islandbass

All good points so far. Another thing to consider is if the rod you are using might be (or might not) part of your challenge. Inline spinners usually sport trebles and if your using for the sake of arguement, a rod made for jigs, it could be making you rip the lure out of their mouths. Also, if you don't already, try to reel up more slack before setting the hook. If there is too much line out when you pull or sweep the rod back, the hook set will be weak. The rod's position at the hook set is also important. Try to keep it somewhat closer to the water vs having it pointing straight up when working your lure (perhaps somewhere around the 9 to 10 o'clock position if 12 is above you. If your rod is at 11 or more before the hookset, this will also result in a weak hookset too. The other side of the coin is we lose some and we win some. I don't think anyone here lands the fish 100% of the time. The hookset should improve with experience.

You just have to be patient and let them go at their own pace, as much as we would love to show them how great fishing is, we can take them to the water, but we can't make them drink. Half the trick is getting them to discover the joys of fishing we already know about on their own. They will then take ownership of a new passion. Glad to see the youger one likes fishing. Perhaps the older one will see that fire in his brother's eyes the next time out to bring him into the fold. Since kids that age don't usually have long attention spans, have other activities on hand. For me, I'll go to a lake with a playground. They can then go back to fishing later. Another thing, I gave 100% of my time in the beginning in that I did not fish with them until they are more independent. Then they will want me to fish with them so they can "beat" me. Fortunately, that really isn't hard to do and I'd prefer they win. It ensures that they would want to fish with me again.

I am shorebound myself and I have rods at 8'6 and 8'6" for salmon and steelhead. Yes, they will cast farther than my bass rods but their longer lengths make it awkward for working baits as we are accustomed to do for bass fishing. You will fatigue a lot faster too when doing presentations that require a lot of working from the angler. You might also have to make some adjustments to working the baits too. Their added length moves more line. So I stay with my regular bass rods and go to places where I have a better chance of catching fish from the shore. All of the 20 + plus smallies that I have caught (and this is my season targetting them) have come from no more than 30' from the bank. My largemouth have also been caught in that range too. Other than that, perhaps the use some kind of floating apparatus might serve you better in the long run.

I had been looking to fill a particular niche in my arsenal for quite some time and found that there was one rod in the Compre line up fit the bill. Something that had to have the following traits: 1) Be a Two-Piece rod 2) A medium heavy action to better set the hook with single hook baits (particularly medium to smaller soft plastics) 3) A spinning rod I found one back in July at my local Sportsman's Warehouse and decided I'd come back and buy it the next day. That was a foolish mistake, because it was gone! At least I didn't blow the $89 on it. Fast forward to yesterday. I drop by the store on a gut feeling that it might be there after low and behold, it was. I was a bit surprised at looking at the price tag. It read, Fenwick $54.95. I thought it was mis-priced so I flagged down an employee and he confirmed the price. It was correctly marked. The cashier rang it up and when I saw $54.95 rung up, I did a mental, Tiger Woods double fist pump, YES! Yeah, I know, it is not best rod out there and I have other rods that are more sensitive but it is more than sufficiently sensitive for the role I have for it in my arsenal. I am sure glad that I waited. Spending $54.95 is much easier on the wallet than $89.99. I suppose they might have been clearing them out to make way for the new Shimano Cumarra rod series. I feel like I really scored. The two-piece requirement was a necessity so that I can pack in the trunk sight unseen, something I can't do with my one-piece rods during the week. I feel so lucky to have scored a $90 rod for nearly 50% off. And just a little over a year ago, I scored a Crucial for $59.00. I feel like a lucky guy. I guess patience pays off for me once again. The specs of the rod are: Lure Weight: 3/16 7/8 oz Action: Medium Heavy Length: 6'6 Line: 8-17 lb

I was in the area and had to leave the day it opened. Until this point it is the closest BPS to me, a good 1000 plus miles away. Wahhhh! :'( I guess that's alright. I probably saved myself a lot of $$$$ by not going. ;D

Unless you don't really like that rod enough to care about it, I would advise against it. At 1 5/8 ox that is more than double the rod's maximum weight spec. I don't think coverage for that tyoe of breakage would be covered under warranty. I think there is a cheap heavy action rod in berkely's lightning rod series that can handle that and it is probably about $30.00 at Walmart. good luck!

If limpness in a fluro line (a true fluro, not a blend of fluoro with something else) is what you seek, then use what I am using and that is Seaguar Invizx, at least in 6# test. This is what I am using on my DS rig. Comparing fluro to other lines (and I use mono and braid too), I have noticed a very considerable increase in strikes with fluorocarbon line especially seaguar invizx. I also bought 12# Yozui FC line last month because I needed some new line for my curado d and none of the other lines in the little store I was in was what I wanted including the Yozuri. I bought it as it was $10 for 600 yards and seemed to be my best bang for the buck in the little store. I wasn't going to pay $10.00 for a Trilene XT filler spool! It was markedly stiffer than invizx but that is not a concern on a baitcaster. This is neither a plus or minus to me. Fast forward to this past Sunday. I was facing super heavy pressure on pink salmon from a salt water pier. Anglers fishing from the shore seemed to fare better with 8 fish landed and 0 for the Pier anglers. The line of choice on the pier is 20# mono to contend with hard fighting fish, barnacles, and a hungry seal. I landed the first pink salmon and it was caught with the 12# yozuri fc. Imagine a sea of buzz bombs being jigged on 20# mono at unseen pink salmon, yet the one that got it (fooled) was on the FC line. So these are the two FC lines I am currently using. They are both very different in how they feel in hand, one being limp and the other stiffer, but both give me the sinking and somewhat lesser visibility traits that I want. Fluorocarbon rocks and has its place in my arsenal but I also use mono and braid in areas where they excel over fluoro.

I back the crucial line recommendation.

Wow, that is a steal and a half and that beats my $59 Crucial. ;D

That is impressive work. Both would work for me, but the brown one would nail 'em good in my neck of the woods.

Congrats! There's nothing like scoring a steal. You are right about discovering the difference in sensitivty that can exist when comparing two rods. I love great deals myself. My best to date was scoring a 6'10 MH Crucial for $59.99. I thought I scored until someone pointed out that I could have bought the other two that were there and sold them to other for say $100. I would have made a profit and they would have still gotten a deal. :

Fortunately, that is a very simple problem to solve. Your description tells me you are practicing wtih a side arm cast. The reason that your lure or weight is flying to the left is because your thumb is letting go of the spool too late. Unlike the release of the forefinger on a spinning rod on the cast, the release time of the thumb on the spool of a baitcast reel is earlier. At least you didn't make an overhand cast. That same release time would make the lure smack into the ground right in front of you and you'd be staring at your spool like a deer in the headlights. ;D You will need to reprogram your mind and hand to let your thumb go much earlier than is comfortable for you at this point, but rest assured you will adjust. I will also recommend that you work on the overhand cast. Imagining a clock with 12 o'clock directly overhead and 3 o'clock behind you, try to have your thumb let go at 1 o'clock. Trust me. It might seem too late, but it is not. Casting side arm makes it a bit more odd to imagine the clock. One last thing with the overhand cast. You will find it much easier to position your rod and reel in a position in which the crank on a lh reel points toward the ground and points skyward on a rh reel before the cast. The bottom line with a baitcast reel is this: BEFORE the lure hits anything, be it the water's surface, the ground, a shrub or tree, your thumb MUST STOP the spool from spinning either by feathering it to a stop or stopping it DEAD COLD. Given a properly set reel for the given weight and non windy conditions, you should not even manage a loop of overrun. Take it from me. I took my nephew and brother in law salmon fishing for the first time ever yesterday and the rig they shared had a baitcaster (301A Cardiff) mated to an 8'6" salmon/steelhead rod. It didn't dawn on me untili we arrived on site that neither has ever even used let alone held a bc reel. Yet, all I told them was what I wrote here and they managed only one bird's nest each in 2.5 hours of real fishing and not practice casting. Talk about trial by fire. Good luck! I sure wouldn't mind adding one of those reels to my arsenal. Congrats! -ib

5" senkos if that is what you have are very heavy buy themselves and usually don't need any extra weight. I have used weights on certain occassions and have had very good success with or without. Any weight I add is minimal.

Congrats on the new reel! There is only one thing wrong with it that I see with the reel in the pic... The handle is on the "wrong" side for me. ;D let us know how it performs for you.

BC Reel Advantages: There is no inherent line twist as can be found with a spinning reel They're just plain awesome to use They tend to be better able to accomodate lines of greater # test than a spinning reel Disadvantages Unless you have experience or a Pixy, their performance diminishes considerably when attempting to toss lighter weights. For me, lighter is from 1/8 oz and less. I believe any bc reel worth its salt should be able to effortlessly toss 1/4 oz, which IMHO, is not light but just right. Line I try to use the lightest line I can get away with based on the cover I am facing. The cover dicates my final decision on line. You are absolutely right that 4# test can easily handle a bass that size with the right rod, but if the cover isn't factored in, you might lose the fish because of the cover. I see both reels as tools and do not subscribe to a baitcast only or spinning reel exclusively philosophy.

Raul nailed it. Your release time is too late for the weight of the bait. You will have to program yourself to let go much sooner than you are accustomed. Thank goodness you didn't make an overhand cast. The lure would smash down in front of you and you might be greeted with a bird's nest. ;D Since you come from a spinning background as I did, you have probably realized or you will that the time your thumb releases the spool with a bc reel is slightly earlier than the time your forefinger leaves your rod on a spinning rig. If you release your thumb from the spool earlier, it will fly straight. Every time if flies to the side opposite your casting hand, the thumb is letting go too late. Good luck.

Seaguar Invizx at 6# test. Seal the done deal with this fluorocarbon.

Yeah, braid's opacity is one of its drawbacks. It is already opaque whether it is white or green or any other color. I am still willing to use it in some instances and the white color no longer bothers me.

Other than spool size and weight, I don't know if there is a difference in castibility between the 100 and 200 size curados. I can tell you this. I have a 201D and it can cast even the tiny inline spinners that I make. I don't see why a 200 won't cast a lighter lure as your friend claims if the innards of the two are essentially the same. You can tell him that the 201 can get the job done for lighter lures. I would have gone with a 101 but two things stopped me: 1) My reels need to serve double duty as salmon and bass reels so line capacity is a definite necessity. To give you an idea, I did have a Chum salmon spool my 201D last winter. 2) I wanted the HEgearing. If I am not mistaken, the 100/101s do not have the HEgearing. Don't quote me on that though.

Loomis does make a two piece rod, and it is a two piece version of one of their one pieces. Unfortunately I don't think it is in that price range, as it is a GLX. Other than than I know there are Compres in Shimanos line that will work for about $89

It might just be me but after using for the longest time my green curado with a 6.??:1 ratio and thinking it was alright, one outing I didn't have it but had my cardiff instead which has a lower gear ratio, somewhere in the 5??:1 range. I noticed immediately that is seemed "easier" for lack of a better term to work my cranks and it felt as if I didn't need to use as much effort to make each revolution of the handle. Perhaps the lower gear ratio makes for more power. I can't say for sure since I am not a mechanic. I also noticed a heck of a lot more hook ups as if the retrieval speed with the Cardiff's gear was more "enticing" or "appealing" to the bass. This whole thing is still something I need to observe for to make a good conclusion, but for the time being when fishing with cranks, I am going to use my cardiff for now. It makes me wonder if the 3??:1 cureado might be worth looking into.

Lighter guides reduce the overall weight of the rod which can translate to less fatigue over a long day of fishing. Guides that are made out of lighter frames and harder insert materials do a better can assist in the transmission of vibrations through the rod to you and thereby can enhance sensitivity. In addition, better guides also can dissipate heat better which for bass fishing is probably not an issue and can withstand the riggers of lines like braid. If you don't think that a guide's weight means little, take something as light as a dime and put next to your rod's tip and hold the rod. It will feel a heck of a lot heavier yet the net weight of a dime is in and of itself not much.

Thanks! I am also a Fuji fan myself, but I was thinking if these pac bays were decent, then I'd give them a shot. I appreciate the advice.

Nothing wrong with that style. I do it too. There is one person I know who calls it "alpha male" drop shotting and we've heard the term power shotting. The latter seems to cliche to me so I dubbed the term Alpha Shot to denote non-finessing drop shot fishing (ie, heavier weights and possibly bigger baits). ;D

I came across some rods from Okuma that kind of caught my eye in a local tackle shop. They weren't pricey and I learned after doing some searching that this Evx rod is made from IM8 graphite but the thing that piqued my curiosoity was that the guides were made by Pac Bay and they were called TICH 1) Are these guides any good? 2) How do they stack up against the Fuji Guides (which I am partial to)? 3) In terms of guide hardness, where would they rank with the say the Alconites in terms of Weight and hardness? 4) Has anyone fished with these rods? Sorry for all of the questions but if the guides are worthy, I just might pick one up as a gift for my brother. Thanks!