abkeenan

Lots of 17" pig spots in this lake. I've caught a few in the 18 and 19 inch class and they have always been on jerkbait in cool water. That or slow rolling a spinnerbait. Good luck.

For my A-Rig'n I have 2 setups I use. One I use when fishing shallower and lighter rigs in which I use 20lb fluoro. When throwing heavier rigs and I am fishing deeper or an area where I am likely to snag in trees, I am using 65# PowerPro with a stouter rod.

I'm a bit of a history nerd and thought I would share. Funny how things come to be. > ...Pensacola was an active seaport in the early 1900s that brought sailors to town...helped support a thriving red light district. Biggs said the houses of prostitution were located on Zaragosa Street and remained in business until World War II. > One of the [fishing] store's regular customers was a man named Angelo Capaduca. Capaduca carved a wooden fishing plug that worked well on the speckled trout.... He gave his handmade plugs to other regulars at the store. > "All the artificial lures in those days were called minnows. One of the regulars, a Greek who spoke heavily accented, broken English, used the minnow. One day, after a good catch, he said, 'That minnow, it do the hoochie coochie, just like the girls on Zaragosa Street.'" The hand-carved plug thus became the Zaragosa Minnow. > During the Great Depression, a representative from James Heddon & Son Lures in Dowagiac, MI called on the Pensacola sporting goods store. Hearing about the Zaragosa Minnow...the Heddon salesman took one of the lures with him. It wasn't long before Heddon was making its own wooden Zaragosa Minnow. > When Heddon began experimenting with plastic lures in the 1950s, the lures were called "spooks" because they were transparent. Thus the Zaragosa Minnow became the Zaragosa Spook. The name was eventually shortened to Zara Spook.

Only rod that I own that has micro guides is my Duckett Ghost. Lots of people complain about inserts that fall out of micro guides in just about every brand of rod. The Duckett Ghost has no ceramic insert and is just a hardened chrome coated stainless steel guide. It's good in that sense that no insert can fall out. But, if you throw braid then the Ghost is probably a bad choice as the braid would eventually cut grooves into the eyelets and you would have to replace all the guides. I only throw mono or fluoro so that shouldn't be an issue for me. When micro's came out they said there was less "line slap" against the guides and the blank which resulted in less friction and better flow of line through the guides translating into longer casts. That all being said I don't think there is any difference in performance between standard and micro from what I can tell. If there is I would assume it is negligible. The Ghost has micro guides and the Falcon BuCoo has smaller than standard guides. My Ghost and my BuCoo are two of the most comfortable rods that I own. Not sure if that is due to the fact of the reduced weight of the guides or because the blanks themselves are just lighter and better balanced? Not really sure what I am getting at but I wouldn't pay more to have a micro guide model than a standard guide model.

I use 10lb Seaguar InvizX for my jerkbaits. I am very impatient and can not soak a jerker like some here on the forum that wait 30 seconds to even a few minutes between twitches/jerks. Most I ever let a jerkbait sit idle is about 5 or 10 seconds at most. Because of this I can get away with fluoro but if you are a "soaker" you gotta go mono.

I know you're a round reel guy, so if you're in the market might want to give the brand new Lew's round reels a try. If they are anything like the rest of their reels they will be a solid performer. Hard to beat the old Abu's but for $100 worth a shot to see what they are about: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Lews_Speed_Round_Baitcasting_Reel/descpage-LOS.html

Before you start getting into the $20 baits give the SPRO McSticks a try for $12. I think they are the bee's knees. Come stock with quality split rings, gammy hooks and a BUNCH of Ozark region catchin' colors (Mike McClelland influenced baits).

I have 2 regular Tatulas and a Type R. I friggin' love them. If you notice pretty much all Daiwa's now have the T-Wing system.

What a fisherman in every sense of the word. Not just keeping secrets on locations, baits, depth or colors.....but now the man won't even tell you what kind of rod he is using. Fishing experience level: EXPERT.

Lew's has a reel that does exactly what you have posted here. It was designed with Fritts' input. It has back play in the reel handle without the anti-reverse. Lews's calls it "Multi-Stop Anti-Reverse (PS1 model)" (BB1 Pro Model) Model Retrieve Gear Ratio Weight Bearings Line Cap. (Test/Yd.) Stock Price Qty PS1 Right 5.1:1 6.5 9SS + 1RB 12/160 In Stock: 1 $199.99 They also have it in just the regular BB1 models. ( BB1, BB1L, BB1H) Model Retrieve Gear Ratio Weight Bearings Line Cap. (Test/Yd.) Stock Price Qty BB1 Right 5.1:1 7.1 9SS + 1M-RB 12/160 In Stock: 3+ $159.99 BB1HZ Right 6.4:1 7.2 9SS + 1RB 12/160 In Stock: 3+ $159.99 BB1HZL Left 6.4:1 7.2 9SS + 1RB 12/160 Out $159.99 BB1Z Right 5.1:1 7.2 9SS + 1RB 12/160 In Stock: 3+ $159.99 BB1SHZ Right 7.1:1 7.2 9SS + 1RB 12/160 Out $159.99

I own 3 of them. I always bought them during the BPS Spring Sale event's for $74.99 less $10 for a old reel trade in. For $65 they are great. They cast well and I like the dual braking system (centrifugal and magnetic). That being said they aren't of the same quality of a Tatula which is at the same price point pretty much. Cabela's actually sells their house brand reel called the Arachnid which made by Daiwa. It's the same at the Tatula Type R only black and blue. If Cabela's ever puts them on closeout or a good sale they are a great reel. Mike McClelland is sponsored by Cabela's and that is the reel he uses all year long.

Agreed. I've always cranked my warts on a 6.3:1 ratio reel for the most part. For deep divers 16ft+ I throw them on a 7'10MH rod with a 5:4:1 reel. DD22's, 6XD's and especially 10XD's will wear you out (at least for me) throwing on higher gear ratios. Alex also made a good point about the rod being just as important as the reel for casting distance of smaller/lighter baits. Sure a good reel is important but you need a rod with a softer tip and action for it to load properly to launch the lure. If you are using a stiff, high graphite modulus, fast taper, MH rod, you are basically negating the BB1 or whatever reel you have on there. A Daiwa Tatula is a fantastic reel in every way and they can be had for $90 online. For the price I think they are the best out there right now.

Oh no you didn't! Come on now Vern, that is right out of the first page of KU playbook......wait til basketball season. Kinda like Obama's playbook is to blame Fox News for any of his shortcomings. Was having a discussion with my friends about the days of the Big 12. Hard to believe it's been 5 years now that we have been part of the SEC. While I understand the move (Football and MONEY...whats new) I just miss the true rivalries, more-so in basketball. No matter how BAD the Tigers have been, in any particular year, we always give you Jayhawks a run for your money on the hard court. Really miss those MU KU barn burners. Wish we could do a hybrid season where MU football remains in the SEC but the basketball switched back to the Big 12. SEC Basketball just doesn't do it for me, unless we are playing Mike Anderson's Hawgs. Tough times to be a MU Tigers fan for sure. Can only get better....I think.

St. Croix just upgraded their Mojo series models released earlier this year. They claim they are now 15% lighter. For sure a quality stick from a quality company. For the $100-140 price tag they probably aren't gonna be beat.

That's a low blow right there. You rednecks fight dirty.

Hahahahaha.

I have a Duckett Ghost like that. Craftsmanship is crap, guides misaligned like a Razorback fans teeth but gosh dang do I love the blank and action on that rod. The 7'3MH I have is the most versatile rod that I own. I can literally throw any single bait I own on that rod and be okay with it.

It's black and yellow....that's always good! MIZ!

Lots of good points made here. I think the best thing you can do is just go put your hands on some of the rods that you may be interested in at whatever price point fits your budget. The rod I mentioned before, in the Clarus, I can fish ALL DAY cranking. I picked up a 7'4" MH Quantum KVD glass composite a few months ago because Cabela's had them on clearance for $30 and I wanted a extra mid-depth (8-15ft) cranker on the cheap. Didn't TRULY need it but it was more of a late night web-browsing impulse buy. That rod flat wears my hands and wrists out after like an hour or two. The rod itself performs alright and for the $30 I paid I won't complain. It's just heavy and not very pleasurable to fish other than it loading well on the cast. But this gets back to just getting a feel for the rod before purchase. Get you one that "feels right".

Those spinnerbait chuckers have a short attention span and get confused easily. Plus he's a Razorback fan....double whammy.

I throw mine on a 7'MH Shimano Clarus crankbait model. It's got Shimano's TC4 composite blend of glass and graphite. It was part of the Shimano's that still carried the lifetime warranty (which Shimano ended 2 years ago on all their rods....bummer!). Throw my jerkbaits on this rod as well and I can't say enough about it for the price ($90ish). It's a soft MH and closer to a M than a MH in actuality. Has all FUJI components and just a nice overall rod. Rod loads great on even lighter baits yet has the power to horse them out and away from cedars. Alex mentioned Lew's which has really made strides in the rod industry the last couple of years. Their first attempts at rod manufacturing weren't so good. Took them 5 years or more but I think they now have gotten it right (finally caught up to their reels). I know they have a "Wart Special" rod that if I were buying a rod specifically to throw warts I would give it a look certainly. When David Fritts is on the pro staff giving his input on design you should probably trust the rod is going come out right. Alex is no slouch himself on the cranks so I would listen to what he has to say in a crank rod. Never have had the Wart Special model in hand but if you are near Springfield I would head up to Lew's HQ and poke around. Lew's Custom Speed Stick Crank Rod 7' Med Wart Special Taper Line Wt. Lure Wt. Guides Handle Type Handle Length Stock Price Qty Moderate Fast 8-14lb 1/4-5/8oz 9+Tip Custom Crank A 14" Out $139.99

That's a bummer. Hate to hear that. Had it happen to me about 5 years ago when I used to bank with BOA. They were good about resolving it and putting the money back into my account. Was only about $400 but it was still annoying getting new cards, pins, having to re-do all your online payment stuff, etc. My fraud was 2 debit charges in Germany at a Shell station. Pretty sure my card was compromised at a gas pump outside Macon GA while traveling when I entered my pin. Since that day I have NEVER used my pin at a gas station pump and haven't had any issues.

Told you a thousand times there aren't any fish in Beardsley. When a fish does mistakenly wander in there Alex arrests them with his crankbait cuffs in short order. They are then deported up around Indian Point.

Thanks for the report....and nightmares. That is the creepiest little decoy, duck, garden gnome I've ever seen.

I saw someone comment with the same remark. That the bigger fish isn't a little over ambitious but rather they are going after the same baitfish and collide. Not sure which is the case but it's crazy either way.