BossHoss

I second the jackall crosstail shad and anything from roboworm. I disagree with the post above that you have to go big on a drop shot rig. Some of the biggest bass I have caught (several ranging 6.5-8.5) were caught on very small baits and hooks... my biggest drop shot bass yet was caught on the tail half of a 6in roboworm.

I made my own from scratch too in my Ford Expedition. I replaced the bungee/foam part you have with a rubber coated clothes hanger rack that goes between the dry cleaning hooks on the back seat door handles. The rods are just resting on it, but the little ridges on it keep them from sliding around. I like your setup in the back much better than mine... but I just use a length of rope tied between my to rear trunk tie points. Whenever I want to put a rod in I just loop the rope around the handle of the rod one time. On one side I have the rope folding back on itself with a slip knot tied. That way I can take slack/tension out or into the rope depending on how many rods I have going in. It's not fancy, but it was cheap... and it takes about 2min to put up or take down should the need arise.

I think the whole red color thing is meant to catch anglers more than fish. I have used the Cajun advantage a little and really had not complaints other than a little bit of memory. Red light does not begin filtering out of the color spectrum until you get to around 3ft, and even after that the line will appear gray... So the fish are going to see the line if your shallow. Sometimes I don't think it matters if they are hungry enough, but when the bite gets tough the tough fish fluoro. I currently use Cajun for backing and that is it. I think a lot of it comes down to confidence. I don't have any confidence that the fish can't see red/yellow/green line if the water is half-way clear. I have no objections to tying braid direct for flipping/pitching/punching, but even then I prefer a leader if the water is really clear.

I think you are barking up the right tree with your copper lenses. For "all around" use on the water and off, I personally believe that is the best color. As far as the 580 lens mirroring goes... There is a difference in the mirroring. It is my understanding that what ever they are mirrored with help additional filtering of that color. When it comes time to pick a color it all depends on the kind of fishing you do the most. The grey mirror is going to be the best all around all condition color because it is very neutral. Shallow water where bass like to live are usually going to benefit from the green light filtering of the green mirror lens. Inshore/offshore guys would probably prefer the blue mirror lens. It is impossible to judge a lens in a store though. All that said...no lens is going to be ideal for all light conditions. In extremely low light conditions I like a rose or even yellow lens and then move to the copper as the sun gets up. Solar Bat makes a pretty good set of frames for a fair price if you just need a pair for a few min during low light and don't want to splurge for another set of costas. A friend of mine is a "professional" fly fisherman who is somewhat sponsored by costa. He says there is no optical difference between the old glass 580's and the new polycarbonate ones (580P's). Did I mention the 580p's are quite a bit cheaper and lighter. Getting a set of frames that provides good facial coverage is a huge help if you are serious about sight fishing. Just beware of the raccoon eyes that all the bass pros have. As far as purchasing goes I would be careful. If a deal is just too good to be true it usually is. However, costas can be found online for a good 30% off of the retail if you look around. I have a pair of kaenons headed my way in the mail right now. I will be interested to see how they stack up against my Costas.

Looking at the ESPN coverage... The rod he was using on the last day was super long...I would bet my money on his 7'10 medium heavy tour edition...I wouldn't put it past him having a custom 7' something in a medium action. He was wrecking those stumps and they said he would break off before going over to get a crank so I guessing that would hard on a medium rod.

I like 20# braid on my spinning rods for bass. Great rod choice by the way. I have the baitcasting version and love it. I just wish I could have snagged one of the longer ones when they were on sale.

I have had some trouble with my Fuego lately. I bought it used and it fished great for a while, but lately it has started making a screeching sound. The sound seems to get worse the longer you used the reel on a trip. So it will start off fine then start squeaking... then the full on screech on the cast and retrieve. I took it apart and greased/oiled everything but that was only a temporary fix. I cannot find anywhere that the spool is rubbing. Any ideas fellas? I was thinking bearings maybe? I was going to send it to DVT, but figured I would ask here first in case it was an easy fix. Thanks

I say this to my girlfriend daily... she is very handy with computers

When I first ventured into braid I put 20# PP on my reels without really knowing anything about what I was doing. I might have dug in occasionally, but I really don't remember it being a problem with mono backing. I use a little bigger now, but I only started doing that because I was flipping and pitching more with braid and using floro for most other stuff. I think it depends a lot on what you doing with the reel and how much tension you putting on the line with the retrieve...For instance a deep crank would dig in more often than a light finesse jig.

Kinda look like a Disco Gill to me... morning after was funny

I have the spinning version that I use mostly for shakeyheads... The first one broke within minutes, but I have had no issues with the replacement and I like it ok. I use a different frog rod, but I would not hesitate to get a carrot stix for the job. I think the parabolic bend would come in handy for frog hooksets.

I loved my costa 580's... But then I put on some Kaenons and have never looked back. To be honest I like some of the costa styles better as far a looks, but the lens on the Kaenons surpasses anything I have ever seen for sight fishing.

There might be a few Daiwa Ceilo's floating around if you look... their DSS rod is designed to be more drop-shot specific than possibly any rod on the market because of their titanium tip. They use the same blank as the steez rods and you can get one for 100$ or less. If not one of those I would take a serious look at the Veritas rods from Abu. I liked the carrot stix I had for drop shotin, but I have not gotten to try out the new ones.

Looks good, but you might want to add a subtle ear spot. Even a tiny bluegill starts to develop that distinctive spot pretty early. I always figured bass would notice that spot too.

I really don't like glass cranking rods for my lipless stuff... I usually am ripping them through grass or yo-yoing them, and I just feel that a graphite rod comes in handy for the feel I like to have in these situations. Its just a personal thing though. I used to throw them on a cranking rod, but I feel like my hook ups increased on graphite. For that price though I like the carrot stixs and the lamiglas excels.