Champ188

Hey guys, I'm looking for very small soft-plastic craws (about 2 inches, pincers and all) and thought some of you stream fishermen might be able to point me in the right direction. I don't mind pinching off a bit of the body but I need the pincers to be significantly smaller than a Zoom Lil Critter Craw. These are for trailers on some very small jigs I make. Might even share a jig or two if you're extra nice. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! 😁

I had one of those Zell rods ... darn fine topwater rod.

Sound like great spinnerbait rods.

I've seen a lure change make a lot of difference in bed fishing, especially if you've been sitting on a fish for a while. Many times, the first or second pitch after the change, the fish will inhale the new offering.

Fall rate is definitely an area where I can see the line size making a difference. Obviously, there is less drag on light line than heavier line, thus producing a faster fall. I've seen this make a big difference when flipping a jig or shaky head on boat docks in warm months.

I love the old All-Stars. Owned quite a few. They were very good rods for their time. Still are, although I don't have any left. I do still have a couple of Castaways, which I always believed were All-Stars wrapped with another private label slapped on them.

Couldn't agree more. Love those spotted fatties. Except when they swim around Babler's boat in 125 feet of water all day long. I can't see that spots are pushing out the largemouth. They are opportunistic feeders who will target shad, crawfish or anything else that swims by and looks like they could swallow. But we sure don't seem to have a shad population problem. I think the largemouth are suffering from the lake's old age and natural loss of shallow cover. They don't seem to be as nomadic and adaptive as the spots. Also have to agree with the Texas stocking deal ... if and when MDC starts supplementally stocking our lake with bass, I can see eating a few spots, along with the occasional walleye. But as it stands now, we need to take care of every fish out there. The more that are swimming around, the more babies they make and the more fish we have for everyone.

Don't feel bad, Fishrman. Dang near happened to us, too. We caught one non-keeper LM on a Ned and that was all she wrote. Threw that jerker until my arm nearly fell off. Couldn't even drop-shot a fish off the SK bridge. Barely marked any bait there. How sad is that?

No one zeroes in Beardsley. It's so good in there that you are awarded a bonus 4-pound smallie upon entering. Just appears in the livewell.

Great to know, Bill. Headed down that road myself before long. Gotta get the gal a new hip first.

One of the greatest things about this forum is our ability to "agree to disagree" ... and most of the time with no flaming arrows launched. I was fishing buddies with one of the BASS originals, Ricky Green, during the 80s and he showed me one day just how many bites I was leaving behind on bluff walls during the summertime. I was fishing Trilene XT 8-pound mono (no fluoro back then) and he was also using XT but in 2-pound test. Same lures (1/8 shaky head worm), same everything ... but he caught a dozen fish behind me in an hour while I caught one. Blame it on the difference in abilities or whatever you want, but I'm forever convinced it was primarily the line.

You let that dang walleye go right now, old man. That's a spawner. 😁 😆

Donna and I are gonna try the Footjoy winter golf gloves today. Will report back on how we like them.

I was just messin with ya. Been the same for me ... throw jerk bait til your arm falls off for 2-3 bites a day. Jig and Ned bite is better right now. Donna and I are headed to Shell Knob in a bit to investigate recent reports of some decent action up there.

Is Bo making a jerkbait these days? That don't look like no jig I've ever seen tangled in the net on that third smallmouth pic. 😁

Pics are there and they certainly look like Kings River "green trout," as folks call them on the Mississippi gulf coast. Nice ones. Crank bait bite just seems to be off everywhere right now.

Nicely done on the fish and a fine-looking older Ranger. What year and model?

Bo knows bass. Wish I knew half of what he does about deep fishing. And he's a good fellow.

I realize it was just a figure of speech, but no need to apologize, Vernon. That same Constitution is in play every day here on the forum ... giving us the right to speak our minds. That nasty golf/fishing combo virus is what we need a vaccine against. It might not kill ya like Covid, but it'll empty your wallet faster than a teenage girl at the mall. Let's go play as soon as it warms up some, buddy. I'm sure we are both capable of agreeing to disagree. LOL

In a word, bullsh**. You do not have the right to kill me or any of my loved ones with Covid. This is obviously an emergency that is not addressed in the Constitution, nor does it need to be. If you have a TRUE medical issue that prevents you from taking it, so be it. If not, I would like nothing more than to see the government mandate that all U.S. residents (citizens and aliens alike) be vaccinated against it. Covid is not a joke and it's not a platform for you to wage your silly "my body, my rights" junior high civics class freedom babble. It's a pandemic-level disease that has killed a whole friggin lot of people. Wear a mask, get the dang vaccine or stay away from me.

I'm in but looks like the group message board is empty ... i.e., no payment information. Can you PM that info, please and thanks?

Darn well said. Thanks, Ham. May cooler heads prevail in this time of sickness, political unrest and deep division in this still-great nation.

Classic. Couldn't agree more. But as Bill said, to each his own.

Bill, you are all over it. I'm definitely more of a blader than a cranker, but since that just won't get ya bit this time of year, I do crank a fair amount from December-March. I would offer one tip: There's no other time when you need VERY GOOD equipment more than when trying to throw as far as possible. Buy the smoothest reel you can possibly afford and you'll be glad you did every time you make a cast. And change the line. I'm a mono guy for moving baits. I use P-Line CXX in 10 lb for cranking. That stuff is as tough as line comes. Just be aware that the diameter is a smidge larger than some other lines, so don't go up to 12 pound. And since it doesn't cost a fortune like quality fluorocarbon, you can change it every few trips to keep that distance-robbing line coil at bay.