Cgolf

A while back when I was compiling a list of brands of mid and high end rods that I could upgrade to, I found that 90% of them were fast or extra fast action. This for me was a no go because of the way I like to fish, I have gravitated to moderate action rods even in spinning gear for plastics. I have found that for me a moderate action rod I can cast further, more accurately, and it is easier to keep a fish buttoned on, I also use either braid or fireline on all my reels with a flouro leader on most. The one extra fast action St. Croix Eyecon spinning rod I have, I pretty much hate it, but do use it when pitching plastics in the 10 to 30 foot range. So are these rods fast/extra fast due to the better composites used to make them? Knowing a little bit about carbon fiber, guessing that as the graphite grades out better it means it is lighter and stiffer?

Academy promo code question. I got a promo code when there was an issue with my order. I have no clue what it gives me, but wonder if anyone knows if the promo code would work with the BF sale?

My struggle to upgrade baitcasting rods forced me to give up, because I use braid on all my baitcasters and like a more moderate action. I really feel this allows me to keep fish locked on even with lipless baits. What I found is the majority of rods 150 and up were fast action sticks that while more sensitive, won’t have the forgiveness I need with braid. Starting to to wonder if it is more difficult to get a moderate action out of the graphite used to craft the higher end rods.

Also would be curious how many they have. Always skeptical of the while supplies last and think I have read on here in years past that Cabelas has had very low stock on items for sales like this. I got a flyer once from them in the mail, walked in the house and called and they were already sold out of the item:( Maybe it is different with BPS owning them now.

That is the other reason I like the tonneau cover. We have to take our garbage to the dump so I would need a cap I could get the garbage cans under. I have used one that rolls up and they hold up nicely to snow and ice. The only bummer is my Tacoma doesn’t have a lockable bed, that came in later models. Have to to admit though the SUV look is kind of cool.

Like the windows on the side, I have used the covers instead of the caps because the blind spots are already big enough on the last 2 trucks I have had.

I have always fished them on a slider head around reeds. Cast them out let them drop, pop them off bottom slowly retriev for 3 or so feet burn it in and recast. I will I’ll say though that when I tested a lot of swim jig trailers in a tub, I was very surprised to see the swim senko had the most action of any plastics I tried. Never tried that combo this summer, maybe next year to see how it produces on the water.

So if I have a headlamp with a red light when I fish from shore does the red light spook the fish? I have always turned away from the water when I turn it on, it would be really helpful though to fish with it on. Same goes in the boat at night casting the deep weed edge where you don't need a lot of light.

I do at times to cranks like a lipless and square bills and have done well. The bummer is I don't have the cut and dried proof that it made a difference like it does on soft plastics, because I generally fish cranks when the fish are active and chasing. When I do put it on cranks I put it on the top of squarebills and on the nose of lipless in front of the line tie. I want it in areas that see max water pressure so I would get maximum dispersion of the scent. IMO putting scent on the sides of cranks isn't as effective, because I believe they have less water pressure on them.

I have used Liquid mayhem gel scent for years now with great luck, and atlas Mikes gel before that. To those that say it is confidence, I don’t believe that at all, especially during a tough bite. Between watching panfish not react to a unscented slider grub next to the boat and that same pod attacking the bait after the scent was added told me something. The best east example was my father in law going fishless for an hour with the same bait while I whacked em, he reluctantly put scent on and had his first hit in 3 casts and fish within 5 minutes. During tough conditions scent can really be a difference maker.

Just saw a video where a kid looked to be adding a plopper to the train each time he caught a bass. Looked like he had four or more together. He was removing the rear hook and attaching the next to the split ring. Kind of crazy, but looked like the tails turned on all the ploppers. Kind of a cool idea for a video better than all the unboxing videos out there.

I don’t know the full deal on how it works, but the Lews crush bombs a 1/2 crank out there and yet I need to use very little thumb. The Daiwa Viento and even the cheaper mag force with twitchin bar I can get set up so I need very little thumb on splash down, but they don’t get the distance of the Lews. The other Lews reel I am looking at is the Pro G, but I can almost get 2 Mach 1s for the same price. Already bought a Revo S and Revo STX this year too. Not been a bad baitcaster year for me:) At night I throw 1/2 ounce lipless. During the day I toss a lot of 1/4 ounce square bills, but you can see then:) On my river rod I have been using a pinnacle Solene, not a good reel, with no issues, long is I am careful with my casts. All my cranking rods except for 1 are true moderate actions which helps a lot with casting light lures.

One more try, has anyone used this reel and have any insight on ho easy or difficult it is to backlash this reel? Buying baitcasters is not an easy thing, because you almost need to try them before you buy em, but I don’t know anyplace that offers that.

Curious how this reel casts with the dual brakes. I have finicky reels that will backlash if you look at wrong or don’t properly load the rod and others where you can bomb it and really not need to put your thumb on the spool. Where does the dual braked Mach 1 fall in that is being cleared out everywhere? I am working on weeding out the cheaper baitcasters because I like to night cast for eyes and you need forgiving reels casting in the dark. I have my eyes on more expensive reels, but if this thing casts close to as good as my Lews crush or Daiwa Viento I could put more money towards tackle and line needs. I have a list of stuff I need, wife says want, and it isn’t getting any smaller lol.

So does that make the older Mach 1 a better reel, or at least less prone to backlashes on hero casts than the newer Mach 1?

Bringing back an old thread, to find out if they are still the same company and molds as the worms I have from the early 90's. They have tagged me in a few posts on social media and if it is the same company might do an order. They do have a really nice looking 4" tourney grub as well that would work nicely on the waters I fish. https://www.productolure.com/

This sounds a bit like I was. I would spend 50 - 150 at a local tackle shop each year when their prices were not TW prices, but not crazy high. I was also able to get my hands on some of the newer Rapalas before others could. Then they sold the store to someone else and they decided it would be a good idea to raise prices by what seemed to be at least 2 bucks across the board. I no longer shop there. Not sure if the new owners got greedy, or if they needed to drive up the profit margin to pay for buying the store, but raising prices is a short term gain, because I am guessing I am not the only one that stopped shopping there.

My go everywhere box in my truck for shore fishing has a small selection of tubes, yum crawbug, and 5” Kalins grubs rigged on slider heads and of course some Ned rigs. For cranks I carry Bandit 100s and lipless baits and likely a plopper or some other kind of topwater. Plastic rod has 10lb fireline to easily break off plastic snags and the cranking rod has 50 lb braid so that I can pull cranks off snags without losing them as often. Homestly though if I had to chose 5 lure styles for the rest of my life to catch fish anywhere those would be it after I took out the topwater bait.

I do realize now I screwed up the title. In my original post I talked about comparing lipless to other cranks, and said it is the tube of cranks. What I meant was lipless being my go to for crank bites, but I am never putting down soft plastics, because there are so many places that no cranks can be fished. You guys can flame me now on this one lol, but for sure has been an interesting conversation. Now I know why i get in trouble with the wife, because I always assume that she knows what I am talking about;)

It was written knowing it wasn’t true, but at least for my waters if I had to pick one Crankbait style for the rest of my life this would be it. It does most things I need on the lake. It has been a trend though for me using them in new situations and having more success than what I used in the past. So I will still keep throwing jerk baits, spy baits, deep divers, etc and maybe try to figure out which lure works best when. When doing the fish when I get a chance, usually weeks in between, and have no clue what the fish are doing I will likely go with a lipless as a search bait until I find fish.

While I use braid, I also use a moderate action rod as well and one is even fiberglass, clunn Wright McGill stick. I gave up on on trying to uprade my older graphite rids when I found that a majority of mid and high end rods are either fast or extra fast. The extra sensitivity I gain, isn’t enough to cover for all the thrown cranks. I wish St Croix in particular would add some more moderate action rods.

On the fence on this one, only because I lost a 6 plus pound smallie at the net, Coangler flinched when the lure popped out, net had been underneath her. Other than that I have lost very few fish on lipless. Could be because on average WI bass run lighter? I did have one trip with over 90 bass and a 30” and 40” class Muskies without losing a fish on lipless baits. Really hope I don’t lose a ton of bass now on lipless to even things out;) We do have a time during the summer up here where a lot of bass get off no matter what you do. It is like they have a mouth of a crappie, it is super frustrating. Totally agree. I do like them over rip rap from shore, they deflect very well, but it only works if the fish are chasing a bait reeled back quickly. Best bait for me in rocks has been a Bandit 100. A sleeper bait over shallow rocks has been the strike king shallow square bill. Not a lot of hits while being retrieved, most on the pause. It seems to be a slow riser on the pause.

Don’t disagree, but it’s nice to have a crank or two on the deck you can throw in a lot of different spots. I also know that I don’t have enough knowledge to tell when a deep diver will whack em better than a lipless, because I am not on the water everyday to get a good gauge on the fishes changing moods, so a lipless is a good bailout when you don’t have a clue what they are doing. When on my yearly fishing trip trip I am pretty good at adjusting to the mood of the fish as the week goes on, but unfortunately that is only one week a year.

I haven’t used them exclusively, but they get a lot more play than the used too. Shallow rivers I don’t use them much because I like a floater there. I also think they suit my fishing style which is why I use them more often. I need to start working other styles again next year to make sure I don’t overuse lipless and miss out on fish. Having too much confidence in a lure can be a bad thing. Until I though of this the other night I didn’t realize how quick I was to grab a lipless vs something else.

I have a few brands of lipless I throw and have found some to catch them when others wouldn’t. Each brand seems to have its own characteristics that can make them the hot bait of the moment. What those moments are, I haven’t figured out. 1/2 ounce Red eye shad My most consistent lipless by far, if the bite is tough the 1/4 ounce model has been hot. 1/2 ounce rippin rap Not the most consistent bait for triggering strikes, but when the fish are on it they are really on it. 1/2 super spot New bait for me and even though this years bite was not a crank bite, the fish I caught on it smashed it hard. Around 1/2 ounce Glo Pro soft lipless Another new bait for me that caught fish and it seems to run lower in the water column than other like sized baits which is really nice on deep weedlines. 1/2 ounce Bill Lewis traps, starting to use more and catching fish on them. They do seem to run higher in the water column for me. That pretty much covers what I use, and will be trying more 1/4 ounce baits next year.