Big Tom

I appreciate the Parmesan Garlic too. Its tied with Honey Barbecue for my favorite. The Blazing is ridiculous. I can barely get through one. I usually get one with my order just to spice things up. Give me 12 of those wings, some cheddar wedges and a couple glasses of Guinness on tap and I am a happy dude.

I have been seriously bass fishing real hard for three years now. All I know is that this year was a lot different than the last two years. Last year I was constantly hoping for those cloudy, rainy, cooler days. This year, those days are very common and the fishing has been better but a lot more unpredictable overall. Its disheartening to not catch them the way you think you will when everything you have learned is telling you the conditions are perfect for a big day on the lake. The main reason I enjoy summer fishing at all is because its at least more predictable than the other seasons. The early morning topwater bite is a lot different this year too. Its almost non-existant.

Yes he did.

Good deal. Hopefully, something is done that will calm this dude down at least.

How many guides are on this rod?

Thanks for the review. The rod looks nice and I really like the stealth look.

The leader idea is awesome. Thanks for sharing that.

If you fish jigs a bunch, you are going to go through a lot of them. I haven't found an incredibly weedless jig yet. Where you are fishing from shore, it makes keeping them impossible. I really don't have any advice on how to not lose so many other than experimenting with different brands. I am not familiar with the Arkie jigs so maybe you can find others at a similar price point with a thicker weed guard.

One of my friends had a cracked insert on the tip guide of his Magnesium TS. He contacted Kistler and they fixed it for him for no problem. They also offered him a Helium LTA for the price of a Magnesium TS or a Helium II for the price of an LTA. Can't beat that.

How long have you been baitcasting? What were you throwing?

Get better Frogtog. We are all pulling for ya!

When fishing soft plastics, I like to feel them out before I set the hook. There are a couple fine lines here though. Wait too long and they swallow or spit out the bait and if you apply too much pressure while feeling them out, they will let go too. Learning those lines come with experience. I use JJ's Magic with all of my soft plastic fishing and it gives me plenty of time to set the hook after sensing a soft bite.

I'm just wondering if the poor thread starter ever picked out a good combo...

I don't think the salt has ever cut me directly. It does hurt when you get the salt in a preexisting cut though.

Also, watch the flea market section of this site closely. The guys on here offer some unbeatable deals sometimes.

It is going to be almost impossible to find a quality rod and reel combo for ~$100. There are decent baitcasting rods to be had for that price and decent baitcasting reels in this range as well but $100 is close to what you should be expecting to pay for each. Bass Pro sells some house brand combo's that are just fine for a beginner and they won't completely break the bank either. http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_103927_100003001_100000000_100003000_100-3-1 I would recommend saving until you can put roughly $200.00 toward a combo. You can get much more for your money in that range.

Same here. Its just as much a part of the game as missing a good bite. I still sucks...royally.

Well said. Awesome pictures and it looked like you guys had a good time.

You may want to PM Brokeju. He is a huge fan of Dobyns Rods.

Just this weekend, I caught a Warmouth on a Chugbug. I have also caught: Catfish Bluegill Hybrid Striped Bass (I mostly fish for largemouth) Crappie Rainbow Trout Drum Carp And I hooked into Muskie more than once without landing them.

Just as others have mentioned, the line you may be looking for is Co-polymer. Try P-Line CXX or CX and Yo-Zuri. Both are nice lines.

Those baits are amazing. Matt, I have always been impressed with your work.

Good luck. I wish you and yours the best.

I enjoy fishing Powell rods. http://www.***.com/descpageRDCPOWELL-PCR.html

I did that with JJ's under my fingernails. I prefer JJ's. I just ordered 4 bottles of clear tonight.