MSPbass

Dude, many of us, in northern states, have a bass season. It's a sad fact. I believe it's almost always in place to maintain the population by protecting spawning fish. The Bass opener in MN isn't until May 23.

I'm always surprised at the folks around here who put down Pflueger. The Patriarch is a seriously sweet reel. (I'm gearing up for a third. 7.1:1 this time.) I can't believe anyone can pick one up and still say something bad about it.

Secret Weapon's "Sidearm" spinnerbait is sweet.

Feel and looks are very different characteristics as well. You're probably not going to use a rod that doesn't feel good in your hands though. Why waste your money on something you might not use or have to replace down the line? That being said, I stay with one brand of rods as well. I'm not sure why this particular MH is different from your other rods. Most folks seem pretty happy with Diawa; especially Team Diawa sticks.

For all-around, I'd go with the amber. It should help with depth perception and detail. I wear my brown lenses all the time. They're great for driving too.

Yeah, it looks to be a good system. If you work something out, I'd love to hear about it.

I have a little 11' jon that isn't the most stable craft I've been in. It's 44.5" across the top and 31.5" at the bottom. I've seen outrigger systems for canoes before and wondered if the same wouldn't work for my little jon? Anyone ever do it; or see it done? I suppose I run the risk of being called a puss, but whatever. If it makes it so I can stand, and maybe even add a pedestal seat, I can deal with that. It's kind of pricey, so it's only a thought at this time, but I'd like to know what folks thought. Thanks. http://www.cabelas.com/prod-1/0001464011360a.shtml#customer-product-reviews

Yeah, it won't get you more line in, but BPS does have them. It might say for "Shakespeare", rather than Pflueger, but it will work. I think Gator Grips has one too.

I've looked at those for years! Glad to hear a good review. I'll have to check them out now. They're in the Northern Bass Supply (northernbass.com) catalog and you can get them from JDC Baits directly at: 5ivealive.com

I'm a rod/reel snob too. But, as Brokeju said above, it has its advantages. When I first started upgrading my gear, I did a lot of research and settled on a Fenwick HMG with a Pflueger Trion. Actually, settled isn't the right word, I carefully selected. It's a great, solid, combo and it helped me fall in love with bass fishing again. From there, the Fenwick/Pflueger lines only get better and I now have a few Patriarchs, Techna AV and World Class Rods and I honestly cherish my gear. Quality, comfort and consistency are important things and I know I never have to worry about that when I'm looking at a new Fenwick/Pflueger combo. It's sort of the Rick Clunn theory, except I still have more options than RC.

Amazon has my "special rod", the 7' Fenwick Techna AV MH-F, for $158 today. You can keep an eye on it and it might go down; but $158, plus free shipping, is a good price for a great rod.

If anyone has Comcast cable, that show is also "On Demand" for free.

Rather than focusing on a string of keepers your first day, I suggest getting a feel for your new pontoon boat without a rod. It's a little weird sitting on the water like that. It shouldn't take you long to trust your boat, but it might take a few outings. I say go out and see what it's like to row and stop and to use your depth finder from your seat. Consider flippers too. Take a rod out next time. It's a little more difficult learning to cast and steer your pontoon at the same time, so don't expect to be landing a boatload of bass that time either. You need to keep yourself safe though. For me, it only took a few trips to get comfortable and be able to coordinate everything. Pontoons are sweet; I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself! And don't freak out too much when you do hook up with a big one and she actually pulls you along for a while.

Furbit the Frog and a Poppin' Furbit.

HA! HA! HA! ;D I was reading down the thread and got to that perch picture and was like "Holy S! That's the biggest perch I've ever seen!" And then I read the responses after it and totally started laughing! HA! Nice way to start my day. But seriously, that's a huge perch.

Sounds right to me! It's hard to fish a fluke wrong. A steady retrieve is about the only thing I wouldn't suggest. Think about this: a fluke is a bait fish imitator. You want it to look like a zippy meal darting around the water. You can do that with short, quick, rod tip movements and a little slack. The other thing it can do is imitate is a dying bait fish. Cast it out, twitch it once or twice, and let it fall to the bottom. Sometimes bass just watch it sink and wait till it's hit the bottom before picking it up. Flukes are awesome man, stick with it. I usually rig mine weightless but use a big EWG hook to add some weight. Skin hook the point on the back of the fluke and it's weedless. I then use a twitch/sink/twitch/reel type of retrieve with my rod pointed high. It takes some effort to keep it slow, but you don't want to fish a fluke fast.

I don't use fins anyhow. I prefer the oars and throw out a little anchor when I don't want to float along too fast. I thought about how it would change rowing already too. I was wondering if the oars would be hitting my knees if I was sitting higher up. We'll see, 'cuz I'm definitely going to put one on and try it out. I have a little 11' jon too, but I don't have a pick-up and the pontoon is so much easier for me to transport. And with the Cougar being a quad pontoon, I have a lot of flat space for storage. I just can't stand up.

A video would be awesome. And thanks for all the tips. It sounds like there's no need to fear a long rod. (Don't make that dirty anyone.) I'd probably end up throwing frogs into thicker junk if I had a beefier rod too, so it would be multi-purpose. I'm thinking of, at least, 7' and H and adding a pedestal seat to the Outcast frame. I like that plan! It's really nice to be able to think things out-loud like this, so to speak. The feedback from everyone here is so helpful.

I've never worried about hooking myself in the face...until now! :-? Good tip though.

I think about the lake I'm going to hit and pick two baits to concentrate on. Those will pick the rods. For example, I often hit a lake that has a lot of lily pads. I'll take one rod for baits to use in the water at the edge of the pads and one to throw frogs right into the middle of it. There's another spot I fish that's a deep channel by a drain pipe. I'll sometimes just take one rod to throw chatterbaits or shallow cranks into. I'll concentrate on specific areas, specific cover, rather than trying to cover the whole lake. It's worked out well for me because I get a lot of time with a specific rod and specific bait. I've learned how to use fewer baits better, instead of being overwhelmed by all the crap in my tackle bag that I "could" be throwing.

I'd never thought about raising the seat. I'm definitely going to look into that. My Outcast has a seat that secures, pretty much, like a regular boat seat. I have a swivel between the frame and the seat already; adding a pedestal would be easy. Thanks for all the help everyone!

Ha! That could very well be the case here dude. But folks do it. Maybe not as far as if you were flipping from a boat deck, but they do it. I'll also ignore the lounge chair comment, except to suggest you try out a kick boat if you ever get the chance. You test the water, the bass and your skill as an angler a lot differently when you're up close like that. There's not much lounging either, I assure you. The thing with these pontoons is that you get so close to to the fish a precise and quiet presentation is often a requirement. I'm hoping a flip cast can provide that. I basically do a half-assed flip as it is now. That's why I want to learn to do it right; really pull some line out and teach my wrist how to move. I know I won't get as much swing in my line; The space between the rod tip, the water and my body is a lot smaller. That's why I thought a longer rod would work best, but I'm not sure. Hoping someone who does it can offer some pointers. P.S. Like I said at first, you may be right on this. Either way, thanks for the input.

I know this is sort of a "rods & reels" topic, but I wanted to post here to get the attention of fellow tube and 'tooners. I often fish from an Outcast Cougar and want to learn to flip from it this season. I'm wondering if folks use traditional flippin' rods from their pontoons. I know I need a H to XH rod. I'm sitting so close to the water there's not much leverage there, so it needs to be strong. I almost pulled the trigger on an expensive flippin' stik the other day, but (somehow) showed restraint, as I was worried about its size. I'm the sure the longer length is useful, but does all that handle get in the way? Is a 7'6 rod too much to handle from a pontoon? (no pun intended.) There's no casting platform on the Cougar. It's also a foot longer that the rods I usually carry on my boat, so I'm a bit intimidated.

Read the descriptions very, very carefully. Don't skip the fine print. I thought I was getting a great deal on a Pflueger President once. The guy had pictures of the Pres, stats from the Pflueger web site, everything said he was selling a President; except for one tiny sentence in the fine print at the bottom that read "model is purist". I was ticked and did get my money back, but be forewarned. And be wary of blurry photos.

There's a Cabela's in Hartford too. The Bass Pro Shop in Foxborough is brand new and, I hear, pretty nice. I haven't been home to Worcester in a while, but I'd love to check out the Northern Bass Supply showroom. They're a little company with a lot of gear and the staff there will help you out. They're located in Brentwood, NH (03833). So, If you're in western Mass, I'd head to CT. If you're closer to the coast, you should be able to hit up BPS or NBS pretty easily. Have fun!