SteveF

Would you recommend the more universal 6.3 as my other 2 are, or the high speed 7.1? I also haven't been able to use my Zillions yet as the ice is kind of thick to punch a weight through ;D, but how does it do with lighter jigs and T Rigs ... say 1/4 oz and 3/8 oz? Thanks for your advise, and I would love to hear anyone else's as well. Take care all, Steve

Hey all, I absolutely love my Daiwa Alpha's, Sol's and just purchased new Zillions. I'm looking for a great flipping and pitching reel. I have a new St. Croix Tournament Bass 7'6" MH Moderate pitching stick and am having a hard time deciding on a reel for it. Would you go with an Alpha with slow gear ratio for winching power and extremely smooth for lighter baits. Alpha Type F (already have 5 of them) Zillion (6.3 or 7.1) Shimano 50MG Other? Please help me decide on a reel, would prefer a Daiwa however am open. Also please include what you prefer, slow with power or fast to move the fish faster? Thanks. Steve

I personally would choose the Japanese version of the Sol, and that would be the Daiwa Alpha Type-F. I have 5 of these reels as well as 2 of the Sol's all in left handed, and the Alpha by far is my favorite. The Sol is a great alternative to the Alpha, however for about $30 more I find the silver reel with the small upgrades more attractive and a nice fit. I also have 2 of the Zillions and haven't fished them yet, however can already tell that they are going to be for slightly heavier lures. If you can cast it with a spinning rod, you can cast it with an Alpha, and all my Alpha's are on St. Croix Legend Elite rods (EC68MXF) and I absolutely love them. Hope this helps. Steve

I would say that the AC66MF might be a little soft for a jerk bait (soft), however I have a AC66MHM that is a MH action with a moderate tip and that would probably do fairly well with soft jerk baits, however I prefer a fairly stiff Xtra Fast (EC68MXF) rod when fishing fluke style baits as they typically require a pretty big hook. Hope this helps my friend. Steve

Do you know how long the butt section is on that 7'11 rod? Does it do well with light baits as well, say 1/4 oz. baits or is it a big bait only stick? I do 100% pitching and have really no need for a true flipping stick so I want a rod for more pitching applications. However, the only reason I don't have a "flipping" stick yet is the fact that I don't feel comfortable with extremely long butt sections because of my short arms. Thanks for your input, it is greatly appreciated. Steve

I have 14 St. Croix Legend Elite's (all 2006 or newer), however I'm looking for a pitching stick, and was wondering if anyone has any preference's? I'm looking to stay under the $300 mark, and am looking into the St. Croix Tournament Bass 7'6" MH MF pitching stick, but haven't held one yet and was looking for opinions. I do not need extreme power as I'm not flipping up 10 pounders in the Florida mats, but am looking for a lot of back bone with a nice soft tip. Thanks guys, Steve

What kind of fixture do you guys use to glue your weed guards in after you have hand tied them? Also what do you use for glue, or what has worked best for you, I'm assuming a gel base? I'm thinking about creating a fixture that uses the electrical wire crimps that have the closed end and inserting the weed guard through the hole to hold them in place while drying. What do you do and what have you found to be the best? Thanks. Steve

It has been a very informative thread, I think there has been a lot of good dialog going on. Mattlures - PM sent my friend. Lets keep it going. Steve

I maybe was wrong, I would say that our mid-western average bass is 1.5 pounds, and a big bass is a 6 pound largemouth and a 5 pound small mouth. Now keep in mind that one of the best tournaments my dad and I had was a 5 bass limit for a total of 19.64 pounds of all small mouth. Now most tournaments are won with around 15 pounds of bass. I just can not see throwing a 6"-9" swimbait and doing myself any good. Keep in mind that not everyone that wants to fish a swimbait is fishing them to catch the biggest fish in the lake, I would however like to have a bigger than average profile to use once we have caught our decent limit. I caught a 7 pound largemouth on a Spro frog last year, which is my biggest bass ever. I typically catch our biggest bass of the season on frogs, and I'm sure that most guys do that consistantly fish them as well, however they are not a large bait, but they are thrown where the big fish are. I have caught almost all of my 6 pound large mouths and 6 pound smallies on a 4 inch worm as well. I do not want to test a $300+ rod with a 2 oz. bait, however I would like to try smaller baits, and feel that a lot of the swimbait companies are missing a big share of the fisherman by not offering smaller versions for the guys not on the west coast. No attach at you either here. Thanks all, Steve

I am planning to change the spinning reels to Daiwa probably next year, however I have a small fortune in the casting reels as I just switched them all over in the last 1 1/2 years. They are all left handed and I absolutely love them, the Zillion's are new this year, as those rods had TD-X's on them last year which I didn't care for. Take care and thanks guys. Steve

I know that some say that they wouldn't throw a small swim bait, however I'm not from the land of 10-15 pound bass. I know that a small bass will eat a big lure and that a big bass will eat a small lure, however I would like to know what type of swim bait you feel is the best "all-around": 1) California Tiny "E" 2) Basstrix 3) Huddleston Shad 4) Jackall Wake Jr. Again, I need my swim bait to be under 1 oz. and relatively small. I know most of you and I believe that I have even heard Fourbizz say that he wouldn't throw a small swim bait, however I would agree if I was from California and had the opportunity at a monster, however a 7-8 pound bass is about as big as I can expect and that is even vary rare. I'm trying to decide how I'm going to board the swim bait band wagon. Take care all, Steve

My question is I'm afraid of putting my equipment through the possibilities of the abuse of braided line, however I fish the Mississippi River from Pool 4 down to Pool 10 for pretty much all my tournaments, which as some of you know is pretty dirty, however I'm unsure as to what or how much effect it will have on my equipment, or on the amount of fish that I catch. Here is a general description of what I want to use the rod for and please tell me what you would spool it with. I fish anything from rock, flipping bushes as well as lilly pads and slop, as the mighty ol Miss. has it all. Rod/Reel Combo Notes 1) EC70MH/Zillion Frogs (slop) 2) EC70MH/Zillion Flipping & Swimbaits 3) EC68MXF/103LAlpha Buzzbait 4) EC68MXF/103LAlpha Spinnerbait 5) EC68MXF/103LAlpha Finesse Jig 6) EC68MXF/103LAlpha Swim Jig 7) EC68MXF/103LAlpha T Rig & Football Head 8) AC66MM/SOL Crankbait 9) AC62MXF/SOL Top Water & Jerkbaits 10)ES68MXF/40 T Rig 11)ES68MXF/40 Football Head 12)ES68MXF/30 Weightless T Rig 13)ES66MF/30 Wacky Rig & Shakey Head 14)ES63MXF/30 Jig Head & Shakey Head I know this maybe time consuming but thought it might be a little fun, for mono it will be Sufix DNA-Pro Mix and braid it will be Sufix Performance and Flourocarbon probably the Trilene 100%. Thanks all for taking the time to give me your opinion, and if you don't mind, please touch on the sight aspect of lines and the durability of your equipment in relation to braid. Take care, Steve

I seem to do the best with the Sammy 100 as well.

No offense, however I guess it would probably work if you are fishing for crappie's. I would think that a shiner would work better for bass, however I don't ever fish with live bait so I'm not sure. I just would think that it would take a bigger meal and a bigger minnow to keep the pan fish off of it is all. Take care, Steve

Has anyone tried the California Tiny "E" Swimbabes? Anyone have any insight as to whether or not the soft bodied swimbaits are better than hard bodied swimbaits? For example, a Swimbabe or a Jackall Wake Jr.? Thanks guys. Steve

Hello all, I'm looking for a 4-5 inch swimbait that is under 1 oz. as I do not want to have a rod specifically for swimbaits. I'm also from the upper midwest and fish a lot of smallmouth waters that also have great largemouth and I have a couple questions as well. Do swimbaits work as well in stained water, or is it mostly a clear water technique? Do most of you throw your swimbaits on braid, mono or flourocarbon? Thanks for your time guys. Take care, Steve

Have not used but can provide the link: http://www.strikeking.com/news/20071116,01.php Hope this helps all, Steve

I'm come from the land of swim jigs, and the women you watches is non other than FLW tour Karen Savik, she travels the FLW tour trail with Tom Monsoor (from 15 minutes away from me) among other Land of Lakes pro staffers. Swimming a jig is a way of life in the upper midwest; even on of our local BASS anglers Jim Johnson finished 9th in FL at the classic swimming a jig. The bass will set the hook themselves if you are using a good swim jig, which very few people can produce, however pretty much all the river rats up here tie there own including myself. Take care, Steve

River 2 Sea V Joint Wake and V Joint Minnow OR Jackall Mikey Jr.? I'm really looking for that 4-5" swim bait something that will key in on our smaller than California bass here in Wisconsin. Do you guys typically prefer hard baits or soft swim baits? and why? Braid or Mono? Any help would be appreciated, even if you have other options for swim baits would be appreciated as well.

I'm curious if anyone has any experience with the Jackall Mikey Jr.? Any hints that you can tell me, or anything about the quality of the bait and action? Thanks. Steve

I usually utilize a lot of the same "rules" that I go by when fishing clear water as I do when I am fishing shallow water particularly under 4 foot. Which means I will a lot of times use a bait with no rattle when fishing shallow water as well, as most fish in shallow water tend to be more spooky than the bass that are schooling or positioned on a wing dam, hump, brush pile when there is a lot of room to get away or very deep water close by. Hope this helps, Steve

Sam, I have excellent success on both largemouth and small mouth with a 1/8 oz. Tru Tungsten weight, glass bead and a 2/0 Gamakatsu hook and a Watermelon w/Black flake Thin senko. I'll cast it out next to a brush pile and shake it, drag it a few inches and shake it some more ... hold on my friend. Steve

New to wacky rigging, however need help deciding on a hook size. Any information would be greatly appreciated, and I have ran the search function with not much for specific information. Thanks for your time, Steve

What is everyone's top 5 favorite jig n pig/plastic colors? 1. Black/Blue 2. Black/Red 3. Watermelon Red 4. Green Pumpkin 5. Green Pumpkin/Blue I have a feeling that most people's will be somewhat similar in the top 1 or 2 spots. Let's here it guys. Steve

Nobody?