smallfry

I've used several models. My findings: MH Pitchin stick -- Worked fine for pitching jigs around docks, BUT I like to use the same rig to drag jigs over rock piles, etc. I can see where some people prefer a heavier rod/action for the thick stuff, and these were probably designed for those people. However, I would prefer a M action rod, which I don't believe they make in this series. Dropshot rod -- Seems like a great rod, but honestly just didn't catch many fish on it last year. I just didn't spend much time finesse fishing in the fall. Target/spinnerbait rod -- I don't throw spinnerbaits much, but I've found this rod to be an AWESOME rod for burning cranks, especially lipless cranks, among shallow rocks and weeds with a heavy wind blowing into them. Enough backbone to rip it free, but just enough forgiveness to keep the fish from pulling off.

I referenced in a past post a little while back where a buddy and I fished some baits side by side for awhile. Every 5-10 minutes we switched rods with eachother. The first post I didn't mention what the baits were. Actually, over the years we've done it several times with different baits. Guess what? Those are the first set of baits we did this with (even the same color). We did this over several outings covering "good" and "poor" days. On that particular water at that particular time the fish catching performance was equal (for the bait anyways, I did show to be the better angler ;D).

All the above will work. For small rivers/streams I'd add one more. If the water gets muddy try throwing an ultralight bomber fat A in a dark brown color into eddies...

I forgot one big bait that has been productive for me, although it isn't really a swimbait. After losing numerous 5" jerkshads to muskies/pike while bass fishing I decided to try those baits for musky. I bought some 7" jerkshads (which I don't believe Berkley even makes anymore) and went musky fishing. Well, I didn't catch any musky but I did catch several nice smallies the first time out. Since then I've continued to have success with these. I've still got a few baits left in rootbeer color, and just after the spawn seems to be the time of year that they produce best. Not a swimbait, but a good approximation of a 5-7" perch or walleye or smallie and they have that "walk the dog" action.

The paddle tube is a new and interesting direction in baits with some unique advantages, but it is far from perfect. Here is to hoping at least one company ADVANCES on this idea rather than just imitating it....

I've had smallies spit up 7" perch, and that's the live bait of choice for some of the old timers around here. I threw the Mattlures perch quite a bit this year, but only a few "bumps". Nothing I could hook up on, so who knows if they were smallies, largemouths, or even if they had any size. Could have even been other perch following the bait (I've had them come right to the boat). I'll try again as soon as the ice clears out in April.

For fishing mid-size rivers I use a 6 wt. with a floating line. My usual fly is a beadhead woolly bugger that I tie myself. "Cystal rootbeer" color body. Brown hackle. Brown marabou tail. Several strands of copper flash tied in with the tail. Coffee colored water I might switch to a black bugger. My other go-to fly is the crawfish clouser described below that I originally tied for lakes. Other buggers, clousers, etc. work, but we all have our go-to flies. Catching smallies in rivers is pretty easy (compared to lakes). Since it is all about reading the water and eliciting a reaction strike the flies don't have to be very realistic. For lake fishing I switch to my 8 wt with a 200 to 250 grain fly line. This makes it easy to fish any fly from 1 ft down to about 10 ft, and weighted flies even deeper. For clear water I tie an array of epoxy flies that look like perch, shiners or walleyes. "Pop Fleyes" is a great book to see how to tie this style of fly. In slightly stained water or for a crayfish bite I tie a clouser as follows: size 2 to 2/0 hook, Dumbell eyes and glass rattle approx. 1/8 inch behind eyes, orange super hair tied between the eyes and rattle with the material split on each side of the rattle (think claws) and instead of clipping the "head" of the super hair I bend it backwards and put a few wraps over it to make a tail, final touch is brown marabou on the top of the fly (1/4 to 1/2 inch shorter than orange super hair). Think of it as the fly fisherman's bass jig. This is a very easy to tie and a very good crawfish imitation that can be fished at many depths and has some sound (until you cast the rattle directly into a rock or piling).

I'm all mixed up. I write with my left hand, but I'm right handed for throwing, batting, etc. I grew up with spinning reels, so my right hand/arm is the one trained for working a rod. For baitcasters, I actually have half right and half left hand cranks. I use the right hand cranking reels for things like deep cranks and spinnerbaits. For pitching, finesse, etc. I use the left hand cranking baitcasters. I am slowly replacing and phasing out the reels with the cranks on the right side...

I've used the old capricorn, and that would have been a good deal for $80. But it looks like the Capricorn XTC is a totally different reel. The XTC looks like it is off the same base as the exceler and Tiarra (which both use the same base), and it looks more like the exceler than like the tiarra (chrome plastic trim pieces vs. machined, etc). To me, the jury is still out on those models. Even if they are good I think the exceler may be even cheaper than $80 so the XTC isn't such a great deal.

We have buffalo, but I've only ever hooked one. Sheephead, AKA freshwater drum, are the usual "darn it" fish around here. They are more common and will eat tubes, jigs, etc. etc. I can usually tell if it is one of them right away by the fight. In 8 yrs. fishing these lakes, that was the first catfish so it took me by surprise.

One day after landing a 6 lb smallie (OK, 5.9 lb weighed and measured, but who's counting? ) I hook another good fish. I had just caught several dink largemouth, so I'm thinking a really good largemouth. Then it gets a little closer and I see a bronze-ish flash, not a green flash. Not only that, but the flash looks and and the fish feels much bigger than the fish the day before. I'm getting really excited as it gets closer and I know this fish is significantly larger and most likely a new state record. There's a pretty good chop on the otherwise clear 47 degree water preventing me from getting a really good look at it. And then, just as I get excited thinking "this fish is mine" I work it close enough to see that it is a catfish. AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaarggghhhh!!!! I don't fish for cats, so I can't judge accurately but I'm guessing a 10-15 lb cat, which sucks when you thought you had a huge smallie. I was so distraught that I didn't even do the right thing and bring that catfish home to eat :-[....

I'm aware of the history of drop shotting, and it usually being credited to japan. I've been doing it for over 5 years myself, and have a love hate relationship with it. I'll even make a prediction that we'll hear of "shallow drop shotting" as a "hot new" technique next year, even though some people have been doing it for a decade. Really, the principle of drop shotting doesn't change because you are casting vs. vertical. If the productive area of your cast is a 10 ft. long stretch accross a 10 ft deep hump, the distance of the bait off bottom as it is cast and moved over this distance is going to be relatively insignificant provided the "depth" of the hook is properly set to begin with. (and if you really want to get fancy to ensure an exact distance off bottom you can use a floating plastic bait and let almost all the pressure off the line) Name me another technique that can be cast and puts the bait a given distance off the bottom regardless of depth without putting a weight between the rod and the bait? If there is a better suited technique for this, I'd like to know what it is (and trust me, I'd much prefer to drag a jig, c-rig, suspending jerkbait, etc. than drop shot anyday, but sometimes they prefer that stupid dropshot.).

...trolling motors, and used both types significantly, which kind do you use now and why? I'm due for a new trolling motor and can't decide if I want to switch or not.

My go to rod for lake, pond or big river fishing for bass/pike/etc. is a 9' or 9' 6" 8 wt. It can cast small streamers and big heavy flies. Also casts heavy sinking lines very well (which are necessary if you really want to get good at catching bass on a fly rod in any condition). Probably not the easiest set up to learn on, but possibly the best tool for the job. For smallies in small streams I'll usually drop to a 6 wt.

As everybody else has said, a 6' 6" - 7' ML fast action rod is probably best for most drop shot applications. I actually prefer a medium action, mostly because where I am at I'm usually fishing on structure that is wide open to 15-20 mph winds and using a relatively heavier weight. It also is a little more efficient for fighting the big fish, and in a tournament efficiency is very important.

I'm not sure drop shot is "intended" for vertical fishing. Actually, some of the early users of dropshots were casting it. On lakes with clear water and fish on structure of 10' or less you don't want to get right on top of the fish. The fish are also often not sensitive to whether it is 1 ft or 1.5 ft off the bottom. If they are, you adjust the weight, just like you would if fishing vertical. I've also had success pitching a drop shot shallow around docks. Out west they even pitch drop shots around the tulles (best to use a baitcaster for that). It is a far more versatile technique than being fished vertical... I like to use 8 or 10 lb. fireline (no twist issues, extremely sensitive) with a Trilene Flouro leader. Using a superline allows a smaller reel to be used, and I really like my Abu 801 for drop shotting. I'd go to the 802 if I were going to use flouro line as the main line.

Didn't Sevenstrand make Scroungers back in the day? I think Berkley owns them now.

1. I have braid or fireline on every rod except for one or two dedicated for "clear water" cranks or swimbaits. 2. For 20-30 lb. braid I'd probably go with a 4 (40, 4000) size spinning reel. However, for almost all spinning applications I find 10 lb. fireline to be plenty. That fishes well on a any size spinning reel. 3. For a long time I never used a leader and had great success fishing plastics with braid. However, these days if the water isn't muddy I generally do use a flouro leader unless it is a reaction bait. 4. On spinning reels, I find Fireline to be the best.

Have you tried the suspending DD22? On the one hand I like the idea of banging it then letting it suspend there. On the other hand I assume it wouldn't be able to back out of snags like the standard....

...and what bait do you like to use to bang bottom at this depth?...

I assume the Cardinal 3 you refer to is the green reel with the "fulcrum" drag (ie. rear drag). I definitely would choose the 800 over the 3. The drags of the 800's are extremely smooth for start up and running. The 3 is good for a rear drag, but I've never seen a rear drag that can compete with a front drag (except maybe for light fighters like a walleye)...

If you consider what makes up a bait, there is no reason a 5 or 6 dollar bait can't perform as well as a bait 2-4 times the cost. Probably won't look as good, but functionally they could be equal. That doesn't mean that there are many that do, just that it is possible. As I said before, I've got my share of expensive lures and my share of "cheap" lures. I also believe most people don't have the time to objectively compare the baits to really know which is best. I know many people who swear a lure is "the best" of its kind, only to find out its the only one of its kind they usually throw. Self fulfilling prophecy. I know I usually don't have time to experiment properly, but a few times I have been able too. A buddy and I fished an expensive and an "average" priced hard jerkbait side by side one spring (actual lure names have been removed to protect the thin skinned ) because we wanted to see how they compared. Each of us fished the opposite lure, and we'd set a timer. When the timer went off we'd switch baits. We kept track of the number of hits and fish caught. We did this for several outings, which happened to cover both some "hot" bites and some "slow" days. In the end, we found a slight advantage for the "average" priced bait, but it was not statistically significant (although most importantly it was proven that I have greater fish catching ability than my buddy ;D). Of course, there may be other situations and variables that may cause one bait to outperform the other, but those were our findings. In that particular case, I've stopped buying the more expensive lure. Other similar tests with other lures have gone the other way.

I've got my share of expensive baits, but I have to admit that a $2.99 crankbait figured into a money finish in 5 of the 7 tournaments I fished this year. That included every keeper fish and 3 culls in what wound up being a limit averaging 3.7 lbs/fish on a lake I'd never seen before blast off.

Palomar knot. If the bait has a split ring, I tie to it. If not, it depends on the line more than the lure. If I'm throwing 8 or 10 lb. fireline I don't think the line effects the motion at all. The line is very limp and very thin, so its drag in the water and inertia effect on the lure is negligible. On the other hand, 12-20 lb. mono or flouro tied directly to a bait with no split ring may effect the motion significantly.

That's with mono. The answer is to use a superline. Most 2, 20, or 2000 size reels will weigh between 8 and 10 oz. (depending what you want to spend) and will fish 10-14 lb superline just fine. There are 4, 40 or 4000 size reels that weigh between 10-11 oz. that can fish 14-20 lb. braid and balance very well on rods suited for bass fishing. Such set ups do very well in both the salt and fresh water applications. I think these heavier spinning set ups are more common in the salt because those guys often must fish in the wind where a spinning outfit can cast farther easier, while freshwater anglers are more likely to "get out of the wind" and maybe less interested in casting distance.