Crankinstein

Pop max and pop x are my favorite megabass lures. Love seeing some of those crazy colors, they look cool and they catch fish.

Pretty interesting article, I'll have to check those out.

The new lures are always my favorite at icast. Spro has some cool stuff coming out. Their new BBZ rat wake bait won best in show and they also have a large little john coming out. My favorite from them is probably going to be the rock crawler crankbait they revealed which is essentially a Spro wiggle wart. Lucky Craft has a jitterbug type bait with a glow in the dark insert that looks interesting. Zman has a topwater shad popper made out of their plastic that looks nice. Megabass has a swimbait that has magnets that hold the hooks up against the bait, no word on price on that one but given the nature of large swimbaits shouldn't scare anyone away if it happens to be high. Savage gear has several new hard and soft baits that all look good. This year has one of the best selections of new baits IMO. The bait monkey is gonna have some real fun when all these baits hit the shelves.

I really like the XB1 and I would say its a very good alternative to a bait like a LC 1.5 DRS at half the price. It has classic square bill size and action plus the one knocker type rattle. I've caught some good fish on it this year. The weight transfer system also makes it cast really far.

I've had two go to lures this year. Spro little john md in chrome olive and Megabass pop X in white python.

Havent had any issues with mine. I use the little john MD quite a bit.

Megabass Pop X in white python color for me. Largemouth, white bass, and even the occasional bull bluegill have been hitting it this year. I've had success in very shallow coves with a lot of cover as well as open water on fish busting the surface. On all occasions I'm using a pop pop pause style retrieve and the fish hit it on the pause every time.

I use a small 1/4oz topwater popper in conditions like that quite a bit. I've found that you generally want to drop it right on or as close you can get to the cover your targeting. I didn't have mattes but I did have a 2-3ft area with a lot of stumps and laydowns. I would drop almost on top of the cover and pop it once or twice then let it sit. The strikes all came after the first pop or two and hit it while it was still.

firetiger crankbaits have always worked well for me as well as spinnerbaits there

I actually just started learning the same technique. Pretty cool technique and its fun to fish. I've only caught a few so far but I really like it. Biffle bug has a pretty strong plastic too, the fish I've caught have all been on one bait. Tight lines!

Experiment with rattle vs silent vs one knocker. Also experiment with colors as well. I'm a huge fan of anything chrome they work great on my home lakes. Check out high end cranks vs low price as well. I've found the xcite xb1 to be a great lucky craft 1.5 drs imitator for example.square bills can load the boat quick and their fun to fish. Tight lines!

Luck E Strike rick clunn freak and freak Jr. Its a deep diving square bill and I've never seen a crank with a bill design like it.

I've got a setup for shallow cranking and one for medium cranking. shallow: Rod: *** *** Black. 6'10 Med Fast Reel: Shimano Core 101 LH 6:2:1 Line #12 FC Berkley 100% Medium: Rod: G Loomis GL2 crankbait. 7' Med Moderate Reel: Shimano Curado I 201 LH 6:3:1 Line #12 FC Berkley 100%

Strike king bitsy minnow. You can find them at wal mart. Its a tiny crankbait that catches everything and its really easy to fish. I caught a fish on my very first cast with it. It catches primarily pan fish but bass will bite it too. Great first time lure

Really awesome reel!! I've always loved the BFS. To get it under 5oz is incredible, I still think my core is a featherweight but that takes it to a whole new level. Post you final combo with rod and line when you get it set I'd like to see it. I may be in the market for an ultra light BC for small baits some time soon and I'm looking for ideas.

Spro little john MD in Chrome Olive. I can pull a fish out of 2ft or 8ft and fish it all year long. Most versatile crankbait in my opinion.

You could always work on pausing a second or two longer from the strike to the first hookset to ensure the fish has the lure in its mouth. I've seen a lot of pros say a good 1-2 second wait can help with the hookset on topwater baits.

I use deep cranks during the day as well as a shaky head when the bite is really tough. In the evening I use topwater poppers and T rigged creature baits like the KVD rodent. I've also had some luck mixing a few of those techniques as far as time of day goes too for example I caught 6 fish mid day today with a popper, I targeted really shallow coves that had some shade on them as well as some lay downs. My number one tip would be to just stay persistent and eventually you'll figure out what the fish are doing and what their biting. It can be a real puzzle sometimes during those summer days, I've seen the fish school out deep and I've seen them stacked next to a log in 2ft of water you've just got to search around and see what you find.

It could be schools of shad. I'm in NC also and the shad at my local lake just started doing the "boiling" thing where you can see them massing at the surface. They usually start at the late spring early summer around here. Throw a crankbait or a top water through their school and you can pull some nice bass and some nice hybrids out.

The lake patrol boat has a bad habit of parking longways at the end of the dock at my local lake instead of in its designated spot. Its not impossible to get around it but in the swift current that usually runs it really makes it an inconvenience. Last time out I watched the patrol boat literally drive by a boater and his son trying to wave him down. I pulled up and ended up towing them in because their motor died. Sometimes even the people in charge need a lesson in manners and safety.

Awesome frog and great review. I just picked up the same one a couple weeks ago, can't wait to throw it in some slop and catch a hawg.

I've got the Pop X in the same color, really cool looking bait and the action is awesome. They make some great topwater lures.

KVDs, Rick Clunn RC2 series, Crush 50X, Xcite XB1 are a couple of my favorites and offer a good selection of silent vs rattle vs one knocker between them to satisfy any squarebill situation you might find yourself in.

A lot of the lakes around Greensboro have limited bank access due to them being drinking reservoirs and generally only permit bank fishing at the marina. However most of them rent jon boats and kayaks for a pretty reasonable price. Check out the Southwest Park area of Randleman lake, Lake Mackintosh marina, Lake Brandt, and High Point City lake. They all have good fishing and they all rent boats as well as offer bank fishing areas.

I have #12 InvizX on one reel and #12 Trilene 100% on another. Side by side I have to say I like both and they both have advantages. I think the Trilene is stronger and has less stretch. The InvizX has better knot strength however I usually end up using a palomar knot on both just to be safe. The InvizX handles slightly better but I've noticed wind knots can get real bad with it. I don't think one is head over heels better than the other therefore they could be suitable substitutes. I actually ended up using Trilene 100% the first time because they were out of InvizX at my local store as well, ended up catching that beast in my profile pic so I have to say I'm satisfied with its performance.