Basshole18

There is 0 question, IMO, that no foregrip greatly increases sensitivity. I finally switched to Kistler Rods this year and the split grip/foregrip is something I very much like. I do not know if the split grip really increases anything but I think it may help w/ sensitivity as there is less shock absorbtion in the rod. But I do not think it has any clear-cut amazing advantages. The foregrip, on the other hand, does. The foregrip on a freshwater bass rod is literally one of the most pointless thing and it is VERY surprising to me that nobody thought of it sooner. It's no coincidence that so many rod companies are rapidly switching over to no foregrip and split grips. Soon, it will be harder to find a full grip than a split/no fore grip.

lurecraft . com they have tons of molds and they are around 10-20$. Most have one flat side but I personally use these molds and they are excellent.

I have the Lucky Craft Real California in the perch pattern and I have got some big girls on it but on tackletour.com they got a terrible review and they said they fall apart VERY easily. I have not had that trouble, but I also have not thrown it that much. The Strike King King shad is an excellent bait and I have one of those too. It works a lot better as a rip/jerk bait. I would barely classify that as a swimbait but then again most websites do. It is pretty small but good for the N.E. I have a herring-type pattern and it has been excellent for lunker smallies and largemouth in all the herring-run fed ponds down here on the Cape. The Luck E Strike Bass Magic Swimbaits are another bait I HIGHLY reccomend. They have them at Bass Pro in Foxboro and they are under 7$ for a pack of 5 in the 5.5" and 6 in the 4.5". They also make a 3.5" with 6 or 7 in a pack and a 6.5" with 4, i believe. They make some nice patterns. It's tough finding a hook to fit those bigger ones tho. Last time I was there they had Lake Fork Ultimate Swim Bait hooks that were perfect. I needed the 7/O for the 5.5".

I have been SMASHING fish on the cape. The bite is anything but tough down here as long as you're fishing the right baits. I've already gotten a 5lbs largemouth, a 4-2 LM, and 2 4+lbs smallies and my buddy got a 5.1 smallmouth!!! Fish any of the herring-run fed ponds and camp-out in front of the run-mouth and chuck a suspending jerkbait for insane smallie action. For largemouth fish the deep water points with good drop offs coming out of coves with a football jig, slow. Or a drop shot. I've gotten about 50 fish in the last week. Mass Hole Mike, get a buddy and come on down here I'll show you a pond that I'm sure you have not fished and will BLOW your mind!

There is a LOT of great fishing on Cape Cod. Go to google.com and type in "Massachusetts Ponds and Lakes" and then click on the first result link. Then, click on the Cape Cod/S.E. MA section of the map. That is an AWESOME guide to MA ponds and lakes and it has maps of most of them and recent fish survey information along with some good pointers as to what/where to fish and what kind of fish the lake holds. Some of my favorite ponds/lake for larger boats are: Long Pond in Harwich, Wequaquet in Barnstable, and Mashpee-Wakeby in Mashpee. If you have smaller boat or a smaller engine then these are my favorites: Hinckley's Pond in Harwich, Seymour Pond in Harwich, Upper Mill, and Lower Mill Ponds in Harwich/Brewster, and Walker Pond in Harwich/Dennis. All the ponds I just mentioned for smaller boats are part of the same chain of lakes. Upper, and Lower Mill are attached by a ~1/4 mile creek, and Walker flows right into Upper Mill. Seymour and Hinckley's are also attached by a creek. These are all herring-run-fed ponds and the growth rates are awesome. Me and my buddy fished Seymour and Hinckley's the last 2 days and we caught about 15 smallies each, and 5 largemouth each. Five of the smallmouth were 4+ pounds and my buddy got one 5 pound, 1 ounce smallie. We also got several 4+ lbs mossy backs. The average fish in these ponds is 3 lbs and up. We have caught VERY few small fish. In this time of year and for the next month just "camp out" in front of the mouths of the runs and throw a spinnerbait, underspin, or suspending jerkbait and you will have a blast. Message me if you have any other questions or just respond on here. If you wanna get together and go fishing sometime that'd be cool. Get a buddy and we'll have a little friendly tournament! I hope that this has helped you.

It hit about 67 but sure felt 70 here on Cape Cod. I fished an AWESOME 350 acre pond in Brewster and we got 3 smallies over 4lbs and I got a 4lb largemouth and about 8 smallies and a few largemouth. We just "camped out" right in front of the mouth of the herring run that empties into it and fished suspending jerkbaits. It was an awesome day. Water Temp was 46-50 degrees!

I fish the fat Ikas on a medium action Kistler Helium LTA baitcasting rod paired up with a Shimano Curado 100D with 10# Bass Pro Shops XPS Fluorocarbon line (unbelievably phenomenal line). I rig it both frontwards and backwards on a 4/0 Owner Riggin' hook. The rigging hook is the best hook I've found for these and it's also great for tubes. It is a SUPER wide gap hook with a shorter shank for shorter bulky baits just like the Fat Ika. It does not "ball up" on the hook nearly as often as with other EWG's I've tried with the Fat Ika. Sometimes I also fish them on a 6'3" spinning rod also with 8# monofilament. Also, if you guys like to fish the fat ika, especially if you fish it like a senko, then you MUST try the Fat Ika's (much less popular) cousin, the Big Ika. It is about an inch longer than the Fat Ika but a lot more thin in the body (a little thicker than a 5" senko). It is awesome on spinning gear under overhangs, laydowns, and docks. It's action is a lot closer to the senko and has a very erratic action and wiggles on the fall. Really an awesome bait. Hope this helps!