Rattletrap Ramblings

For some reason, I love collecting crankbaits. As a bass fisherman, we all have some sort of a collector gene that’s innate in all of us and one of things I find fascinating is the handmade balsa crankbait.

We hardly ever get to throw them in Florida with all the vegetation, but they can be deadly in late summer/early fall. They’re awesome around laydowns and even around kissimmee grass.

For some reason, I always gotta buy a balsa crankbait if I see one. I’ve got lots of the old Bagleys, Rapala DT Fat, and Bombers but they’re nothing like the handmade variety.

I noticed this post on the W2F blog and it’s got me lusting after some more of these hand crafted jewels made by Ed Chambers of Zoom Bait Company. Each one is hand signed and they really are works of art.

I own the W.E.C. E1 and the Sweet P and I always say a little prayer to keep those jackfish away before I throw them because they’re so doggone expensive. You can definitely notice a difference as soon as you start crankin those babies in. There’s something about wooden baits that I’m drawn to.

They can be the only bait a bass will hit, even in Florida. Ben Matsubu won a Bassmasters event on Lake Eustis crankin grass in November not too long ago. Crankbaits do work in Florida. They also work well around pads during the spawn. You just gotta be pretty accurate.

If money was no object, I’d get every model that was available. Especially the “Tapp” model which accounted for wins by David Fritts and Jeff Coble. It’s the type of crankbait I can’t find a use for in Florida, but you never know when you’ll need it.

You can take a look at the different models at Pepper’s Baits.

It seems like the big fish are on the jig bite on the Kissimmee Chain lately and I’ve been having some issues with hooks bending straight with my jigs. A 8 ft flippin stick and 65 braid can do some damage to a normal hook.

I thought it would be great if someone built a jig around the Bad Mother Flippin hook or the Paychex Flippin hook, and then I stumbled across the Hack Attack Jig by Strike King.

The best I can tell, the jig comes with the Bad Mother Flippin hook made by Gamakatsu. I love the fact that it comes in Okeechobee Craw. It might as well be Kissimmee Craw or Toho Craw because it works just as well around these parts. It also comes in the go anywhere, do everything black and blue color.

The 40 degree line tie seems to work better around grass than my other favorite jigs, the Denny Brauer Pro Model and the Rattleback Jig.

I also like the fact that it doesn’t come with rattles. For some reason, I believe rattles are a detriment around the spawn and having a silent jig option is great when the fish are a bit spooky.

I like these jigs so much that I’ve began experimenting with a heavier 1 ounce version to get into even thicker cover. I’ll probably try a 3/4 ounce version as well some time soon.

For those of us who flip jigs with extra heavy rods and 65 braid, practically everyone who flips in Florida, the Hack Attack Jig seems to be the jig made for us.

I’ve had my Kistler Z Bones built with the Fuji Tangle Free Micro K Guides and they’re the best on the market. As advertised, they truly are tangle free and keeps that annoying braid wrap around the guides and tip.

They’re the ideal guide for a frog rod or flippin stick but suitable for any rod where you do not want the line to wrap around the guides.

I’ve had this dilemma with every type of line out there so it’s a better product no matter what line you use.

I envision a day where all my rods have these guides and the days of line wrap being over.

Here’s a little demonstration of how these guides work. They show a full size version on the vid but I like them in the Micro version.

If you fish any tournaments, eventually you’ll run into a time where you have to break down and fish for keepers and numbers. At some point, you have to hit the panic button and fish baits that you know are not likely to produce that 5 or 8 pounder that could win it for you.

In case of emergencies, I have some baits that I know will catch fish.

The first bait in my panic box is the trick worm. This thing on a 1/4 oz weight, 20 lb Seaguar, and 7′ Heavy Kistler LTX in kissimmee grass, an 1/8 weight, 15 lb Seaguar, and 7′ medium heavy Kistler Magnesium TS in shallow water, and 1/8 oz shaky head or 1/32 wacky jig head on 8 lb Seaguar around docks will catch fish all day every day. The colors I gravitate to the most are junebug blue tail, bama bug, and watermelon red. These 3 colors work in just about every water clarity in Florida but if I believe there’s spawners around, I’ll go with watermelon red with a red bullet weight.

The Super Fluke catches fish all year long, but it can be deadly around the spawn. If the water’s clear, I’ll go with watermelon red. If it’s more stained, then I’ll go with Okeechobee Craw. I’ll fish it weightless most of the time on my 6’9″ medium heavy Kistler Helium LTA with 15. lb Seaguar, but sometimes you can get away with a 1/32 screw in weight or a small split shot a foot up from the bait. Any time there’s eel grass or hydrilla, this thing will catch fish all day every day.

Another bait that I know catches fish all the time is a weightless senko in watermelon red or junebug. It really excels in shallow clear water texas rigged or wacky rigged, but can be fished deeper with a screw in bullet weight or nail weight and can be flipped in grass or timber.

Now I’ve caught plenty of big fish with all these baits, but they catch numbers more than anything else. When I have to hit the panic button and fill out a limit, I’ll be throwing one of these baits if I’m fishing in Florida.

I’ve tried lots of reels and the one I keep going back to is Shimano. The only other one I could consider is Daiwa, but they’re just too dang expensive. That Steez is pretty darn close to the perfect reel except for the price tag and the Zillion is too heavy for my standards.

I’ve been looking into buying some more reels, but there’s something that’s currently missing from the Shimano lineup. I’d like to find a reel the size of the Curado 100 D or Chronarch MG 50 and the only one that fits the bill is the Core Mg 50 which costs a small fortune and even the Chronarch MG 50 is fetching over $200 on ebay.

Shimano has already released the reel I’m looking for in Japan called the Scorpion XT 1000 which is basically an aluminum version of the Core Mg 50 and only weighs 6.7 ounces with a 6:4:1 retrieve.

I sure hope they release a US version at the July 2010 ICAST in Vegas or else I’ll have to buy the Japanese version for about $220 on ebay.

I’m thinkin they’ll probably call the US version the Curado E 50 or something and will probably be green like the current Curado’s.

I’ve had my share of good flippin sticks, but my 7’6″ Heavy Kistler Z Bone LE with Fuji Micro K Guides is the best one I’ve ever had.

The blank is built by the legendary Gary Loomis at his newly formed North Fork Composites in Woodland, Washington. I hate to break it to G. Loomis fans out there, but Gary Loomis hasn’t been involved with the company for years and the latest G. Loomis rods are just fancy Shimano’s.

That being said, the first thing I noticed about my Z Bone is the parabolic bend. It’s got plenty of backbone, but still has uniform bend throughout the rod. Those of of us who like to flip with 65 braid know that you’ll end up losing a lot of fish with too stiff a rod and I believe this Z Bone blank is the answer. The tip is light enough to provide some forgiveness to braid which has no stretch and the parabolic bend actually fights the fish for you.

The sensitivity is ridiculous with the high modulus graphite blank created by none other than the legend himself, Gary Loomis, and the micro guides take up less area on the blank making it even more sensitive. It’s hard to put into words a how much more sensitive this rod is.

I’m not sure if it’s due to the micro guides or the blank itself, but the Z Bone is more versatile. The typical lure rating on a heavy action rod is 3/8 to 1 ounce but my Z Bone is rated for 1/4 to 1.5 ounces meaning it can be used for more applications.

Another cool feature for flippin with braid is the Micro K Guide which virtually eliminates the line wrapping around the guides. I was a little skeptical at first, but they really work. I had a buddy of mine wrap braid around a guide 5 times on my Micro K Guides trying to prove me wrong but it came unwrapped with ease.

I love this thing paired with a Shimano Chronarch D7 and 65 braid. It’s always sitting on my deck and have an extra heavy on order which is rated for 1/2 oz to 6 oz. No, it’s not a typo…. 6 oz and probably lighter than most of the rods in your collection.

I honestly can’t wait until I can get my hands on the soon to be released Kistler Z Bone. These rods will be offered in a ST model which utilizes an IM (intermediate modulus) blank and in a LE model with a HM (high modulus) blank both built by the legendary Gary Loomis at his newly formed North Fork Composites blank factory. Each Z Bone will be custom built to order and will also offer the option of adding the Fuji Micro K Guides which promises to solve the problem of the line wrapping around the guides as you commonly see with braided line.

These rods should be available for order around Q2 of 2010 and I can’t wait to get my hands on one. I love the new LE handle kit with EVA grips and the weighting system that lets you balance the rod to your liking. Kistler rods are already light and sensitive and can’t imagine how much better the Z Bone will be.

Ever heard the saying, the classics never go out of style? The Smithwick Devil’s Horse and the Cotton Cordell Boy Howdy are two lures that have been around forever and still catches fish today. Just about every serious bass fisherman owns a few and they’re outright deadly around lakes in central Florida especially with some hydrilla around.

Both the Devil’s Horse and Boy Howdy have been around since the 1950′s and look nearly identical at first glance, but there are some stark differences.

The Devil’s Horse is a wooden bait while the Boy Howdy is made of plastic. Some argue that wood baits have a subtle action that can’t be duplicated and others argue that it’s nonsense. Some like the added durability and castability of plastic lures over wood.

The two baits also differ in that the Devil’s Horse sits level on the water while the Boy Howdy sits more at an angle with the tail end sitting slightly further down in the water column. It’s just like the difference between a Zara Spook and a Sammy. Some argue that the lure must sit level while others say you miss less fish with the tail end slightly further down. Personally, I miss topwater fish all the time so I can’t tell the difference. What I can say is that topwater lures with the tail end slightly down has more of a finesse action.

I know tons of people who swears by the Horse, while others claim the same thing about the Boy Howdy. I can’t decide which is better and take the safe route and always have both in the boat. I might have a slight preference for the Boy Howdy when it’s dead still calm, but both baits catch fish anytime anywhere.

My favorite color for the Horse is chrome with black back and orange belly and gold and black for the Boy Howdy.

Having said that, both the Horse and Boy Howdy comes with awful hooks that has to be replaced. You also need to add a split ring to the Horse. My favorite hooks for these baits is a #4 Owner Stinger.

The beauty of these baits is that you get some crazy visual strikes and there’s virtually no bad way to fish them. I like to throw them on my 6’9″ medium heavy Kistler Helium LTA on 17 lb Gamma Copolymer.

I like to fish these baits slow. It’s supposed to imitate an injured minnow, so I like to make it look like it’s hobbling around… not moving all over the place like something lively. I’ll cast it out and give a slight twitch when it lands. I’ll wait for all the rings in the water to disappear before I give it another couple twitches. I’ve had days when I’d have to let it sit there for about 20-30 seconds. Most of the strikes will occur when you try to move the bait after it’s been sittin a while. I believe most people work the bait too fast, but that’s just me. Like I said, these baits are idiot proof.

I like to throw it in small open pockets of kissimmee grass and around hydrilla. Once you start getting bit on these baits, it’s hard to do anything else it’s so much fun.

Both baits have withstood the tests of time and will continue to catch fish for many years to come. I believe this battle ends in a stand still cause they’re both fish catching machines.

I’ve tried quite a few reels out there and I keep coming back to Shimano reels. They fit my hand right, balance well on my Kistler rods, and casts like a dream. The only complaint that I have is that they’ve basically done away with a 6:2:1 other than on the Core 100mg and the Citica E. The only rods that I prefer this speed is on moving baits like spinnerbaits, crankbaits, rattletraps, etc., but it would still be nice if they offered it.

The Core 100mg is dang expensive and the Citica E is not quite as refined as I’d like. Shimano really is missing out on a lot of customers by not offering a Chronarch D6 and a Curado E6.

My favorite reel in the Shimano line up is the Chronarch D. I own the D5 and the D7 and they’re both everything I could ask for. The profile is the same as the Core 100mg, but it’s slightly heavier and more solid feeling than the Core. I do a lot of pitchin and these suckers do most of the work for ya. I can’t think of a better reel than the Chronarch D7 for senkos, trick worms, 10″ worms, Gitem Sugars, etc. The only thing I would change if I had unlimited funds is to change out the grips on the D7 with the grips that come on the Curado E’s at least for my flippin sticks.

The D5 is by far the best low speed crankin reel money can buy, at least in my opinion. It’s solid and smooth like butta.

The Curado E’s look awesome and have a lower profile than the Chronarch D which makes it easier to palm although this reel is wider. I prefer it for casting moving baits if it only came in a 6:2:1 speed. The only way to get that speed is through the Citica E which is no where near as refined as the Curado although they look the same.

I love reeling that Chronarch. It’s so smooth and silky, but that 7:0:1 speed is really too fast for moving baits. I keep having to remind myself to slow down when I use this reel for moving baits and it can mess up your presentation.

If I had the perfect reel, I would have a Chronarch D7 with grips from the Curado E for bottom fishing and a Curado E with the smoothness of the Chronarch D in a 6:2:1 speed. I’m not asking for much am I?

Zoom Bait Co. is coming out with a swimming version of the Super Fluke next year. It’s basically a Super Fluke that has a paddle tail on it like a swim bait. I’m a little skeptical at this point because I’ve tried some generic versions of the Skinny Dipper and didn’t like’em. The plastic on the Skinny Dipper is weighted heavier a lot like a senko, but the generic versions don’t have this added weight and don’t swim nearly as good. I’ve figured out a way to get around it by rigging the generics on an 1/8 oz weighted swimbait hook but the weight on the hook can sometimes get in the way.

So for now, I’m not too eager to try it out. The Yamamoto Swim Senko and Zoom Speed worm already works great so the Swimming Fluke just adds a shad profile to something that’s worked for years. It’s no where near as innovative as the Skinny Dipper, but I’m sure I’ll at least have to try it out being a lure crack addict.