Tuna

Totally agree with Cuda, unpainted (dulled) is the way to go. Most open water walleye guys I know fish unpainted. Guess they've done their testing and have found the difference unworthy of separating colors in their boxes. Heck, 90% of the crappie, gill and bass jigs I use are also unpainted. It's about technique and not head color. I don't worry about line color either. Use a black sharpie to coat hi-vis braided lines for the first few feet. Hi-vis lines important for me to detect pick-ups while drop-shotting. I do something different for hard water season. All my jigs are coated with my favorite Sally Hanson nail polish. I use 1/32, 1/48, 1/64 and 1/80. All lead heads. Not convinced that tungsten makes a difference if size of catch. Lead heads take more patience to fish due to the slower drop speed. The differences are ability to work the bounce slower (natural speed for cold water) and the greater number of fish picked up during the drop vs. tungsten which drops fast and passes fish along the way.

Have to add to this. I've been thinning D2T with isopropyl alcohol, not same luck with denatured. have coated 800+ plastic body lures during past 3 winters. I apply with a 5mil latex glove using my index finger only. i apply a bit of pressure to keep the coating thin and causes the scales to reveal. No failures that I am aware of. Here's a MB Vision 95mm KO I did a couple years back. Blue-back golden shiner. Great rip bait!

The orange color and whining wouldn't work for me. Might be why they've been deeply discounted during the past 6 months. Not so long ago the Kastking Speed Demon was the rage. Good luck!

I'm usually a topwater freak and threw spooks, Cavitrons and ploppers. 4.5" - 5" paddletails are the most versatile bait I've found so far. Work them like a jig, throw them on algae mattes (better than frogs), slow roll or as wake baits. Give bass the time to eat them then hook set! For jigging a 6/0 x 1/8th oz swimbait hook on 7'6" Rainshadow MH w/telescopic handle and Lew's LFS #30 braid combo, for froggin' a 6/0 unweighted swimbait hook on 7'6" Shimano Sellus MH flippin stick and Lew's Super Duty #40 thin braid, slow rollin' or topwater VMC Drop Dead 5/0 3/32oz just about any 7' MH with your favorite reel and #20 braid. . Had some paddletails in colors I didn't think I would ever use. Changed them into colors I would use in the (usually stained) lakes and ponds of Iowa. They work! Used several colors of sharpies with gloves on. Blended colors by working with my fingers. Set colors by scrubbing in Dawn and warm water then set aside to dry. The colors used to be Clear Blue, Rainbow, Arkansas Shiner and Cooter Brown. Which one do you like? I used #18 to catch my PB a little over two weeks ago at a community pond that is surrounded by 4' grass and wild parsnip. It looks as if it doesn't get fished much for bass Got my boot stuck in mud while bringing it in. Strained my hamstring trying to pull the boot out. set my rod down while struggling with boot, fish flopped around and snapped off 10" of my flippin' rod. Crap! What I go through while hunting for big bass. Best I could tell it measured about 22" to 22 1/2" and still full of eggs. Limped back to my van hurting but happy.

L if I know. Just being a smart a**.

It's definitely a Fat Free Shad "Fingerling". Bill Dance originally endorsed for Excalibur then Bomber. Both were Pradco brands. From what an "expert' told me Excalibur lures was merged into the Heddon line a few years back. Bomber produced many of these "specials" for big box sporting goods stores some even packaged in Excalibur packaging. The "specials" were patterns that didn't make the cut in their main product line. The Excaliburs actually had better paint jobs. The plastic crankbait blank marketed by either name is exactly the same! Below is a 2009 1/4 oz 2.25" Excalibur Fat Free BD5F w/#6 trebles. So those guys will be told "get the red fine line sharpie out and do some similar bleed marks and gill plates on your other Fat Frees."

Hey Salty's. I guess I need to know a few more anglers. Could only afford this, but working on an upgrade.

Yup, looks like a BD5F. Blanks available?

Want me to duplicate this if possible. Bomber Fat Free Shad 8-10 round lip. Guess a few years back Gander had these on closeout. They told me it's the only consistent fish catcher in Iowa. Don't have a model #. Any unpainted bodies resemble this crank? I told them if I can't, just get a red fine line sharpie and go to work. One guy asked what's that? Hmmm? I showed them a 1.5DD, that body too thick.

Cadman, I'm not aware of any indexing between the drive and pinion gears of a Stradic. Is it when the reel is under load or all the time? I know the line guide bearings can be a problem (noisy). Been a while since I took one apart, do they have the crappy black friction rings? If so, I always replace with the blue silicone rings. Has to be in the assembly process right? We've all been there. Here's how I would troubleshoot: First Google "Shimano Stradic Gen 1 rubbing". If you get nowhere doing this I would: Rotate the crank until you detect the rub, pull the side cover, mark drive gear position, remove drive gear and inspect. Check for an index marks. Check for play between main shaft and pinion. I repaired one a guy bought for a "good price" on eBay. It had a slightly bent main shaft. Can't see this as your issue though. Check to make sure you have the correct allen screw going into worm drive. Make sure you have the correct shims on the sides of the crank assembly. For everyone else, non-worm drive spool oscillating Shimanos you have to use the index (triangle) marks to align oscillation gears.

Big A hits a BINGO! I must add this, I recommend servicing any new spinning or baitcast reel you buy! Most sub-$150 reels come with greased bearings instead of a proper lube and with over or under greased gear assemblies. Manufacturers must use an injection process for these reels. Over greasing is a hack to make the reel feel smooth. A couple years ago I serviced 11 Kastking "Speed Demon" reels and found all had drag springs improperly positioned which allowed hardly any range of drag adjustment. I informed the US Kastking office in New York and the manufacturer in China. Both gave lip service but have not corrected the issue. I just cleaned two a week ago with the same issue. To alert other users I did posts on a couple popular bass fishing forums. Many members replied finding the same issue. Sorry about the lengthy post but need to get this out there too! Don't think higher bearing count makes for a better performing reel. I have found up to six bearings in the handle. I think there is a youtube video about this subject. The guy is right on! Here's my baitcast servicing routine; If not provided with reel, look up and save schematics. Customer receives a copy with finished reel. Disassemble reel, remove large amounts of grease and inspect for worn parts. Call customer with inspection concerns, recommend upgrades and order parts. Small metal parts go into an ultrasonic bath using warm water and couple drops of dawn. (a little vinegar if reel exposed to salt water) Once excess grease is removed, side plates and greased parts go into a clear plastic peanut butter jar containing some Dawn and hot to the touch water. Soak for a few minutes, then agitate with toothbrush until clean. I usually having several reels being done at the same time in separate jars. Hit parts carefully with compressed air or blow dryer to aid drying. Handles, due to many having bearings either get taken apart or cleaned as best I can. If customer desires, perform super tune polishing using a light blue jeweler's rouge with dremel felt pads. Lubricate during reassembly, light coat of Abu Garcia Reel Lube on bearing races, one small drop of diluted TSI 321 for bearings using syringe type nozzle and a light coating (just so you can see your fingerprint) of Cal's purple drag grease on drag washers. I also apply this light coating to carbon washers because it provides a better range of adjustability (for the guys who don't always crank them down tight) and a tooth-high application of AG lube on main gear. I use a small amount of AG lube on the worm gear too. Many say a drop of oil is better since it attracts less dust/dirt although I have not been told of any issues when I ask customers. I keep track of jobs on an excel spreadsheet and with codes for each task to provide a good servicing snapshot. Here's something to remember though, my servicing method makes for an easy rotating assembly. Some may not prefer the feel. On that occasion I add a thicker grease to the main gear. Make it feel more like factory I guess.

I've done reel servicing for a few winters now and make several thousand casts with a baitcaster each summer. Stainless Abec5 bearings are as far as I go when recommending upgrades. Always lube with a small drop of TSI 321 cut 50/50 with isopropyl alcohol. The alky evaporates leaving a thin synthetic film. Polish the brake surfaces and spool shaft bearing surfaces ("Super Tune"). Ceramics are much noisier and may give only the most experienced caster 5 more yards on a bomb cast. Picture a nice quiet morning and you're the guy making noise. My advice is spool up with no heavier line than is needed and practice casting with only your thumb. This will get you accuracy and distance. Also, when putting your baitcasters away for the winter, back off the drag pressure. For spinning reels I always replace factory plastic bushings with SS bearings, Abec3 good enough.

I would scrape an old thinner rod and if doable, insert it inside the broken rod blank. Make sure the two blanks have at least 3" overlap. Might have to mess with getting the tapers right. Basically a spigot ferrule. Wrap over area for additional support. There, a repurposed rod. Have done this a few times with broken rods people left on shorelines, even made one into a 7'6" telescopic I throw wp's with.

Tried many types of blank coatings. PermaGloss, IMO, by far the thinnest and most durable.

Mix a bit of denatured alky to your epoxy over silk thread to make them really clear. Make sure to touch up ground black guide feet prior to wrapping.

Tired of the thin handle and squeaking of my whip finisher. Heat shrink alteration + lube with some TSI 321 reel lube. Now fits better and spins freely. What the hell guys, it's really crappy out today...

Hey, I like the name. Anyway, I made these jigs using #4 bronze nymph hooks then adding olive shaped split shot. Flattened the sinkers with a pair of pliers having ground off teeth. Each was super glued and dipped in a baking soda wash to speed up the process. Had a bunch of eyes left from last season's cranks so on they went. I'm partial to just a common lead head color. All were topcoated with polycrylic semi-gloss prior to tying. Below are my first effort jigs inspired from watching many, many of smalljaw's videos and bugging him by PM too! Just like many of the crank patterns I did last season I like to attach names if they come to me. Having fun with the lure creation hobby. Thanks TU. Without further adieu...

Bought plain aluminum blades and have had 3x luck on black. Many of my friends have converted to black also. Only on bright days do we throw a white or aluminum blade.

I decided to share in the Hard Baits section since it has the most activity. This is from my research and search criteria. Hopefully your results may bear out better toward bass fishing. Iowa is currently in a deep freeze. I spent some time researching fishing categories in the Northern Midwest area. Categories as follows; food fishing (crappie, gills, catfish, trout, etc) vs. sport fishing (bass, northern, muskie). After reading a bunch of statistics and articles, I wonder if producing lures as more than a hobby is worthwhile. I love to fish, usually as a loner with my main interest in bass fishing. If I catch anything else I may get a photo and try to release in good shape. I also like to create bass and panfish baits. I'm going to break these "stats" down from what I noted. What is the main motivation to by a license? Food fishing and to support DNR efforts to provide restocking with a good chance of productive bounty 83%. Sport fishing less than 15%. Wow, I was kind of shocked. Curious, I contacted a major soft plastics marketing company. A rep told me nationwide sales in dollars for panfishing baits outnumber their bass baits near 4 to 1. Guess that sounds right per midwest conservation reports. Ok, so what's the fatality rate of fish after a proper, non-deep hooked release? Many of the articles tell me bass have a 1 in 10 chance of dying, sunfish a 1 in 15 and crappie/muskie a 1 in 7 due to their sensitive slime or exhaustive fight. One especially interesting article I read was published by the Joplin MO. Globe in 2017 about impact of striper stocking, a state border conflict and spider rig crappie fishing. https://www.joplinglobe.com/sports/local_sports/everything-one-needs-to-know-about-crappie/article_ed8d519e-5120-5765-8987-6b1be194c9a8.html Always welcome your point of view.