rocknfish9001

Anyways, i have a pflueger trion baitcaster and its really bugging me with its downhill trend. When i bought it, the reel was insanley smooth and super fluid and quite. But in the last 6 months or so it keeps getting more and more um....... crappy. I dont know what is wrong with it, it now makes a clicking noise, makes a whining noise on the cast and the reel itself just feels...... i dont know how to explain it. Kind of junky, but not really. I put some oil in some bearings on the spool, (which helped a little) but dont know how to get the reel apart, and i dont want to break the thing. I have had it for about a year now and I want my old reel back!!! What should i try?

Woah!! gnarly, wicked, etc, etc. That is the kind of boat i am looking for as an all purpose type rig.

Well i never have had the guts to buy a hardbait over $10. First of all, i KNOW i would lose it, and second, i dont use harbaits almost at all. Thats a goal of mine for next year. Now i watched a presentation by KVD, where he lectured on fishing with jerkbaits. He was digging through his tackle box and pulled out lures like wild shiners, husky jerks, rouges, bombers, rebels, and eventually got to his megabass. He looks at it and said, sure is the prettiest one in here, but in the water it isnt worth a flip.

what are the water temps like were you are fishing?

what lures were you using? Was it the same one as the other day? This could be a problem where you are attracting the fish, but not really triggering them. Maybe a different color or retrieve will help them really nail the bait.

Strike king just started re-making them around the last ice out. My fishing buddy had to have one. He was curious and was tossing it around in 40 degree water. And what do you know, a fish nailed it off the surface. Didnt get to hook it. And that is the only time i have seen the kid use it.

I am hoping to use these for smallies next year, and my number one spot is a place i cant get my boat into. I have personally seen 5-6 lb fish caught here, and i have landed fish up to 4 lbs. myself. I am really looking forward to using dropshots next year. The only thing is, i am shorefishing, and i am wondering if fishing them would be any different. Give me your opinions and experiences if you have any.

I am absoloutley stoked about joining a club this upcoming year. I cant express how much i am looking forward to being with other fisherman in my area that i can learn so much from, and explore so many new waters (quite efficiently) because i am currently stuck to guessing when fishing almost anywhere (no electronics!!!!) And thats a major drag, seeing the most popular lake in the county has depths that go up to 90ft., and an average of around 30'. Now i have one question- i have the club picked out, i have talked to some of the members, i know the website, and all i have to do is get my membership. How do i do that? I havent gotten a response from e-mail, i havent tried calling. I dont know the club's scedual either. Should i just keep being persistant in my e-mails, or should i show up and see if i can talk to somebody in person? Assuming i am lucky enough to catch them at the right time. Also, how do i go about paying dues? Im lookng forward to your response. Thanks.

j/w, where in michigan are you?

under $100- definatley bass pros bionic blade. I love the thing to death! Over $100- i would suggest the loomis IMX from what satisfied customers have told me.

This changes from state to state, region to region, city to city, and lake to lake. Sometimes, different colors are better in different parts of the lake. I believe that this is up to you to figure out. Experiment and stick to the basics until you find something that works.

This just made me think when i met kevin van dam last year. He gave a good presentation, and stayed the rest of the day at the seminar with his parents, kids, and relatives. I saw him watching the other presentations of Mark Zona, Bill Dance, and Shaw Grigsby. He was really good about taking questions very professionally. He made an effort to be the nicest guy there. I wish i could say that about Mark Zona. One of the questions i asked him was how did you become pro. His answer was based on the fact that he has unbelievable skills as an angler. He saved for years to be able to afford to break away. He was in a club and was doing quite well. (my uncle actually had the chance to fish against the guy) Once he had $20,000 that he was willing to spend, he set off and dedicated the next year to fishing. Fishing was his job, and he was able to nearly master it. He won almost all of his tournaments, including the state finals, which is like michigan's bassmaster classic. He ended the year with a free $25,000 bassboat. (the prize for winning the finals) This really was a landmark year, and was able to land him sponsors, and because of his amazing ability was able to qualify for big name circuts and eventually made his way to be the best of them all.

Study, study study. Go into college and study biology classes, chemistry, english, and even math. All of these are necessary to become "pro". You have to know a fish inside and out. You need to know where they are, why they are there, and have all information necessary to become the best. Another important step is getting a name for yourself. Be able to communicate and be resourceful. Study up on all sorts of things to advertise yourself to sponsors as well.

Almost all hardbaits. I know i can hardly be a fisherman without tossing cranks, topwaters, jerkbaits, and the like. The thing is, i just dont see them nearly as realistic as soft plastics, and i just feel plastics will outfish the fast moving, attention getting hardbaits. Now i KNOW that just isnt always true, and im still not sure why i dont use the cranks more often.

I have never used one, but my neighbor uses them exclusivley. He had one made by mitchell, but broke it after many years. He now has a shimano crucial, and he even cuts the cork on some rods to expose the blank.

The combo i am looking at is only an unbelievable $140 for the stradic and the rod. If you put it into perspective, if you were paying full price for the reel, the rod comes with it for next to nothing.

I was wondering how this rod paired up to other rods in its price range? I am going to purchase this with shimano stradic.

I accidently caught a 4 lb. bass on this once. I was sightfishing a big fish on its bed, and tossed worms, jigs, and pretty much every plastic i had. I went to my last, and usually most productive bed fishing bait, a tube. I realized i didnt have any weights or jigheads, so i stuffed it full of plastic worm pieces to give it weight. I floated nicley and i was kind of disapointed. I let it sit a little, twitching it, and i never saw the strike even though it was on a topwater.

Yes, always. Usually 3-4 inch grubs. A lot of times i use spinnerbaits with trailers and no skirt, like a beefy beetlespin. The only difference is the blade is bigger and the plastic is usually around 4 inches.

depends, spinning or baitcasting? A very cheap spinning reel will get the job done, but a very cheap casting reel probably will not work worth a flip. You can buy something like a lightningrod and be very pleased. Cheap rods can be great, and i dont think a $400 rod will give you much of an advantage over a $50 rod, if any. My most expensive reel is $120, and it was worth every single penny and then some. My most expensive rod was $100, and i honestly dont see a huge difference between that and my $30 rods. It is more sensitive and lighter and more balanced, but i never noticed it help me catch any more fish because of it being more sensitive. So in my opinion, the reel is more important.

Im just curious, what is your favorite size for each of these cranks? -rapala shad rap -original rapala -rapala husky jerk

a 3.5inch green and purple flake tube with an 1/8th oz. insider jighead

think about it this way, if you catch fish with it, your fishing it right

Well not necessarily. For example, bass in california live much much shorter lives, but grow exceptionally fast. Bass in northern states (like New Jersey) live a lot longer. I believe the life span for a northern bass is over 10 years in some cases, and i think its about 6 years for florida strain fish. Another thing is that the florida strain fish typically grows so much faster, due to elonged growing seasons (warm months) and primary forage, like the trout they see in california. But really if you are looking at a "trophy" fish, you absoloutley have to consider the region it was caught in. There is no doubt that a 14lb new jersey fish is more of a "trophy" because there are plenty of people that have caught 16+ lb cali fish. So in considering what a trophy is, think about what fish is rarer when weighing in the facts.

so are you saying that slider heads are supposed to be fished off the bottom, and in the middle (or wherever the fish are) of the water column?