Bluebasser86

Don't know anything about the Lamiglass but the Okuma is a proven rod well under your limit.

It's maybe a touch harder but barely noticeable. There's no issue putting a hook back through the spot that it's been applied.

Take them off and get some Mend-It. You'll save tons of money every year if you go through many plastics.

I keep mine in the original pack so there's no guessing what size/brand/type hook I'm getting. I have all mine stored in the step to the front deck of my boat along with a couple other odds and ends like my JJ's and Megastrike.

Put in my order for a Curado 70 XG and a Scorpion 70 HG this morning Hoping the Scorpion gets here before the Classic but I know the Curado won't get here before then. Always wanted to own a Scorpion, excited to finally make it happen.

No they don't. I had to get a reel handle for mine after I stepped on it. They said they didn't have any parts for them yet but the lady I talked to did some extra legwork and found me one. It wasn't cheap, but a reel isn't much good without a handle. You might call them and talk to them and I bet they can get you one. I've had nothing but great experiences with their customer service.

Welcome! I'm about 20 minutes south of KC on the Kansas side. Lots of guys in the KC area that are very active here. We have one of the longest running active post on the forum and you're welcome to join in if you'd like. 261 pages, 6,500 replies and counting

Only $100 Sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what you want. It's easy to blow a bill on Keitechs, hooks, and jigheads. Try some of the regular Swing Impacts and the Fats in a couple different sizes and colors. Electric shad is my favorite color, but I have yet to find a color of them that I didn't like. You can fish the SIF's on a screwlock swimbait hook or a jighead, so you'll probably want some of each of those. Might want to try them on a Scrounger or fish head spin. I also really like the Zman MinnowZ and Diesel MinnowZ for something that will last much longer. Bad Shad, Smokey Shad, and Redbone have been good for me. If you feel like stepping into a little bigger bait, you might try a Savage Gear 3D Line Thru trout. You can stay with the 6" bait so you don't need specialized gear, and they're only $13 so you won't break the bank either, and they last for a long time.

Welcome!

Welcome!

I have one of the 50's, even 12" bass will attack it. One thing you get used to throwing big baits is the "There's no bass in here big enough to bite that", or "What are you fishing for? Sharks?!" First time I saw one of the rats in action, it caught the biggest bass I've ever seen come out of the lake by my house.

I've caught bass that were completely blind that were healthy otherwise. They're able to find food in water so dirty you can't see a chartreuse spinnerbait 2" below the surface. As long as they're handled properly, losing an eye isn't at all a death sentence for a fish.

It's a 35, sorry

You can do much better for around the same price. River2Sea S-Waver, Savage Gear Glide Swimmer/Shine Glide/line thru trout/3D trout, or the Spro BBZ1. All can be found for a couple dollars more to a few dollars less and are going to be much better options.

I like bladed jigs and jigs in dark colors fished slowly.

Buzzbait-stained to dirty water, usually with at least a little ripple, but not big waves. My main option when covering water and I also prefer it when targeting largemouths. Spooks-clear to stained water, flat calm to rolling waves. My preferred option when targeting smallmouth and spots. Poppers-clear to dirty water, calm to moderate waves. This is a target bait for me. I like to use them when fishing specific targets like stumps, laydowns, emergent weed edges, and docks. Prop baits-clear to dirty water, some ripple to moderate waves. I usually opt for a propbait when I feel like the fish are feeding heavily on bluegills. Also a target bait like a popper, but seems to attract larger fish. Buzzbaits work in the coldest water in my experience, but they all seem to be most effective in water above 55 degrees. Seasons doesn't matter to me.

Yep, all shad raps and shallow shad raps. The bottom left of the top picture appears to be a #5 in the crawdad color. I've caught more fish on that bait than I care to try to estimate. I'd keep them and fish them unless you just want to sell them.

My main retrieve with the Ned is the "swim-shake-glide". With that retrieve, the bait actually doesn't touch the bottom if everything goes as planned. Instead, it's fished anywhere from just below the surface, to just off the bottom. It's usually a very slow retrieve with pretty constant shaking and intermittent pauses to allow the bait to glide. The beginning of this video is probably the best example of my typical Ned rig retrieve. Bait is cast and allowed to sink to the depth I think it needs to be, then a slow, swim-shake-glide retrieve is utilized.

Night fishing one time when my buddy caught a little spot on a crankbait. Once in the boat we realized, it was never hooked, not by him anyways. His crankbait hook had actually gone through the loop of the leader of one of those cheap sneeled hooks that the fish had swallowed and either broke off or the person who caught it just cut their line. It was lucky for Jon and for the fish as the hook was easy to get out and it was released minus it's throat obstruction. The picture isn't any good but you can get the idea of what's going on.

I have a spare Supreme XT spool at home but pretty sure it's not the 25 size.

Are you going to try to break it out in the middle of the fight?? Talk about making it go from bad to worse.

For finesse jigs like Jrob posted the picture of, I use a 6' 10" MH/F with a 200E7 Curado and 12lb InvisX. For the Ned rigs like the OP is talking about I use a 6' 10" ML/XF spinning rod with a 30 size Supreme XT 24lb Gliss and a few feet of 8-10 pound leader. You can get light spinning rods for very cheap, and it doesn't take anything special to fish a Ned (Ned Kehde fishes his namesake rig on cheap Shakespeare rods and 40+ year old Mitchell spinning reels with the bail removed). Frugality is one of the trademarks of Midwest Finesse (Ned Rig), fishing.

Rapala likes to discontinue very popular and effective baits too (original wiggle wart, risto rap, fat rap). So chances are you'll have some good baits in the mix that the fish might not have seen for awhile.

I'm picking up a Dobyn's Fury 795 and a BPS Titanium 8 next week and preordering a Scorpion 70HG and Curado 70XG this week so don't feel bad.

I use mostly #8, #6, #4, and #2, with #6 and #4 being the most common. I use mainly Owner ST36 round bend trebles but also have quite a few Eagle Claw Fletcher Shryock signature series triple grip style trebles on my squarebills. I generally use the round bends for baits that fish like to slap at (topwater, jerkbaits, coldwater cranks), and the triple grip hooks for baits they like to inhale like squarebills and traps.