Chaz Hickcox

Sweet, thanks man.

Spinners in the knees. Got me third a few weeks ago. Basically pitching the spinner almost to the shore and bring it between the cypress knees. They usually nail it right before it goes through the saddle of the knees.

You know, I'm sorry, I said craw when I meant chunk. Either or though, does the baby craw have smaller pincers?

Do you mean Rabid Dog? As in a dog with rabies? If so try that for a search it may help you. I did, found some for sale, but no pictures. What's the deal with these? What do they look like?

Been working on my flippin' technique. I have been using a 1/2oz all-terrain jig with a rage craw. Going off of some advice I am planning on taking down the profile of the bait by using a Strike King Bisty Flip in the 1/2oz weight. I love the action of the rage craw, but would a smaller profile help with finicky fish, or would sticking with the rage be sufficient?

All of the above, however in addition I killed em on grass flats using a split shot rig with the 1/16 shot about 12-18in above the lure. Again, same concept as above, just a different weight. It would probably be better with a pegged bullet through the grass. I'm gonna try that this summer. Don't forget the Megastrike (seemed to work better than the original coffee scent IMO). Paul. posted something on the eeliminator last fall that mentioned how he would hook the nose with a circle hook and add weight to them with a needleweight (I think he made his own by cutting the heads off of nails). I tried to find the thread, but for some reason my searches aren't bringing it up. If you can find it, or if Paul. can recap what he did that would probably give you a completely different idea.

That is a good idea, but the fact of the matter is that would cost a bit of money in line experimentation, and that's something I fiscally can't do.

Normally I would, but what a lot of people seem to not realize is that most of the things people are saying is stuff I checked out on the water, therefore already debunking a lot of what is said. One thing is that people need to not be offended when a brand they like gives someone a bad experience and that someone says something. I personally like quantums, whith that being said, I know a lot of people have had really bad experiences with them, therefore I don't get angry and abbrasive when people say bad things about them. In all reality anyways we are all on this site to learn from each others' experiences, so why don't people keep some tact in their responses instead of starting something by posting things to make others look like idiots?

Yeah, it's basically a shallow diving crankbait with a lively tail. I've caught some big fish on that. One thing about Castaic though, one has to test it in the water first. Their quality has been shot to heck since they sold out. Castaic has been worthless for awhile ..... Their customer service is pretty good and their catch 22 and hardbaits haven't been an issue for me. I had 3 catch 22's destroyed by gar last year and they replaced all three for free, including shipping. It was a good experience, and I still think back to the days they first came out and their quality was solid. I need to find a new swimbait brand to throw because they're so iffy right now. What would you suggest? I've heard Mattlures, but am cautious about trial and error with $20+ lures. Also, I need something where the whole body moves water, not just a paddle tail. This muddy water sucks, I miss Western Gin Reservoirs and small fish being 3+ pounds.

Bigfoot frog by Scum Frog. Nice part about them is they work as really SSSLLLOOOWWW buzzbaits too.

With spinnerbaits, I don't do a very hard hookset, because the bait is already moving. If you have a sharp hook, a quick snap and applying some pressure should be enough. If you're setting the hook to the point where the bait is flying out of the water at you,your probably setting the hook too hard. In terms of strikes, if it was a bass it could have missed, or hit a blade, or grabbed the skirt... but are you sure you didn't hit a rock, or weed or something? as far as how to fish a spinnerbait, all of the above will work, depending on conditions. you have to feel out the fish, they'll tell you what presentation to use. x2 I use spinners all the time. Usually the hook sets itself, obviously depending on the speed of retrieve. Now as far as your retreieve, it depends. Right now in prespawn/spawn I use a steady retrieve, but not too fast. If you're fishing from shore I would fish it with a medium retrieve but it depends on your water.

Yeah, it's basically a shallow diving crankbait with a lively tail. I've caught some big fish on that. One thing about Castaic though, one has to test it in the water first. Their quality has been shot to heck since they sold out.

Castaic Original Hard Headed Baby Crappie: http://store.castaicswimbait.com/Product/111/Hard-Head-Originals/

Y'all need to come east. North Landing, and the Chowan have been awesome this time of year. Already put over 20lbs in the boat in only four tournements (had one that was a goose egg, but that was also my first time ever on Gaston).

So everyone who competes knows what it's like to be running and gunning, switching baits and all of that. My tournement partner and I are looking to see what you all do to keep organized during the tournement in order to get some ideas. Usually it takes me after the day to go through the boat and find everything that had been shoved into either the glove box or all over the floor in the seating area, then reorganizing our tackleboxes. There has to be a better way. What do you do?

Isn't that really the case? Well said RW!

Spiderwire stealth will have some memory when you initially spool it. It also has a tendency to cut itself on rats nests when new. With that being said. It takes a day of fishing to break it in. Once it is broken in and smooth and supple it is IMHO the best braid out there. You won't get the band saw effect like other braids, nor will it make a lot of noise when it is rubbing against cover like other braids. Therefore one can fish it in all kinds of situations. Some people will swear by powerpro, and it is strong as hell, but I have had some personal issues with it. Some other people will say what they will about those, but (*$ em. Most others will hate Spiderwire because they don't understand the break in period. Also, once it gets to be about 6 months old or so it will start backlashing bad. All you have to do at that point is replace it. Line is a consumable, and most people forget that.

Interesting thought, but that's not the case. Since that particular rod is made for superline I switched my reels around. I put the one with the flouro on another rod and the one with the spiderwire on that rod. Since then I have put at least 10 fish in the boat with that rod with no issues. To all you 'smart' people, like flip from San Fran. Eat me. Just because this ain't happened to you does not mean that was not the case. I'm not worried about losing practice day fish, nor am I making excuses. I'm actually happy it happened then and not on the tournement day. I just thought this was an interesting thing and if anyone else had experienced it. Guess what, using braid brought in half my fish for my last four tournements. I'm pretty sure I know how to use it.

Good thinking. I've done that, and I was thoroughly confused for a few casts. PowerPro does create some extra friction for a few hours until you break it in. It's a little rough straight off the spool, but a terrific line overall. This is to both snoopy and beaver islander - That may have been the issue, though I don't think so. I have been using that same rod/reel/braid set up for all season up until now. I have caught many fish on that and have had issues with that particular reel having a worn drag disc that I had to replace (other times with the same reel and smaller fish I had the opposite issues, the drag was too loose and I had to use my thumb to gain line on the fish, but after replacing the drag I have not had that issue again and no it wasn;t the line slipping on the spool. I tie the braid with a polomar knot threaded into the holes on the spool, not around the spool like most people do). Again today the reel worked fine with the flouro on it. Maybe this is a one time fluke. My tournament partner uses powerpro with no issues whatsoever. So who knows? I am fairly sure this was not user error in this case though.

Muddy water generally means skinny water which means BUZZ THEM!!!! More big bass in my muddy waters on buzzbaits/poppers/and anything else that gets their attention than anything else (including those dam senkos!).

Thanks Wayne. Some people just know too much I guess, huh?

Been using braid since 1999, I think I know what I am doing with the ultra sensitivity. Now Power Pro is new to me and its the roughest braid I've ever touched. I've used Stren, Berkley, Spiderwire, Suffix, etc... without said issue. Like I also said, I initially thought it was the reel. It could have been bad line because I spooled it in November, but I have only used it for this last month since the water became water again.

Friction ~ Really ? I've been a faithful Power Pro user since it came out in 1997 I think. This is the first and only time I have ever heard of this strange friction phenomenon. Sounds bad. A-Jay Never heard of it either so that's why I posted this.

Friction - A force that resists the relative motion or tendency to such motion of two bodies or substances in contact. Friction also means: Fr = [ch956]N "like a bandsaw" basically it was some serious work with the highspeed reel just to keep a constant pace with the spinner. Much the same as if you were to drive down the road with your e-brake partially on. Therefore making it difficult to quickly take up slack and ultimately allowing said lost fish to move faster towards me than I was reeling in, which in turn disallowed me to keep the line taught and subsequently ended in thrown hooks. It's a different situation than you probably have been in. "Friction" is a B*&^ my friend BigRick. The lack thereof would be described as slipping not a friction problem.

In the eyes of the rod apparently. Here's a weird note though. The rod is a Berkley Lighting Rod made specifically for superlines. It's fine with the spiderwire.