Georgia Jeff

I have used the norman speed clips w/o incident. They are pretty decent clips.

I have used both BPS superline hooks and Gamakatsu Superline hooks for several years now. The gammys are sharper and don't quite bend as much. However, the BPS hooks are pretty decent and have never let me down. I fish them on Power Pro braid so bending is more of a problem than sharpness. You could hook a fish with a dull hook if you are fishing braid. If they were the same price I would definately go with the Gamakatsus, but if you need to save some money the BPS hooks are fine. Most people don't fish for money and don't fish locations were 10 plus pound fish are common. I have caught fish up to 8 pounds on the BPS hooks with no problems. Hope this helps.

I am giving the Z-man elastec hard leg frogz a try this year. Their plastic is stretchy and durable, also the hooks go through it much easier than typical plastics. This should help them last a lot longer and the hook to penetrate much easier. I just bought a pack to try out. Unfortunately it will be quite some time before a frog bite can be had.

They are a great shallow runner as noted above but I HATE the way the two hooks can hook each other and get tangled. Other than that I like them.

Oops. I quoted the wrong person above. I carry around 3 3700 boxes stuffed with which ever baits they are biting at that time of year. I love the rod holder that I have my good rod in. It clips in and out of some brackets so I can un clip it and tote four rods with me so that they don't get tangled and broken. When I get home I just clip the rod tote back onto the wall.

I thought you would never ask!

Drop shotting swimbaits Z-Man elastec frogs and swimbaits crankbaiting logs in the river

I have a 6' 3" BPS JM Elite baitcast rod with a Shimano Chronarch 50MG on it that I lOVE to fish with. That thing is so light it is crazy. I fish weightless plastics such as senkos and trickworms on it in ponds and small rivers. It is my favorite set up. I don't get my some people buy the 7 foot plus rods.

I have a 4 foot by 12 foot section of pegboard in my shed and I hang them on pegboard hooks in the original bags. My wife calls it JeffMart.

Keep us posted if your scent creation works. With my luck it would scare all the bass away.

he cleaned 4 shimanos for me about 2 months ago. He was awesome to do business with. Constant communication and the reels have never been smoother. He has yet another satisfied customer.

the new carbon lite rods seem very nice. I held one this weekend. They are very light, just a tad heavier than the Johnny Morris Elites. They are a little tip heavy due to the light weight split grips. The foam grips are not like the old spongy foam grips on cheap rods. It is super hard and almost rubbery feeling. I hate foam grips but wuoldn't hesitate to fish one of these. As to the Johnny Morris argument above, one of the benefits of the JM elites is that you get recoil guides and a great blank for about $169 on sale whereas a Loomis with recoil guides runs about $350.

I have several of the prolite finesse rods and LOVE them. I held the carbonlite rods this weekend. They should be a hit as well. They felt just as light but do seem a little tip heavy due to the lighter split grips vs a solid full bodied grip on the old rods. I always said that I wished they made a mh prolite finesse rod and now they have MH and H rods in the carbonlite series. I will have to give one a try if my Johnny Morris Elite rod breaks that I use for worming.

It looks just like your Avatar only bigger. Ha. Seriously though congratulations. I recognized your pic right away from your avatar.

BPS finesse rods all the way. I have a 6'6 medium and a 6'6 ML. I cast mostly weighless plastics with them like trick worms. They have great flex at the tip and will sling light baits a mile. Plus you can catch them on sale for $70.

I would rather have a nice rod, especially for fishing worms, jigs, etc. where feeling the pickup is important. You can get a decent Bass Pro Shops reel for $50 or so that will last you a few years. They won't last as long as a more expensive reel but they will do.

thanks reel mech. that looks like it would be alot easier than experimenting.

Thanks for all of the responses. I want to use one of the drop shot style hook keepers so that I don't have to take the bait off the hook to hook it on the keeper. I have a couple of more questions... could I just wrap the keeper in thin diamerter braided line then put some kind of epoxy I find at a hardware store to hold it?

Give braid a shot, it has changes a lot in the last 3 years or so. 15 lb Power Pro would be perfect. I have been using Power Pro all year on all my baitcast setups and love it. I fish a ton of weightless trick worms and senkos with the braid and it is FAR superior on long casts. There is no stretch and you can feel everything. Switching to braid is like exchanging a Ugly Stick in for a G-Lomis. You can feel so much more with braid. Forget what people say about fish seeing the line. I have fished it all year without a leader in ponds and in the river (which at this time of year is crystal clear) and have caught just as many fish if not more with mono. The only reason I can see to not fish it is the fact that it wraps around your line guides/rod if you miss a fish and you have to unwravel it. It also wraps around tree limbs and doesn't let go like mono does. Other than that I love it. More sensitive No stretch No memory Not really more expensive seeing how you can fish one spool all year long. Easier to pick backlashes out of than mono Sense of security knowing you can horse a fish around and not worry about your line breaking.

If anyone wants to get rid of one of those crappy 100D's let me know!

I have a couple of older rods that I would like to add a hook keeper to. I can build a hook keeper out of a bobby pin but I have no idea how to secure it to the rod? Can anyone suggest what I would need? Can I use stuff that can be found at my local hardware store or will I need custom rod building materials? Thanks.

Thanks guys. I broke down and ordered one from Sportsmans Guide. It was $70 cheaper there than BPS. I couldn't pass up the deal. I just hope it runs as sweet as I am hoping it does.

Anyone got one or a higher thrust tour series motor? I love the metal foot pedal and the variable speed. Are they worth the money ($700)?

I used to own a Minn Kota Power drive digitally steered motor (not wireless) and I didn't like it because... 1. Made a lot of noise turning 2. Turned slowly 3. Pain to stow and deploy because it didn't have a corded handle to grab. You don't realize how much you miss this until you want to scoot over a log and have to get out of your seat and physically lift the motor and then drop it back down. I personally would be nervous about wireless steering. It just sounds like there is too much to go wrong. Also it would be easy to loose the wireless pedal.

You guys can come up with some weird stuff.