ww2farmer

Lipless crank, suspending jerkbait, jig, and shaky head.

For all you guys whining about winter....... they sell tampon's at Wal-mart. I like the change of seasons, I like ice fishing, I am pretty busy from April-Nov. with work, bass fishing, kids activities, etc....so the break is welcomed, besides it's only 4 months give or take.

I have had three $100 (or less) cranking rods for my shallow/mid-depth/lipless cranking dutys. Currently I am using a 7' M Abu Veritas "Winch", before that, I had a 7' MH/M St Croix Mojo "crankbait", and before that I had a 7' M BPS Cranking Stick. My thoughts on each: BPS Cranking stick: Good bang for the $, at the time I owned it I was not much of a cranker, I used it for lipless cranks, wiggle warts, and sub surface cranks like a Manns baby 1-. and that was the extent of my cranking...period. It handled all three fine, casted all of them fine, and sensitivity was decent, probably could have been better had I used braid back then, but I used 12lb mono on this rod. Mojo 7' MH/M cranking rod......light, and sensitive. It's rated for 3/8's to 1oz. I loved it for lipless cranks, but for anything else I did not............I can't explain it really. It fished the larger versions of my go to baits better than the smaller...........like the KVD 2.5, or a 3/4 oz. RES....BUT I use the 1.5 and 1/2 oz. RES more.....so this rod was not a good fit for me. Veritas 7' M Winch......this rod is the lightest and best balanced of the 3, so thats a plus, and it fishes the 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz. baits I use most often better than the Mojo, another plus. I have used some bigger baits onit, like the 2.5, and 3/4 oz. RES and it's OK, not great, but OK with those. For now I can live with it being just OK with those sized baits, since I fish the smaller ones more often. I crank with braided line/fluoro leaders, and grass is the primary cover around here, with a ittle wood and rock. Even with a pretty limber taper, the braided line, with a tight drag, allows me to "pop" the baits off/out of grass just fine.................If it's too thick or grabby, generally running cranks through it is not the best option anyways, but if it is, I just switch to one of my faster action rods to get a cleaner rip/pop instead of just loading up the rod. As for reels.............I have always liked a 6.something :1 for this work. Baits I fish on these rods don't pull hard, and it's easier to burn a bait on a 6:1 reel than it is on a 5:1, and on the flip side, it's easier to reel slowly with a 6:1 reel, than with a 7:1 (not to mention the 6:1's will have a little more power) if that is what needs to be done. The Mojo, and now the Veritas both have/had a Curado 51E on them, which is the same as the newer Chronarch 51E. I like this reel so much, I am willing to look past the foolish-ness( in my own head LOL) of having a Shimano reel on an Abu rod.

I agree.

For me it would be a 4" Senko. You can do so much with it presentation wise besides the "standard" weightless wacky or texas rig.

I fished many of the VMC "Ike" hooks with the 3 degree bend to the point, side by side with "straight" gamakatsu's. Didn't notice any diff. in hook up %, for the better or worse. The VMC's are a little cheaper per hook though (about .55/per hook) than the Gamakatsu's ( approx. .80/per hook), and are just as good of a hook, so I bought VMC's this time when I needed hooks.

Seeing as how tomorrow is the 2 week mark, I will celebrate with begining an exercise progrum. Baby steps............perhaps I'll just start off by walking to the bathroom really fast.

I have not found anything cheaper than $20-$25, and most of the time now it's pushing $30. USPS or UPS, dosen't seem to matter. It's to the point now that unless I get $200 for a single rod, OR have multiple rods that I can ship in one tube, I won't get rid of them anymore. And seeing as how I now use $80-$100 Abu Vendetta's and Veritas's they are not worth re-selling individualy, if I get sick of one, put it in the corner and go buy something else. Sell them when you can ship 3-4 at a time.

All I used to use were 4601 and 5501 C3's. Casting was never a problem with them, it's just they were not very comfortable after I got used to LP reels. I used to whip a Mann's baby 1- cranks which are about 1/4 oz, with a 6'6" M Berkely Lightning rod and 12lb Big game with no problem.

Well, I can only give advice for our area lakes, as it works, but may not apply elsewhere: #1..........do what I do for largemouth #2..........do what wnybassman does for smallmouth #3.........don't do anything J.Francho does. That about covers it.....

Tomorrow will be two weeks. And now that the head cold I had last week is gone, I really do feel much much better. I sleep better, I pop out of bed easier in the AM with more energy, I am not tired during the day. Just have to keep it rolling untill the whole thing is an after thought....and not regress.

I like a 7' rod for most all of my cranking, except bombing deep divers, than I go with a 7'6" or longer.

Let me throw out and condense the basic direction this thread will go.... What's the best rod?....... Which ever ones I own...... Why???? Because I own it and/or I am a d. bag that way. What do I own...ten of these, a couple of those little, and a whole lot of ... None of your freaking business..... Lmfao..........

The way I see it, the jerks make me work hard for them 11 months out of the year, the few weeks they expose themselves, I will take advantage of it. Smallmouth tend to be stupid easy to catch off a bed, so I don't get carried away with it. One day... Have my fun, and move on. Largemouth.... I rarely target them on beds specifically... But I do fish shallow that time of year, and if one on a bed is caught.... So be it

Production could never keep up with consumption here, so we opt for buying it.

Strangest first post ever.

I am not a big chatterbait guy, but I am going to make my own for the few times I throw them. All the z-man one's I have bought have either rusted or fallen apart, the only good thing about them are the skirts.

I do not like to fish slow when it's cold. So I will throw a jerkbait or lipless crank all day, and I MIGHT slow down and fish an area where multiple fish have been caught with a jig, shaky head, or drop shot....but not if I am cold.........then I keep moving.

Thats the way I do it too with my Shimanos. Except my mag break reels are Revo's....but I have them turned up 3/4 of the way to max when pitching, and almost to max when skipping. The couple I have with dual breaks have two breaks on, and I make the fine tune adjustments with the mags.

Abu has a new Orra Winch reel in a 5.4:1 ratio, with a long handle. $99. I have one, but I have not used it yet. I was on the fence with this and the BPS Pro Qual.......and I went with the Abu because it was lighter, and already had the extended handle. And I got it for $79 when TW had there 20% off black friday sale. Time will tell if I made the right choice. It's actually what some would say is a "down grade" from my former deep cranking reel........a Shimano 201DPV, but I was just getting sick of how big, heavy and bulky that reel was/is.........and I didn't feel like spending $199 for a Revo winch was very cost effective when deep cranking is a small part of my arsenal.

I hear you on the Gamakatsu's...................I have found the VMC's to be a very VERY effective replacment, that's not hurting the wallet too much. I am also with you on the straight shanks........

Brands: Strike King or Booyah Colors: Chart/white or Bluegillish looking Blades: I like a Colorado willow tandem most of the time, gold #4 willow, silver #1.5 colorado, or double willow with #4 and 3.5 size gold blades....I do not like big blades at all. Even on bigger baits, I down size the size of my blades. Sometimes I like painted blades. Weight: 3/16 oz for pounding the bank, 3/8 oz for over the top of grass, or 1/2 oz. down the outside of grass line in deeper water.

Hard to beat a Gamakatsu EWG for me. I don't like straight shank hooks, nor have I ever had the mysterious hook up problems that seem to plauge people with EWG hooks. I use them in 1/0-3/0 in the "regular" wire, and the 2/0 -5/0 "superline" heavy wire.

Welcome........from one WNY'er to another. Now forget everything you see me post, none of it works around here.

I have yet to find the Storm cranks in any stores that I frequent to compare them size wise to my usual "go-to" square bills, the SK KVD's. Could some one post a picture of the Storms next to the KVD's to show the size/profile. The Storms are on my short list of new stuff to try next year, and I am going to buy them anyways, just would like to see a side by side with the KVD's first for my own idiotic reasons.