TrippyJai

LOL! DOH! I just opened up this thread and realised I didn't put a brand haha... Power Pro!

Here in Ontario Canada, you are allowed to keep up to 5 bass at a time (if you have the sports fishing lisence) and that includes the ones in the freezer. If you've caught 4 the day before and haven't eaten any of them, you could only keep 1 fish the next outing. Not many people know this and those who do and proach will continue to break the rules. For me, my mom alway asks me to bring fish home, but I never do it because I fish in local ponds and lakes and I feel its important to put every fish back as these places are very heavily pressured. Not to mention the goose crap in there and they carry E Coli and that can get you sick. If I were to keep fish, a couple of good eating size would be ideal. Release the big ones so it keeps the gene pool going and let someone else have a chance to catch that fish too. I don't really mind people keeping fish aslong as they keep what they are suppossed to and release the big ones back

Last year I had over 100+ baits and the only crankbaits I threw and had success with were lipless crankbaits. This year was better for me because I actually took the time to learn how to fish a lipped crankbait, but then I lost so many I ended up restocking for more than I originally had. I also bought a lure retreiver, but I'm not sure how well they work fishing from shore.

Awesome fish... Gz on your catch!

President $60 President XT $80 has some upgrades like hybrid aluminum body, carbon drag, extra spool. The Supreme is great as well, very light reel. If you like Shimano, the Symetre is on sale for like $100.

"Fat Head Jig"

1) SK KVD 1.5 in Bluegill 2) 4" GYCB Senko Green Pumpkin 3) Spro Aruku Shad Jr in Perch

I only use braid on 1 set up and that is for frogging/heavy veggie. It's not as quiet as 832 which my buddy uses, but it cuts through grass nicely and gets the job done. Did I mention, it's not that expensive either.

Awesome fish... the head looks huge in the second photo.

I can never fish top water lures at my local ponds/lakes that have gulls around. I once had a "tug a war" 10 feet in the air with a gull for a few minutes. Luckily, it came loose. It was not fun at all.

Thanks a lot! It was a great feeling to be able to finally get one over 3lb.

Headed out to the lake after dinner and only had an hour and a half to fish. On my first cast, my square bill crankbait hung up on a rock and I spent 10 minutes trying to free it. Couldn't pop it off and had to break the line. I was pretty disappointed and actually wanted to head home. It was my favourite bait. I decided to retie a new crank and It hung up on a rock again, but managed to free it. Couple casts later, I felt my crankbait deflect off a rock and this bass struck it. I borrowed a digital scale and it came in at 3.99? Does it mean it is only 4lb? I am positive it was bigger than that because this fish was huge! I tried to hold it in front of my chest when the picture was taken. The bass was long and thick. I wish I could of measured it, but all I wanted to do was get it back in the water ASAP. A fish this size up in Ontario is rare. What an awesome feeling it was to see it swim away. BTW, had to distort the background for obvious reasons.

I leave the split rings on all my baits and use a duo-lock snap. It does not affect the action of the bait. When I find the correct bait, I cut off the snap and tie directly. I have become pretty efficient at tying knots so this is how I've been doing it.

The drag star on the Curado E5/E7 and Chronarch D series are aluminum. I'm a big shimano fan, but if all my fishing reels got stolen (knock on wood), I wouldn't replace them with the G series. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth from what they did from a business point. Will the reels perform as well as the E series? Absolutely, but that's just me and how I am.

Do yourself a favour and buy a bottle of Mend-It. After rigging my senko every way possible, I'll toss it into a bag, take it home and mend them back together. I'll let the baits sit for a day or two to get rid of the Acetone type smell. Put some Megastrike to cover the unwanted scent and they are good to go again.

Shimano must be kicking themselves. I just read the reviews on TW and it seems like many have jump ships to Lew's. All I hear is how great these reels are. I really want to order one to try, but I have more reels at the moment than I do rods.

I love my Curados, but they aren't perfect. They are inconsistant from one reel to another, but I'm willing to live with that as they perform up to my standards and I can break them down thoroughly to clean. Also, ordering parts from Shimano is easy as well. I just hope the next generation Curados aren't a step back or I'll be moving on to another brand. I've been playing around with the Lews and they are impressive.

Chronarch.

I agree, check out the Citica 200E. They are going for $80-100 online new. Personally, I would buy the Citica E over the Curado G. The only thing the Curado is better than the Citica at is throwing lures under 1/4oz which I would use a spinning reel for.

31

Nice. A fellow member from the same city as me. If you are there to target bass then I would just stick with your typical wacky rig/t-rig set up. If the pike becomes an issue then put on the wire leader.

I've been using Mend-It this year on my senkos and they work great. Throw the used ones in a bag and take them home for repair. A tip would be after you mend them together, coat the outside for extra strength. By the time you take them out on your next trip, the smell is gone or you can put some scent on the bait. Btw, do you rig your baits standard or backwards?

I own 10 Curado E series reels and everything you've talked about not liking on the Lew's reel, I can make a case about it on the Curado. I use these reels because I've grown comfortable with them and I can also break them down when cleaning. Not to mention, it's really easy to order parts from Shimano. IMO, the Chronarch E is not worth a $200 reel, neither was the Curado at retail price. Ask anyone if they would buy a brand new Citica E these days at $100, nope. I was surprised to hear the things OP said about the Lew's because I've only heard how great they were and wanted to head down to BPS to check them out.

I'm not sure if they are legal here in Ontario Canada, but I am not a big fan of throwing heavy baits. Anything over 1oz and I usually feel uncomfortable. The idea of throwing that many swimbaits at the same time doesn't feel right to me. I probably won't ever use this rig.

I use Shimano Star Drag Grease and Bantam Oil on my Shimano reels and they work fine. Have no had a problem for a couple seasons now.