Big Bait Fishing

how about stretch ???

it's 10% brakes , 20% bait , & 70% thumb ..

it's not in the reel , it's all about your thumb !!!

use some 20 lb. braid , you'll like the way it casts and it's plenty strong for most all uses . just try to stay away from lines that have coatings that'll make the line stick to itself .

my curiosity got the best of me so i called Fenwick and confirmed that it is a Fuji PTS cut down , kinda like how Phenix used to cut down Fuji ACS reel seats and made them into split seats , before the SK2 seats were made available.

hook keeper location is always been hit or miss as i always carry my rod in front of the reel , where it balances in my hand , most of the time where the hook keeper and a sharp hook is !!

that's a Fuji TVS that's been cut down .

all rods are different , i have a St. Croix that has a lure rating 3 - 8 oz. , i can cast 14.5 oz. baits with it , yeah it's very underated ! other rods are the opposite like the okuma guide select swimbait sticks that are overated , try to throw a lure at it's top lure rating and the rod is very underpowered . take caution with the rod you are wanting to use and go by feel of what it can handle ..

RoboWorm 6'' straight tail worm in the FX series - Summer Shad , best worm color ever used ....

moderate action in a lot of the line up is what keeps me from St. Croix blanks in the longer length blanks

doesn't look like they are a sponsor anymore ......

i tried the way Phenix did , but by not drilling all the way through the trigger , the hook doesn't go through to catch on anything and is protected since the hook point won't be dulled or rolled because of the relative softness of the graphite reel seat material . the picture below is shows the hook in . the one below that shows it is not drilled all the thru ..

thanks ! i hate scratching my blank and could not find a location on the rod that i liked to put a hook keeper . i don't use much baits with small trebles besides some twitch baits , the trigger will hold the rear trebles and i cover the others with an Owner treble cap .

i usually like open ended hook keepers on my rods , recently bought a few SK2 trigger pieces to experiment with and i think i've come up with the best solution , i drilled a small hole in the back part of the trigger , not all the way through , but about 3/16'' deep . it will hold any hook and keeps the hook point covered and it protects the point and myself ! here is a picture of the trigger that will go on my next rod and i will have them on all future rods (casting)

i'm wondering if there were defective hooks made in the skip jack hook and some were stiffer , the ones i had were VERY flexible , you could bend them out very easily .

at the lube port on the bottom of the reel is for grease to be applied to the gear , not oil . take off the brake side cover and put a drop of oil smeared on a q-tip and run it around the inside of the race of the spool ( where the centrifugal breaks touch) in the picture - on the right ( brass ring )

the bait will hit bottom but you will have a bow in your line , reducing sensitivity and when you do get bit that bow you have in your line will make it difficult to get a good hook set since you have to swing through all that slack before you can move the hook in the fishes mouth , that's why mono is mostly used for moving baits and flouro for dropping baits like a stick bait and flouro for jigsand shakey heads where you want the sinking of the flouro making a straighter line to your bait , increasing sensiyivity and quicker hooksets on light bites .

Duo Realis Minnow 80SP Jerkbait in chartruesse Gill Halo Jackall Dowzvido Jerkbait 90SP in bluegill

is that so ??

you would be suprised how many guys that are average height (5'6'' -5'9'') who use 8'6''-10'6'' musky rods !! you use the right tool for the job

you just need to pratice your casting , spool up some cheap mono and get your reel dialed in , THEN , put on some braid with whatever leader you want or whatever line you decide , if you are not proficent with the reel and casting , line choice is not gonna matter ...

of course people use different length rods , but on the subject of flipping and/or pitching , a long rod is used for short line presentations and for leverage when bit . a longer rod is benificial for pendulum casting . there a lot of guys/gals that use , in my opinion , very short rods (6') , for me i like rods at a minimum of 7'6'' but prefer 8' rods , my swimbait rod is 9' , i'm 6'1'' .

i edited and expanded on my post

not accurate at all , so a guy who is 5'6'' tall should only use a 6' swimbait rod to throw a 5 oz. swimbait ??? come on ! rods are tools , you use the right tool for the job . for flipping , punching , and swimbaits , you need a longer rod for leverage and to be able to make an accurate presentation