Dwight Hottle

Take a look at St Croix tidemaster inshore spinning rods. TIS76MM. 7' 6" long medium power moderate action. 8-17 line wt 1/4-5/8 lure weight. Weigh 4.6 oz & retails for $140. I use st croix legend extremes in medium moderate & medium heavy moderate casting rods for smallies on lake erie with braid & mono leader. You are right the parabolic action of the moderate action rods works very well with braid & big smallies.

Great photo. Thanks for sharing. We hear a lot about big bass being caught but not everyone shares proof of their accomplishment.

Shimano anounced today that the JDM Anatares & Metanium will be available for sale thru US e-tailers & retailers this month. Retail prices at $599.99 & $419.99 respectively. That's a big change in previous policy.

You could pick your favorite 6 bass resource members.

Sweet.

It's great when you figure them out. You need a measuring station or board with a tape in your yak and then you can snap a quick pic.

WTG Liam. No more NEjitterbugger for you!

The guy who buys a scale and weighs every fish is always the best estimator of how much a fish really weighs.

I predict tigers win this one but Boston wins the last game to advance.

You are sadly mistaken sir. Lake O is a fabulous fishery for numbers & quality fish 7-10lbs but it can not hold a candle to Falcon for fish 10lbs & over.

Well I hope you ease through it Stitch. You're almost done and the bass are waiting on your recovery. I have a seat open in the boat when you're ready.

Heck of a game between Boston & Detroit.

I was never a fan of spinnerbaits. But there is a time & place. I caught a 9lb-2 during a feeding frenzy near the bank & surface of a pond in Georgia. A year later I caught a 9.25 slow rolling the bottom in 20 fow at lake baccarac. They are part of my arsenal today.

You are not wrong per say but lucky. Eventually you could break a rod because of you mismatch. Line class rating are a general rule of thumb as are lure weights. The rod manufacture gives the ratings for a reason . Can you exceed the ratings? Yes. If you exceed them too often you are asking for trouble. A lot depends on your casting method and your hook set. I know some guys who have very violent hook sets to the point of causing bodily harm to their hands, wrist and shoulders.

My favorite frog color is black. My second favorite color is white. Consider water color/clarity, light conditions and sky coloration to make your color selection standout.

I think Marty hit it on the nose . The line rating are based on rod power and action. The idea is not to over stress the rod with line stronger than shattered the blank can handle. When spyderwire first came out a lot of rods were blowing up on hook sets. I know I blew up two loomis imx rods early on. Rod company's tried to educate the consumer not to exceed the line rating to maintain the rod warranty.

Well LA is down two already. And the Tigers/Sox game is like a national league game thru 5 innings. I'm thinking it's going to be the Cardinals and Detroit. I like Boston but Detroit has the best pitching.

Well LA is down two already. And the Tigers/Sox game is like a national league game thru 5 innings. I'm thinking it's going to be the Cardinals and Detroit. I like Boston but Detroit has the best pitching.

Fall can be very frustrating or very rewarding. It's always one or the other for me. Just keep plugging. If your water has turned over give it a rest. I always think back to spring and what the water temps were when it was good. Once the fall water temps replicate the good spring you should have a good fall. Game on .

Sounds like fun. Get them while they are hot.

Spro popping frog.

This X2

Hey Steve I hope you put that big smallie back so I can catch her next year. The trouble with fishing lake erie for smallies a lot it is that it makes your largemouth look small unless they are grandes.

Sounds like you did pretty good. 5+ on lake st clair is a good fish.

I remember a florida trip with my brother & dad. We rented a small plastic construction boat with an electric motor from the park service dock . We were fishing a saltwater bay off the west coast of florida near sanibel island. Mostly a seatrout fisherie. The bait of choice was a jig tipped with cut shrimp or a curly tail grub. We would slowly troll to cover water looking for a school of trout. My dad was sitting in the back of the boat running the trolling motor set up like a tiller. Suddenly I hear the drag singing on his spinning reel & he is shouting he has something big. He proceeds to stand up yanking his spinning rod skyward. The sudden movement of his standing up & fighting this monster fish contributes to his loss of balance & he goes overboard. In the process he flips the narrow beamed boat & we are all three in the water along with all of our gear and the trolling motor battery which was just connected with aligator clips. I yelled to my dad to just hang on the boat as he was older and not a good swimmer. I soon found out the water was not too deep & I could bounce off the botttom & push the boat towards shore. We soon got to shallower water & could stand. We managed to hang on to our rods & reels & the cooler & tackle box floated. We only lost the battery , a few baits that sunk and our pride. Fishing for that day was over as we returnned the boat & paid for the lost battery. Later on I commented to my brother that dad had actually got his line caught in the trolling motor prop but we never told him that.