump on the lake I was fishing. Water went from 30+ to 6.5-7. I looked at my buoy and said my myself, gotta remember this spot for next time. I don't have GPS on my little unit, I don't really need it, the lakes I fish are fairly small. Where do you guys like to toss out your buoy's? Drop it right on the high spot and work around it? Right on one of the edges? I've never really used one in this situation, so I don't have a real clue. I'm more worried about spooking fish than anything else.

So today I got to head back out to whats quickly becoming my favorite lake in the area for a half day of fishing. Woke up an hour and a half late, no topwater bite for me >. Needless to say, I went out armed with my latest purchase, a nice long crankin rod and reel and a box full of various cranks. Get out, nothing happening on the drop offs with jigs, worms, anything. Decide to head to the other side of the lake and out in the middle of the water, no structure, no nothing I find loads and loads of bait balls on the graph. Fish busting everywhere. Break out the new toy and a small 1/4 oz crank and hurl it out. Three hours later, I can't move my arm anymore and I've caught some ridiculous amount of fish. No real size, mostly 1-3 pounders, but god was that ever fun. If only every day was that easy to find fish. Hopefully the next time I go out there, I'll finally get into some of the larger fish that I've seen on the lake.

Well, it's either the location you're fishing. Or if I had to guess (because I did it when I learned to flip and pitch), you probably have too much slack in the line when the bait hits the water. You really need a controlled slack when the lure is falling so you can feel the fish hit it.

water/gatorade? cuban sandwich? cigarette? sounds like a meal to me! Darn right. The best part is the Cuban Bakery across the street from my development opens early to feed the cops. They've got like 10 pound Cuban sandwiches. I'm a big dude, and half of one can fill me up. Plus, I can grab some cuban coffee to go with it. 8-)

Leader length for me really depends on what I'm doing. Mostly though, I concern myself when I'm pitching. I like the leader knot to be right outside the tip top of the rod when I'm holding the lure to make a pitch. If I'm tying on a drop shot, my leader is generally about one and a half rod lengths. On average, I probably use a six or seven foot leader. I have used mono leader when I use braid with cranks. I think the extra stretch helped out on the hooksets. Now that I've grabbed a cranking style rod, if I ever put braid on it I'll probably use fluoro because of the rod action.

Nothing better than seeing that oil slick right after you drop your lure into the water. I think I've got a can of BANG sitting in my garage thats at least six or seven years old. Megastrike = good stuff

lol

I really need to keep my eyes open for a small outboard to run around holiday park. I doubt I'd make it to many prime spots running just the electric motors.

Cheater

Thats my major concern. I don't mind shelling out the cash for a quality product thats going to last me for a while.

The only slowness I've had is from the flash banners or whatever they are bogging down my machine. Close them down in the task manager and it's fine. Just really aggravating at times.