J Francho

OK, I'll admit it, when I ran into these guys, I spent the rest of the weekend targeting them, LOL. Wouldn't you? Small male (buck) rainbow: Real pretty buck: Big sloppy hen: One for the smoker! Lost a Coho to a breakoff on 12# gear, and one the biggest brown trout bucks I've seen this year came unbuttoned after a tarpon like vertical jump. I'm gonna need a bigger net, LOL.

Good call TD! Thanks for the correction.

A six pound crappie would be something else! From: http://www.laoutdoorwriters.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=raz4WbMqdQY=&tabid=87 Species: CRAPPIE, BLACK (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) Species separation 1994 Rank Weight Angler Where Caught Date Caught *1. 3.84 Randy K. Causey Poverty Point Res. April 2010 *2. 3.55 Jodie E. Crouch, Jr. Toledo Bend March 2003 *2. 3.55 Chet L. Tidwell Caney Lake February 2003 *4. 3.47 Floyd Meche Lake Henderson December 2004 *5. 3.33 Bobby Nola Caney Lake January 2003 *6. 3.24 Bobby Nola Caney Lake January 2003 *7. 3.21 Mark Thibodaux Williams Canal February 1996 *8. 3.15 Bobby Nola Caney Lake January 2003 *9. 3.13 Tommy Goss Caney Lake June 1999

On a shaky head jig, with the skirt closest to the jighead.

Most of my fish have come ripping the bait back. I keep the rod tip level. More like "bulging" then waking.

Mono floats, so it's better if you are using a spook or popper.

I just cut the tip of my index finger off cleaning a steelhead. That was pretty!

My uncle caught a deceased dog once. Awful smell.

RIP. Look at it this way, he obviously loved what he did, and did it right up to the end. We could do so well.

That's nice and tidy.

Let's see some fish caught with this combo!

I like a full rear grip, myself. This rod doesn't really feel like a split grip rod with the integrated reel seat. Even on a two handed cast, the large, tapered rear grip feels like a full grip. I'd say handle one, with your eyes closed, and see what you think.

I would have no problem handing this over to one of my kayak students. I think for what you pay for them, they'd be great sticks.

Me neither, but now that I own two higher speed reels, I will look at the spec when considering a future purchase, based on what I noticed on the water.

The Eurasian Milfoil that we have up here requires a crank bait that "backs up and out" of the weeds. This is why a graphite rod is preferred, so you can feel the weeds and stop the bait ASAP. Often you get bit on the reverse rise. Lucky Craft CBD series are VERY good at this.

Ouch! $1100 - I can find a sweet kayak for less, and have leftover for a couple combos! But, if you HAVE to go in a pelican, then that trailer is pretty sweet. Heck, I'd like one to haul three or four kayaks.

Hmmmm....I fish cranks probably 1/2 the time in tournaments. When I do, I'm generally not looking for the fish that are hunkered down in the weeds. I'm looking for schools of hungry fish, chasing bait in deeper, more open water. It's a percentage game - get a 12-18 lb. limit of schoolies, culling all day or swing for the fence hoping for just five good bites from big weed slobs.

Well, it has to fit the crime. I say he loses his thumb nail on a belt sander, LOL.

Have you ever wanted a spinning rod with just a bit more oomf? Often when fishing for smallmouth in places like Lake Erie, Oneida Lake, or Chaumont Bay on Lake Ontario, I wondered why it's so hard to find a rod with the right oomf. What the heck is oomf? I have several models - medium, medium light, fast, slow, moderate - but certain techniques seem to sit in the middle. They need more oomf from the rod. I have casting gear that will handle lighter baits, but it's not as practical. When you are fishing in forty feet of water, it's easier to just flip the bail open, and let the bait drop than deal with paying out line on casting gear. Spinning gear seems to handle lighter line better as well. The baits I am referring to? The ones that need some oomf! Football jigs in smaller weights, like 5/16 oz. and 3/8 oz. and bigger. That might not sound like a lot of weight, but add in a big old spider grub, and you get the picture. Tubes in bigger than usual sizes, like ½ or even 3/4 oz are no issue. Ever try to get a grub down 20’ in 20 mph winds? That’s what those ½ oz. ballheads are for – this rod can do it. When its really windy, and I'm dragging a drop shot, I'll use up to 3/4 oz. weight to keep my bait on the bottom. Lastly, suspending jerkbaits. I prefer casting gear for this, but in spring and fall faced with fishing points into the wind, I'll take a spinning rig anyday. That is a tall order. I'm looking for an extra fast taper with slightly better than just plain old medium and in a spinning configuration. Pinnacle. Yep, they have one, and it's pretty sweet. Their new Tournament Class Perfecta DHC5-681SPM spinning rod is the answer. The moment I unwrapped this rod, I could tell it was a little bit different. "Really fast, and stout," I thought to myself. The detailing this rod is very nice, from the knurled check on the fore grip, to the simple mat finish on the blank. There is quite a bit of bling to this rod considering it retails for $159.99. Pinnacle labels this as a Finesse, Tube, Grub rod, and they couldn't be more on the money. I would add that it makes a fine jerk bait rod on windy days. The rod uses light weight components, and is every bit as sensitive as other rods in my locker costing $300 or more. I would put right in there with St. Croix's Avid series in the bang for the buck category. That's nice company. I paired this rod up with their Performa XT PEF30. Spooled with 6# fluorocarbon, this was a perfect match with the Perfecta rod. For $99.99, this reel has a few features that surprised me. One, a sealed multi disk drag system not unlike what is in reels costing $50 more might have. It isn't the lightest reel at 9.9 oz., but feels great paired with the Tournament Class rods. It has a very unique oversize line roller. I am in the crowd that manually flips the bail back and seats the line on the roller rather than simply turn the handle to engage the reel. This arrangement is by far the most trouble free operation I've ever encountered. It does seem to reduce some twist, though I've only really fished two tournaments with it. The coin slot for easy maintenance of the roller bearing is a nice touch. So often, this little bearing gets neglected is probably the most oft replaced bearing in spinning gear. The whole mechanism is just two parts - the cover and bearing, and the roller sleeve. No little parts wandering under the fridge when doing winter maintenance. Together on the water, this setup performed without issue in two tournament settings. I fished the combo nearly 90% of the time for a practice days and tournaments on both Oneida Lake and Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario. I really can't count how many smallmouth I caught on the combo, including a 5.05 lb. smallmouth in Chaumont Bay. The rod felt like it been in my arsenal for a long time, and the more fish I caught, the more confident I was using it. I started with 5/8 oz. spider jigs, and later moved up to some heavier tubes. As I described earlier, this rod is stout and I had no issue making two handed snap casts with over ½ oz. weight tied on. On some of my lighter, whippy rigs, that would have resulted in me going to the ER to remove some fishing jewelry! As far as handling fish, like I said I whipped a big girl to submission without much ado - a few nice jumps, and into the net. Later, we found the jerk bait bite to start to turn on, and after backlashing twice with my usual casting stick, I tried the Perfecta/Performa combo. Perfect! Strong enough to whip a Pointer 100SP into westerly Lake Ontario wind and with a nice fast recovery for that twitch-twitch-twitch-pause retrieve we like. Overall this is a rod and reel that I might have overlooked, just reading the stat sheet. In hand, it is a highly valuable, and versatile tool. It's got oomf! Chaumont Bay Smallmouth:

Bass inhale the whole bait, no point in running it up the hook and line. I just cover the hook eye and knot to protect the connection from the bullet weight. BTW, I'll bet 70% of guys throwing plastics are Texas Rigging them. It's a staple that works whether or not a fish has seen it or not. And Fish for the 10-12 year old fish. They are a lot bigger.

Option 1. Simply splice wires inline to make the leads longer. Be sure you solder and shrink wrap the connection. I believe you want to use 10 ga. wires. While you're at it, add a 50 amp fuse or breaker.

Yep, I've done it, also lost a big toe nail. They come back. So, what did you do to the dude that started the engine?