Bluebasser86

I mostly prefer longer rods, even for shoreline fishing ponds, but a 6' rod will work just fine for a lot of techniques.

I agree that it sounds like an otter to me. I've never had any luck fishing around them, and I've seen them wipe out one of the best ponds I've ever fished. 6 adult otters showed up at a 5 acre pond one spring. Pond was full of big bass and huge crappie. By the end of the summer, it was a chore to catch much of anything. Obviously not going to have that impact on a reservoir, but they're bad news for a small body of water. Very entertaining animals to watch though.

Welcome! A big fan of Pflueger myself.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Everytime I get on this thread.

I have a few at home if I can remember to take a picture. Might have one of it hanging in a fishes face somewhere. Mine are like the bottom one, but I haven't bought one in a couple years so it might not be the case anymore. I knew I had a picture but you can't tell a lot from it unless you can zoom in on it better than I can figure out how to.

Jon and I ventured out to Linn Valley for the first time yesterday. It was slow like I expected, but we had probably around 2 dozen fish with my green one being the largest.

Kind of a slow day with post cold front conditions but I did manage to catch one pretty nice one on a LC 78DD pointer.

I really like my Okuma, but they're not full handles. The Dobyn's Fury 795 is rated up to 5oz, but the one I have fishes 1-3oz baits really nice, I wouldn't go much over that though.

Man I'd be fishing if I hadn't been at work since midnight with 5 hours left in my shift

www.fishingskirts.com is where I get a majority of mine.

Shad don't change color just because the water is darker or clearer. I fish the Bandit version of Tennessee shad in stained water all the time and it works very well.

Had a couple chasing me around here in NE KS last week. I prefer swatting bugs over the cold though.

I just spooled up some of the 5.2 on a 25 size Supreme XT and it was extremely thin. I left about 1/4 spool of the 4lb mono I had on the reel for backing, expecting to fill the reel with about half the spool of flouro. I ended up with the entire 150 yards on that little reel and it was about the perfect amount of line. I got a chance to fish with the 5.2 a bit this week swimming a grub and it performed very nicely.

I've been fishing mine on a Hammer Rods 6' 9" H/F. I believe it was @smalljaw67 that suggested the rod, and I've been in love with it since I started fishing it. Not as heavy as I imagined a H/F rod being, and it has a more parabolic bend to it than I'd imagined (both traits he'd assured me the rod had). It's very light and sensitive, really a joy to fish with. I'm with DVT, I don't buy into the need to let fish inhale the bait. If a bass wants to eat it, they're going to eat it. It's funny the "need" for a slower rod for a bladed jig, but everyone still fishes a spinnerbait on a MH/F? Why can they catch a spinnerbait but not a bladed jig? Not saying that fishing a composite or glass rod is wrong, it just makes no sense to me. I've tried it, didn't like it and had a horrible hookup ratio. Changed back and it would take a lot for me to try them again.

Are you set on Shimano? Used to be all I'd buy, the last few years I switched over to Pfluegar and Okuma, no plans of changing back. For the same price, I'd take a good look at the Pfluegar Supreme XT. Nice thing about the name not carrying the weight that Shimano's does, you can find them on sale often. I paid less than $100 for all but 1 of mine.

Kalin's and Yamamoto. I use several colors, but smoke no flake is my favorite.

Havoc Pit Boss or Havoc Changeup.

RES

Bladed jigs are by far one of my favorite baits. I fish mine more like a squarebill than I do a spinnerbait though. I think the predominately shallow, stained water in Kansas just really sets up well for them. @BigSexy If you've only tried shad colors, I'd highly suggest branching out to some colors you haven't tried. I do very well on black and blue, bluegill, green pumpkin, and a couple colors I call T-rock, and Code Blue.

Football jigs, swing head with a 10" worm or beaver, 5XD or 6XD, shakyhead with a trick worm.

I'd be just fine if they'd knock a little off the price and give me a bait with just the hook hangers. I'll add my own rings and hooks myself and be happy doing it.

Welcome to the forum Jeff! I'd suggest starting here, Lots of good reports from the area lakes within an hour or so of you for the most part. In the immediate JOCO area is difficult unless you're just wanting to catch lots of fish. Big fish are extremely scarce (of course that goes for the entire state compared to what you might be used to coming from GA). Jump onto that KC area thread and follow along with our occasionally useful reports sprinkled among various inside jokes and pointless post and you'll be ready to catch fish here in no time