Jason Penn

i haven't used vanish in a long time, but i never seemed to have the problems with it everyone else had. i always went the next step above whatever pound test i was wanting, and i also never tie palomar knots. my father was a diehard crappie fisherman that only tied clinch knots, so i guess that kinda rubbed off on me. take what i say with a huge grain of salt considering i also never had problems with the original vicious fluoro

seems like stren had a flo blue fc, but i'm not sure if it's still available.

i've got a standard 7' mh mhx, and i feel the rod fishes more like an 844 than 843. it's not the lightest or most sensitive rod i've ever fished, but it's really not bad at all. i bought this rod from a guy just to check out the blanks when i thought i wanted to get into building. i finally realized i like to tinker way too much to get into building!!

this thread has hit on a subject that has been kind of interesting to me. i was always a firm believer in mod action for spinnerbaits, although everyone seemed to think (4-5 years ago) you need a fast or ex-fast action. i seemed to have way less trouble losing fish than with fast action rods. the hook seems to pierce instead of rip. i've never caught a fish on a chatterbait (all wood, no grass in my area) but seems like most people think a glass rod is the way to go for these. to me, they seem to be fished basically moving like a spinnerbait...maybe i've fished them wrong? now with that being said, i've switched over to a med power/fast action for spinnerbaits vs a mh/mod. i seem to get a tad bit slower reaction and a good deep bend on hooksets, but the rod is more suited for using with topwaters as well.

i use a 6'10 m for 3/8-1/2oz spinnerbaits and topwaters with 12# xt. i don't really fish topwaters enough to justify carrying an extra rod. this way i can get double duty out of 1. i used to be a firm believer in using a mod action for spinnerbaits, but i just decided to drop down a power in a fast action to get more bend on the hookset. so far, it's working out without any problems.

i've got a couple of the arky style, and haven't really had much luck with them. i love the smaller profile, but i seem to get hung up a lot more with them.

i was fortunate enough to have a lake just like that 20 years ago. i fished a lot growing up, but got away from it around 15-16 years old. in my late 20's i decided to get back into fishing. the thing about a place like that is, you know you're gonna catch fish, so any new technique you try out you can really get a handle on. i started jig fishing with a strike king bitsy bug, and whatever plastic i had in my tackle bag lol. i think i had a day in there where i was actually pinching lizards in half for a trailer. after that, i was hooked!! no tellin how much money that day cost me

my reply to anyone wanting to get better at fishing a jig is start with a smaller jig, and get in a place that has a ton of small bass. after a good day of catching a bunch of dinks, you will have a pretty good idea about how to fish a jig.

i've got a 7'9 mh crank rod by a company out of florida, that you can buy new for $60. i don't deep crank much, so i didn't want to spend much money on that setup. it's a got a good mod bend, not too stiff, and balances well with a <6oz reel. the deepest i've thrown with it so far is a dt16, and it had no problems with that bait.

i tried it 1 time with an old daiwa tds crankin rod, and a squarebill almost rattled my teeth out!! i could see using braid with a flat/narrow wobble crank or trap, but anything with a wide wobble is highly amplified.

don't get me wrong, i love fishing plastics, but jigs are just so much easier. ok, occasionally you'll have to fix the trailer or put another on, but generally it's just throw the fish back and instantly make another pitch. i probably fish a jig with a finesse-type skirt 85-90% of the time, so i feel like i get a lot more jig bites than i do with a full skirt. i don't tournament fish, so i love me some dinks!!

i pretty much only use 3/8, so i've got 8-10 of those. i did just recently pick up some 5/16 just to have something a tad lighter. i'm not like most folks that are equipped for any situation, i pretty much fish the same places all the time(all wood no grass), so i just carry the stuff i know i'll use thru the day.

this was my problem with the original steez. i loved the way they felt in hand, and the fact that they were just so light, but they always felt labored (for lack of a better word) when fishing moving baits like spinnerbaits & cranks.

the old daiwa tdz 100m was about the perfect speed for spinnerbaits, as well as shallow-mid cranks for me. the "new & improved" got the best of me and i sold them to get the 1st gen steez. after fishing with the steez for a few months, i figured out i really didn't like those reels for cranking baits.

i only have the sv, which i just got this week. it's pretty amazing with light baits, but squarebills are generally heavy enough you can cast them with anything. the reel is very comfortable in the hand. my vote would be for the ct, unless you plan on using it for more finesse stuff as well.

just from my experience with the memphis store, they seem more worried about the family experience than the fishing side of things. there's no telling how much money they put into the pyramid.

i've tried to find a fast sinking braid, but none have really done it for me. i like the sink rate of fc and feel like i keep in better contact with the lure. braid leaves me with a dead feeling on slack line. i'm sure if i fished a little faster i could cure some of that, but it just doesn't seem to be the way i fish

i've got the cl 2.0, but haven't got to use it yet. i can tell you that it feels solid like the 1st gen cl. i have the 8:1 and it doesn't have that grindy feel like the black cl 7:1 had.

i've tried to get on board witht the braid/leader deal, but i'm just not comfortable with it. i may not be fishing fast enough to keep slack out of my line. i saw a youtube video with shaw grigsby where he was saying he's using probably a 25'-30' leader on his spinning rigs. is anybody else doing this, and are you having any problems with it?

i do like the faster reels for taking up line jigs/plastics, but i don't like them for moving baits. seems like a lot of folks are using 7:1 for spinnerbaits & shallow cranks, i just don't like fishing them that fast. if a reel has an ipt of around 25", it seems to work better for me on those lures. when you get up in the 28" range, it's just too much pull for me.

i completely agree with this. for bottom contact baits, the reel is just for taking up line. put a $100 reel on a $300 dollar rod. for moving baits, reverse that

catching fish builds confidence in techniques. if you know there is fish there, it's just a matter of fishing a certain lure until you get bit. once you do, you can figure out how you were fishing it, and then just add that to your list of tricks. option anxiety can get the best of you also. when you read articles, or watch videos of pros talking about this technique or that one, you want to try it out also. next thing you know, you need a 21' boat to haul all that gear!! chose your gear based on the waters you fish. i only use 2 colors for plastics & jigs, and 2-3 for moving baits, because i know these colors catch fish. i use black/blue or green pumpkin for plastics/jigs, and something shad, something with some chartreuse (bream), or something with some red in it to mimic a craw, for moving baits. generally you'll know what to throw by water clarity, but season can play a part in it also. i would also say buy gear for the waters you fish. the places i fish are all wood cover. you might occasionally see a patch of grass, but generally there is none. i don't own an extra heavy flip stick or a frog rod. those are not techniques that i need to use, so i don't set up for them. i don't fish tournaments, so i don't have to have every tool available to me to make a living.

they changed the frame of the reel. i have the carbonlite 2.0 and it's definitely a smaller reel than the gold carbonlite & pro qualifier tournaments i have. i haven't had any problems with the older cl/pqt. granted i haven't fished them as hard as some probably would. i haven't used a tatula at all, but i have no doubts they are fine reels.

happy to see brent ehrler in the lead. that guy is a fine fisherman. nothing against the guys that have already won a classic, but it would be so great for someone that has never won it on both a professional & emotional level. ike, i can't really slam him because my mouth can be something my mother's not proud of, but i'm also not in a position that i need to watch it.

no, and i check the mailbox everyday!!! i think we make too much fuss about what gear is best. all reputable companies these days makes good gear, the internet has made sure of that. it's more about what feels right to us. congrats on finding a new toy. i love getting new gear to play with!