FrnkNsteen

Don't know,.. Can't justify the price! I thought about getting the jig box, but went with the cheap spinnerbait box instead. It has three rows and holds jigs and bladed jigs great. One row is jigs, next row is swim jigs and last row is bladed jigs. For terminal, I bought cheaper "Terminal Tackle" boxes with 4 red latches that I think were made by Flambeau or some other company. They have molded in markings for weight and hook sizes. I've got two of them. One holds offset worm hooks in sizes 1/0. - 6\0, wacky hooks and lead bullet weights. The other holds EWG hooks of each size and tungsten weights. Plenty of room for other terminal tackle as well.

Cheapest decent rig I can think of is Daiwa Fuego, Shimano SLX, or Lews LFS (all $99) on a Berkley Lighning Rod ($39) or Daiwa AIRDx rod ($50). All are aluminum framed reals on fairly light and sensitive rods .

Thanks for the info! I had asked about them recently and it seemed nobody had tried them. Good to know!

How you rig them can have an effect on how deep they fish. If you rig it texas rigged with the eye of the right at the nose of the bait, they tend to climb when twitched and stay shallow, but if you rig it a little deeper so the eye of the hook is buried deeper into the nose of the bait, they will dive more and fish a little deeper. You can always add a nail, as some mentioned above, or use a belly weighted hook, to sink quicker and fish deeper too.

I have the Curado DC and an SLX DC and personally,... I wouldn't buy another. I bought both at the same time shortly after they came out during the spring classic Bass Pro trade-in deal. They work well when making full long casts, but not so well on short casts in and around cover. I can't rip on them, because they work fine, but like I said, they seem to struggle controlling the spool on shorter casts, or for someone who isn't consistently smooth casting. My wife struggles using them because her casts aren't always consiatent, but ahe does fine with the MGL and SV reels. If this says anything... Since buying these, I have bought 4 Shimano MGLs (Bantam, Curado, and 2 SLX MGL) and 3 Daiwa SV reels (Tat, Zillion, and Alphas) rather than buying anymore DC reels.

I've wondered myself if bass know we are the ones that caught them, or if they appreciate us saving them from the hook they got stuck on. ? As for eating fish,.. I have no concerns with eating small bass, though I don't do it often. Usually only when on our trip to Ontario and want to do a fish fry, the slot sizes are so tight and can only keep so few that we keep anything we can to feed the group. Walleye. Northern, small Smallies, or Crappie are all game. 1 good Northern goea a ways, but 14" - 17" Walleyes or 14" Bass take a few to feed everyone. The only other time is springtime in friends personal ponds while the water is still cold that are trying to control population of small bass.

LOL!! I had forgotten about Lazy Ikes and Bass Orenos. Caught fish on both as a kid. I have many of the lures mentioned above in my Dad's old tacklebox. I've wanted to use some of them for sentimental reasons, but haven't been able to do it for the same reason and being afraid to lose any of them.

If you can swing the little extra $, the JDM Zillion SVTW is hard to argue with. Just checked Digitaka and they are estimated at $232 for the only lefty they have available. For the $200 in a USDM model, I have to agree with Craig P above that the Curado MGL is a pretty nice reel. I really like the one I bought. If you don't mind the JDM option, and want to stay <$200, the Daiwa Alphas SVTW is an awful nice option. Near as smooth as the Zillion SVTW, smaller frame, and lower price is a nice combination. In my personal opinion, I would choose the JDM Alphas SV over a USDM Tatula SV.

I really have a hard time finding a UL or L rod that I like because most are just too floppy. My wife and I are currently using a pair of Fenwick HMX 6'0 ML/MF for bkuegills and crappie. They are rated for 1/8 - 5/8, but I really can't imagine loading then up like that. The moderate action flings a bobber rig, small Beetlespin, or small crappy jigs out pretty nice yet doesn't feel quite so whippy.

I'm really not brand loyal on casting reels. I've got Abu, BPS, Daiwa, Lews, Shimano, and even a couple 13 Inception reels. I have to say that I have been leaning towards Daiwa SV (Zillion and Alphas) and Shimano MGLs (SLX, Curado, Bantam) lately. For spinning reels I prefer Daiwa., ranging from Revros, Regal to Fuego. For rods, I'm not as picky and will use anything that is light, comfortable and well balanced. Fenwick, St Croix and Dobyns make up the majority of my current rods.

Or both?? Far too often!! ?? Got the itch right now, but REALLY trying to be good!! ?

I can't speak to why people suggest one brand over another, other than that ALL lure companies testify that their lures are the best and the people they sponsor are paid to use & represent them. As for me, my experience with Bandito Bugs and other Googan products is they don't hold up and tend to tear just casting them, especially as a jig trailer. I mainly use Rage Craws and Bugs or Berkley Powerbait and Max Scent. They are still aoft, but hold up better than Googan.

Thanks guys,.. Think I will hold off on the Berkley and order some different tbings from Siebert.

That being said,... What are people's opinions on the Siebert Fogy or Tremor blade baits? I was just on their site looking at some of their jigs, swimjigs and blades and having a hard time deciding what to order to try. I've seen where a lot of people have spoken very highly of them!! What are some of your favorite models?

Anybody they the new Berkley Slobberknocker yet. Looks lime a new method for attaching the blade. Curious, ... But at $13.99, it's a little tough to justify over a Jackhammer at sale price or Thundercricket or Shock at a cheaper regular price.

Seems like you are contradicting yourself a bit there! You start off saying the pros don't know much more than we do, and finish by saying it's the people catching the fish, not the colors. They know enough to have made a good living off what we all like to do!

Capacity. Need more line capacity for bombing those baits out there. That's why the HD would probably be better.

I don't really understand how an empty tungsten weight that has no wind resistance is representative of how good a reel casts into the wind,.... but ok. I don't question that the DC systems work well when making long full casts. I just don't think they necessarily are a lot of help for newer users making lighter shorter casts or inconsistent casts, because they seem to struggle with that. All I can say is my wife had a LOT less trouble with my '20 Daiwa Tat SV than she did with the DC. Anytime she had a lighter cast that wasn't as smooth on the DC, she got a backlash, but not on the SV.

^^Same"" Only time I touch mine is when I pull everything apart to clean, otherwise I tighten just until side to side motion stops and leave it alone.

Yeah,... I'm born and raised Minnesotan, and the fishing is the biggest thing I miss living down here.

Guessing there isn't anything from Indiana on there either. As Billy McDonald said,... Indiana only has 6 or 7 fish and we just take turns catching them!! ?

That's what I was thinkin too!

I think they help on full casts where you're zinging it out there. I bought my wife an SLX DC thinking it would help her, but it seems she struggles more with it than conventional reels. It seems to struggle with braking on light casts. If she makes a light or inconsistent cast,.. Boom,... backlash. I can grab it and zing it out there with very little thumb and it does well. I set her up on a Daiwa mag brake and she does better with it.

I think people confuse sensitivity with balance. Most of my spinning reels balance perfectly on my first two fingers in front of the stem. Any touch on the lune and you can feel it. My baitcasters are usually pretty well balanced, but not as well as the spinning reels.

^^Agreed ^^ My favorite wacky rod is unfortunately not available anymore. It's a 6'9" ML Fenwick Elitetech Smallmouth rod. It just has a great tip for flicking wacky worms in, around, and under anything I want. I hold my spinning rods with three fingers in front of the reel stem, so I hate having a reel seat with threads in front of the reel (Like most have). My favorite spinning rods right now are Falcon, Daiwa, and some St. Croix (Bass X and Victory) that have a pronounced foregrip. I also like the unusual handle of the Feather FTX 7'1" MF (fishes like a ML) that I recently picked up. For me a 6'9" - 7' ML is ideal for wacky. Which brand/model depends on the user. My brother gives me grief for using 8-10lb mono but I feel it has better slack line sensitivity than braid and is cheap and easy to manage.