BobP

Clarification on Recoil guides - They certainly will bend because they are nickel-titanium alloy. The good news is that when bent, they snap right back into original shape. Go ahead, try it - you won't hurt the guides. They are also super light, which helps the balance of the rod. Not everyone loves them (they can make a heck of a racket if you use braid) but they are very high end guides, fitting for the highest level Loomis.

I think the Palomar is fine for nylon copolymer line. For braid and fluorocarbon, any knot you like that includes multiple wraps around the standing line is often better. Those extra wraps act to cushion the knot at the hook eye, where knots break. Instantaneous strain at the knot on a hard snappy hook set can break a Palomar or, in the case of braid, can cause the tag end of the line to slip through the knot. You can break 30 lb braid with a Palomar fairly easily, 65 lb braid is often the safety margin used by Palomar jig fishermen. I prefer thinner lines and use a San Diego Jam knot with fluoro and braid. It's easy to tie and it's easy to see that it is tied right as you do it, which gives me a little added confidence in the knot.

Outstanding! Those squiggles on the carapace segments really make them look realistic.

Some reels are just harder to control and maybe you got one. Maybe it's why Dad gave it to you? : Another reason for the difference is a wide reel has more spool mass and more line mass, so it's takes more force to get the spool spun up when casting, and it takes more breaking to slow the spool down at the end of the cast. If you are throwing a heavy lure, like a 3/4oz carolina rig, that can be a good thing. The spool can spin up and diesel along, giving you a very long cast. But if you're throwing a worm on a 3/16th oz T-rig, it will take a very educated thumb to get that done without disaster. The fluoro is also heavier than braid or regular co-polymer line, which is another minor factor that magnifies the spool mass. If you're new to baitcasters, it makes sense to spool up with some less expensive line (yeah, Big Game is great for this). Btw, when you cut line off your spool as you get backlashes, you are decreasing the diameter of the spool and that is the same as applying more cast control. It will give you shorter distance on your cast. That may not be bad for practicing in the back yard, but after you get things 'dialed in', you'll be more consistent if you keep the spool filled to the same full level.

There's a highway bridge where the hot side becomes the cold side and it has considerable flow under it. There's a public parking area adjacent to the bridge for fishermen. Bring a cast net, get some of the millions of shad that swim at the bridge, then use them to catch some of those frisky Lake Anna striped bass.

If you can stand the weather (I can't!) and have good sonar, use jigging spoons and you can catch a bunch of fish. The action can be hot and heavy though you may have to fish as deep as 55-60 ft in some Piedmont lakes. Alternatively, there are lots of power generating lakes here in Piedmont NC that have warm water discharges. Regardless of the season or the water temp, find the baitfish - find the bass.

You said you wanted fluoro, not copolymer like CXX or Yozuri Hybrid. Yes, fluoro is pricier but is not affected by water absorption or UV degradation like copolymer so lasts much longer. I can usually leave it on the reel until the level begins to get low from snipping off pieces during re-tying. I like BassPro XPS, have never had any issues with it and the price is good (especially during their April spring sale). I've also had excellent service from Seguar and P-line pure fluoro. One tip is to check how many yards comes on a spool. I see no reason to spool the whole reel with fluoro when I'll never use more than the first 75 yards. So a spool of 250 yds will give me at least 3 spool-ups while a 200 yd spool will probably be only 2. It makes a big difference in your actual "fishing cost". If you're gonna use it for T-rig worms and also crankbaits, my favorite is 12 lb line. Fluoro is typically a little thinner in diameter than the same test copolymer.

http://www.southwesternparts.com/ I'd check with the manufacturer first. They often have older parts and good prices. If that fails, Southwestern (above) also carries lots of stuff.

Unless you get a talented friend to do it for free, a repaint costs more than most old crankbaits sold for at retail. So I'd take a critical look and choose only those baits that are 'tried and true' fish catchers for repainting. Brands/models? There are lots of old classics in high demand but if you are doing it to fish them, just choose the ones you already have confidence in.

Bills usually yellow because either they were clearcoated or because the plastic itself has yellowed. If it's clearcoat, you can remove it with sandpaper and re-clearcoat with a solvent based urethane that will also fill in any scratches on the bill. Like all urethanes, it too will eventually yellow. Personally, I'd leave well enough alone. Maybe paint the lure with a nice chartreuse pattern that the bill will match :

Palomar on copolymer line, San Diego Jam knot on fluorocarbon line.

Patterning is about where active fish are, not necessarily how you catch them. For instance, fish are holding on main lake points. P-I-P, the fish are on the upcurrent side of the points in 7-10 ft of water where there is chunk rock at that depth. Pattern - the fish are on docks. P-I-P, they are on the outside margins of the docks in 2 ft or less of water where the grass line intersects the docks, and there needs to be deep water nearby.

Patterning is about where active fish are, not necessarily how you catch them. For instance, fish are holding on main lake points. P-I-P, the fish are on the upcurrent side of the points in 7-10 ft of water where there is chunk rock at that depth. Pattern - the fish are on docks. P-I-P, they are on the outside margins of the docks in 2 ft or less of water where the grass line intersects the docks, and there needs to be deep water nearby.

Patterning is about where active fish are, not necessarily how you catch them. For instance, fish are holding on main lake points. P-I-P, the fish are on the upcurrent side of the points in 7-10 ft of water where there is chunk rock at that depth. Pattern - the fish are on docks. P-I-P, they are on the outside margins of the docks in 2 ft or less of water where the grass line intersects the docks, and there needs to be deep water nearby.

I use size 1 on very small (1/4oz) crankbaits, size 2 on everything else. I think the size 2 dominates on bass crankbaits and the wire on them is thicker. The size 1 rings are pretty easy to deform when you're changing them out. Suggest you get a good pair of split ring pliers - they're definitely worth the $$.

I used to pour molten lead into ballast holes but found 2 downsides. First, it's hard to control the volume of lead that's going in, and control of ballast weight is a big factor in getting a bait right, and especially in duplicating a good bait when you want to build more of them. Second, molten lead will often burn/char/melt whatever surrounds it and then sit in a void in the bait without any real bond. Slap the bait on the water and the ballast might just shoot out through the finish - bait ruined. Been there, done that. For quality control and repeatability, I weigh ballast on a digital scale and epoxy it in a drilled hole.

JMHO, CXX is tough stuff. But it has what I'd call a 'greasy feeling surface finish' that didn't cast or pitch very well for me. Others think it works just great, so I guess it's a matter of taste. For me, Izorline Premium has a hard slick finish that casts well and is also tough. Plus, it's sold at a very good price. Both CXX and Izor will develop spool memory faster than softer texture lines, so every choice in fishing line has its pros and cons.

Nice bait! The thing you have to watch out for with woods containing lots of oil is the oil will migrate through and stain the finish unless you use a solvent based undercoating (aka primer, base coat, whatever you want to cal it).

I've been using a Curado 200B5 as my med/large crankbait reel for 6-7 yrs and haven't found anything that works better/longer. I don't know what the IPT is on the B5 but it seems just about perfect. Its lower gears make the B5 a little smoother on retrieve than the 6.2:1 CU200 too. Not a good reel to throw 1/4 oz crankbaits on, but for anything heavier, it casts very well.

You hit the nail on the head - there's no replacement for practice and experience, and it takes time to get them. If I had any suggestion, it would be to use a good airbrush and compressor. It makes airbrushing easier and quicker to learn. Then, peruse some of the airbrushing and bait building sites including this one to see what is possible.

Nate, re pvc vs wood - pvc is considerably heavier than woods used for bait building so will require less ballast. Re tungsten ballast - you might consider something like tungsten shotgun pellets, such as the stuff sold here: http://tungsten-spheres.com/tungsten_shot.html

Roby, I read questions/opinions here and elsewhere about various combinations of coatings used on crankbaits. You need to use coatings that do the job you expect, adhere well to each other, and which do not have chemical incompatibility that causes bubbles or wrinkling. Getting different brands of coatings that match up well isn't always easy - especially when you're talking about solvent based coatings. Marty has a finish regime that works great for him. I often use epoxy sealer, acrylic paints, and a moisture cured urethane topcoat. The Minwax may work great - but it depends on the paint you apply over it and the topcoat you apply over the paint. You have to try it and see how well it works. Epoxy is popular as a sealer and as a topcoat. Besides doing a good job in both roles, it is also virtually inert when cured and will not react with any other coating I've ever heard about. If your plan is to use Minwax as a sealer, acrylic paint, and epoxy as a topcoat you should not run into problems. If you choose a solvent based topcoat, only testing will determine whether they will work together.

Cabelas or Basspro was selling a Big O reproduction in recent years. I never fished an original but I was underwhelmed by the repro I bought. If they are sale items in a sporting goods store, they surely aren't original Big O's.

Even cheaper? Cut off the butt cap with a single edged razor blade, stuff in the amount of lead needed to balance out the rig, and epoxy the butt cap back on.

The question revolves around your fishing style, the cover you fish, the baits you use, etc. There's more than one correct answer. If you're always fishing heavy grass, the answer would be different than if you're fishing a deep shell bed. First, I want to GET BIT - then worry about the rest of it. To do that, I have to cast the jig accurately - and a MH rod with a soft but fast tip section does that best for me. I often fish a clear water lake where you have to stay back and pitch into wood cover. A softer tip section makes it a lot easier. If you're pitching 3/8 oz jigs into tea cups from 30 feet with a broomstick, more power to ya. I just can't do that and don't believe most other guys can either. I don't fish jigs with heavy wire hooks, so setting is not an issue.