lknbassman

Yup that is cool. Great idea. Cory N, "Look at all of your different colored hats" cracks me up. G.I. Joe skater scene! Hillarious! ;D ;D ;D

Got 2 Lowrance 520c's right now linked together and so far so good I suppose. I hear a lot about these new side imaging units but have not seen them in action. They worth a serious look? Do they require 2 transducers? Can they be mounted through hull on a fiberglass bass boat or are they transom mount only? Tell me what's good and not so good about them if you are using them or have actually used them on the water. Thanks for the insight.

Took my 100D back to BPS after 2 weeks. Had about 1/8" of play in both directions with the handle if you held the spool motionless and applied very little pressure. That's sloppy and not at all OK for a reel that's $200. My 2 cents. I now only use Revo STX reels for casting equipment and love them. Also I like having the magnets on the side of the reel quickly available for changing conditions, lure weights, techniques, etc. Hated having to crack the case to adjust the magnets for windy conditions.

STX is smoother in my opinion as well. I own 4 of them and love them.

Good to know. Looking forward to seeing what others have to say about it too.

I have 4 Revo STX reels and love them. I had a Shimano Curado and took it back as it had about 1/4" of play in the handle when holding the spool down and applying pressure. They are great reels, but I got a lemon so I opted for the STX and never looked back. Awesome products.

P Line's Floroclear 10 or 12# for cranks. Sinks almost as good as 100% flouro, costs 1/2 as much, and gives a little which is ideal for cranking so the fish can hook themselves. Have had zero pull outs on any fish this season with it. Love it.

They are mashing them down here in NC right now. Sooo much fun to throw those out and watch it get killed.

I'd look at a Falcon, All Star, or Bass Pro Extreme or Pro Qualifier rod and an Abu Garcia STX reel for around that price. Hard to beat.

STX for sure. I own 4 of them and they are just about as perfect as I could want. Worth every penny and 6.4:1 seems ideal to me even when compared to my 7.1:1. So I standardized on all of them so that I know the reel regardless of the situation. Rick Clunn turned me on to that - using the same rods and reel models for feel and control purposes so that you are not thinking about them at all while fishing. Works great for me.

Multiple rods are great but you don't have to have them. I have 8; 4 bait casters and 4 spinning rods all for different things but that's not a pre requisite to catching fish although it does help at certain times. All depends on your application. Casting or spinning. For a single purchase I'd buy a really nice spinning rod as you can do about anything with it but lose some pulling power that a casting rig affords you. I fish everything with a spinning rod if I need to particularly in really windy conditions when a casting reel can be a headache. Great for skipping baits, you can work topwater, worms, jigs, cranks, etc. If I had to pick one I'd buy a 7' Medium action rod with a 5.4:1 or thereabout gear ratio reel with at least 10 bearings in it. I like the Pflueger reels personally but they are all good so find one that's balanced and that fits your hand. Put the reel on the rod at the store to make sure you like how it feels. Spool it up with a good co-polymer line in clear 8 - 10# test and go fishing. That ought to handle just about anything bass wise that you can get yourself in to without getting way to situation specific like some of us have done with braid, flouro, mono, casting, spinning, M, Heavy, Flippin sticks, etc.

Got to be the knot. Wet the knot just to be safe and try the Palomar. It's the only one I use and it's been bullet proof so far.

Palomar and uh Palomar. Wet the knot and it's as good as it gets in my opinion. Never had one break yet from 8# all of the way up to 20# test including flourocarbon.

Look at Bass Pro Shops on line or Cabelas. BPS has a Pflueger baitcaster (Supreme I think) that's a solid reel paired with one of their BPS Extreme rods (6' - 7'6") for right around a hundred bucks. It's in their master fishing catalog and on line. I use those rods for cranking and spinner bait rigs exclusively, they have awesome rod handles and a really nice flex pattern to them. They are about as good as it gets for the money. Can't say I've tried the Pflueger bait cast reels but I use only thier spinning reels and love them.

I use Floroclear almost exclusively (jig rig is 100% flourocarbon, and top water is mono) and think it's the best line I've ever tied a lure to. Super strong and very easy to work with. I liken it to braid in terms of how easy it handles. Great stuff.

Put it down slowly and carefully unless you are going to buy it. I hear they are very expensive rods!!! Bet they are nice though.

Nice!!!

Dang! :o

Usually means they are coming from deep water and have not adjusted with regard to thier pigment yet. The more sun rays that hit them the darker they get.

Let your water temps dictate most of your plan but run to the backs of some pockets to see for yourself as to whether or not they've moved up. I'd bet bucks have started as you are not that far from here (about 5 hours by car due North) and ours is well into the spawn and post spawn stages. If they are not there; jerk baits, jigs, and worms worked slow. If the bucks are on the beds ad spinner baits to that list and work the first cover nearest the beds to look for some females. There is some warmer water wherever you are fishing, find it and start by looking visually for beds. If you don't see any start working your way back out toward the main lake until you run in to them. They should be staging if they are not already there. Good luck.

All of the above. Keep em down and don't give him the chance to embarass you. He'll do it if he can and swim back over to his buddies and talk smack about you afterward..

That's an awesome article. He seems like a real good guy. Definately a teacher and steward of the sport. Good to see a guy like that share some of his wisdom. Makes me rethink swimbaits altogether. I've been avoiding them for the clear water/bait is too big reasons. Guess that's why I have not caught any spots over 2 lbs...

Good to see others see the value in having more than one go to approach just in case things don't go that smoothly or take too long. The variations of other deep or unusually hooked fish situations outlined by Rolo make me even more glad that I have them and that I posted this for others to see. If I run one into my own body (and hopefully I won't ever) I'll do the same thing, cut it off and push the barb end through to reduce the damage. You'd be real glad you had them in that situation now wouldn't you?

Right on Right on!! Bet it continued to get better as a B Day too huh?

Yup, best bait day in and day out in my book. Congrats on a good day on the water young man.