Goose52

Hmmm - might be an application for 50lb braid there...and some might use 20lb mono/flouro. I have no heavy cover where I fish so I can't give any recommendation based on personal experience. You might want to start another thread with that question.

Different strokes for different folks... I don't use braid for cranking personally, but some folks do with great success. Using braid gives you better hooksets, but increases the possibility of pulling trebles out. In this case, you are relying on the rod as the shock absorber, rather than line stretch. For lipless, the braid certainly enhances the ability to rip out of grass...but at the expense of perhaps more lost fish. BUT 50lb braid - sounds like overkill to me. If you've buried a lipless so deep in grass to need 50lb braid to rip it out, you will probably end up with so much grass left on the hooks that the bait will be dead (no action) all the way back on the retrieve (and this assumes you didn't break your rod while trying to rip the bait out ). The idea is to tick the tops of the grass, not bury it. I just checked my records and over the last four seasons I've caught 967 fish on lipless cranks, including LMB up to 9.5lb and grass carp up to 48 pounds, with line tests between 8 and 17lbs. Works for me...

All of these cranking rods are primarily intended for use with lipped crankbaits. These baits are not typically retrieved through grass but are generally for use in open water and for bouncing off, and through, structure and hard cover elements like rocks, ledges, timber, etc. To get the best dive depth, you generally want to use the thinnest diameter line that works with that bait, the cover/structure elements expected, the needed abrasion resistance, and the intended target species. I only target bass in mostly open water so I can get away with 10lb test and going as low as 6lb test with some of the small/light baits. Now, all this line is Yo-Zuri Hybrid which usually has a breaking strength above it's rating. Ripping out of grass is more a technique for your lipless cranks. I mostly use 10lb test for that as well, but have gone as high as 17lb test or as low as 8lb test depending on the mentioned factors. This is not as complicated as it all sounds. You just have to decide the type of baits that you mostly intend to use. If you want this new rod to be dedicated to cranking lipped cranks, of medium weight (say 1/4oz to 5/8 or 3/4oz), then get a medium power, moderate or moderate-fast action rod and a reel with a 6.x:1 ratio or lower (26 inches per handle turn or less). Now, for lipless (and as smalljaw67 mentioned) I personally use a medium-fast or even medium-heavy fast rod if I expect grass. If no grass, you can fish lipless on your cranking rod. BTW - if you end up looking at the BPS Crankin' Sticks, ignore the BPS action ratings. They list all these rods as having fast or extra-fast actions and nobody knows why. The rods they list as "fast' actually fish like moderates. Their "extra-fast" rods fish like moderate-fast.

Top to Bottom: 6' Medium-Light / 6lb test 7'6" Medium-Heavy / 10lb test 7' Medium / 10lb test 7'6" Medium / 10lb test 7' Medium-Light / either 8 or 10lb test

Ooh-Rah !

I'm sure there are other pretty good rods in that price range...but I'm partial to the BPS Crankin' Sticks. Good value at the regular price, excellent value at the sale price. I got four of mine on sale a few years ago for $59, and one of them on sale last year for $69.

I've got a couple of these type of spendy reels now...I fish them, but only from the bank. I still can't bring myself to fish them from the boat and somehow "cast" them into the lake. Once the PQ 5-Year Challenge is over, I'll have more time to put some mileage on these Princess reels...

Thanks Dwight - it's a pretty nifty reel...................as you well know!

OUTSTANDING ! I love good recordkeeping...

The short (~70mm) handles are both US market and JDM - and both 50-size, and in one case 100-size. In the house right now, I have: US market CTE-50GT and CTE-100DC - both with ~70mm handles (and I'm assuming the current USDM 50Bs have 70s as well). Then I have JDM Calcutta 50XT and Conquest 50s - all with 70mm handles. The Calais 100A I have came with a bit longer handle but stock it's still only 75mm. All too short (at least for me). So, I am looking at ways to gain a little length. The Calais 100A now sports an 84mm handle from a Calais 200DC (with the 200DC getting a HawgTech). The 50XT is the subject of this thread and I'm exploring options. The Conquest 50s just look so purdy with their stock handles I may not change them out. The CTE-50GT may get a CTE-100GT handle eventually. The CTE-100DC may end up with a HawgTech. Too bad Shimano wouldn't put a bit longer handles on these reels stock.. Perhaps the Bait Monkey has a kick-back scheme with Shimano.....

Thanks Catt. It seems like on the later 50s Shimano went to a 2 3/4" / 70mm handle...............toooooo short!

That 50XT is looking good! Thanks for posting the pic. Merry Christmas to you as well Baluga and good fishing in 2014!

Another interesting option - thanks Baluga! The main goal of this swap is to gain handle length at minimal cost. The 70mm handles that Shimano puts on the 50-size reels are irritatingly short.

I asked the same question two years ago and didn't get too many useful responses - here's the link if you want to review it: Ducks And Geese And Bass Oh My! In the past two years since I started that thread, I've picked up a couple bass from practically right under mallard pairs....but I still don't know what the effect is on bass behavior when there are a significant number of waterfowl concentrated in a small area.

You posted right under my post so I'm assuming you were directing this question at me? I make it a point to fish every day - even if it's only an hour or so. I fish every day in winter even though I know that there is a high probability of getting skunked. VERY severe weather and perhaps I'll skip a day but that didn't happen in 2013. I have 13 ponds/lakes all within a 6 mile radius so it's easy to hop in the car and be at some water in just a few minutes. On total or average hours - I don't keep records of that. I also sometimes fish twice a day so that makes it a bit tougher to calculate. Anyway, from the bank, I fish from 30-45 minutes to 4 hours - probably averaging 2-3 hours a day in good weather, less in winter. I had the boat in the water 73 times this year and a "boat day" ranges from 4 hours to 9 hours - probably averaging 6-7 hours.

Not under the tree this morning, but my "official" Christmas present to myself (should be here by tomorrow) is an Antares.

Board member "Marty" hasn't checked in yet. As I recall, he might be 70-something...

Thanks John and Hootie - that's exactly what I needed to know. I have a CTE-100GT and a 200GT but didn't know if the standard 100/200B handles were the same length as the GT handles and it looks like they are. John - I thought of the CTE-100GT handle as well but Shimano wants nearly $50 for that handle and that's a bit more than I wanted to spend. This handle will go on an older 50-size reel and I don't want to put in a lot of $$$ on it. And thanks for the offer for the no-bearing handle. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to go for a bearing-capable handle or not. Shimano has a left-hand CTE-201 handle (they don't list CTE-200 handles as being available) listed for only $17 that would give me two bearings....but since I'm right handed the knobs would be angled the wrong way. If the knobs bothered me I could order some right-handed knobs and end up at about $23 plus shipping. I have some extra knob bearings laying around and if the CTE-201 has removable bushings on the back of the knobs I could end up with 4 bearings. Hmmm - have to think about it. Thanks again guys.

Thanks Mike! Merry Christmas to you and yours. (I will have some winter "acquisitions" so after your winter rush I will probably have a couple reels coming your way... )

This started out just being a general purpose workbench on the back wall of the garage with tools covering the pegboard. This is the bench where I tinker with tackle and put my rod box when it's not in the car. As time has gone by, in the middle of the night when no one is looking, the bait monkey keeps finding other places for my tools and makes more room for tackle... The three drawers under the bench on the left side are all fishing gear. More and more cardboard boxes with TW orders and such keep getting stacked under the bench since this photo was taken. To the left of the workbench cabinets is this "rod cove": On the side wall to the left of the rod cove is this roll-around rack: The boat and all related gear are stored on the right wall: Finally, inside the house in my den/office/bunker is the "Princess Rack"...

I keep fairly good records and I usually fish every day (minus days I'm traveling or if the water is hard). Water has been soft all this calendar year. So, December 24th is the 358th day of 2013 and I was traveling 21 days this year. 358 minus 21 = 337 days fished so far this year..............and there's still 7 days left in the year to fish................

I guess I'm one of the youngsters at only 61...

Anyone out there have a current production Shimano Calcutta 100B or 200B? If so, can you measure the handle length (center-to-center on the posts)? Doesn't have to be exact and can be in inches or millimeters. I'm looking at handle options for a 50-size Calcutta. Thanks and Merry Christmas.

I had no formal goals for this year. I did want to get the boat in the water more often (I have a boat - might as well use it) and I was successful on that. Here's 2012 vs. 2013 data - number of days I had the boat in the water and number of fish caught from the boat: Year Boat Days Boat Fish 2012 41 383 2013 73 1297 When I started getting big numbers of fish from the boat during the spring, I set a stretch goal to try to get 2,000 bass in 2013 (from the boat and the bank). Didn't make that. I might possibly have made it but my boat transport vehicle was down for about 5 weeks (end of October and all of November) and I couldn't get the boat in the water during that time. Score so far this year - 1,885 bass. The year isn't over yet, water is still soft (caught a bass about an hour ago), and maybe I can make it to 1,900 bass by New Years Eve........................(or not!)

Sorry, no. When I mentioned the "30-size", I was referring to the basic size designations used by Pflueger across all their spinning reel models (sizes 20, 25, 30, 35, 40). On the Tackle Warehouse web page, I was referring to the 1236652 as also recommended by ww2farmer. I own Pflueger spinning reels in sizes 20, 25, 30, and 35 - of those, the 30 (TW 1236652) is the most versatile for bass fishing. Coincidently, I fished both 30 and 35 size reels this morning and just like ww2farmer mentioned, when using the 35 size (TW 1236654) you immediately notice how "big" it feels - more reel than you need for bass IMO. It IS weird. It's fine for sellers to create their own stock numbers, but they should also list the manufacturer's model numbers (like 6930) as those mfr. numbers (or the sizes - like "30") are how the reels are referred to by the user community.