Ozark_Basser

Curado I in 6.3:1

I would recommend Temple Fork outfitters 7'3" H tactical series. These rods have a good parabolic bend and are awesome for moving baits. They also have a good warranty. I use the 7' MH signature series for moving baits and love it, but you can't find the sig series as easily. They may have quit making them.

In the same places I would throw a swim jig, except it depends on conditions. If the wind is blowing pretty good, spinnerbait. If it's calm and clear, swimjig. Chatterbaits usually get thrown in stained water for me.

Those would tear up some smallies around here.

Depends on the cover, water clarity, etc. I will throw something totally different in a pond full of lily pads and stained water rather than one with clear water and rocks.

Depends on what you are wanting to get out of it. If you want your jigs to look nicer than the ones you buy at them store, take these tips. I like boss's paint you get at fishingskirts.com. I cure it at 350 for 15 minutes. Almost impossible to chip while fishing, and they have some cool colors. Get some Teflon base hole pins. It just makes painting easier. Make or buy a fluid bed. I made mine. It saves paint and providesma more consistent paint job. Wire tie your jigs. They look nicer and the skirt flares better. I use 28 gauge copper wire. I try to stay away from the coated wire. It doesn't hold as well as bare copper.

Palomar, double palomar, double uni, alberto

Lots of options in the $300 range. If it were me, in would go with a curado I in 7.2:1 and a 7'1 MH Fast *** Black.

Both of those baits will skip fine. Pretty much every soft plastic skips okay. Some better than others. Your rod and the weight of your bait are bigger factors.

Rod: North Fork Composites 709 HM. I built it. Reel: Curado I 7.2:1 Line: 50-60# braid with a 14-16# fluoro leader It's the same setup I use to throw jigs everywhere. I fish from the bank a lot in ponds and I also fish the lakes when my boat is running lol. If I had a jig set up just for the creek it would probably be a 6'6" MH with everything else the same.

True. That creek is haggard when the water is up.

Everything danno said. If the water's not too high and you have a canoe, floating upriver from the bridge on hwy 14 in Yellville to Kelly's Slab and back is a good stretch to catch some nice fish. Crooked Creek is an excellent fishery. Last time I did it was in spring. The water was rolling pretty good upriver from the slab, but it stays pretty low from the slab down to Yellville. Fishing the Buffalo and Crooked Creek doesn't really heat up for me until around mid June. A lot of fish are still spawning through May. You can still catch some nice fish though.

Reapers Floating jerkbaits

Those rods look awesome. Do you apply epoxy at high rpms or do you just use a drying motor?

The leader knot should be more reliable than your bait knot.

Make sure after you have done the last seven wraps back up to the loop, you pass the tag end back through the loop in the right direction. That sounds like your problem. Watch the video with Alberto himself showing you how to tie the knot.

Z man has a patent on using a head without a split ring. Whoever put yours together didn't do too good of a job.

It's normal, but you might need to take some pliers and close up the gap.

1. Shad (something resembling sexy shad) 2. Crawfish (brown with orange bottom) 3. Bluegill 4. Shad in brighter colors (chartreuse/bright blue or chartreuse/bright green) 5. Shad in chrome (chrome/blue)

Nice! Hey what lake is that? Haha jk.

Those rods are pretty stiff making them hard to learn how to skip without a much larger learning curve. I would make sure your rod has a good soft tip, your jig isn't too heavy (3/8 oz or less), your brakes aren't too tight, and your delivery is low. Practice with just enough line on your spool to make a decent cast. This will help with backlashes some.

I guess I should specify what I mean by soft bottoms. I pretty much just mean muddy bottoms or areas where dragging a jig could stir up too much debris making the jig less visible. Do jigs still catch fish in these areas? Yes, but I would prefer using something else. I don't feel bass like soft bottoms unless they are forced to be in these types of areas, such as in ponds or small city lakes where a soft bottom is the only bottom. When given a choice, I think they prefer hard bottoms. I have had more than one experience where fishing a jig on soft bottoms could not get me bit very often if at all. However, when I started swimming it or pumping it I would start getting bit a lot more. Was it due to the soft bottom stirring up too much debris? Maybe. Maybe not. But that seems like a good enough reason for me.

I believe you. But the question was why aren't hard baits in colors like green pumpkin etc. like soft baits are. You said because cranks are moving so fast they don't need realistic colors. This, in my opinion, is true, but it doesn't answer or pertain to the question. In reality, crankbaits ARE given more detail and certain color schemes. And again, I agree with you, but that doesn't answer the question of why hardbaits are given particular color schemes different than that of soft baits.

^^^^that's a good suggestion, but if you go that route make sure your hooks are up to the task of handling braid. Vision 110's and RC's have very light wire stock hooks that could bend out on a nice fish. Each line type will have its advantages and it's mostly preference, but to help you decide, here are some advantages/disadvantages of each. The braid with a leader definitely makes working a jerkbait easier, but you should change out the stock hooks or you could adjust your drag accordingly. The stouter hooks do not hook fish that swipe at it quite as good. Also, in my opinion, its a little harder to keep fish pinned up with braid and treble hooks unless your rod has a lot of give. Mono and fluoro are a little harder to get the bait to move with an erratic retrieve, but it's still very doable. Mono won't get your bait as deep as fluoro, but mono is also a lot cheaper, and you will do fine with light wire hooks with both of these types of line.

Something up off the bottom is what I would prefer, so the bass could see it better. Drop shot, swim jig, lots of stuff.