islandbass

Pride, my friend. It's pride. After all, no "self-respectin'" bass angler such as myself (yes, improper use of grammar intended and I am not the one speakin') would ever use a spinning rig," lol. So while they're busy, cursin' and sreamin' out loud about the bird's nest made on account of using a light weight lure casting into a strong headwind, I'm catchin' fish on my shameful spinning rig, achieving a near vertical drop of my bait with every cast.

Yikes! How did you get it out eventually? The string method does work.

If your lure is unable to make the rod flex, the angler is forced to make adjustments to his or her casting mechanics to compensate. That is not a good place to be. So unless we want to continue with adjusted mechanics which I have had to do on occasion, the easiest solution is to find the right rod to toss your lure. Yeah, it kind of sucks but at least your bait monkey will be happy. If anyone fishes with a casting fast at most action and hopefully 2 piece (not a show stopper), spill the beans. @Steve1357 I have also arrived at that conclusion and doing that is one of ways I compensate for a rod over powered for a low weight lure. It enables me to hurl a homemade 1/8th oz inline spinner on my 8’6” heavy powered rod rated for 1/2oz to 2oz and a curado 201D. The rod doesn’t flex at all on account of the inline spinner, lol.

Certainly. There is no doubting the effectiveness of the slip bobber. However, we bass anglers love imparting life into our lures to entice bass to bite, which float fishing doesn't allow much for us save the short jerks you mentioned. That is my thinking as to why it isn't a technique bass anglers would employ as a first choice. It's a killer set up for crappie and blue gills and perch when I target those species for fun, but the incidental bass gets caught. I will not hesitate to employ it to target bass if I deem it my best change to catch them. The advantage of the slip bobber is it's ease to adjust the depth you want to set your bait. It's kind of like the "set it and forget it" of the fishing world.

Fair enough. There is a rod in the Okuma Celilo Line Up that is a light action rod, and it's 2-piece and 7'. I have one and love this rod but unfortunately, it doesn't fit the bill. If I were to want to fill the niche you mentioned, I too would prefer a medium light rod.

It all depends on what you want and need the rod to do. Do you truly want to have a blast fighting whatever species on light tackle, because of the challenge and the thrill? Then go that route. Barring cover, ULs can handle big fish, but it might take a little longer, lol. One thing we bass anglers have, is a perception that whippy translate to weak, including in hook setting potential. That simply cannot be true. It especially isn't if the appropriate hook type is used. In other words we shouldn't be using some thick flipping hook, but a light gauge hook instead. Also, that same "whippiness" is what's going to keep the big fish from getting away (like I said, barring cover). I've said this a few times - In my neck of the woods, some people battle king salmon on light action rods with as little as 4# test. Kings are bigger and stronger and fight harder than any big bass out, yet they are subdued. No 6-8# bass (barring cover) is going to get away. Nope, no way, no how, except by user error or user negligence (eg, knowingly fishing with damaged line on account of being lazy - I've been guilty but in my defense, I've done this when targeting blue gills and perch. Still no excuse for me, though. Or, do you want this next rig to be more suited to bass fishing with lighter items and line? Then go ML. The final option is the bait monkey option, but you already know the answer to that...Get both!

Welcome. I second a 2000 at least but I’d personally go with a 2500 sized reel. One last thing... The line rating for a rod is not the same as the “line rating for a reel”. It just tells you how much line the reel will hold given the line strength. For example, if it says on a 2500 reel 6# 200yds, 8# 175 yds, 10# 150 yards, it is simply telling you how line it will hold and not that you could not put 4# or 12# test on the reel. You could. It would hold more than 200 yds if 4# and less than 150 yds of 12# test. For a 2500 sized reel, going up to 12# mono, it might get unruly and I wouldn’t go more than 10# test with mono.

The entire guide came off or just the insert? Either way, get the guide replaced as Mike L said. It it would be like working with thorny bushes with leather gloves but the slit for one of the fingers is missing. You need all of the rod’s Guides just as you need all of your fingers protected.

Ha! You think that would stop me from snagging lures to cover, lol? I can snag a lure with expertise. Single hook? No problem. Treble hook? With my eyes closed and no hands. On the serious side. T-rigging for me seems less susceptible to snags but they still happen. Rip rap, which is what I face most of the time for smallies, is a snag magnet. I now make my own drop shot weights (not from a mold) from pencil lead to save money. I can snag up multiple times in a 10 minute span on the rip rap. ? I've just accepted snags a part of the game and doing business with our passion to fish. I usually make mental note where I snag up and when I get close to those areas, I will steer my presentation clear of it. Also, sometimes you can sense a snag and if you're quick and lucky enough you can, for lack of a better way to describe it, "pop" or snap up your lure before it gets snagged up for plastics and jigs. If I have a floating crankbait. Sometimes a moment of inaction is enough for it to float up and out of the way. These things don't always work, but sometimes it saves a lure. Lastly, when I attempt to free a snag, I totally remove the rod/reel from the equation if I realize it's really stuck badly and work only with the line. Also, if and when I pull on the line attempting to free it, I make sure I am not in direct line with the trajectory of the recoil. I will sometimes try to find a smooth twig when I don't have a wooden dowel with me and wrap some of my line around it to ensure I don't cut my hands, which braid can easily do. That way, if I am like a deer in the headlights and paralyzed to move, it won't hit me because I wasn't in the way to begin with. This only has one weakness on downside. Picture the days of playing baseball or dodgeball... You see the ball coming and you know you need to avoid it, but what do you do? You step into the ball's path in your attempt to avoid getting hit, lol.

That’s good info to know DVT! @Canam13: perhaps a phone call to wright and McGill could help you get the appropriate guides? Because the rest of a guide’s size other than ID can vary as DVT states, it might behoove to call them and eliminate the chance of accidentally buying a guide the correct “size” but with differing other specs. Who knows, they might even offer to send you those two for free especially if it’s still under warranty.

If the 3000 is not too heavy, it will probably be alright. A larger spool should also help with casting farther if necessary with less effort and enable you to hold a lot of line, which is something I like to have in spades. I like the idea! True UL reels like in the 1000 size don’t suit my needs or conditions.

It’s possible. Is it by chance an EWG style hook? Most of my experiences have been with this type of hook. Hardly ever damaged from the cast alone when new, but the holes would steadily get slightly bigger with increased usage of the senko and even faster if I had to pull it through grass. It also started to get more frustrating as a shorebound angler using the senkos to the point they could no longer be effectively situated on the hook and not even getting a bite. Hope others chime in soon. It sure would be great to learn if certain hooks are better suited to aid in prolonging the life of a senko.

They can be that fragile, lol. I think how the bass strike them, the type of hook used could be factors too It is what I call my love/hate relationship with senkos. Love them because they rock but simultaneously hate that they get damaged so easily. And yes, one senko per bass is a distinct possibility. I feel it even more when a dink destroys one, lol. Makes Me feel like Yosemite Sam. It is also a reason some have chosen to use clone alternatives to save $$$.

Prayers from the Pac NW.

Consider yourself lucky to have fished them for so long and not have them bust on you so easily. It is my take that your experience with them being as durable for you for so long (hope I understood you correctly that they lasted for you) is an exception to the rule. I’m willing to bet most here would agree with me that they’re as fragile as heck. It’s one thing I don’t like them but still use them from time to time. It is imho, the trade off of their effectiveness. I heard you can rejoin them by melting the ends and fusing them and heard some actually melt the broken pieces down and make new ones from them. I’m not willing to go that far, lol. I primarily use the 3” ones for drop shotting and I think their smaller size helps them “live” a little longer.

Maybe 60/40 for spinning, but ONLY because I drop shot A LOT, so it's a bit skewed. I love using both. I also drop shot with casting gear.

If you mean like the drag, then I can relate. My curado 101d is like that. Even on its tightest setting, I there is little resistance and it was like that since I got it a few years ago already. I've been meaning to send it to DVT for a drag upgrade, but life gets in the way, and it hasn't been used much.

T-rig is a viable option with the drop shot for sure. I employ it when conditions dictate it as you described.

That is beautiful, but I hope I won't need to use a reel like that until maybe in my 90s when I might not have a fast enough thumb anymore to do what electronic circuitry will gladly do for me at that age, lol. Down, boy! Get back in that cage, RIGHT NOW!!!! Don't make me repeat myself. What? My wallet is magically lifting from my back pocket? So the battle rages with the Bait Monkey, lol.

Congratulations! The first one is always a doozie. Now that you got the first one out of the way it should get easier.

Indeed. Don’t skimp on the Lexan. It would be a pity to put all that work into it and have the lip break on you simply because it looked like the right plastic but it wasn’t. Hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide are both colorless and look like water but neither aren’t. Unless you know with certainty that the plastic in the sign is lexan or just as worthy, it might be worth the risk or the heartache. I made a couple of posts detailing my crankbait and jerkbait making journies. Search for them to avoid pitfalls and learn from my trial and error. Do not, however, imitate my painting skills. They’re nonexistent,!lol! Good luck and keep us posted. ?

@Nattyboh74: Baitmaker hit the jackpot. Lurepartsonline I believe used to be Stamina, the name it was when I last ordered things I needed. WARNING: It is so easy to get "carried away" so stay focused and buy what you need, lol. The lure making monkey is a distant relative to the bait monkey, lol.

I’m the opposite in my approach but that is primarily because I am a bank angler and I’m influenced by my neck of the woods. Unless brush is a serious obstacle, longer is better for casting with less effort and line control. I would also prefer the fast over extra fast given the two as choices. With that said, I wouldn’t hesitate to use a shorter rod if my environment dictated it. It might be more accurate for me to see use the longest rod you can get away with.

You have to accept that the sound you hear is a given when using braid. There is nothing wrong when you hear that sound and your guides check out clean. It sounded horrible to me at first like a really messed up violin but after I hooked into one that same awful sound was like music to my ears, lol. 10lb braid as mentioned has a mono equivalent to 2lb test and as you know, braid doesn’t stretch much if at all. Combine the thin diameter with hard, whippy cast, the line would rather break. The line in and of itself isn’t bad. You just need to step up to at least 30 lb test. Since youre fishing senkos, 12lb mono is a decent choice. I’d try to use the lightest mono I could get away with and my conditions would allow me to go down as low as 8# and even to 6# when drop shotting.

Let her try one of yours first. If she says she likes it, then you'll know you need to get her one. All I can recommend is if you're going to buy her a casting reel, don't skimp. Matter of fact, make sure it's something you'd be willing to use. This is MHO, but it is far easier to learn how to use a casting reel when it is of higher quality. So at the very least the Tatula or Shimano equivalent. They're just simply easier to use and learn from. Not only that, if she decides she doesn't like it, you just added to your arsenal a reel you'd use. ? I can't comment on the lews reels, but they sure look nice.