BaitMonkey1984

I used to be a hardbait guy but have been into the soft plastics very much more the past few years: 1. Live target yearling bait ball jerkbait; 2. Terminator T-1 Spinnerbait Bluegill; 3. Livigston Lure Howler in Spring Craw; 4. Rapala Scatter Rap Crank in Ike's Demon; and 5. Sebile lipless crnkabait in black and chrome.

1. GYCB 5" Watermelon Creme Senko; 2. 3.5" Crazy Legs Chigger Craw Green pumpkin; 3. ZMAN Green Pumpkin TRD; 4. 4" Keith EZ Shiner in Pro Blue Red Pearl; and 5. Zoom Magnum Trick Worm Black. In case you can't tell my home lake is a clear water, pressured small northern lake.

So this is going to sound crazy. It may be, but this is my experience nonetheless. I have tried every crawfish imitator that I can buy. The crazy chigger craw 3.5 in in green pumpkin was a game changer for me. I always have one texas rigged with a non-pegged light bullet weight. My local BPS/Dicks has limited supply of this bait so on a few occasions I had to buy the regular chigger craw because they did not have the crazy chigger craw. I tried same size, same colors. Not sure if its the bait or my confidence but signficantly less bites on the regular chigger craw. This is also over the course of several years too. So in my estimation this rules out any possible seasonal explanation, i.e. crazy chigger craw has more action due to extra apepngahdes then the chigger craw. This could explain a difference in the pre-spawn but year round I still don't get it.

Berkley Powerbait Crazy Chigger Craw Green Pumpkin is the only t rigged craw I use.

The top part of the reel seat can be adjusted. The bottom part of the reel seat cannot be adjusted. And trust me, I tried very hard to see if the bottom reel seat could move. It did not.

I went to the local Walmart on lunch. They had RatlTraps for $3.00 and a bin of cheap rods for $15. There was one decent Daiwa Jupiter Rod ($50.00 MSRP) for $15.00. It was a 7'6" H and I was interested in it for a cheap flipping/pitching rod. I was examining the eyes, and then I noticed that the reel seat was actually not aligned with the eyes. I feel bad for some non fisherman who buys that for someone, and then only when someone tries to put the reel on notices that this rod cannot be used. I mention this as a word of caution, make sure to check out all your items carefully prior to your purchase.

I have run out of room in my two boats, and my garage to store any more baits. As my username alludes to, I have an issue with baits. Two years ago I bought 1000s of TRD baits and jig heads. Since then, I have only rarely purchased baits. I have not purchased anything in two months. First time in 10 years I have gone more than 3 days without buying something off TW. I ran out of room to store them and realize that I really don't need any new lures. The whopper plopper intrigued me for a little bit and I almost bough a Plano 3700 full of them, but I realized that I don't need every bait ever created. Once, I came to that mindset I look at what I have and realistically do not need to buy anything, evenly go to baits, for several years. A friends stepbrother who's about 15 likes to fish, and I take him out a few times a year, I have already decided he's getting a tacklebox or two full of baits to take home next trip out. Let's see who can still fish multiple days a week and not buy any new lures. Anyone want in on this challenge?

I use scents on everything. The secret is to make them readily available. I keep one in the boat near the trolling motor. It takes a second to dip my plastics in JJ's magic. Dip and dye works well too, but JJ's in my experience outproduces. For hard baits I used the KVD chapstick scents. They hold on well to crank baits and seem to increase hookups. Anything to stack the odds in your favor is something worth doing. At least IMO.

Darren, do you use the newer spools made for braid? If not, how do you keep the reel from slipping without any backing. I was unaware that braid needed backing and a few weeks after spooling the braid started to cause my reel to slip. Have been using backing since. On the plus side, it gives me something to do with all that cajun line I have left over from ten years ago that I thought was going to change the fishing industry. NOT.

This issues has come up for years. I have said the same thing over and over. Very sensitive rods. They break. However, their warranty for a replacement is expensive but you can add another rod, or upgrade for relatively cheap. Each year my father or I break one. So we get two rods. Warranty isn't the cheapest, takes forever, and poor customer service but we have a rod locker jammed so we don't mind all that much. We are probably up to 10 rods from the 1 that first bought him a few years ago.

I have caught some of my biggest fish this summer on that technique. Looking forward to trying out some different mushroom head jigs because had a lot of fish lost at the boat on the Z MAN heads. Nice fish.

For GYB: 5" watermelon cream laminate for clear water. No muddy waters around me. For Yum Dinners: Leave at home and use GYCB 5" watermelon cream laminate.

Scott is a cool dude and love his youtube channel. One hell of a fisherman, but seeing that drive in KVD's eyes or hearing it in his voice when he yells at Ike makes him the GOAT in my opinion.

Love cranking, especially after making the switch from a spinning reel guy to BC a few years back now. You would be hard pressed not to find me without a crank bait tied on. That, a wacky rigged senko, and a texas rigged crazy legs chigger craw is always on the deck. I think the ned rig made a good case to be included in the must have tied on baits last year, let's see what happens this year.

I tried to get a guided trip with him. He was too busy to take me out. He nonetheless sent me a gift box of autographed photos, books, hats, spices. Easily $150+ worth of free gear. Pretty classy act, in my opinion.

I got into Carrot Sticks because Charlie Moore, a local celebrity and TV show personality uses them. And my Dad, wanted them despite all the native things said about them. The newer wild wild series are very light, sensitive rods. I like them a lot for their sensitivity. However, they break. Plain and simple. Their return policy is pretty darn good and you can get a second rod for like $30-50 bucks. SO every year when I break one, I end up getting a second. What started as one rod is now 8+ rods. However, it takes several months to get the new rods. If you have an arsenal like me and can wait, it works out. If you only have a few rods, then I suggest going with st croixs which are close to the sensitivity of carrot sticks, and a greta deal more durable.

Bank fishing or fishing from the aluminum boat I limit it to 4 or 5. Anything more is a hassle given the issues with moving with your hands full of rod or due to limited space in an aluminum. In the Ranger, I would say I have 20+ combos stuffed in the rod locker. If I am going out for more than three hours, unless i have the fish dialed in on a few baits, I usually have 6+ spinning outfits on one side of the deck and 6+ casting outfits on the other. That is the most I feel comfortable with as I am not tripping over rods. Also, I don't have to waste time retying.

That was one of the coolest videos I have seen in quite some time. What is the engine setup on that? And out of curiosity was the alarm that you hear the engine overheat audible alarm ?

Not a problem here in the NE that I run across often. My PB is 6 lbs and I still lip them to get them in the boat or out of the net. After that I take care to support the fish's weight throughout the entire body out of extreme caution even though I think 6 and under would be fine to lip as long as your not flailing the fish around.

Theres a nice rage/quantum spinning combo at the bottom of my favorite lake.

I haven't had one superior big bass lure, but a few. I fish a lot of the berkley chigger craw, so naturally that produces some big fish due to purely numbers of fish caught. However, I have caught some big girls on the BPS 6" stick and the Zoom Magnum Finesse worm. Funny, also caught a decent 4+ girls on the ned. Not a lot of big hardbait fish this year.

I dont carry when bank fishing but have a full scale first aid kit in the boat. Luckily haven't had to use anything but a band aid or two in 7+ years but keep it in the boat just in case. I would stick to band aids, some gauze, and some ointment. Some ointment could let your treat a wound and stay and fish all day. I would also bring electrical tape, and a small pair of pliers cable of cutting a hook in case a treble hook gets loose and your alone. That way you can simply cut the lure instead of messing with split ring pliers trying to get lure detached from your body.

I always try to multi task or otherwise be as efficient as possible. That leads to me hurrying or trying to do too much at once. Like carrying 2 tackle boxes and 8 rods at the same time. Or trying to jam in6 8 foot rods in my mustang. Or the equivalent despite the fact I have broken several rods by doing this. I am always in a hurry to get in the water that I can't resist the urge. This year I have been better, I load up the boat and re-rig the night before. Boat is uncovered, rods out, boat hooked up t o the truck and fueled with all tackle for the day. I literally wake up, shower, grab coffee and Im good to go.

4" Keith EZ shiner in AYU on a yum money minnow swim bait hook. Killer all year, especially in the early spring. Make sure you get the extra strong squid scent.

The 6"in a watermelon creme color works better than 5"GYCB in my parts. Absolutely slays the fish. I haven't had the same luck in the smaller sizes.