Columbia Craw

That's your PB I take it. Get a replica. Should be cheap. They charge the inch. The image is a friend of mine. I haven't been that skinny since I was seven.

My only experience is with the SV103 and it's been awesome to pitch weightless 5 in Senkos with. I cast 3/16 oz finesse jigs just fine. I was a bit skeptical about the SV hype until I fished one. The combination of Magforce Z cast control and SV spool is effective.

More recent acquisitions. Dobyns Champion XP736CB Chatterbait and Tatula CT Dobyns Champion XP744C Jig Special and Tatula CT Type R Dobyns Extreme743C HP and Diawa SV103HS Dobyns Champion 735CB and OG Zillion

If I had to pick one bait for mid range.....Normans Deep Little N. The color pallet is unmatched. They are very affordable. They cast well and hold up. Now that they are made in Guatamala, there may be some question as to how true they run right out of the package. We'll know soon enough. If you truly want to try a bait that's different, look at the Luhr Jensen Hot Lips. Be open minded and don't let the lip design sway you. This bait reaches it's max depth faster than any bait I have ever fished. When you want depth while keeping a smaller profile, this bait flat works. I would love to see A-Jay give this bait a test. This model is the Rodney Dangerfield of crankbaits. I have no affiliation with either brand. Enough for the tutorial.

The spring crayfish on the upper Columbia are almost black and the ends of the pincers are bright blue hence my thread name, Columbia Craw. I take Rage Craws and dye the claws blue. Not as impressive as A-Jay's baits but effective none the less. My last trip on Clear Lake was an eye opener. Crayfish were black and blood red. So I had a custom spinnerbait made up.

For me, fish on rocks are feeding fish so moving baits, especially crankbaits and jerkbaits are the place to start. Is there current ? Fish current breaks. Clear and not too deep? A wacky rigged Senko can be deadly. A spider jig with a light head is a great option. Mix it up.

ON, you know it comes in threes so just pick out your least favorite rod, close it in the tail gate and get it over with.

With a 4.7 to 1 gear ratio, a whopping THREE ball bearings, non-infinite anti-reverse and centrifugal brakes the size of a life saver, these reels are still great performers after 35 plus years.. I still have six. Yours must be pre Browning ? Back on track: Andy007, you have some tremendous options in that price range.

At your local Walmart. They're called greeters.

I feel your pain. There is nothing worse than a plumbing issue except maybe a leaky roof. Rule: Never mate new with old. Replace it all. My late father was a contractor and did it all. If he knew I paid to have my house re-piped he would roll over in his grave. Best money I ever spent.

I will never fully understand why bass behave the way they do. One moment you have to generate abrupt drastic action, like an X-Rap and then the bass want a lure sitting still or dead sticked. That's why I love em'. I think deflection generates a movement that mimics a baitfish that is disoriented or in a fleeing action and bass, a predator capitalize on that. Ripping a lipless CB from grass does much the same.

Short answer....in my rafters. I fished 5'6" rods for years. Now my shortest rod is a 6'8" for jerk baits. I still have several and two six foot straight handle Lews models from the late 80's and have not used them in 20 years. I'm saving them for my grandsons.

That's a do a lot rod. I would add a middle of the road gear ratio in the 6ish to 1 because you have so many bait options.

I have two BB1 's in 5.1 to 1 and they still have a 28 IPT pick up. This is fine reel that can cast a broad lure weight range. Good choice. I have no experience with BPS crankin rods.

That lakes record 10-3 held by Dale Sanders. It puts out a handful of eights and sevens each year and I know of three over nine. My best on that lake is 7-13 and I have 5 others over seven pounds but you have to put a lot of time on the water to hit those numbers. A fish biologist told me they shocked a 12 something about five years ago. I can't find the memory card but I had the best fishing day of my life at Pot Holes. I caught 37 small mouth in the last hour of the day and one largemouth. The largemouth was over seven and I had five smallmouth over five pounds in the mix. Pot Holes is my favorite place to fish period.

If you find leeches in your thermos.....then your in trouble.

Okay, J Franco my favorite is Sunline Super Natural. A line I have confidence in and have used for years is Yo Zuri Hybrid. Twenty years ago I would have touted Trilene Big Game as the "best." That was twenty years ago. I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade. just share a perspective.

I wish I had invested in the luggage industry when I was very young because every relationship comes with baggage.

I really dislike the " very best" threads. It's so subjective is most cases. The brand I select may be considered garbage by another. I guarantee you that someone has bought line that was on the shelf until the label was redesigned, they tied a crappy knot, had a rough spot on a guide insert, nicked their line on that surgically sharpened hook and so on. The line gets the blame. Try and find some consensus and consider that a starting point and develop confidence or don't and move on from their. The brand I have confidence in has not been mentioned. A brand that I have used and liked fairly well has. That's in #8 test. There's nothing like getting just enough information to be thoroughly confused.

I attended a memorial service this morning at 0641 hours at Cowlitz #2 Fire and Rescue. We remember. Thank you Raul.

How many of you have backed your boat in without taking the transom straps off. Come on...give it up. Took my daughter out many years ago and I had taken everything out of the boat because I left it over night a a service provider. Got out on the lake and realized I had Zero lures in the boat. I made do with a plastic container I threw my discards in. I'll hang on to the other 1343 air head things i've done.

Back in the late 70's thru the early nineties, I build most of my rods and numerous rods for friends. I built flyrods, drift rods, surfcasters, sturgeon rods and a passel of bass rods. Blank options were limited back then and technology was developing at a rapid rate. Living so close to Woodland, I was privy to what Gary Loomis was doing and what Dick Posey was doing in material and designs. There was some experimentation with Boron that was a terrible failure but boy was that blank light. DVT's comment was spot on. Bass rods over 6 feet were rare in 1980 and now rods up to 8 feet are common. The material, components, overall design and assembly collectively factor in. Weight does not equate to sensitivity. If you've ever have the opportunity to see blanks manufactured from the rolling process forward you would be amazed. Anyone remember the rumor spread that if you stored your graphite rod on a wall, set on a metal nail, the rod would would break on that exact spot. I remember that. Rods back then, compared to what is available now, is like comparing the original bag phones to the new smart phones. It's come that far. Lucky us.

The CT is a far more refined reel. My God-son fished the Lexa (3) and he just picked up two CT's to upgrade. The standard CT can be found for just over a hundred bucks and that's a really good value.

That is one of my favorite rigs right there in the Okeechobee craw color. A Dobyns Fury 734C at 109 bucks is very hard to beat. The new Sierra Series is replacing the Savvy series and was upgraded to Fuji guides better cork and the blanks, all though having the same action, incorporate a better quality of graphite. They might be just a smidge faster than the Fury. I'd throw those two models in the hat.

This is where personal preference is going to play a huge role. The XP744 is my most recent purchase and I have two outings with it so far. The balance is great with my Daiwa Zillon 100HS. Sensitivity with florocarbon is pretty darn good. When I drag a 1/2 football jig, I can count the rocks. A couple of issues to consider are, Full handle option? That's a important to me and my preference. Champions no longer employ Kigan guides and are now Fuji. I think this was the result of customer input. Finally, look at warranty options. The last Kistler I owned had a blank made by Lamiglas so it's been awhile. I have about six years of experience with Dobyns products now and like them and the service is impressive. The Kistler might be the rod for you however. You will do well I think which ever you finally select.