J. M. Richardson

Wrong Section...There is a Rod and Reel thread...this will get moved.

I use a medium action for all my plastics unless I am fishing really heavy cover. I like the medium 6'6 rods for this purpose because a lot of them have great feel (even my Daiwa Procaster I picked up for 40 bucks). Since it is for your daughter, she may not be as attentive to watching the line as a more experienced angler. The more sensitive rod will give her more chances to feel that light bite and allow here to catch more fish. This is just my opinion, but I have had phenomenal success with plastics and medium action rods, just have to play those bigger ladies correctly.

Can't wait to try them. Tubes are something I really got into this year, but have yet to try them on a shaky head. The colors look sweet too.

How bout them Packers?...Sorry, I'm a cheesehead from Wisconsin, had to give you some crap.

Amazing as always Big M

Personally, I think the transmissions on the F-150s are better and they look better than the 07 silverados. I tend to be a Ford guy, but any american made vehicle before GM and others took billions in the bailouts is alright in my book.

Went out today in Central Iowa for my first bowhunt in a couple of years. Unfortunately, there wasn't much fresh sign, didn't even hear one approach or see one (whitetails that is). Anyone else here hunt public land and have any tips?

The A-380 is a sweet plane. It is kind of similar in construction materials to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Not to hijack the thread, but on the topic of airplanes one of the head engineers on the 787 came in and gave a presentation at ISU on the features and testing of the composite (mainly) body of the Dreamliner. It was definitely interesting stuff. The control system has built loops to twitch the flaps, ailerons and elevators to make the ride more pleasant for passengers. I am assuming the 380 will have similar features (since they are competing aircraft).

Personally I don't throw bigger than 10 lb mono or flouro on my spinning reels (and mostly this is all I use). I do however have one that that has a spidercast spinning real (specifically meant for braid) that holds about 75 yards of 50 lb test. Believe it or not I pull LM out of lily pad beds on frogs with this reel....actually surprised I haven't stripped it yet (hoping to though, i need some more baitcasters).

I take a more budget friendly approach then the above and mostly use an X-rap, works all year round. Or the smithwick rogues

As far as Braid goes, personally I do not like the way fireline behaves on my rods and reels. seems to be less smooth than power pro or suffix braid. But that's just my opinion, whatever works best for you is what you should use.

I fish usually at Ada Hayden in Ames. Not to many good places to fish around central Iowa here.

Yeah, I definitely need to invest in a scale at some point here. I know it was over three though.

Yes, because it's about 3 pounds. I've caught plenty of three pounders and this one was quite a bit bigger than that.

Good call, that's exactly where I nailed her. There is also a nice brush pile to the south of that that holds bass usually if you can manage not to get caught (something I haven't quite figured out from shore yet).

Also, try trimming the weed guard over the hook up just a bit so that when you press down on it the tips are just above the point on the hook. I do this to almost all of my jigs including swim jigs and get much better hook up rates without affecting the "weedlessness" of the jigs themselves.

I dont see why people need to be that rude. I fish a lot of local lakes in Wisconsin and many of them have property on the shore so there are a lot of docks and boat lifts to fish around. One day while fishing with my uncle (mind you this is at 630 in the am) a guy came out and started playing fetch with his dog in the water as we were trolling towards his dock completing screwing up the fishing around the surrounding docks as well. I can understand people not wanting lures and line stuck in their boat carpet or covers, but I never throw near a boat or pier unless I know for sure I can make the cast without getting caught. It's frustrating since the waters are public and available for everyone to use. One time though, I ran into some polite recreational boaters. I was fishing along a nice wooden retaining wall next to their property when they came trolling up in their pontoon just as i casted to the the corner where their boat track started. They were polite enough to let me finish my cast which ended up in me hauling in a nice three pounder. After I told them thanks for being patient and waiting for me they complimented me on the catch. Just remember for every a-hole out there, there are also good people who still show some respect.

Is the Cabela's sale only on the lefty models? Cause I use right handed bait casters.

Guys, Just noticed that Bass pro put these reels on clearance. Played with one at the store and seems nice and smooth and the higher gear ration I think would be great for just about everything except crankbaits. Anyone got an opinion on these?

Are any of those deadly blue jerks for sale? i got to get me one of those.

Overtime Ink is the company that my university club uses.

Finally got a hold of the pictures. Doesn't look that big in the pic where I am holding it, but I stand 6'3 at 265lbs (got to keep everything in relation). It measured about 19 long and 15 in girth.

She did take a picture, I am waiting to get it from her so I can post it on here. I hope starting to catch bigger fish means I am getting to be a better fisherman!

I got plenty of shiv....letter openers i could use If i wanted to go that route, it would be possible to make something quite sharp though i am sure.

I like that idea as well, but moving parts and composite materials don't necessarily go together well (epoxy makes that hard to do) and he definitely doesn't understand all the engineering behind fishing tackle, I was trying to make him see it, but he wasn't budging. It may be possible to build a new handle or something for one of my reels, but not quite sure what I would test it against.