ww2farmer

It doesn't matter..........I rig them with the ribbed side down and my hook point comes out on the smooth side in the little "pocket", my tournament partner rigs his the other way around and we both catch fish.

That blue color is from copper sulfate...............not what I would do, because water + copper sulfate = low grade of sulfuric acid, we use it to burn warts off of dairy cows feet..............but it's his pond so he can do what he wants, I doubt he's hurting anything because it would take a LOT of copper sulfate to turn the pond into acid, but he's also not accomplishing much, other than turning the water blue and padding the pocket of the guy selling him the CS, in order to have the desired and lasting effect on the algae, he'd have to really sock it to the pond, and that would have undesirable side effects for the fish. But as to your ?'s, If you have 2-3 feet of visibility any color will work, pick one you like. Color selection is often over-stated.

A good old Berkley power worm in a dark color ( I like Blue fleck) has worked well for me in dirty water.

My most versatile rod is probably my 7' M Abu Vendetta casting rod. Other than deep cranking, punching mats, and frogging heavy slop, it does everything. May not be the best tool for some individual task's, but it'll work........and it don't break the bank at $80.

Yup................glad to see at least some of the younger people on here "get it"

Exactly why I like the hooks I like...........the come threw the grass, dock posts, and lay downs like a champ.

Sound like a nice swim-jig , and/or tight quarters pitching rod to me....I'd run 30lb braid of your preferred brand on it, and/or 15 - 17lb fluoro leaders (or mainline if your not a braid guy).

Happy, healthy kids who had a great christmas.............and some misc. fishing stuff that I didn't "need"

I don't buy them for any sensitivity purposes, because quite frankly IMHO it's not much of a factor. I buy them because of their size. A 1oz. tungsten is quite a bit smaller than a hunk of 1oz. lead.

Smokinal...it's pretty simple, I use the Rugby heads when I want to fish a bait in place in and around a specific target (under docks, weed pockets, next to a log etc...), I use the swinging jig heads when I want to move the bait along while maintaining bottom contact, almost like cranking. You could use just the swinging, or just the fixed for both, but I prefer to use them the way I mentioned after trial and error using each type head...Key word USEING. BTW, i am not saying Rugby heads are the greatest things since sliced bread, they are just the heads I like. For swinging jigs heads I like the Mustad Fastach system, that way I can put any hook I want on the weight.

No, but I did find one of my lures in the throat of a dead pike that bit said lure off a week earlier. And once my rain coat blew off the back deck of the boat while I was on the outboard, wnybassman and I found it a week later floating about 1/2 mile away from where I lost it.

On my KVD's the 1.5's get #4's, the 2.5's get #2. I use the Mustad KVD elite 1x strong, 2x short, triple grips. Black nickle only. I never use red.

A new heater for my ice fishing shanty (my old died lat year) an assortment of Havoc plastics that the kids picked out, and some gift cards to the local chains (F&S, Gander, Cabela's)

I use 50, even in the heaviest, thickest mats we have. Never had trouble pulling them out. One of my biggest fish of 2014, a 6lb 2oz LMB ( A big fish in WNY) came from a mat so thick you could walk on it. Winched her right out with 50lb braid, along with 30lbs of slop.

I really like the VMC Rugby heads, they are kind of a hybrid between a round and football head, plus they have an offset EWG hook which I like a LOT better than any of the spring and or barb type bait keepers on most shakey heads. Like Bluebasser86, I fish just about every plastic I own on them.

I like the VMC Rugby heads, with wither a Havoc Bottom hopper, or the small pit boss

Casting: 7' MH Berkley lightning rod shock $30 on clearance from Wal-mart, and a NIB Daiwa Exceler 100SHL reel, $55 with free shipping from ebay Spinning: 7 M Berkley lightning rod shock, also $30 on clearance from Wal-Mart, and a NIB Pflueger Trion 30 spinning reel for $30

I have caught a lot of fish from ice out till the water got into the low 50's, but once it hit's that 50 degree mark, it's like a switch is flipped. Some years it happens two weeks after the ice is gone, some years a month, or more. But generally it starts mid April in the backwaters/creeks feeding the lakes, early May on the main lake.

Same............all braid, all the time. A "few" cranking fish manage to make it to my boat each year.

Not really a specific bait, but a multitude of baits worked on the new to me wobble head football jigs.

Strike King KVD 200 in yellow perch or natural bream.

I mostly only use one brand of cranks (Strike King) so it's pretty easy to remember. They cover my needs well. The only other brand/line I have/use are the Storm Arashi's, they are easy to tell just by looking at them.

I don't like throwing umbrella rigs, and/or these new magnum sized cranks. They just flat wear me out after a couple hours. It doesn't help that I HAVE thrown them for hours on end without much success on lakes that I know well, and do well on. So I have all but given up with them.

Havoc baits sometimes come bent. I never boil. I have a large enough amount on hand that I'll use the straight ones, while the bent ones sit in a plano box, in the sun. They straighten up nice, and get softer, an I didn't really have to do anything.

Works better for me the opposite. Loose spool and I adjust the breaks as needed. I can skip a weightless stick with casting gear better than most guys can with spinning gear. It's up to the individual user, that's just how I do it.