Marty

I've used a lot of cranks over the years, but never any expensive ones, let's say none over $6 or $7. I'm very skeptical about reports I read about expensive baits. I think the people are sincere, but I view it as a confidence thing. The vast majority of anglers are unable to draw definitive conclusions about such things because they cannot catch enough fish, over a long enough period of time, under controlled conditions. I could be 100% wrong, but I believe that the available selection of modestly-priced baits will suffice to produce top results. Of course, that's just my personal belief; since I can't prove anything, I base my theories on what my gut tells me and what seems to make sense.

The site has the largest collections of articles that I've found on the web.

In addition to Big Bill, another missing one is Stewart, who used to do a lot of posting on the old forum. I would think if they're here under a new name, they'd say something.

I don't think it affects me very much. However, it WILL affect me if if the ad is informative and tells me something I didn't know that would make me want the lure. But I'd like to think that ordinary hype about lures I'm familiar with won't change my mind. About 10 years ago, I saw the Strike King Grass Frog for the first time on a Bill Dance show and bought one immediately. To this day, it remains my favorite weedless topwater. To the best of my recollection, that's the only lure I've bought directly from watching a show.

The obvious answer is to maximize your time on the water and fish with better anglers than yourself. Otherwise, soak up as much info as you can. Books, TV shows, magazines, videos, seminars, internet articles and message boards.

I prefer FISHING FOR largemouth, because I much more enjoy the shallower, weedy water that many of them inhabit. But I'd rather CATCH smallmouth because they're such superior fighters. Although there are many good smallmouth fisheries around here, the waters more accessible to me are primarily largemouth.

Well, I obviously ain't Chris, but "FishChris" is an online friend from NorCal who fishes for trophy bass, and is not the Chris who has been posting here.

With all due respect to Mike Iaconelli and Chris, my experience is that the bow-and-arrow release, in combination with a good lure retriever, will get you back a lot of your hung crankbaits.

Do you catch 4500 bass every year? I doubt it, I imagine your results vary, sometimes up, sometimes down, for a variety of reasons. So if you switched to red hooks--and I'm not saying they're good or bad--how would you determine their effect?

Sand bass, or sandies, as some call them, are another name for white bass. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/infish/species/wtb/wtb.htm

Why not consult your Kansas DNR?

As I mentioned above, I use scent only on spinnerbaits. The scent permeates skirt material and months later it still smells like garlic to me, so I don't re-apply except at the start of the season.

Rochester, NY. I would ask all posters to put their location in their signature, so readers can put their posts in better perspective. I'm a member of another YaBB forum where many of us have done that with our signatures, and it works out pretty well.

I use Kick'n'Bass garlic with spinnerbaits, but not with other lures. I've had historic problems with negative odors on spinnerbaits, mainly because skirt material holds odor that doesn't wash off, because it permeates the material. I (and most other fishermen) am not in a position to test and draw valid conclusions as to whether scent use results in more catches, but from what I've read by many guys who have attempted to do some testing, I've seen no evidence that there is a significant difference between its use and non-use.

I hardly qualify as an expert, but... They generally are found in somewhat cooler, clearer and deeper water than largemouth, and are not as cover-oriented. Often found around rocks and on rocky bottoms. They'll take a full range of lures. Good results can often be had using exposed-hook grubs on jigheads and internal heads on tubes. The latter are commonly dragged along bottom, drifting with the wind, in the Great Lakes area and probably other areas too. Don't forget topwaters, they will often come up from the depths to take them. Smallies to me always seemed to have an affinity for chartreuse. Burning spinnerbaits of that color is good. Their fighting qualities are great. There's a reason that they have been called, "inch for inch and pound for pound, the gamest fish that swims." Good luck.

My three biggest of the year, none of them lunkers, but still one of them my personal best, were all taken from shore on Senkos.

Glenn, For what it's worth, I think additional forums should wait until there is an increase in traffic. Any bass topic can be fit into one of the existing forums. I personally don't want to have to open multiple forums for just, say, one thread.

Looking good. Hope this new format attracts some new people.