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I'm going to force myself to do more drop-shotting, because it's one of my least favorite presentations and I have absolutely no confidence in it producing big fish for me.

Thanks for the heads up! I picked up a pound spool of #6 and #12 for $60 shipped.

7' - 7'6", med/heavy or heavy power, fast or extra fast action. 7' med/heavy, fast would be a good place to start. I would stay away from medium power rods personally.

That's what I would do, pick up a used rod for $100, like an Avid or Crucial, and one of those reels new for $150.

I own the MgAJCBSGGM70 Alton Jones Composite 7' M/M. It does an OK job for throwing small diving cranks in the 1-6' range, like you mentioned. For cranks over 1/2 oz or with larger diving bills than a DT-10, I think it's a little overmatched.

Check out this thread. I think you might like the Loomis CBR 845 as an all-around cranker. I fished a day with one using mid-depth cranks, and it's a sweet rod. I may end up getting one myself. You can find used G. Loomis Crankbait rods pretty often in various flea market forums online for $125-175 shipped, and that will leave a few bucks left over for baits. http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1256327690

Casting distance vs. accuracy, for the most part. I generally try get away with using the longest rod that still allows me to cast accurately. Longer rods offer some nice advantages aside from just increased casting distance, like helping steer fish away from snags and obstructions once hooked, and allowing for quicker hooksets. I prefer rods in the range of 7' - 7' 3" for casting, and 7' 6" - 8' for pitching and flipping. The only time I prefer a shorter rod is for making short casts to cover and for presentations where making twitches with a downward tip is preferred, like with hard jerkbaits and some topwater.

Earlier, I was looking into using Pledge as opposed to more expensive products like Bass Boat Saver or Bow To Stern for cleaning the gelcoat of a fiberglass boat. I heard that some people were using it on their boat, motorcycles, guitars, ect. I tried once or twice at first, and although it put a great shine on it, I chose not to after I saw the ingredient list. It made me think twice about using it on furniture even, at least w/o gloves. Heavy naptha, butane, propane. I found it again online: Ingredient: HYDROTREATED HEAVY NAPHTHA (PETROLEUM); (ISOPARAFFINIC HYDROCARBON SOLVENT) Ingredient Sequence Number: 01 Percent: 20 NIOSH (RTECS) Number: 1002859HN CAS Number: 64742-48-9 OSHA PEL: N/K (FP N) ACGIH TLV: N/K (FP N) ------------------------------------- Proprietary: NO Ingredient: PROPANE, 2-METHYL-; (ISOBUTANE) Ingredient Sequence Number: 02 Percent: 20 NIOSH (RTECS) Number: TZ4300000 CAS Number: 75-28-5 OSHA PEL: N/K (FP N) ACGIH TLV: N/K (FP N) ------------------------------------- Proprietary: NO Ingredient: PROPANE Ingredient Sequence Number: 03 Percent: 20 NIOSH (RTECS) Number: TX2275000 CAS Number: 74-98-6 OSHA PEL: 1000 PPM ACGIH TLV: SIMPLE ASPHYXIANT ------------------------------------- Proprietary: NO Ingredient: BUTANE Ingredient Sequence Number: 04 Percent: 20 NIOSH (RTECS) Number: EJ4200000 CAS Number: 106-97-8 OSHA PEL: 800 PPM ACGIH TLV: 800 PPM

I picked up a SK King Shad last fall, and I was immediately impressed with the action. Too bad it was snatched by a 5 lb snake after about 15 minutes of fishing, before I had even a single hit from a bass. I short wire leader might be the only way to go up here if you want to toss expensive hard swimmers. I would love to try one of the Mattlures hard sunfish or crappies, but it wouldn't last long w/o a leader.

Haha, nice vid. Looks like my old Springer Spaniels I had as a kid. We used to toss Frisbees after snowfalls to get the dogs to do just that.

Gold chrome, gold shiner, Tennessee shiner, rootbeer, brown/chart, etc. I think one of the main forage fish on my favorite local lakes are baby carp and redhorse sucker, so any crank, chatterbait, or spinnerbait that mimics them is a good place to start.

I tried a different angle last season, making an effort to try more Run and Gun type fishing in order to cover more water in search of active fish, mainly because I enjoy this type of fishing more than using slower presentations. I did a lot less jig and finesse fishing than in previous years. I don't think it worked as well as a more balanced approach would have. I might try the opposite approach next year, and focus on jigging and finesse. 1. 1/2-3/4 oz. S.W. Pro Assassinator spinnerbaits. 2. 3/8 oz. Cavitron buzzers 3. Snag Proof Bleeding & Phat Frogs (4/5. Heavy Lipless Cranks/ Skipped 5" Senkos, wacky)

TackleTour has that covered. http://www.tackletour.com/

SuskyDude, that was a good question with useful answers. You know what they say, "There are no stupid questions..." I personally choose to do what you suggested, as I feel the advantages of a high speed reel outweigh the torque issues. To the thread starter Onion Man, BASSclary mentioned a good point about taking pics as you take apart a reel if you're unfamiliar with cleaning them. If you replace any gears, I would strongly recommend at least a half dozen close-up pics with a digital camera, and taking the reel apart in front of the computer.

I use KVD on all nylon line, and Ardent Line Butter on braid. I don't feel that the KVD does anything to braid other than maybe help it retain it's color. I started using the KVD conditioner last season. I was a little disappointed at first, probably because of all the hype that I read on here. I was expecting it to be more effective on the heavier fluoro and co-poly lines that I intended to use it on. It still did a decent job in making these lines more manageable, enough to justify it's use at that cost. ($5-10 per season for most people) But temper your expectations, it's not going to make CXX feel like Sufix mono. For the best performance with KVD L&L, saturate the spool and let it dry overnight. I apply it at the beginning and end of every trip on all nylon lines.

Way to go! That's how to squash a blatant troll thread.

Anything by the Lindners or In-Fisherman is going to be good.

Anything by the Lindners or In-Fisherman is going to be good.

Anything by the Lindners or In-Fisherman is going to be good.

Thanks for posting. There are also 6 videos I hadn't seen before of the '95-96 Bassmasters Minnesota Top 100 tournaments on Lake Minnetonka. It's a nice change of pace watching these top pros fish grassy MN natural lakes.

I like my combos, both spinning and baitcasting, to balance at the point where the tip of my index finger sits when I hold the rod/reel in a natural grip.

The only time I skip with a baitcaster, it's with my frog rod, and I'm usually trying to skip under heavy brush and laydowns. I don't think it matters much what length, power, and action baitcasting rod you choose to skip with. Results will be inconsistent and mediocre at best, unless you spend an unreasonable amount of time(for an amateur) practicing and perfecting this very difficult technique. Frankly, baitcasting reels are not meant to skip lures with. Fishing docks with skipped and pitched jigs and plastics is one of my favorite techniques. I have gone through a few combos looking for what I like in a skipping rod. A longer, heavier spinning rod is much better suited to skipping soft plastics around docks. The longer length allows you to control and steer the fish better once hooked, but it will require more practice to become accurate at skipping because of the increase tip speed when using a long rod. I use a St. Croix Avid, 7' MH/F spinning rod, and a 20-30 lb braided mainline with a 3-5', 12-17 lb flourocarbon leader. Braided line skips the best because it flows more easily from a spinning reel than with any other line, and the heavier-than-expected flourocarbon leader gives you excellent abrasion resistance around sharp metal docks.

It's your allowance, you can spend it how you want. :

South Florida largemouth and peacock bass.

South Florida largemouth and peacock bass.