MichBassMan

Moby, some guys trim the brush guard and some don't, I don't. I think it's a little more flexable when left long and allows for a better hookset. As far as fish feeling the guard, it's no more stiff or rigid than a crawdads claws and bass eat those like candy. good fishin' Bruce

If recent rains have raised the river, try fishing tight to the banks. River smallies oftentimes use undercuts along the banks in high water. Keep trying, good luck.

How about banning hot grease? Most fish may survive an encounter with soft plastics, but very few if any survive gutting and a trip to the deep fryer.

I bought a couple of their "P" series spinning rods a couple years ago. They are a pretty decent rod for the money. They are pretty light and pretty sensitive for the money. The one thing I noticed about them, not neccesarily a bad thing I guess; two identical rods are not identical. The guide spacing on them vary about 3/4" between the two. They both fish about the same though. I don't regrete buying them but they aren't my "go to" rods.

I use several, but my fav is a 6' 3" St.Croix Avid med extra fast with a 2500 symetre spooled with mint green Yo-Zuri ulta soft #6.

Zoom super fluke, 4/0 ewg hook

Welcome to the forum new guy. Iv'e been bass fishing for over 40 years and still learn something everytime I visit this forum. Great bunch of very knowlagable folks here. Friendly too.

Reel down (fast) untill you feel him, them sweep to the side, not a jaw breaking hook set. If you miss let it float to the surface, twitch it and wait. Often times they will come right back and eat it while it's motionless, espessially smallies. Keep trying.

Senco = weightless = spinning gear= #6 yozuri ulta soft mist green.

You have gotten plenty response and I think you'll get it casting to your liking. However, that said let me give you a warning from my personal experiance. Although I really like the lightning rod for the price, a thing to watch out for is grooves wearing into the (metal)guide on the tip. I have two, both developed grooves after about a year of use. The grooves will compromise the integrity of any line. I replaced them with a fugi tip and they are still working great. Good fishing.

I faced the same thing last Sunday. Fish windblown points if you can find um. A heavy jig if you can somehow slow your drift. Either way by all means, spinnerbait, spinnerbait, spinnerbait. Oh ya, has anyone mentioned"spinnerbait"? Cast it out, reel it in, hang on tight. Spinnerbaits easily could have been named "windydaybaits". Have fun.

No, probably not a "best", just "favorite". Mine is Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft, but if you browse back through this section, you will find plenty of other suggestions. What RW said. my sentiments exactly. I couldn't of said it better.

I fish shorter rods than most on this forum. For me its a 6' medium fast action. I prefer the short rod for both pitching and casting accuracy. I like the medium fast action because of the lighter tip and the fast action for better sensitivity and quicker backbone for turning their head fast. In thick weeds I go with a medium heavy fast action. It's a personal preferance thing and each fisherman should experiment untill they hit the combo that works for them.

What Fluke said also. But to simplify it as to how I fish this the situation you described. "Most of the time" I use a 1/0 round bend worm hook t.rigged weightless to a zoom "salty centipede". The other option is a zoom super fluke on a 4/0 ewg hook if I want to skip it further under docks. Tough days use the salty centipede, aggressive days go with the super fluke. Set the hook fast on the centipede, give um a few seconds on the fluke. Good fishin,

12 bass set-ups 6 walleye set-ups not counting trolling rods 6 trolling rods for walleye and salmon 2 fly rods

I love fishing topwater baits for both Largemouth and Smallies. My hookup rate isn't terrible but I'd like to hear if any of you have found hook upgrades that increase your hooking and landing percentage. Every little bit helps. I mostly fish a pop-r, spooks, and chugbugs. I suspect some of the more pricey baits come with excelent hooks, but I have a bunch of these oldies but goodies I'd like to use before buying the latest and gratest stuff. Thanks for your thoughts and sugesstions. I appreciate the help.

I've personally had the best sucess with the Alberto knot. However that said, unless the water is gin clear I no longer use a leader when pitching or flipping a jig. It's 65# green power pro right from the reel to the jig, add a lil megastrike to the trailer and they eat it like candy. No knot to fail, no knot bouncing thru the guides.

Smallies, NO Doubt !

I have 3 of the Gander Mtn. Tournament GSX 54 rods. 1 medium fast and 2 medium heavy fast trigger rods. I also have St.Croix Avid and Premier rods and BPS extreme and ProQualifier rods. For the money, my opinion is, the Gander rods are as sensitive and lightweight as anything else I have and cost less. The no questions asked 100% replacment for a broken rod is pretty hard to beat.

Does anyone have any sugestions or experiances with instructional DVDs. I'm looking mainly for a place to buy jig fishing techniques such as flipping and pitching by someone like Denny Brauer. thanks a bunch

I've used both clear and mint green ultra soft as well as clear regular yozuri. Allthough the ultra soft looks milky above the water it seems to blend well once in the water. I fish often on the crystle clear water of Little Bay De Noc. I've never had a problem with the fish here "line shy" when using the clear ultra soft, and our smallies are SMART! On inland dirty or stained water I use the mint green. #6 on all my spinning applications and #12 on my baitcasters, it'd good stuff.

Rigged weightless on a 4/0 ewg hook and skipped under docks or over hanging branches they are deadly.

White super spook, it has spanned the test of time and it never quits working.

Great question. I guess I started taking my son fishing when he was about a year and a half old. He's 28 now and still my fishing partner. His daughter is 17 months old and he had her out ice fishing a month ago. If they are old enough to play with a minnow or a rubber worm(without eating it) they are ready to start fishing and learning to love the outdoors. But it's never too late regardless of age.

I love the ultra soft and use it for all my spinning gear applications and most bait caster applications. As far as the stretch, it seems caparatible to trilene xt when new but after a little use the stretch seems to be less than any mono I've ever used and there is little or no memory. It's tougher than XT and more managable then XL. Good Luck !