Cgolf

One trick I did learn from something KVD wrote is that during a cold front upsize the trailer blade. At the time all I could find was I think a size 7 willow, possibly smaller but it is huge, and ran that on a 3/16 ounce spinnerbait. It looked really funny but it caught fish. I wonder if the 1/4 ounce baits work so well because most folks throw heavier and larger spinnerbaits? Could be a pressure thing. For me the biggest factor in wether a spinnerbait gets bit or not is wire diameter. War Eagle and humdinger are my go to baits right now with the Nichols 33 mini getting an honorable mention.

Alright for the Clunn theory I respect the heck out of him and he is or in the argument for the goat of bass fishing. The problem is my northern Wisconsin bass, not me, disagree with him. I now have 2 falls fishing up there under my belt with lots of springs generally around the spawn when you have fish at different stages. Both spring and fall the 1/4 ounce either double willow or tandem with smaller blades have far out produced 3/8-1/2 ounce baits with larger blades. Perhaps we should show the bass his seminar?

I really liked the war eagle finesse spinnerbait this year and found that I could get the wide willow leaf blades I wanted in the smaller sizes at Jann’s Netcraft. The bummer is that it’s 12.12 for the blades and 9.15 for shipping. Don’t hit free shipping till 150. https://www.jannsnetcraft.com/magnum-willowleaf-spinner-blades/ Does anyone know of a source for these blades that has a lower bar for free shipping? Worst case I just do it and mentally block out the shipping charges.

On my fall trip to the northwoods my four largest smallies 21” PB, 2 18”s, and a 17” all came on a 1/4 ounce war eagle that has tiny blades. Up north they appear to favor smaller blades, as heavier baits with larger blades rarely get bit.

So I have a method that has worked for me. It is a little time intensive initially but it has saved me a lot of money over the last 5 years, especially on impulse purchases. Basically I took a rough inventory of what I had. Since I have been collecting impulse purchases of soft plastics I numbered the boxes and have a word doc with what is where. This helps a ton when packing boxes for a trip. Crank baits it is pretty much in my head as to what I have. yearly I track the number of fish caught and what bait I used. I do this for both local fishing and vacation fishing. One could simply keep track by saying water red ugly otters and menace grubs were producing this year. I use the numbers to determine how many packs to restock the next year. This year I am spending little on tackle. Picking up some more spinnerbaits that I bought one offs of last year as a trial that worked for me. Also trying some heavier spins too. Plastics doing one last buy on Rage baby menace grubs, not liking the latest price increase. The big purchases for fishing this year are my final rod upgrades with a Dobyns Kaden and St Croix victory. I don’t just replenish, I try a few new lures, like the new Berkley boss grub as a cheaper alternative to the menace. I just don’t do a 3-400 buck order of impulse purchases anymore. And yes if you saw the latest tackle thread I do allow myself to randomly splurge once in a while like with the 20 rage smokin roosters or when 6th sense does one of their insane sales on their site. Hoping next year Christmas tackle purchases will be und 100 and I can get my 600 mm zoom lens for the new camera. The camera monkey as some know is more evil than the bait monkey:)

I got some bait monkey karma today. A little while ago I noticed the Rage smokin rooster on the Sierra website for 3 bucks a bag and I sent someone a PM that I know really likes them. I hope they got some. Today while waiting for my kids car to ge5 new tires my wife decided to stay out and hike and shop a little. The first store she picked was Sierra for some gummies which was a win for me and an eye roll for her. Got 20 packs of smokin roosters for the same 3 bucks a bag. Two green pumpkin purple gold 3 green pumpkin and 15 water red which is perfect. Now I just have to search on here for different uses for them.

I got a bunch of the J tubes and they are very durable and the cut on the tube tentacles (not sure what to call them) is very crisp and clean. Glad you posted this as I want to try some more tube colors and they have a grub that I want to give a go that they didn’t have last time. Spinnerbaits are cheap too so can’t hurt to try them out.

Thanks everyone I went with the Kumho tires and unfortunately due to an older odd size tire the two I listed were the only ones available. The Goodyear’s would be for my bigger boat, that is if I ever purchase one.

These are the two options I have locally to replace my 12 year old trailer tires and trying to find out if they are any good. If it matters my tire are 155 80 13s.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I am set on my purchase and everyone’s input was helpful. I’ll be logged out for awhile so I likely won’t see anymore replies.

I have done good with smoke purple and bluegill (smoke with blue, gold, and silver flake I believe) in clear water. Also Zoom has a sexy shad color (Milky white bottom with gold flake and minnow grey top, that has worked too for me. That color appeared to be a special run in the finesse worm because it doesn't show that as an option for that color on their site. Talking tubes, smoke and many different options for flake colors work great. Again smoke red, smoke purple, and blugill are can't miss. Mostly use them on clear water but if the bait is heavy on the smoke color they can do well in some darker water conditions.

This was going to be mine. The last three years I have been throwing them again because the plastic bite is slowing. Chatterbait style lures don’t work for me so I will stick to spinnerbaits and hope everyone else keeps throwing them chatterbaits. This year on vacation I had one of those bladekrates full of spinners next year I plan on taking two. The banjo minnow worked and maybe suffered from the TV label as a gimmick. Nose hooked plastics are fairly common now. Back then I was new to bass fishing, but didn’t read anything about something like that in In Fisherman at the time the Banjo came out. I could be wrong, but it was a new technique to me. Also looking at the baits now the colors weren’t the best.

I would think the whopper plopper would have been near impossible to patent. Just go to a Musky store site and this idea has been around for years. They essentially put a twist on an old design and made some sizes for bass. Now that I caught up saw Tom had a real old example too.

The two for me is that bass are line shy, and clear water is difficult to fish. Having grown up near a gin clear lake and vacationing on a clear lake I have found clear water fish more predictable and easier to catch than dirty water fish. As far as the line shy thing goes I have never seen it make a difference. I even had good success with the old XT solar line in clear water. Only reason I use a flouro leader on some combos is for abrasion resistance.

I believe it is this one. TW doesn't have the others in stock yet. On Black Friday not sure if I will get the rod from TW or Thorne brothers. I got my Premier musky rod from Thorne brothers last year. Thorne also lets you add it to the cart. The instore shake test really impressed me. On the water I hope that impression gets even better.

I think one person implied that if pros used higher end rods they would be even better. There may not have been a monitary value but I picked a number which for a high end combo that is about right depending on the brands. I honestly don't give a hoot and I personally am super happy with my stable of rods, or will be after Xmas, and had actually praised everyone for keeping this civil. Sure a couple of people had a skirmish but so be it. My point was I don't necessarilly think the frugal crowd started the fight if there even is one? Also saying this - Projecting that doesn't come from a pretty place. - about me is pretty low. I honestly learn stuff on these threads and filter out the crap for the most part that doesn't pertain to me.

I can only speak for me, but I don’t care what people fish, I just think the statements like that if we all fished 1000 dollar combos we would be better fisherpeople or that a more expensive rod will cast more accurately etc. aren’t true in a broad sense. My take is regardless of the price, if you own a rod that doesn’t suit your casting motion, it is going to hurt your fishing and it doesn’t matter if you spent 20 from Wally World or 600. If you find a 600 buck rod that fits your style will it work better than the 20 buck rod of course. The issue I would take and have seen on other forums is the folks that own the high end gear that tell the lower end crowd to stop wasting there time and basically save up a grand to get that magic combo. So you could say this brings out the worst in both sides and honestly I am surprised this thread has lasted this long. Thankfully most on this thread were respectful of each other.

That one will be in the boat next year. I actually tried to get my wife to buy it for me when it first came out. In the store it was lighter and doing the store shake test appears to have a softer tip than my premier MHM. What I use it for is up in the air, but spinnerbaits might be good with it and lately that stick sees the most use.

I think we al, have different high ends. The around 200 mark is my high end and I have many rods that work great for me. Heck I still carry an ugly stick spinning rod for a couple of presentations and it works perfect. Well said and what I really like about this forum is that the majority of the folks don’t push the if you aren’t fishing high end gear and catching trophy fish each trip why are you even trying. I have been on a forum like that when I was a budget angler by necessity and it was tiring to deal with that attitude. The BR folks are willing to help out any skill level and gear level without judging.

I think you meant to quote fish wizard.

So, I actually found a cheaper 10-15 year old Cabela's Prodigy MH moderate (70 bucks) far outperfromed for me casting than my Avid X MH fast rod that some were recomending for spinnerbaits. Weight of the rods, coudn't really tell, but what I can tell you is that my accuracy with full casts, and roll casts was substantially better with the prodigy. Short backhand pitches were about even to maybe a nod to the Avid X. Sensitivity was very close and I had braid on both. I think the prodigy gained sensitivity because the blank is exposed under the reel seat where I hold the rod. To me, it isn't about cost it is about finding the rod with the right action and specs to meet ones individual casting style. You give me a 500-600 high end MH Extra fast rod I will likely tell you its a worthless piece of junk because it wouldn't suit my casting style. Give me a MH moderate in that price range I would likely be very happy:)

Interestingly on the spinnerbait rod thread I started a lot of people were suggesting fast or extra fast rods. I believe I am settling on a Dobyns fast which is similar to my other moderate rods. Maybe spinnerbaits fall somewhere in between. But as someone that throws braid as mainline on all my baitcasters I can’t imagine not having a rod with a softer tip.

So I posted the below in another thread and probably should have added this explenation up front as to why I prefer a moderate tip vs a faster tip. I really appreciate all of the suggestions as my list to choose from is pretty long. I may even throw in an Aird X if the budget supports it. So I just took out my Avid X 6' 6" MH fast and my prodigy 7" MH Moderate and sensitivity the Avid won the day, but by a small margin. As far as casting I was more comfortable with the Prodigy. I could do everything with both just easier with the moderate Prodigy. I think this comes down to personal casting styles. I grew up casting fiberglass and moderate action rods and I also fly fish. My casting motion likely gets the same velocity as many, but my acceleration is slow and gradual which I think suits a more moderate rod. Someone that casts with a quicker accelaration will do better with a faster rod. I don't feel that I load the Avid as efficiently as I do the prodigy. For me I need a medium heavy rod with a medium tip. I think this is why I like Dobyns rods for the 3 I have and the 6 St Croixs, still on the fence about the Avid X, is that I bought actions that suit my casting style. I may pick up a Dobyns 1/4 to 1 Kaden and a victory medium heavy moderate over the holidays for next year. One of the two will become my spinnerbait rod or who knows maybe the MH prodigy will win the day.

No worries, baitcasters definetly have a learning curve, and the cheaper ones are probably more difficult to cast and not backlash. Personally on the lower end of things I have done well with daiwa reels as there cast controls do a failry good job of preventing backlashes. Spincasting was the best way to learn and kept the backlash frustrations away which may have taken away from your enjoyment of the pasttime we all love.

I will look for some more Black Maxs on ebay. It has to be a pre 2000 reel and it is just awsome once you get used to how heavy it is. The only thing I need to update on it is the paddles as the rubber is slighlty sticky and and keeps the reel from feeling silky smooth. Adding oil to the paddles helps, but pretty much need to do it each trip. Just having a comfortable place to set my thumb while using the reel makes all the difference in the world. With low profile baitcasters I find my thumb sometimes resting lightly on the spool as I reel in.