Hooligan

Are they suitable? Yes. I think the biggest reason I don't is that they're just a bit cumbersome, really. For most of my baits, I have the ones that I know I'm going to fish and that's typically what I have accessible. I usually don't need to venture beyond those four or five cranks; but I have a dozen of each of those cranks which is why I use the boxes for storage. When my pegboard is emptied of baits I pull them out of the big boxes, re-stock the boat boxes and pegboard.

I guess I'm confused by your post. You're bemoaning something and have unsubstantiated evidence to do so. It sounds an awful lot like, "I'm not catching fish where I used to and I have to blame someone or something for that because fishing patterns and fish habits simply do not change on a yearly, or cyclical, basis." Learn to fish different areas, structure, cover, and environments and you'll catch those same fish that were once abundant on your docks. If you think that mink and cormorant are solely responsible for the depletion of a fishery, you couldn't be more wrong. In many situations the predatory aspect of those animals will help to solidify a fishery, as well as strengthen the competition for the forage base. It enhances natural selection and creates stronger populations and genetics within that population.

I can't stand it when people have music blaring, drives me insane. I fish with a guy that's constantly missing fish because he's paying too close attention to his iPod.

THe Mojo Glass is one of the best rods out there in that length and category. It's glass, you're not really concerned with the sensitivity of the rod, it's going to transmit the bait wel enough, and banging structure; you don't need to worry about ultra-light bites. Either the Mojo or like DVT said, a build rod.

Brothers from anothers mothers?

I nearly always fill a reel initially. IE: The first time I ever put line on a reel, I fill it. From there forward, I typically split fluorocarbon into 50 yard lots and use the 50 yards as my guide in terms of adding line to a reel. I know, generally, where the marker is that I need to add, and I know how much or how little I need to peel to get to that max fill. The exception is on my cranking reels, spinnerbait reels, and two braid reels. I put 100 yards on crank and spinnerbait reels, and usually 75 yards of braid. My absolute largest pet-peeve is feeling a joining knot on the spool so I'll always have enough line to cover at least a cast and a half if not slightly more than that.

I fish more of the 112 and 127, it just depends on where I am. It seems like big smallies really like the 127.

Rage, Rage, Rage, and Rage. More and more a believer in full action trailers in cold water. The more action there is from the trailer, the greater the illusion of life there is on the package as a whole. This is not to say that you're moving a bait a lot and moving a lot of water, this is to say that the most minute movements and minor changes will cause the jig to flutter and quiver with life. The fall rate is also another reason I choose to use the Craw as a trailer in cold water, the fall rate of a 1/4 or 5/16 can be dramatically changed by using a large craw and it opens many doors to winter fishing.

I have one in the 5" Spoon, 5" Crank, and Muskie sizes. I use them primarily for storage.

Hrmmm, that's three entirely different rods with entirely different actions. A 6-3 MXF for the jerks, 6-9 MXF or 6-9 MM for the topwater, and a 7-2 MM for the squarebills. The 6-9 could work for blades.

What happened to the Lews, Exo, Premier debate?

What makes it a good bait is that it just is. There's so many things about it that are good that it's hard to name them all, just like with the 100, and the Vision 110. How's the action? You've already read it's a good bait, what more is there to say?

Hey 00Mod, the pic with Kent holding the big minow- That's a river carp-sucker. A Buff has a different mouth and dorsal fin.

My only thoughts on the rig are these: You generally have to be in the right situation to be catching fish on it, there will be the odd person that lucks out, but overall, it's not a lure you're going to throw all the time every time. It's a fun way to fish when you're on fish that are actively chasing bait; in the grand scheme, it's no different than a double fluke, it's only slightly expanded. If you think it's not a legit way to fish, then don't fish it; particularly if it happens to be a tournament that I am fishing against you, by all means don't fish it.

I disagree wholly. It's been proven on various bodies of water and in various climates that the largest females are very, very often in the last waves of fish to spawn. It's also common that the large fish in a population will spawn far, far deeper than their smaller relatives. I think that very often anglers mistake large females up shallow chasing for spawning fish, when what she's actually doing is feeding and her head isn't fully on the spawn yet. In a handful of lakes and ponds that I'm very familiar with, you won't see the biggest females spawn until their eggs have the greatest chance of survival. It's partly about survival of the fittest and advancing those more desirable traits on to the next generation. Glem Lau has done a lot of film on it, as has Dr. Willis from SD State. There's also some writing from Drs jenks and Johnson about it in pertinence to Black Bass at various latitudes in the US.

It can range from December January in the Deep South to July in the Great White North. Many, many biologists will say that the largest part of the species spawn in relation to photo-period opposed to temperatures. There have been far too many records of fish spawning in IA, WI, and MN in mid-40 degree water temps to state that it's all about temperature. Temps will have a large part to play in the overall success of the spawn, but it does not solely dictate when it will occur.

Kinks from a backlash, for instance. Wrapping your line around a hard edge to pull it free from a snag. Anything that distorts the cross section in a manner that is anything other than axially will cause weakening in fluorocarbon. It's also probably true that lower quality lines will suffer from being stretched, but generally because of the structure of fluoro it won't be an issue.

Abrazx or Toray Premium Plus.

I've been throwing the A-rig on a couple different rods. The first I've been throwing it on is a Crucial Swimbait H. It's almost TOO heavy to fish the rig effectively, particularly with 1/4oz heads. The second I've been fishing is a Dobyns 795 Mike Long, and it's perfect for it. The MH is just right with the perfect tip and plenty of guts in the butt of the rod. I'm just throwing it with a ChronarchD or a Calcutta TE200GT, so far I like the Calcutta of the two, but I'm biased towards that reel anyhow. There's no real need to upsize reels, IMO, a 200 size reel has enough capacity and ability to handle it just fine. I fish it with 20lb Tatsu or 25lb Abrazx, I don't like braid and don't see the need for it here. In terms of heads and depths, all you need is 1/4 ounce heads, they count down quick, and they don't rise through the column unless you're burning it. It's very, very easy to maintain depths with it, regardless of shallow or in 15+. The only time you'd need to go up is in current or when you're fishing in 15+ feet of water and trying to get all the way down. IMO for the 3-rig, you'll be fine with the rod you've listed. AND, contrary to what many indicate, if you lob cast the rig, it is quite easy to throw all day long with no issues whatsoever.

Strain and stretch are two different things in terms of what it does to the line. I hang up jigs all the time with 20lb Tatsu and have either pulled them out or broken off with no ill effect to the line. I mean, really, if that were the case every fish you land on...say... 6lb Tatsu on a dropshot rod... would stretch your line and it would be near worthless after a single fish. Stretch is not the killer, it's the deformation of the line across the cross section that will injure the performance.

I realize that, I thought that he'd written one prior to that one, even.

Odd, every single LC Pointer and/or Megabass Vision has done exactly what it's supposed to do, for me. I've never had to add weight, reduce weight, or change anything on the bait with the exception of possibly tuning it left or right. Also when you say "hit the bottom of the bucket bounce back..." they're sinking. Do you think that by hitting bottom they magically changed? The fact is they hit bottom, would they not have hit bottom, they'd have continued going in the lake until they either hit a density of water to suspend or they would continue to sink. A bucket isn't the way to test and tune a bait; the only way you can really do that is on the water.

Hadn't Lusk written on the topic prior to that one even? I seem to recall him having something from back in the early 2000 time range. I know that there have been other articles published on the topic as well, not just that one. I don't expect that we will see lakes banning plastics, really, that's a drastic, drastic measure to take. A particularly large one because it would enrage 99% of the fishing public, and in doing so, be such a sweeping change that it would all but eliminate the #1 tactic across the US for recreational anglers; they're not even that dumb. (By they I mean the legislators...) I can see lead bands from time to time in areas, but plastics are a different story altogether.

where's Red Earth? He'll extoll the benefit of the Ugly Stick for you.

St. Croix Rage 7'MF.