Bluebasser86

It's still traveling in a straight line with very little movement to activate the rattles.

3/8oz black or red black with black skirt Cavitron. 3/8 or 1/2 oz Crock-O-Gator Head Knocker. Cavitron Crock-o-Gator

The hooks on my 110's were good to go out of the box. They're beefed up and sharp like the newer hooks on the 130's are.

It's even more fun out of a real fishing kayak. I've fishing out of one of those wobbly little sit inside yaks, spent more time worrying about tipping than I did fishing. Hooksets and fighting fish are both way different in a kayak too. Took some getting use to for me. You ever want to borrow mine you're welcome to it. It's great for the little lakes that aren't really worth hauling the boat to.

I switch the stock hooks on the 1.0 out to a short shank EWG Gamakatsu treble and lose very few fish on them. I fish mine on a 6' 8" M/F spinning rod with 8lb fluorocarbon.

I have had a Cerros for a few years now and it's been doing well for me. Haven't tried the EVX, but if I had 40% off any of their rods, I'd go with the TCS or Helios.

I've not found color to matter much, but I fish bone a lot because I have confidence in it. It works well in all 3 sizes. The 90 is 3/8oz, I can cast it a mile on the MH/F rod I fish them on. The 110 handles better in the wind or choppy conditions. All 3 sizes catch all sizes of fish. I caught probably a dozen fish on a 130 last Thursday and not a single one was over 2 pounds. Then the last guide trip I had the 2 guys I took caught several smallmouth and largemouth from 3-4 pounds on the 90 size.

You can wacky rig almost anything. I've wacky rigged lizards and brush hogs to get a big profile and slow sink, or because I was bank fishing and had nothing else, it still worked though. I've fished the Bottom Hopper Jr as a wacky rigged dropshot bait quite a few times and caught fish with it.

Even if it is a rattling version, they're a straight retrieve bait that doesn't really move enough to make the rattles do anything. I have one that I know is a rattling version in the 130 size. The only time I ever hear the rattles is when a fish is shaking it. I wouldn't worry about it either way.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. FWIW, the website doesn't seem to work either.

Are you wanting to stick to the soft plastic baits or are you wanting to get into the hard baits as well? Do you have a price range? A lot of swimbait guys are going to tell you to lose the braid and go with a good fluorocarbon or copolymer. I fish my swimbaits on 20-25 pound P-line CXX. With braid, it's not a matter of if you cast a big bait off, but when.

Yep, only time I've ever had any luck getting into a place is when I have my sidekick along with me.

I'll usually stroll through looking for clearance stuff. Bought about 2 dozen bags of Strike King Rodents for $2 a bag this winter doing that.

They can't always be big ones. Dinks are better than a skunk!

That's a really nice pickerel!

I own the same rod, mainly because it was marked all the way down to $80 at Scheel's. Didn't need it, but couldn't pass up on it for that price.

Welcome and thank you for your service!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Ideally, I don't fish one at all. I fish them mainly around docks and large rocks. They fall down into the cracks and the rocks and the zebra mussels do the rest. I'm just messing with you though. I know it's effective in areas a DS works well, just hasn't worked out well for me.

I always fish them on a keel weighted hook and just select the weight according to the depth and cover I'm fishing. 1/8 or 1/4 ounce would be a good choice in water that shallow.

I'd step up to braid or 15lb mono/flouro/copoly whatever you prefer. I normally fish them through and around grass, so I always choose braid.

My wife used to complain about her hands hurting from fishing too long (she has very small hands and felt she had to grip the rod very tightly or risk losing it). I found an Avid Pearl and she loved it. Lightweight, fit her hands well. and the fact that it was pink didn't hurt. http://stcroixrods.com/products/freshwater/avid-pearl Several good suggestions on reels already. If money isn't a concern, the Helios Air would be my choice (or any of the Helios reels for that matter). I spent the money and bought my wife a really nice rod and reel combo so she'd enjoy using it when she does get to go. Works out for both of us because she has fun and wants to go more often, which means I get to go more often, a win-win

Does the grass grow all the way to the surface? If not, a spinnerbait or bladed jig would be a good option. In dirty water, I'll usually go with dark colored plastics like solid black, black and blue, or junebug.