auburn bass man

Ive got one of the rods you mentioned. The 7'H Cumara. This isnt my choice for weightless plactics, however its my topwater rod and it is excellent. Like RW said, for weightless plastics I like a stiffer tip, I use a Medium Xfast to detect the subtle thump of a bass sucking it in. With the moderate fast tip on the Cumara however, you should still be able to cast relatively light baits, although I havent tried it.

Where are you getting your jibheads from? What kind are they?

I use one of two set ups. One is my 7'7 MF Cumara. This is my medium crankin rod and it has a E5 so it isnt my first choice, but it still does a heck of a job. When Im not swimmin a jig however, I love to throw traps on my 7'11 MHF Cumara. This is one heck of a rod for fishing grass and covering a lot of water. Either way, I prefer a little longer rod with a faster tip. Im almost always throwing traps on Guntersville, and these are what I feel most comfortable rippin those XR50's out of the grass with.

muskyguy520, The name of the site is FishingSkirts.com. Seems like they really have it together. Their selection of colors is really good.

I dont necessarily use punch skirts for punching as much as I do just to give me flippin plastics a new look. When it comes to skirt colors I get real picky, so I thought I would look into making my own. I found a great sight will all the supplies, Im just not sure how it works. Any tips or advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Im goin to try and dye mine orange by throwing it in the fire. ;D

As a general rule, Im willing to spend the same amount on a rod as I do the reel. There are a lot of great rods for $150, but the Shimano Cumara's were simply made to be fished with the Shimano line of reels; especially the Core and CI4. You have an excellent spinning outfit in the making, my opinion would be to bite the bit and buy a $200 Cumara to match your CI4 in performance and price. Take your Stradic to a dealer with Cumara spinning rods and youll see what I mean.

The only thing I dont like about the Cumulus rods are the actions and powers they are offered in. I was really hoping Shimano would include a some heavier application rods in the Cumulus lineup, i.e. flippin, frogs, swimjigs and such. Having said that, I had the opportunity this past weekend at the Classic Expo in Birmingham to pick up a Cumulus Stradic CI4 combo along with other bare Cumulus rods. I was blown away. I loved the aesthetics of the rod personally, but the feel was incredible. Wait and see one in person before you knock em too bad.

I guess it just depends on what the overall setup looks like. Im a huge fan of matching colors with the rod and reel though. Im not a fan of Carrot Stix but with a blue revo they look sick. Same thing with the Veritas rods hittin the market sometime this year. Im not crazy about white in general, but Im starting to imagine what one would look like with a Chronarch D7 on top of it. Oh, and that Core and Cumara setup is pretty sweet too. Yup, its on the list. Too bad its a long list :'(

I have 3 Team All Stars that I can see gettin this treatment real soon, when I can find the time that is. That definitely looks like a pro job.

X2 Citica 200E. I dont think I have seen Curados for what you can get a Citica for but dang near close to it. You cant go wrong with either one.

If you prefer to leave the fish alone, then I prefer you leave this thread alone. There isnt anything wrong with anyone's choice to not fish for bass on their beds. However, I asked for opinions from members who do utilize this technique. If you dont have an oppinion to offer from that point of view then dont reply.

I didnt mean to start a debate on the ethics of bed fishing. Personally, I plan to this spring and my main question that I have is whether I can use PowerPro braid, or if I need to downsize with flourocarbon or a flourocarbon leader. Thanks.

What line does everyone use when they are fishing for bass on beds? Is it all about invisibility? Im looking for ways to increase my success this spring. Thanks for the help.

Ive used a couple and have come to know that it is a personal preference thing. But here is what I use and why. Loomis 6'9m'xf. I like a rod slightly under 7ft and an extra fast tip for accuracy and sensitivity. I use a Curado e7 mainly because it balances well with the rod and when I throw spinnerbaits I usually move them along at a pretty fair pace. For someone looking to pick up a spinnerbait rig who has not had a dedicated rod/reel for this specific presentation in the past, I would suggest a rod in the 6'6 - 7' range. Medium heavy to medium power depending on how heavy of a spinnerbait you like to throw and depending on if you fish around heavy cover or not. If you are not big on extra fast tips a fast will do just fine too. I would pair it with a middle of the road reel (speed wise). Something with a 6:something ratio. Hope this helps. Jake

Im not all that experienced on Pickwick and I have a college tournament there this weekend. We will be launching out of the McFarland boat ramp and marina. I know the smallmouth action is heating up there right now but like I said I have never fished there this time of year. Any advice on places to try or what to throw?

Thanks for the advice. I am determined to try the Yo Zuri Hybrid but there isn't an outdoor store here in Auburn that carries it. In the future I may order some but I believe ill stay with Berkley Trilene XL for now.

Its becoming much easier now a days to find a company offering technique specific rods at a good price. Falcon and St. Croix are two good examples. But to answer your first question. Loomis 7'm/xf for spinner baits. I really like the extra fast action for casting accurace and sensitivity. For small shallow divers, to medium sized medium divers, I use a Loomis 7'm/med.fast. The slower rod tip allows the crankbait to work like it should as well as allow you to fight the fish better especially right at the boat(or bank). For flippin jigs I use a 7'5 Loomis h/f. For casting jigs and worms I use a 7' All Star mh/f. This could also be used for just about anything other than for crankbaits as you really need that limber tip. As for topwater, I use a Loomis 6'5 mh/f. I dont know what kinds of topwaters you throw, but I hardly throw anything besides sammys, spooks, and skitterwalks. For walking baits like these, I like rods 6'8 and under. Like I said, you dont have to pay a premium price anymore to find a rod built for a specific application. If you are looking for a specific brand I would look into Falcons. The Lowrider and Bucoo series of rods are priced about 140 and 100 respectively. Jake

Im spooling up a couple curado's and I have one on my new topwater rod. My favorite are walking baits. Occasionally I will find myself throwing a lc pointer but mainly sammy's, spooks and skitter walks. What line do you have on your topwater rod? My first thought was monofilament just because mono floats as opposed to flourocarbon. But is it that big of a deal? Jake

TW has great service. I go there before anywhere else when I need something. Every email I have ever sent them was responded to that day, sometimes within the hour. On top of that they offer great discounts to us collegiate fishermen. I saved several hundred dollars yesterday alone ordering a couple more rods and reels. They support us, so I support them. Jake

I have a Team All Star 7ft med/fast. You said that you have some other All Stars as well so you know that they all are a little stiff and fast compared to other rods of a different company with the same power/action rating. This is true with their spinning rods as well. However, other than being a little heavy, I am really pleased with mine. I mostly throw shakey heads and occasionally a hard jerk bait. It is a very sinsitive rod, but because of the tip it lacks in casting distance when compared to other rods. To some this may be a problem but when I am throwing shakey heads I am less concerned with distance and more concerned with accuracy. I dont have any experience with Falcon, though I hope to soon, and none with BPS. But I assume the Falcons would be a little lighter. Hope this helps.

I would rather take less money from Daiwa and fish with a better product than take more money and fish ABU. Money does talk though. And Im sure he has his own reasons.

Is this an in-store deal only? I havent seen that on their website yet.

Bantam1, Do you have plans on expanding the lineup in both casting and spinning models?

If I had the means right now, I would do exactly that. ^^. However, even though only one cranking rod isnt enough to cover all my needs its going to have to cover most of them for a while. Once I get the feel for what I like and dont like and see what there is left to be desired from having just one rod ill be more able to choose a second or third depending on what me needs are. Im still stuck between the med and med/heavy reaction cara, its a tough choice. Thanks for the input. Jake