hatrix

I am a huge fan on red eye shads. I have a few of them that are now "ghost" color they have caught so many fish. Also don't overlook the sebile flat shad. It has a heavy vibration with no rattles and just plain catches fish for me and does it well. I also use braid and a M/H and generally target the tops of grass. If I can I will yo-yo it or dragging it can also be super deadly if its possible where your fishing.

I know everyone has there opinions on baits to buy and what works for them and that is fine. In my experience lots of ponds are loaded with weeds and what not and that greatly limits what you can use unless you are adept at fishing say square bills or traps in weeds. Most likely you would have to order there but pick up some Huddleston grass minnows or weedless shads. Either will work great for you. The minnows probably get more bites but shads probably catch bigger fish on average. They also sell a pflueger president spinning combo at wal-mart for like $80 I think. The reel is a super solid reel that I would still put to use long after I upgraded to a better rod. There is quite a few people on here I am sure who use a president spinning reel with no issues.

I wouldn't use a toothpick even if I had no bobber stops. You can use strands of old skit to peg a weight. Run a piece of line twice through your sinker then put some stands of the skirt through the loop end of the line you just ran and pull it back through. Trim the ends of the skirt down and your ready to rock.

When you are trying to cast for distance do most of you usually do a over head cast? I rarely cast that way my self and would say almost every cast I make is some form of roll cast. It is basically just how I cast and I don't event think about it. Even if I do a over head cast or load my rod up way back to the side of me and let it rip they all achieve the same as a good and fast roll cast. I said in another topic about the same thing I can spool a reel full of 65# braid with things like spooks and traps. I'm not sure but it is probably 50 yards maybe. You ever try and work a spook back on a 50 yard cast? Half way through you think we'll I have had enough of that and just reel the thing in....

I don't know how much line a full reel of 65# braid equals but I can spool a lews no problem depending on what I'm throwing. I use 1 brake and usually no mags on all my reels. Just maybe a little thumb at the start of the cast and I usually never have to touch it again until it hits the water. The rod makes a big difference on casting difference to me.

I don't think it matters very much in reality on what you use. I have wrecked some fish using like $40-50 spinning combos from places like wal-mart and stuff. While at the same time the people I am fishing with are using combos using 4-5x the cost of what I'm using. In the end I think it comes down to experience and time on the water. The advantage of having a nice rod is being able to tell what your lure is bumping into and you get a little more in tune with that bait. I think experience is like 95% of it and gear only plays a small factor. You can have the most sensitive rod in the world and rip a bait on braided line out of the weeds while a fish come from behind and knocks even more slack in your line. You will probably never feel that bite. You just have to know.

The only lines I really use a power pro and yo-zuri. It depends on the application but the braid gets the most action. Usually with a leader on the braid 6' or longer depending on the rod. You should get many re ties before you need a new leader.

I think you can tell by the sharpness of the teeth. Ones that tend to eat lots of crayfish have somewhat duller teeth from the shells and rocks. Fish I know that are eating tons of frogs always seem to have razors and can tear your thumb up in just a couple fish.

Well like others said there is no substitute for time on the water but reading about tips and techniques to try on the water can help you out. I don't know where you fish like public lakes from the bank or bigger bodies of water and also how many fish you have ever caught or bites you have even had but... I would say see if you can find a private pond to fish at. Usually you can catch quite a few fish from places like that because they are hardly fished if ever and are loaded with fish. That will really boost your confidence and get you a great feel for different baits and what different bites feel like. If you have rarely catch fish or have not caught many at all fishing mediocre public lakes or big water from the shore. It can really be some what depressing and lower your morale. If you get permission to fish a private pond and catch like 30 in a day I guarantee you will be back and have total confidence in your abilities. I told a buddie of mine the same thing last year as it was his first year. He really wanted to "fish" and not just soak a worm on the bottom or under a bobber. He was fishing public lakes from the shore and doing it solo and basically getting skunked every time. I told him to find ponds and he started catching fish while honing his skills and it was a total game changer. That is my advice for everyone who is very new to fishing with not many fish or experience under their belt.

X2

I really love the way my shimano rods feel and think the up locking seat could be something all rods might adopt one day. Well I think they should any ways. I was slightly skeptical initially but they have proven them self to work flawlessly for me.

No one has improvements for rods? Ok well... I would like up locking reel seats like on shimano rods and no exposed threads EVER. As for spinning I would like to see more or bigger front corks. I don't split my grip and lots of rods I would be interested in have tiny grips that don't fit my hand or almost none at all.

Sega bass is not as much fun with out the rod. Using a controller ruins it after you have played it with the rod. You can probably find a dream cast and rod for cheap. I still have my dream cast somewhere from when I was younger. Maybe I should look for it one day.

The speed spools do not have dual breaking unless you really don't care about that. Also the BB1 have only centrifugal breaking and no magnetic. For my self I would buy at least a tournament speed spool or better. I have 4 lews reels but currently do not have a BB1 yet as it is still winter. In about a month or so I will definitely be ordering one.

I use them sometimes because they are like the only swimbait Walmart sells. I cut off the heads and use them on swim jigs or chatter baits. They are ok in a pinch.

I pretty much always fish the double rig any more. As for me though it is always weightless and if I need some weight I use a heavier gage hook. I don't use a set cadence but actually watch the bait and that determines when and how I twitch it.

Like a mini c-rig on a spinning rod. You can use a split shot or some kind of really light weight pegged anywhere from like 12-18". I caught tons and tons of fish this summer using this technique. Days where it was like crazy hot out and you couldn't buy a bite this just killed them. It's super light also and will usually rest on top of submergent vegetation and you can slowly drag it and they come up and nail it or start running off with it. I forgot I like a flipping hook or something with out the 45 degree bend after the eye because that can kind of hang of grass and such.

Any more a good majority of my fishing is swimbaits. We don't have the biggest fish so I stick with smaller ones. Hiddlestons 6" weedless and regular versions, weedless shads and some times grass minnows. Although personally I think the shad catches bigger fish. Hollow bodies basstrix and shadalicious are ok. For jig heads big hammers are the deal 3" and 5". I almost forgot ospreys are great also for a big boot tail.

Well I think I might pick up this rod. It seems like such a universal workhorse and is capable of many different techniques. On a side note I have also been eyeballing the iRODS. They seem pretty nice also and are very reasonably priced. There is a few in the line up I like. The rip rap special the punch rod and either the jr. Swimbait or the A-rig special.

I really like Shimano rods. I have a crucial and a convergence and they both have been really good to me. I am a big fan of the up locking reel seat and no threads. Shimano just doesn't make a rod that can handle the baits I want to use or I would gladly add another to my collection. The reviews on TW seem pretty good for the pinnacle rods and the price is fair. As for a reel I don't spend tons on those either. You can get great quality at a cheap price with lews.

I am looking to buy a new flipping/swimbait/A-rig rod. I would like to stay around the $175 range and the pinnacle line seems to stand out to me. I'm really looking at the 7'11" and the reccomended weights fit perfect with what I want it for being rated at 1/2-3 oz. I have looked at like every rod on TW and they either have to heavy of a minimum or to low of a maximum weight. Has anyone used any of these rods specifically the flipping ones? I don't have a place around me where I can go actually handle one so I am trying to get some feedback on this rod. If any one has any other suggestions on rods besides this one please let me know.

Get a pair of needle nose. They are a MUST for fishing any thing with trebles. As for tearing your thumb up grab the fish behind the head and not the mouth. Catch 30 lbers in a day and grab them all by the mouth and your thumb will be sorry.

I have a friend who uses creek chubs all the time on a UL. He Fishes them on just a circle hook and kills the bass and cats. Even if it dies from repeated casting the bass will still eat them. It doesn't seem like the same is really true for BG though at least from what I have noticed.

It was actually hair shy of 24". I have my rod marked so I can check length on the fly.. But it was just a guess on weight and I said 6 to be fair but it felt more like a 7.

So I grabbed a pack of these yesterday for the first time since I havent been really happy with what I have been using. Namely Cabelas buzz frogs and Rage Toads. I straight killed the fish the past 2 days on these things. It has been coolers in the 80's and mostly cloudly and the fish are just jumping on the hook for me. I caught quite a few nice ones around 4 or so but today I got a really nice one for around my area and figured I would share. Its not often you buy a brand new lure and pretty much instantly catch a "wall hanger" so that was kind of special. The picture isnt great and doesnt do much justice since I had to take it my self and the way im holding it but ill make a consertive guess since I had no scale with me and say 6lb but I would be willing to bet it was more like 7.