Gangley

There was an issue of BASS a while back that had some information provided by Rapala about their sales numbers. If I remember correctly, their top 3 lineups, based on volume of sales, broke down in the following order: 1. Original Floater 2. Shad Rap 3. X-Rap That should tell you what the most popular/successful products from them are.

Im a big Castaway and H&H fan, but for an almost all purpose worm rod, it's very tough to beat the Falcon HD. It has quickly become a favorite worm rod because of its light weight and sensitivity. I have a HDC-7M (7 foot medium) and it has turned out to be a great rod for me. Very sensitive with a nice bend to it, and for $69 its a heck of a hard deal to beat. I was previously using MH Castaway rods for worming, but the 7' M Falcon HD rod is now my go-to worm rod when not worming in thick, heavy slop. Check them out when you get a chance, very light, very sensitive, and very good value for the dollar.

9"worm - 4/0 EWG 7"Senko - 2/0 Octopus/Circle Hook Brush Hog - 5/0 EWG Most of my hooks are owner of gammy I use mostly 3/16 for everything if its not windy. If its windy, I will try 3/8 to 3/4 depending on the severity of the wind. Usually 3/16 to 3/8

true, they are trying to patent KaRu's design. They tried once in the past and failed. They started again for some reason, but KaRu isnt the only company they are going after, just one on a list. Diff hook, diff, head design, different blade type and design, etc., but from what I understand, KaRu isnt large anough to afford the legal battle so they pulled the Vibrashock until zman gets their patent stuff straightened out. Sucks when a smaller company putting out quality american made products, has to pull their items because a foreign manufacturer has more money to throw at the court system.

the DT FAT 01 generally doesnt, but i missed the part about "isnt big and only goes maybe 0-1 ft". I apologize, my fault guys

Ive prefer KaRu Vibrashock. High quality components, good customer service, and wide variety of color selection

Im really surprised that nobody has mentioned the Bomber Model B or the Rapala DT FAT both are excellent shallow water lures.

not zman they patented their chatterbait, but threw a patent on others as well that they did not design, and are attempting to patent even more that they did not design, in hopes of takeing a larger portion of the market. If they took half the time they spent in the courtroom, and applied it to bringing the quality of their chatterbaits up, their lures could be ten times better. But hey, let them build their chatterbaits across the pond, and get patents on other peoples work, but I will never buy another chatterbait from them, period.

I like them. I use various forms of green as trailers and have had success combining them with multiple styles and colors of jigs. There are times when the fish wont bite anything but a chigger craw, and other times they wont bite anything but a rage craw. Usually for me, they are more fond of the chigger craw and so that is what I use more often. That may change as the season changes though. As far as durability is concerned, i get more catches out of the chigger craw than i do the rage craw. After one or two hits, my rage craws are usually missing one, if not both, of their claws.

My string and hook will catch a fish before his dollar bill will

being a private lake, it most likely isnt getting fished enough and has become over populated. Starving fish are unhealthy, and their immune systems weaken as a result. I would talk to the land owner and see if you could implement a thinning out process on that body of water. I would create a slot and start removing bass instantly if it was determined to be over stocked.

How is it that power pro displaces more water? could you please explain this?

Chatterbaits, like any other bait, has a time and place. Some people use them almost exclusively, but that really limits the angler's potential. i have found, and again this is only in my experience, that chatterbaits work best during the pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn portions of spring. Once the heat really kicks in down here in the south, my chatterbait bite really dies off. Also, I seem to do really well with them on windblown banks and dirty water areas at the mouths of creeks. I haven't had much success with them on bluebird days with clear water and no wind. If you are going to get a chatterbait, get a quality chatterbait. I suggest the KaRu Vibrashock, it's a great design made with quality components and has great skirt colors.

Sure hope so, the two in my Conroe area get hit pretty hard. Though I am not particular about the H20 lures, there are others that Academy carries that I do prefer, and I only seem to be able to find them there.

MegaStrike Fish Attractant I don't like pastes, too messy. If it came in a bottle to dip, I would be more apt or prone to purchase it. Shake E2 jig. First off, I think its a great concept and have considered purchasing some on multiple occasions, but most of my jig fishing doesn't call for a stand up jig head. A lot of my fishing occurs in grass and matted weeds, and I am hesitant to purchase them because the head design doesn't look conducive to that type of jigging. If I fished more open locations, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase some as they appear to be constructed of quality materials, and that means A LOT to me. Plastics I have a full supply of ZOOM and Berkley products that I have confidence in. Because I have confidence in some specific products from those companies already, I am not likely to spend too much time and money trying other products, especially ones that I cant see or touch in the stores before hand. In conclusion, I look at your lineup and I see quality, which means a lot to me. However, the design applications of your jigs differ from what I would be using them for, and therefore I have not invested into them. I don't like the thought of messing with paste, and I am already confident and productive with different lines of soft plastics. I wish you the best with your lineups though.

they remain popular beacuse they produce and are a great value. Since its been so long, maybe you should pick up a bag or two and see what all the rage is about ;D

bass with recessed gum line from deterioration.

Being weedless is my number one priority. I mainly use swimming jigs around weedlines and therefore need a head shape conducive to coming through weeds easily. I prefer the double wire weed guards because I can shape them easier to my preference, and they seem to come through weed cover a lot better for me. That may be different for some people who have alternative types of weed cover that differs from mine, but double wire weed guards get the job done best for me. The jigs that backwater4 made for me have come through the brush and weeds nicely and the cable thickness is just right for what I am using them for...a good swim jig for sure!

The Woodlands, Texas Start fishing faster lures. Cranks, Rattle Traps, Spinners, and lots of topwaters. I generally transition from slower moving presentations to faster moving presentations and try to key in on the middle and upper water column locations. If I can find a shallow flat in a cove close to deep water, I'll hit it hard with a shad colored crank or rattle trap because the bass start pushing the shad shallow in the waters that I fish. I throw frogs along the banks and use the spinnerbaits along the inside and outside weed lines. Sometimes the bite will be slow all day and then for a 30 minute period I will knock the snot out of them. These are generally schools of bass moving and feeding together, and when you get on a group of those, it can be a real blast. It will teach you really quickly how to unhook a bass and get your line out again.

One thing to consider that a lot of people don't, is when the strike occurs. I generally decide whether or not to set the hook depending on the point in my retrive that the strike occures. Strike on the lift: If I'm slowly lifting the rod and feel the tap, I will not set the hook unless I feel weight on the line. In most cases, if I feel a tap while lifting the rod, there will immediately be weight on the line afterwards, and I apply my bionic ninja hookset. However, if I dont feel weight, then I continue slowly lifting and generally I will feel another tap, or multiple taps, and I set the hook once the tap turns into weight. If the bites are aggressive that trip, then I will start to set the hook hard on the first tap just to make sure that I am not leaving any fish on the table, but for the most part, I have learned that by keeping a little pressure on the line, I can tell if a bass has it in his mouth or not. Strike on the fall or slack line: If I feel a hit while on the drop or on slack line, I set the hook immediately, no questions asked. Feel Weight when lifting lure off of bottom: Usually an instant hookset

Like mentioned above, it would be better if we knew what waters you were fishing because everybody here fishes different types of waters and so their "must haves" are different. I fish waters that dont generrally get below 10 feet, and in some cases, dont get below 6 feet. Here are my must haves: 1. Jig (Natural colors, Crigger Craw from KaRu Lures) 2. 10" Worm (Berkley or ZOOM, June Bug, Red Bug) 3. Soft plastic frog (ZOOM Horny Toad in Bullfrog or Watermelon Red) 4. Spinnerbait (I like the H20 Express from Academy, similar to sexy shad) 5. Crank Bait (Shad Colored Crank for lakes, Bluegill colored cranks for ponds)

depends on if there is a ring or not attached to the lure. if there is a ring, i tie a palomar directly to the ring, but if no ring is present, then i tie a rapala knot.

Lake Fork Live Magic Shad....it works

I hate the darn things, I just can't get "into" them. But best of luck to those of you who enjoy them, they obviously work well otherwise they wouldnt be souch a huge hit.

"There he is"