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The bottle claims it's an anti-corrosive. I spray it on my bass jigs and terminal tackle because I have minor rust issues sometimes due to bait salt. I started the middle of last year, and I noticed an improvement right away. I had less rust in my jig box from salty trailers. I remove chunks before storing jigs, but I don't usually remove trailers that are threaded on.

I know that making a conscious effort to slow down my retrieve, make contact with cover, and to try to get a good feel the cover with my bait have helped my improve my crankbait fishing.

That's crazy! He barely even pulls it out of the holster. I wonder if he's ever accidentally fired the gun while it's in the holster.

It seems that on some forums, many people's sole intent while skimming the posts is to give ratings, no matter how trivial the post was. The Minneapolis Star Tribune is a prime example of this. It's good to see that so far people on BR are only giving ratings when they feel strongly about what is said, or how it was said. I think that's how it should be.

I fish for size usually, but sometimes I'm in the mood to toss buzzbaits and topwaters for large numbers of small aggressive bass, especially if I bring guests out with me who don't fish very often.

How's the footing in the stream? Have you considered wading? If the fish won't come to you, go find them. I used to wade my local rivers and streams almost every day during open water, but before that, I fished from shore. Wading opened up a lot of opportunities and I caught many more fish than I would have had I stayed on shore.

I own Curados and Revo STXs. I think the casting distance is about the same. I feel the Curado pitches a little better, but for distance casting, it's hard to pick a winner. I would recommend a $150 Curado from eBay, and a set of ABEC 9 spool bearing upgrades, which will run you about $30 a set. There aren't any bearings on eBay at the moment, but they come and go on there and on forum flea markets pretty regularly. This will cast further than a stock Curado and the cost is same as retail.

I like to use a Yum Craw Papi, a threaded Netbait Paca Chunk, 3" Senko, paddletail grub, or the tail of a finesse worm.

What are your experiences? Have you had any luck with them?

What kind of cover do you fish? Some of the softer cranking sticks are too soft and whippy to effectively rip crankbaits free of weeds. I prefer a little heavier rod for lipless cranks because I fish them mostly around grass. I use MH/Fast action rods or MH cranking sticks for lipless crankbaits. Using a medium power/moderate action rod for 1/2 oz+ lipless cranks drives me nuts. They relentlessly foul in the weeds.

You got that right!

There are loads of bait that can be skipped under docks. Senkos, tube jigs, an 1/8 oz jig and craw, and Phat Frogs are what I use the most of. Any bait with needs to be Texas rigged or has numerous appendages, like a creature bait, is going to limit casting distance and accuracy because of the drag from the hook, arms, twisters, and flappers, etc. O-ring wacky rigged Senkos skip further and more accurately because of their slender shape, heavy, centered weight, and uniformity in shape. They can be skipped very easily, so there will be less noise and splash as the lure hits the water and skips. A bait that skips consistently will hit it's mark on the first cast and spook fewer fish with miscasts. With an o-ring and light finesse hook, the hook rides on top of the lure and out of the water. A slender, heavy wacky rig has less drag than any Texas rigged bait and they will skip truer and more consistently.

I believe it. I think I must have gotten the deeper ones. I'm happy with them for the price. I bought 4 sizes of the insert-free and they all look like they have the same characteristics and level of quality control.

I got to the bottom of this. Here's the pesponse from Dwayne Davenport after I asked him if they were different products. "The only difference between the two is that the tackle shops specify the quantity they want in the pack. Otherwise they are the same product. We don't hand pick or process the product differently because of the Behemoth name. When we started the company, we started it to sell to individuals, not tackle shops. We wanted fisherman like yourself to be able to buy a premium product at a fair price. The tackle shops worried the crap out of me because we were cheaper than anyone else, so we started selling to them and created the Behemoth brand. Thanks again for your order, Dwayne and Jennifer Davenport www.alleystungsten.com"

They're my favorite shaky worm, despite the poor durability.

I've owned all 4 Loomis', GLX, IMX, GL3, and GL2. I wouldn't recommend the GL3 and GL2 at retail cost. I think they are overpriced by about $40-60 compared to other rods of similar quality. The GL3 is no better than a St. Croix Avid, IMO, but it costs about $40-50 more. In fact, I'd take an Avid over a GL3 any day because I like the handle much better. The IMX and GLX are excellent rods. If you want value, try a Dobyns rod. Of all the rods that I've owned, Dobyns offers the best bang-for-your-buck, and value means a lot to me. A lot of people love Powell rods and would say they're the best value, but I can't comment on them because I've never owned or fished with one. For the best rod in the $250 and under range, I would recommend a new Dobyns Champion, or a used Dobyns Champion Extreme or Loomis GLX.

Using stiff, abrasion resistant 12# fluorocarbon on a spinning reel is just asking for a giant birdsnest that needs to be cut out.

I've considered putting KVD on retail spools of line, but haven't tried it yet. I was thinking it might extend the shelf life of the bulk spools of line that I have. I'd like to know more. I let the conditioner dry on the line after the first application, as directed. It definitely does work better if you let it dry or at least marinate for a few hours before use, and not just for the first application either. I've had the best results when applying just a few little squirts before and after every trip, and letting it dry slowly overnight in the semi-humid boat locker. I don't even go through a full bottle per year doing this, and I think I use quite a bit. A bottle goes a long ways.

I use spinning tackle for cranks and poppers that are 1/4 oz and under. A 7' medium power baitcasting cranking stick with light line like 8# CXX will do a decent job, but not as good as spinning tackle.

Happy anniversary! What a great meal, those shrimp look amazing.

Ardent Line Butter is a fairly good product, but it's oily and will leave your hands feeling a little slippery when using it. I've gone through a bottle and a half of it without hurting anything, other than causing my reel to get dirty a little quicker than it ordinarily would have. I still like to use it on braided line because it causes less friction and noise when going through the guides and makes the braid hold it's color longer. It feels like diluted silicone to me, and doesn't seem to do anything to the line other than lubricate it. This makes casting easier and reduces kinking, backlashes, line damage from backlashes, and birdnests. KVD is not oily at all, if fact it leaves the line with a dry, tacky, chalky feeling but actually does seem to soften the line a little, which makes it more manageable. I use and would recommend Ardent on braid and KVD on all other types of lines, to be applied lightly at the beginning and end of all trips.

Somebody outbid me with 3 seconds left on an eBay auction last night. It was for a spool of 6# for $25.

Yeah that's good stuff. It's also listed on the Fish With Shimano YouTube page. There are 7 reel maintenance videos in all. http://www.youtube.com/user/FishWithShimano

Casting rigs: Crank rod (smaller cranks, 1/4oz - 3/8oz) 8-10# CXX Jig rod (bigger jigs 7/16oz - 3/4oz) 50# braid, with or without a leader Smaller jig rod/ Swim jig rod (1/8oz - 5/16) Trilene 100% 15# fluorocarbon or 12# Yo Zuri Hybrid or Ultra Soft Worm/pitching rod (1/8oz-5/16oz) Trilene 100% 15# fluorocarbon or 12# Yo Zuri Hybrid or Ultra Soft C-rig rod (3/8-1/2oz) Topwater (mostly, buzzbaits 3/8 oz) 14-17# soft mono, Sufix Elite Spinning rigs: Shakey head/drop shot rod 6# Ultra Soft or CXX, or 6-8# Invizx fluorocarbon Senko rod 6-8# YZ Ultra Soft, 6-8# Invizx, or 6# CXX

So you like the weights from Behemoth better than those from Alley's?