catchnm

I'm gonna give you some of the best advice that I have. It's based on over 20 years personal experience and sadly it took me about 10 of those years to get-a-hold-of my own advice....If the lake you're fishing is so "pressured" that it is giving you frustration problems in finding and catching fish, then find a body of water (slough, pond, smaller lake, etc.) that's not so "pressured" and start catching instead of fishing.

Man that makes me wanna go wet a line!!

Absolutely! The Avid C70MHF should do perfectly.

Bama Craw is an excellent clear water color. And yes....it's the only Rage Craw with an orangeish underside.

How's the best way to fish these? Like a Spook or Sammy or more like a popper? Or maybe a little of both? What's the best retrieve and cadence?

Does look like an excellent punch bait. I'm thinking it would be equally great for flipping ad pitching standing timber or laydowns.

http://www.stcroixrods.com/category/service_and_warranty

Most of my fishing is done with plastics so I'm gonna throw a couple out there **pun intended :-)**.....1st is the Mann's Augertail Worm. Don't use them as much as I used to but this was my first serious worm fishing bait back in the early 80's. I caught a ton of bass on them and still get bit every time I use them now. They're excellent t-rigged on a light 1/16 oz. bullet weight and really finessed through shallow cover. I know they're still produced now, but the ones I throw are the ones that came with a little pack of FS454 with them.....killer stuff! 2nd is the original Flip Tail worm. Seem like they were huge to me back when.....8" I think. One of the first straight tail worms ever produced I believe. I've still got some of the purple ones and they work great on a shaky head. I'm also a fan of the original Pop-R P-70. Got 4 of them now, on two of them I did the old modification trick of trimming back the bottom lip so they spit and walk better.......yea! They get the job done still! The bone color is my favorite. Hard to beat an original Hellbender for deep cranking. An old Lucky 13 in either full or baby size in the frog pattern will call up some bass too. And.....x2 on the Devil's Horse.

Yea I just noticed that. Glad I got one of them before they were gone. In that case I'd recommend the 6'6" of this rod over the 7'MH. Especially for plastics and jigs.

The 6'10" Wendlandt is the best for your lure choices I believe. I just purchased one and it seems to be a perfect soft plastics/light jig rod. I haven't got it wet yet but it sure feels nice. I aso got the 7' MH version and it is a bit slower at the tip. Here's a couple links on the difference between fast and slow tips..........Rods 1 Rods 2 Another thing is that on most rods, especially in the price ranges you're talking about, the 6'6" MH will be a bit stiffer than the 7' MH. But as has been recommended, a MH should serve you well.

Six pin centrifugal brakes are "set it and forget it" brakes to me. Just use the tension knob adjuster after that. I do not own any magnetic braking system BC reels anymore since I discovered the six pin centrifugals. On the H20 and most of my other reels I have them set to a "Y' pattern 3 on and 3 off........or every other one turned on. Like has been said already, push....gently....out for on and in for off. You'll feel a slight click and then you'll know you have them set. There are reels with this system that have more than six pins but the same general rule applies.....every other one on. As you become a more confident baitcaster user you can drop down to just two brakes on but I don't recommend it at first. I haven't gotten my hands on one of the newer Revos.....not a big fan of Revos....but their system is quite different. Pflueger reels with this system are a bit different also and the Bass Pro reels too.

Favorite brands.....Strike King Rage and Zoom. Favorite baits......Rage Craws, Anacondas, Lizards, Eeliminator, Smokin Rooster. Zoom Baby Brush Hogs, Fat Albert Grubs, Flukes, Lizards. Trick Worms. My favorite colors are any watermelon variation for creatures and natural (shad, bluegill, etc.), white/pearl, and chartreuse for baitfish imitators.

Those are some fine rods you've chosen and I have fished several models of them in the past. In fact, they are some of the most sensitive on the market in that price range. The 6'6" model would be best for you at this point I think. You'll have better control of worms and plastic craws ( which I also recommend) as a beginner plastics fisherman. While you're at it and shopping at Academy give this reel a try instead of the one you mentioned............H20 Xpress. I promise you will not be disappointed. This set up at about $100 retail will rival most $200-$250 setups out there. Also try some Rage Tail Craws and Lizards. Inexpensive jigs using the Rage Tail Craws or Chunks as trailers would be awesome this time of year. If the water temp is really cold (relative to your location) try switching your jig trailer to a Paca Chunk or Craw or a single tail 3" grub or.....even a Senko type bait.....yep, wondrously effective in colder water. Let us know which outfit you set up and your results. Bent rods and Stretched Lines........catchnm.

Anybody using the Zoom Z-Hog baits? Technique, situations, rigging?

I went way past "need" a long time ago.

I never peg my weight when fishing the Craw Texas rigged (actually "texposed"). You want that weight slipping, can't really explain it but I think it has something to do with the weight sometimes falling ahead of the Craw adding a bit of a C-Rig action to the Craw. All I know is it works best unpegged. On the other hand. I fish the Craw on swimbait hooks and shaky heads also, doesn't seem to affect my catch ratio much. I believe if you throw them you will catch fish......no matter how you rig them or for that matter how you retrieve them. I've caught fish on the Craw rigged weightless and fished ultra slow to fast swimming it over submerged vegetation on a swimbait head. Just throw 'em......they catch fish!

I grabbed a couple of the Falcon Clark Wendlandt Casting Rods from TW. An FCW-5-1610 and an FCW-5-17MH at $79.99 each. Hope I'll like them as much as my Lowriders.

Another convert.

It's (overstock) actually (bait) (dotty com). I got other items also.....Tiki Tubes, Live Magic Shad.....lots of good stuff. Time for a "cull sale".

Lots of different colors and styles in the .99 sale category. I just now stocked up.

Getting the Cara CC-6-17H. Thanks for all the help guys.

I'd like to hear from users of these five rods on sensitivity. Specifically for jigs and Texas rigged (casted) plastics. St. Croix Avid AVC70MHF, Falcon Cara CC-5-17MH (or 6-17H), Falcon Lowrider LFC-5-17MH (or 6-17H), Falcon Bucoo BCC 5-17 (or BCC 6-17), both standard and micro guide models, and Kistler Mag MGSWSB70. All rods are 7". The only split grips are the Bucoos and the Kistler Mag. I'd really like to know before I make my next rod purchase. Thanks guys in advance, I know it's a lot to ask but I feel confident there are users of all these out there in Bass Resource land.

The Falcon LFC-5-17 is an awesomw rod and will handle all you're asking about.

Thinking about purchasing a Falcon Bucoo Microguide 7' MH rod. Would like some pros and cons input on the micro guides before making the purchase. Will be using 12-15 lb. Yo-Zuri Ultra Soft line. Thanks.

I use Simple Green on mine and it does work amazingly well. I've never tried J Francho's suggestions......sounds like some great ideas though.