BaitMonkey1984

I use the longest leader possible. I want my knot an inch or so off the reel so that knot is never going on my spool. Does not affect anything this way.

Check out TW for sales. Depending upon what you are looking for, you can catch a good sale. I was lucky enough to get a Skeet Reese crank bait 1/2 off. Also they have a Daiwa T casting rod or a Shimano Cellus.

My advice to anyone having problems with square bill cranks. Check your bill. If it is not getting smashed to all hell I would say it is not being used right. Find cover, hit that cover. Make sure you have a lure retriever handy because they will get hung up, but you have to know that going in. Without cover, there is no deflection. No deflection= no fish.

I agree with this position. However, If the Curado is not backlashing than I see no potential problem other than the line getting kinked by the spool. In regards to the Tatula, I do not think it is going to affect distance or anything else.

A guy in his 60s on one of my lakes has a 18 foot speed boat with a massive exposed onboard engine with twisted headers and comeptlely done up engine- sounds like a plane taking off. I am behind him at the ramp one day pulling the boat out and he was towing his 18ft with a dodge challenger srt8. I had to laugh because obviously its got all the power in the world but this was a beaten boat ramp that was pretty much sand once you hit the water. He had to give it plenty of gas but he got it out.

those megabass look amazing.

Pay attention to the small details. I have realized how much of a difference the smallest of attention to detail has made. Also, look at what, where, how you buddies are fishing. Can't go wrong with a wacky rigged 5" GYCB senko in watermelon creme.

Backing.

I wish my lakes were no longer ice covered-maybe another week here.

I used to use them on everything because I wanted to be able to change lures quickly and braid is expensive. I needed up using a floor leader and no longer use swivels for any lures except something that has significant line twist, turbo frogs, super dupers, etc. I noticed a big difference with higher soft plastics. Sometimes I think it worked to my benefit- other times to my detriment ( my fishing partner usually copies my lure selection without a snap swivel).

Handled a lot of the st croix and subsequently own a bunch. My fav is the Rage.

Post some pictures and some more details cost/colors available, etc.

Best Bass Site Out There. Highlight of my work day is checking the new forum posts!

What is citation size? Also, cannot wait till the ice is out so I can get my st croix rage back to flipping LM into the boat.

Red Spinnerbait in Spring, white any other time of the year. Always have one rigged up on the deck and one of my favorite lures to fish, also one of my first confidence baits. Very helpful hint here- Make sure that any time you are not fishing around heavy heavy cover you have a trailer hook. In my experience at least twice the amount of fish caught with a trailer. Try it out.

I do not mind catching these fish at all, well maybe when they break off an expensive crank.

I put all my soft plastics in 3700 Planos last year because thats what the majority of the pros do. However, even though I fish almost every day and fish plastics a majority of the time- it makes little sense. I simply don't go through plastics enough to have them in plans in my opinion. My extra plastics I keep in gallon sized ziplock bags, senkos in one, craws in another, jig trailers in another all in the original packaging. In my opinion this keeps them better. You do not need to worry about the plastics interaction with one another (melted man elaztechs) or colors bleeding. Also, a bit of moisture can wreak havoc on the plastics as well and cause them to bubble. Enough said, now on I am keeping in the original packaging.

I just purchased the W&M skeet reese crankbait rod and it has amazing feel to it- would recommend you check it out. Also, I lucked out and got mine for 50% on TW not too long ago while they usually retail for $100.

Where do you fish golf courses in Mass? I have a few nearby but think their kids will run me off the course if I ever tried fishing there. How do you got about getting permission, very interested in learning more...

Justin Moore's Bait a Hook. Cracks me up every time.

My go to lure is the 5" GYCB senko in watermelon creme. I have used the O-ring and have not noticed one iota of difference between the hook ups. I do occasionally get lazy and rig them up without the o -ring but then its one worm for one fish and after a few bites I go back to using the O-ring.

I see that you are in Maryland. If this problem is new this year, I would always start with the easiest solution. 1) Bad Gas, 2) spark plugs need to be replaced, 3) fuel filter..etc. In my experience the new ethanol gas tends to be the culprit for these types of problems more times than not. Throw some octane boost and some additive to remove water from your gas and replace the plugs and filter- then see if the problem improves.

Agreed with the posts above. The line has small diameter and needs to be tough due to where its fishing. The reel needs to be able to pull that fish out of the cover instantly, before it gets wrapped up. Also, if you are pitching and flipping, you want to get that bait back into your hand for the next cast as soon as possible. The faster you can make your next cast, the more time you spend actively fishing your jig. This makes a huge difference over the course of hours.

I keep mine either in a 3700 box, or if I have several different brands of the same type, i.e. finesse, shakey head I put the same type of lures into gallon zips, then keep all the different zip locks in a bigger duffle-sorta like how Ike stores his soft plastics. Organized and you can bring a million,