papajoe222

Very similar to water clearity. The more light penetration, the more subdued the color. Less light penetration, brighter colors. With bladed baits I'll use chrome under clear skies and gold under cloudy skies.

Welcome to the forum. There are numerous answers to the questions you ask, the answers depend on the person you're asking. If you are looking for a general answer, the size of the bait used should be determined first by the equipment you're using. Stay within the recommended weight of the rod and you should be okay. The brand and style of bait is up to you. Spinnerbaits can and are used almost anytime, with the general exception being cold water and bright, calm days.

Water clarity is generally based on human eyesight and as such, is determined by how deep we can see into the water. That determination is relative to what is normal in your local waters. Clear water to me is when I can see 15ft. down. To someone that rarely is able to see eight feet down that (8ft.) would be clear. Just remember that a bass' eyes are suited to its environment (water), not ours.

The tension the cast control knob provides is constant throughout the cast. Brakes provide more resistance the faster the spool spins (at the beginning) and less as the spool slows. Magnets provide the most resistance the slower the spool spins (toward the end). To really 'test' any system, turn it off and cast without it for a while. When you turn it back on, you'll notice the difference. Many anglers thumb the spool at the end of the cast and therefore feel that magnetic braking is useless, others aren't concerned with distance casting and see brakes as a hindrance. It is an area of personal preference.

The other two bearings are likely the spool bearings. One is located in the left side plate and the other on the right side of the spool. Bearing counts aren't a good indication of either quality, or performance of a reel. They will increase the longevity of a poorly crafted reel, not that Daiwa reels are poorly crafted. Companies will add bearings to the reel knobs AND include them in the bearing count. Some even include the ARB rather than listing it separately. You can find a Tatula in the $100 range and despite the fact that I don't own one, I would recommend it over the Arid.

I catch more limits consistently in the summer, and my heaviest was in early May. That being said, I believe I catch more big 'stringers' in early Sept.

There is also the possibility that the fish aren't relating to the bottom. A C-rig is the exact opposite of a top-water presentation. If the other baits you say you've been catching fish on are also bottom presentations, then I would say stick with them, or try a drop shot rig that gives a better transmission of bites.. If they, the other baits, target a different part of the water column, see my first comment.

Welcome to the board. I honestly don't have any idea on the color, just wanted to say howdy.

Try letting the lighter lures hang down farther from the rod tip when casting. That will help to load the rod a little more and increase the distance. Oh yea, stick to 10lb. line or under for best results.

There are quite a few reasons why your hook-up success was better with the speed craw, the least of which was your choice of hook size/style. That is a good choice as far as size goes and the style of hook is more of a personal preference thing vs. a hard fast rule. As far as what size weight to use there are a number of factors to take into consideration. First and foremost being how you are rigging it. For a true Texas rig, with the weight free to slide up or down the line, most anglers like to go with the lightest weight possible that still allows you to keep contact with it. Wind has a lot to do with that. I prefer to go heavier because the way I fish this rig, the plastic is the only thing a fish will inhale. For a pegged sinker, or when swimming a Texas rig, I will go as light as possible and increase it depending on conditions or the depth of water I'm fishing. Unlike fishing a jig, either of those two presentations will produce more bites when moving the bait or dead sticking rather than on the fall.

I was a little surprised to see more than one up for sale. That one does appear to be the better of them, plus it has the original box and things.

I'll use a T-rig when I don't want the fish to feel the weight. When they suck in a jig and chomp down, there's that hard jig head. With a Texas rig, the majority of the time, all they get into their mouth is the plastic and the hook. I use it more for dragging and dead sticking. A jig is more of a drop bait as I either am pitching or flipping it to isolated cover, or jigging it along the bottom. A football or swim jig would be the exceptions.

Check out the jig fishing thread at the top of this forum. There are also a couple of good articles and videos on the subject.

Fat Free Shad. If I need to go shallow, a FatBoy gets the nod and for the deeper cranks I prefer a DD22

Just a heads up for anyone looking for a Sol. There is a new listing on that auction site with a buy now of $110

McCoy, but if you can save up a couple of extra buck$ Yo Zuri Hybrid UltraSoft is worth it.

If I'm using a drop shot weight, I always do just what your asking. It gives me the ability to lengthen or shorten the tag length without retying. I never have one longer than 18in. The majority of my drop shotting is done with a jig rather than a weight, but there are times when a cylindrical weight works better.

I like a rod with a short handle because of the way I have to work a Spook (wrist problems). The big advantage to using a short, pistol grip rod is in casting accuracy. For presenting the bait in open water situations, I don't think it matters except to the user. Stick with mono and go a little on the heavy side for hard topwater baits. If you find you're having problems with the line tangling in the front treble, try thumbing the spool or dropping your index finger on a spinning reel just before the lure splashes down. The addition of a split ring or use of a loop knot will make a big difference when learning to walk one of these baits and either is essential to working it without moving the bait forward. Do a search here on fishing this bait. There are a number of informative articles.

Cat Cay will block more of the glare from the side and are a great frame for fishing, IMO. I wear the Zane model (grey lenses) for both fishing and driving, but I'm leaning toward a pair of the Cat Cays with the green mirror lenses to wear strictly for fishing. The Costa bait monkey has my name.

Jimmy will kiss most any fish and then chuckle about them liking that sugar.

Thumbs up for sure. Now if you think the bait monkey is a difficult animal to keep out of your head, you aren't prepared for his big brother named Rod.

Great people there. Hopefully as they get more business, their inventory and selection will increase.

If you get snagged, DON'T pull on the line in an attempt to free your lure. Ease up on your hook sets as braid doesn't stretch. When it starts to frey, cut that section off. Lastly, if the water is clear and you believe that line visibility is costing you fish, add a fluoro or mono leader.

I've done well on good sized bass with some of my muskie baits, but then again I've also caught some 10in. bass with them too. Don't get too caught up in the big bait = big fish mentality when targeting big fish. A crappie jig will catch a lunker if placed in the right spot. One thing I've found that is consistent no matter the size the lure is, you have to present it slow. Better than average sized fish don't waste energy chasing down their prey. Just saying

The best way I've found is to lay he plastic bait along side the hook's shank. If there isn't enough open space between the plastic and the hook point for it to grab hold without compressing the plastic, I go up in hook size until there is.