MDBowHunter

$50 is very reasonable for a good swimbait, if your not willing to dump $50+ on one bait then the swimbait game is not for you. I'd rather have one $50 bait that slays them, then 10-$5 baits that don't.

Straight from TW and its a Luck E Strike

I use a 6'6" StCroix Premier UltraLight and its an amazing rod for crappies, I even caught a 4lb large mouth on it this year and it handled it very nicely. I use 10lb braid with a 4-8lb flouro leader and it works real nice I run the braid so if I get snagged in a brush pile I only lose the leader instaed of a bunch of line.

I fish almost entirely in clear reservoirs and I have a jerkbait tied on every time I'm out. The only thing I change is that in early and late season when the water is cold I'll use a suspending bait as where I find that a bait that slowly rises will get more strikes when the water is warm and fish are active. I also fish a deeper diving bait when the water is warm because the fish go deep where I fish at.

When I was a kid probably 35 years or more ago, and my uncle showed me what jig and pig was for the first time there were only a couple colors, the two most used were brown and orange jigs with a brown pork frog trailer or a black and red jig with a black pork frog. We would tear them up with these colors. Now the colors are endless...

As where I agree with most of this, I dont agree that color doesn't always matter. I primarily fish real clear reservoirs and the ghost or natural looking stuff will get bit before a bright colored bait will. If they see it from a mile away and can process that it isn't what it appears to be well before it's there they won't bite it. Kinda the same reason I think silent cranks work better where I fish then the ones that rattle. I just bought a handful of the new warts so hopefully they be fish catchers... Here's an interesting article about the differences I found: http://bass365.com/wiggle-warts-old-vs-new/

After starting with KVD and a few other cheapos, I made the switch to the Visions and pointers, and my catch rate has gone way up. My feeling are that when you work a jerkbait a lot of times the fish will swim right up tight and just stare at the lure before they hit it, I mainly fish very clear reservoirs where you can see 15' down into the water so I see a lot of my strikes. When I use the cheaper more fake looking lures more fish seem to swim up then turn away, as where with the visions and pointers they'll swim up stare at a minute then take it. I dont feel that a fish hits a jerkbait out of reaction as with fast moving baits such as cranks or spinnerbaits. They generally get a real good look at a jerkbait especially in clear water.

Don't waste your time or money

Working on the crankbait situation

Mudpuppy for sure, we have the hellbenders here in Md, which they say are endangered and should be released

I know I'll for sure be throwing a jerkbait, silverbuddy, or a jig. All three will be on deck along with a tube of some sort.

Ned rig or dropshot for sure, been doing it for a couple years. Only problem with this is chasing lures into the trees, because most novices cant cast all that well. In my case the reservoirs I fish have trees lining the entire shorelines and the trees hang out 10' past the bank and when the levels are high you need to be very accurate or know how to skip a bait. If not your pulling their lures out of trees all day long.

War eagle for the win

I use a 6'9" m/f with a Daiwa TatulaCT 6:3-1 and it's a sweet combo. For me anything higher picks up to much line and messes with my cadence so I stick with a 6:3

So does this mean we get a discount, like some of our other sponsors do? That would be sweet as Seaguar is my line of choice when it comes to fluorocarbon

A MB vision 110, 6.74lbs

I personally think this sucks as I haven't went in to a BPS in a few years because their prices are toooo high and the customer service sucks. I loved Cabelas but now that its owned by BPS my shopping there is done, I guess this is a good thing for Tackle Wharehouse because thats where my business goes. Besides who can beat $5 two day air, hell i spend more then that just driving to BPS one time. BPS had daiwa up until a few years back, when they picked up lews they stopped handling daiwa

9

To me it's more about matching the size of the bait fish then trying to get an exact replica. I don't believe a bass knows what all fish are in his or her home waters. I catch bass on a rainbow trout swimbait in waters that I'm pretty sure don't even hold trout.

I've always found it's more about timing then the spot,you need to learn to read the surf. Look for the rip currents, and fish in and around the top. The big fish will sit at the top of the rips waiting for smaller fish to be pulled to them. If you search stripers on line there is an awesome post that titled reading the surf, and its on point and helped me a ton. Don't always listen to what your being told by other surf fisherman, as admitted above they will lie right to your face to keep you off the bite.

http://www.stripersonline.com/surftalk/. Check this out, they can be hush hush though as far as telling you if they're running or not. A lot of knowledge here about surf fishing though. When I indulge myself with the surf I head to OC or Assateaque. The flats beneath the Conowingo dam can be on fire certain times of the year also.

Broke down and bought my first one the beginning of this year and I now own five of them. I can't believe I waited soooo long..

Crocs or bare feet

I would and did build my own, the only problem with building one is that it will quickly turn into two. Then it will turn into an AR10, please dont ask how I know this. Go check out AR15.com, there's as much gun knowledge over there as is bass knowledge here. If you shop around you can build an AR for $500 or less, there's a ton of them thats been built for that on AR15.com. I have less then a grand into each of mine not counting optics and they're built with all top shelf parts, your just going to have to shop around. The majority of my stuff was bought right from guys on AR15.com or M4Carbine.com, alot of guys out there start buying stuff to build one then either life gets in the way or they get a woody for something else so they unload everything on the cheap. They are addicting and a ton of fun to shoot, and great for protecting your property. Now if your just talking about a pure home defense weapon then a 12ga would be and is my first choice inside my home, it stays loaded with 0000 buck shot and cruiser ready at all times.