Dwight Hottle

The light line certainly contributed to the breakage. You need heavier line for larger or heavier baits.

Sweet!

You close but you missed it by an ounce.

I borrowed one peacock fishing earlier this year. It was a spinning rod surman 50G graphite/fiberglass blend. Definitely a good rod for treble hook baits and stands up to tough fish without needing to finesse them for fear of breakage.

Kistler is running a 21% sale right now. You can't go wrong with a Gary Loomis North Fork blank.

9lb-2oz.

Welcome aboard.

My favorite on Erie for smallmouth was always a pointer 128 in whatever color I thought was going to work that day. The reason was I just knew that when that bait got bit it was going to be a good one. That same bait also scored my PB largemouth for several years before it got surpassed.

If you have a smart gauge it shows the hours when the key is turned on from the off position.

2500 series would be fine for those species. The 3000 size will probably have a larger spool & carry more line capacity so it's your choice.

Largemouth bass are what you want. I would not put crappie in if your trying to get a health bass population established. The two species in a small pond are competing predators. If you want to stock crappies for eating skip the bass.

Along with using it for ned rigs you might enjoy using it for jerkbaits, cranks & topwater. Try it with light braid with a mono or flouro leader for finesse style fishing. it would also work with live bait presentations.

First way to save is not to have your tube 6" longer then the rod. Use a piece of foam & or bubble wrap to protect the tip & keep the butt. Cut the tube down with a hacksaw to just 1-2 inches longer than the rod length measurement. I have successfully sold & shipped a lot of rods this way with no breakage or problems. Go to Lowes or HD & buy some pipe insulation. They sell it pre slit lengthwise or you can cut it with a blade yourself. I use that to protect the rod at both ends & in the middle covering about 80-90% of the rod length. Fold over the end & tape it closed before inserting the rod ends. Use the smallest diameter tube you can find to accommodate the rod you are shipping. There is less potential damage to the rod/rods when they are not moving around inside an oversized shipping tube. Keep everything relatively tight. Mark the end to open being the rod butt end not the tip end. Check all three carriers for shipping price to find out the cheapest.

Welcome to BR. Best of both worlds move.

Cane pole, bobber and a red worm for bait. Hula popper for first bass on an artificial.

Congrats on your new PB.

That looks like a palomino, a variation of a rainbow.

Good advice to heed.

Congrats on the new PB Michael. Don't forget to change your profile to 7-8lbs.

Welcome to BR. Good start to the new season.

Always nice to end the day just after catching one.

Just tie on a jerk bait & hit the soft water.

My PB smallmouth from Lake Erie was 7-6lbs and that isn't close to the biggest erie smallmouth with previous fish caught over 9lbs. We will never know the biggest smallie weight existing from lake erie unless she suddenly goes dry.

Nobody is disagreeing with your statement of keeping a limit of bass to eat & releasing all trophy bass. The point is the current regulations make it totally a catch & release fishery period. If someone wants to fish for bass to keep a limit they can go to nearby lakes & do so. The trophy potential for stick marsh/farm 13 is legendary & we that have fished it want it to stay that way. If it's not broke which it isn't don't try to fix it or lump it in with the regs elsewhere in the state. The stewards of the land which make up the fishery instituted a catch & release regulation to maintain their vision of what stick marsh should be & have been successful with their plan.

That makes it officially your biggest bass catch ever. Congrats on the new PB.