Chaz Hickcox

I use megastrike, my tournament partner uses Gulp! Alive and we both catch fish. IMO it's about NOT smelling like me and smelling like something that lives in the water. As far as a best one, the smelly stuff you have on your bait as you throw it in the water is the best (In otherwords, just use whatever, they all do the job). I forgot to mention, another thing I have done is use a Gulp! Alive minnow on the trailer hook of my spinners. Seemed to work really well for white perch, for some reason the bass weren't all that into it. Mayber it was time of year, who knows?

I was wondering what it would take for my club to sponsor an event in southeastern va or northeastern nc. I brought it up to our president, and he would consider it, but I would clearly need to be able to speak intelligently on the subject. Thanks. By the way I don't know who it was but I heard about it on WFN where a member of this site was a guest on the show. Sounds like a cool program. We would just need to see what our guys are willing to do. Its a new idea so there's been almost no talk about it amongst the members as of yet. Again I just want to be able to speak intelligently about it when we do. PS - I forgot to mention the club is Stateline Bass Anglers Club (formerly Back Bay Bass Anglers Club).

Well they're here! Today was hot and muggy until the thunder started. And the fishing was SLOW!! A guy frm my club and I were prefishing the North Landing River in Va Bch and it was a slow day today. We had two fish in the morning and two small dinks in the afternoon. I guess they knew the front was coming in too. We tried everything, topwater spinners, t-rigs, c-rigs, only four. Any advice?

I have a '93 Javelin 379DC. Since OMC has gone under it's kinda hard to find the schematics for it.

NEVER TURN OFF YOUR TRUCK IF THE TAILPIPE IS UNDER WATER. I used to do this all the time when fording rivers and what not in Arizona. The problem you can run into is if you turn it off the water has a chance of getting back to your engine. If you leave the truck on the pressure keeps water out of the pipe all together. It definitely won't hurt anything unless while you're running you get some water into the air intake, in that case you're screwed.

Any of the Hawgs; Rage, Brush, Game, Power, etc...

I thought I was doing good being in the hundreds! Holy cow. Spend a lot of time on the border region either Buggs or one of the border rivers, doing alright, nothing bigger than 4lbs.

#66 is actually the joint where the shaft is supposed to be anchored at, its not supposed to pop out. I would call minn lota and see what they're willing to help with or if they can refer you to a repair shop near you. Usually their warrantees are really good. If that piece is popping out, I'm guessing up above the mount, then its probably severely worn. The part should be fairly inexpensive, but if you don't do your own work then the labor would likely be a bit pricey. Sorry I can't be more of a help.

Good for you. Wish I could have found one like that, I had to settle for a 93 Javelin 379DC that is pretty beat up. I would love to find a good old Ranger like that. Sweet deal dude.

I've got a maxxum and could probably help, but pictures would help to identify exactly what you're talking about. To me with the all terrain ball thing I sometimes have to go back and forth for it to work. But yeah give a pic of what your stuff looks like and it would be easier to help.

07 avelanche and my silverado have been working real well for me. V8 is a must otherwise you will actually burn more gas because of way higher rpms. When I was a kid we had fords and they worked well too, but trannys would go out too soon. They may have fixed that since I started buying gm, but I dunno. I got my silverado while I was in Afghan in 08. Look for dealerships online that are close to your house and if you have access to an iridium or something like that call and let them know where you are, obviuosly not specifics. If they're worth anything as Americans they should be able to help you find what you're looking for. Semper Fi.

So I am at a tournament last week and when I was coming in on the intracoastal I got stuck behind a yacht and had to slow down. When I did my bow went high, as they do at low speeds. Once we got into the no wake zone I checked on my fish and they were flopping on the bottom of the livewell. Now, usually I let it fill up and then close the valve because this has happened before. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my system?

Game Hawg in Amistad Special

My problem is that I end up setting the hook on a lot of wood. I switched to pitchin hawgs t-rigged because they don't snag as much, but I would like to be able to figure out the jig. Now I have been looking for more line than depth, less line than depth, subtle movements, so on and so forth. However it seems that most of the time I set the hook on wood a lot. how do you get around that?

Out here in va I use a firetiger strike king spinner to mimic the bream. I don't know what the deal is but they won't touch a white one but they love that firetiger. Is it because it looks like bream or because its easier to see? I dunno, but it works for me.

Game Hawg, Brush Hawg, anything that is similar. T-rigged with a pegged 1/4 Oz weight. Just seems to work better that anything else. When it hits the bottom there's an abrupt sprawl of all the legs that seems to get their attention real well. Besides that the action of all those arms seems to induce a strike on occasion as I bring it back to the boat.

I have used them in the past. They're great when burned and the fish are active. As far as their durability, well that depends. I know that the bass I've caught with them didn't tear them up too much, but they were torn apart by gar. With that being said though, all I had to do was call Castaic and they sent me out two new ones with no questions. Their customer service has been excellent. I would say if you have a lot of gar or dirty water get the rock hard series. I know the trout may discourage some, but really it's the same concept as the brush hawg. I know they aren't living in my waters but the fish love em. Also with the rock hards they will click against themselves adding another dimension to the bait, noise. Personally I have had the best luck with the Hard Headed Originals, and they're cheaper. Durability with those are awesome. The one I bought in 1999 has been used a lot and finally broke a few weeks ago. That was only because I nailed the trolling motor with it.

I've snagged a channel cat in the meaty portion of the tail using a jointed rapala, but nothing they have purposely tried to eat (other than live minnows).

Ok now that's more disgusting than a slime coated bowfin covered in leeches and cysts!

So most of the users on this site are clowns huh? That should sell a few more baits... Dude calm down, Bobby is making a point. A lot of people like to make assumptions without knowing what's up. If that's not you then don't worry about it. Megastrike is doing just fine without having to add anything new. If they do, then they probably have their ducks in a row. Keep kickin @$$ Bobby! And when are these due out? Within the next month will be cool as I am out of fishing until then, but heck I can't wait to try this texas rigged. If you can make em black with chart tips!

Oh good now we're going to have to worry about the phenomina in Bee Movie. Good job Slone for bringing that up. Now, whoever finds the talking crawdad, USE HIM FOR BAIT!!!!

X2 I would get the larger sizes, like 1/2 oz. In addition, topwaters around the grass in the morning should work. I have a part of one of my rivers that is a lot like what you explain and I use a lot of Scum Frog Bigfoots to bring up the bass around the weeds. Here's a small example, look in the background at the reeds. It seems to match what you are describing. Late summer is awesome up there when the shiners are spawning and the bass a busting them on the surface.

I have one, but it's starting to tarnish really bad. I got it and a couple of tandem colorado bladed spinners for the murky water I fish, but oddly enough I have found that tandem willow leafs work best in my waters. It's really odd how that works. My water is brackish and heavily stained, if not muddy. I know it goes against the rules, but heck, the bass will get what the bass want. My best spinners are the Strike King Tandem Willow Leafs with one being bronze and one being silver. Again, I don't know WHY it is, but I know THAT it is.

Weird when they do stuff unexpected like that. My partner had his spinner get caught up on a stump and when we went to get it I had a spinner in the water, maybe 2 in deep, and nice LMB came and tried to take my rod from me. This was within inches of the cypress tree he was holding on.

At that point if the water temp is right (Air temp is only an indication of water temp may be), you should be able to do well with a popper. Experiment with it and see what they want. Try a pop, pop, pop, pause retrieve, then a pop, pause, pop, pop, pause, or a sustained popping all the way back to ya. The best place to pause is near any kind of structure. If you know of any submerged structure this is cool. Also, If you can bounce it off a log into the water, pop it, then wait. I have had a lot of bass hit at that point. When I say pause, let the rings on the water get about 5-7 ft away from your lure.