Munkin

What I find is the price of hardbaits versus the probability of losing them is what comes into play. Topwaters for example, I have no issue with high dollar topwater baits since I have only lost 5 in the past 30 years of fishing. Jerkbaits I lose less of since I don't fish Pickerral infested waters anymore. Crankbaits I get most back with the lure retriever along with jerkbaits. As far as cost most of my best crankbaits are; Mann's, Bandit, SK, and Rebel so even if I lose one I am not out much. Honestly my most expensive lures are Senkos and Jackal Flick Shakes as the fish just destroy them. Allen

More expensive does not mean it catches more fish. The $0.99 Kinami lipless bait I found in a clearance bin has caught more fish than any other lipless bait. On the flip side of that I have a $40 Nishine crankbait that has yet to ever catch a fish. My TOW is more valuable to me now so I use whatever works. Since I carry two lure retrievers, I only lose maybe one crankbait every 2 years. Allen

Compact baits do not roll as easy in current which is why I like them. My favorite bait overall is a 1/2oz hidden weight poured on a 1/4oz frame with 3.5 and 4 willows. Allen

Until you get enough experience with jigs I say to simplify what you are using. First get jigs in the same color as your #1 producing tube, creature bait, bottom contacting baits. Second you need matching trailers in two types, subtle and action. Subtle are your regular chunks without much action on the fall (I recommend Zoom Super Chunks). Action are your Rage Craws, doubletail grubs, etc that have tons of movement independently usually from each arm. Colder water or a straight flip fall I like the subtle trailers. Swimming or dragging the jig I have more luck with the action trailers. This is just a starting point and I will say if I could only fish one jig trailer it would be the Zoom Super Chunk Jr in Green Pumkin. Allen

Wish I would have met you 30 years ago! I agree and it only took me a couple years to figure this out. Rip retrieve start with a Rattle Trap and stroking a SK Red Eye Shad has worked best for me. Allen

Since I quit fishing in a bass club the places I normally fish have changed. I use to drive 1.5 to 2 hours to fish lakes in the area until the last two years I concentrated on the Upper Potomac River. Fishing a shallow rocky river for SM means some techniques just don't apply. When fishing 10 FOW or less a carolina rig, deep crankbait, drop shot are a waste of time. Allen

I was thinking the same thing. Allen

I don't have an opinion on mirror vs non-mirro as I have not had enough experience with them yet. As for lense color dark grey in the sun and amber in low light conditions. Allen

Biggest fish from there is 7-4 along with 8 over 6lbs. Allen

As a way not to continually hijack the other spinnerbait in the Fishing Tackle I thought to open a new topic in the Tacklemaking Forum. Hopefully everyone can respond to lend years' worth of experience to Bass Resource members on the design and functionality of spinnerbaits. So, a little background on me and my spinnerbait knowledge. I started fishing spinnerbaits at age 12 in 1987 after watching Jimmy Houston catching all those big bass on them. The only bait for me at the time was a SK Chart/Blue, double diamond colorado blade bait. After throwing them religiously for 2 years I caught exactly zero fish on it. Fast forward to 1998 when I moved backed to Maryland while in the Army I started seriously fishing for bass again and making baits. Now I have learned a lot of the intricacies of spinnerbaits what I make is light years ahead of where I started. Some of the things I have learned along the way: Lighter wire seems to work better for double willow baits. Heavier wire is what I use on night, large colorado baits as tuning a spinnerbait in the dark is a pain. Spacing is very important and is not a one size fits all. Ballbearing swivels are a must as they spin easier. Throw blade combinations that are not readily available on store baits. Clearer the water the more natural the color should be. Silver on sunny days and gold on cloudy has not been the case in my experience. Blade color preference is more dependent on the body of water and forage. Allen

I am a firm believer in lighter wires for double willow spinnerbaits. After 20 years of fishing spinnerbaits IMO lighter wire baits catch more fish period. Now when it comes to colorado baits which have more vibration I feel the wire diameter doesn't matter as much. Allen

While I am not the lipless expert these are my favorites: Original Rattle Trap Kinami Rad shad Team Daiwa Strike King Red Eye Shad Allen

I will send you some prototypes. Allen

Found this unicorn in the basement while looking for another bait. Allen

Oh, Moderator, eh? Very nice. And how'd you get that, then? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society! If there's ever going to be any progress

I see they make beely guides and running guides? Do I really need both or can I just use the running guides? And is it different between a casting and spinning rod? Allen

Owner makes a hook that I use for really big worms. Owner Oversize Worm Hooks | Tackle Warehouse Allen

When is the next election for Moderators? I have not seen any campaigning here and wanted to know. The masses want to know where our Moderators stand on FFS in tournaments, planting brush piles, and Berkeley knocking of Grow works bait and winning best of show at ICast. Allen

Builds | FishingSkirts.com This is a good source for skirt pattern colors. I would suggest using craft bead wire over floral wire for the article. Craft wire is copper based which will last for years while floral wire will rust and break. Craft wire: Guage 20 or 22 round rubber 22 or 24 regular cut silicone 24 or 26 fine cut silicone Allen

Try sidearm casting versus overhead and while the bait is in flight about to hit the water try lowering the rod tip like 12". This will cause the bait to make less of a splash when entering the water. As for baits if you are limited to the area you can fish you need to learn to pick apart an area. The biggest change for me when I bought a boat was not having to carry a bunch of different baits and colors. If you are limited to a 200 yard stretch you have to make subtle color changes while in a boat I can stick with one color and just move 300 yards up or down river. Allen

I literally have more tackle sitting on the kitchen countertop that my wife is complaining about than in this pic. Guess I need to ramp up my tackle culling effort. Allen

Jig for bigger fish Single colorado blade spinnerbait Creature bait Suspending jerkbait if the water is clear Allen

So these I am making for a local guy that wants some tiny jigs. These are 1/8oz, finecut silicone, FG9 weedguard, and Gamakatsu 604 hooks. Skirt and weedguard are longer than what they should be for my tastes? These are the prototypes so I will have Vic let me know how short he wants them cut. Going to pour some more of these to use for bear hair jigs as I am running low on them right now. Allen

Grips are the issue I have with so many of todays rods. They have these crazy cool looking reel seats that are completely uncomfortable to fish with. For me I need full cork rear grips for casting because I usually cast with two hands and a split grip just feels weird. Spinning I split my fingers above and below where the reel attaches so it needs to be comfortable. A VSS cork or Fuji skeleton seat with a cork insert in-between feels the best. Allen

Found a pack of the Nikko baits at a fishing flea market show last weekend for $0.75 so I figured I would give them a try. These are made of some sort of elastic material so they should last. Allen