basssj

If you go with the lowrance, I would get a 520c head unit only from three rivers marine electronics for $349.00 and add a transducer for your application for another $50-70. The 520c is gps capable where as the 510c is not, plus the 520c ends up being a few $ cheaper bought as I suggest. If you want to add the gps later all you need is a lowrance gps puck for about 165.00. I think the Lowrance has better picture quality than the Eagle models. Everyone that I have talked to swears by the hummingbird 797 side imaging. I would like to see one in action before forking over the 1,000 for one though. Rumour has it that Lowrance may be coming out with side imaging of their own in the next year or so.

One thing to be aware of also. Be careful of what you put on your drag washers. I have a special greese for that. It looks kind of like pale blue crisco. I have read that regular greese will cause your drag to not function smoothly.

You might want to consider using 1 drop of yellow rocket fuel on each of your bearings after you soak them. This lube made a big difference in the casting distance on my calcuttas.

Hey guys. My name is Steve and I am 39 years old. I have been tournament fishing since I was 14. I work in administration at a truck dealership to support my fishing addiction. I found this site about 2 years ago. I stumbled on here after closely examining some of the factory wood crankbaits in my boat that I could never catch bass on, no matter what. I figured out that I could make something better than this crap coming from the third world countries. The guys on this site are expert lure builders as well as expert fishermen. I know my catch rates have greatly improved since hanging out here. I try to provide advice where I can based on limited experience. I try harder to ask intelligent questions that can help me, as well as others. I want to thank Dean and BobP, but I want to especially thank Skeeter. I know he doesn't post so much these days, but his posts over the years have been invaluable. This is the best site on the net, no doubt.

I believe David Fritts used to promote spraying bang on crankbaits. I think I remember him saying that he thought it made the crankbaits finish slicker so that the bait would be better positioned in the fishes mouth for better hookups. He may have been just trying to sell a product though.

When using the wire to tie the skirt on, how do you guys secure the ends of the wire?

You should get lots of different opinions on this topic. I use shimano calcutta 200 reels as my workhorses. I have a couple that have 15 plus seasons on them with no problems. The calucutta is a simple reel with no fancy bells or wistles, they are dependable and simply get the job done. As mentioned, with a few modifications you can get more casting distance out of them.

I posted a similar question about spinnerbait design basics a few months ago. Someone put me on to the article that bassdozer wrote. You might search for "spinnerbait design" to find that thread or just search it out on bassdozers site. That article will make you think a lot about what spinnerbaits are capable of doing with different blade configurations, wires, head weights and shapes.

I have a tournament coming up on Lake Jordan in NC, late next month. Can anyone offer some advice? Thanks in advance

Mavrick, What species is he targeting? Will he be fishing brackish water for largemouth or saltwater species?

I figured I would end up canceling my transaction with skirtmaster. The guy really should take his website down if he is not accepting orders. What I was asking was how much trouble would it be to add a third arm to the retaining ring pliers to turn them into a three prong expanding plier. Could someone please post 2 pictures of their skirt master pliers? One of each side. I will make a set if I have to. The pliers seemed to be the best thing going for making a skirt and getting it on a large jighead.

I have tried emailing and calling the number on the Skirtmaster website. No luck so far. I was hoping this would not turn into a hassle. I was checking out the automotive retaining ring pliers in my craftsman catalog. I believe a guy could modify a set of these pliers without too much trouble and fabricate his own skirtmaster. Cadman, what do you think?

When placing the line tie in the diving lip, what is the best procedure for actually placing the wire in the lip and getting it to stay anchored in place and have the bait stay in tune?

Sim, Did you receive your skirt master tool yet? If so, how is it working out for you? I ordered one about a week after you did, and I have not received mine.

I have the rigging part down okay. The problem that I have with a fluke is actually getting the hook to penetrate. I end up losing more fish on a fluke than any lure. Even with a extra wide gap hook, after the hook set, often the fluke comes back balled up right in the hook bend, totally covering the hook point. Anyone else have this problem?

I just checked with Yakima. The manufacture is definately not the place to order them from. They are charging $7.49 for a four pack of #5 gold blades. YIKES! As a side note, I didn't know that Yakima now owns Lee Sisson. According to their phone message, they just aquired that co.

I was looking at the premium blades offered from Barlows but I am wondering if they can match up to hildebrant. I think Dean has it right. Hildebrant seems to be offering a Cadillac blade for a Cadillac price. I am only looking to make a few custom baits for myself so I can't justify ordering 100+ blades of one color and size at this point. Thanks for all the responses.

I am looking for some high quality blades to use on spinnerbaits. I really like the quality and performance of hildebrandt blades but they are so expensive, especially the gold ones. Anyone know of a cheaper source for hildebrandt other than barlows? Are there any blades on the market that can match up in quality to hildebrandt at a cheaper price? Thanks for the help. Basssj

I am trying to get a good understanding of basic spinner bait blade configurations for bass. I understand that a double willow leaf set up is good for clear water when a lot of flash is needed. I understand that a single colorado blade will give off maximum vibration in stained water, at night, or helicoptered to the bottom off ledges. What are the purposes of a colorado/willow configuration and a double colorado configuration? Also, on a tandem set up, how important is the size of the leading blade? It seems that if it were too large, it would really kill the action of the main blade, if it were too small then the effect of having the extra blade would be lost. One final question. On a tandem set up, how important is the blade spacing? I wish I could have spent a day with the late Carl Maxfield. I understand that he forgot more about spinnerbait design than most fishermen know. Thanks for the input.

I wanted to bring this post back to the top. Has anyone been able to locate a source for the skirt master 3 pronged skirt tool?

Just an update, I was out jig fishing again this past weekend. The drag loosening trick was the ticket. I set my drag to about 80% and landed 3 good jig fish out of some really heavy cover with no problems. I wish I would have known about this 2 years ago. I was chasing what I thought were weak line issues all that time. You guys can't imagine how many busted off fish I have gone through during that time. Thanks again.

Thanks for all the responses guys. I think smalljaw may have hit on something. As I said in the original post, I am almost certain that I am not breaking at the knot. The reason I believe this is because when I examine my line after breakage, there is not the little tell tale curl on the very tip of the broken line. It is just a straight clean break. I can say that most of the time when I break off, the fish are swimming with my jig, and I mean really motoring along. It is very difficult to catch up with them and set the hook without having some slack fall in the line right before the hookset. I need to pay a little more attention to getting the slack out. I will take another look at P-Line also. I used the floro clear for awhile but I couldn't get it to relax like I wanted it to. I lighter action rod and a little less drag are also on the list of adjustments to make. Thanks for all the responses guys. You guys are awesome.

I need some help with my jig fishing. This is one lure that I am having the hardest time mastering. The main problem is that I am continously breaking my line on hookset. My set up includes a 7ft. heavy action falcon cara rod (action 7), shimano curado reel, 17 lb test suffix line, 3/8 - 1/2 oz jig - usually a rattleback or strike king, tied with a palomar knot. I have tried several different brands of mono and floro without much difference in success, the bottom line is that I end up snapping my line on hookset. I cannot determine where the line is breaking, but it does not seem to be breaking at the knot. I really have a difficult time getting bites if I go much heavier than 17 lb test, due to water clarity, plus with 20 lb test, the line coils get aggrivating. I will add that I am using the same hookset with a tx rig and not having these same problems. My first idea is to change to a slightly lighter rod action to absorb some shock from the hook set. What do you guys think? Anyone else ever had this problem? thanks for the comments.

I wanted to bring this topic back up to the top. I too am interested in some tapered wire for a spinnerbait. Anyone have any ideas for us spinnerbait making geeks?

Bassky, If you are using the silicone bands, it is easier for me to place all the skirt layers in the band first and then place it all on the jig head. If it is a jighead with a rattle, you really have to stretch the band to get it over the rattle. After the skirt is in place on the jig head, I adjust the skirt strands around to get them evenly spaced and to get the color placement that I want. One of the skirt tools available on the market sure helps with this task. If you have a lot on patience and only a few jigs to do, you can get by with needle nose pliers to expand the band. If you attach the skirt with something other than the silicone band, search this site for hand tying, lots has been written on how to do this.