bigbassctchr101

I would think there would be different materials that could perform the same function but with better weight reduction. But with a very non pourous material, the sensitivity would be heightened. Kind of the reason why flourocarbon transmits the bottom contour and bites better than mono, and braid does it better than flouro. I wouldn't buy one, but I would like to try one. I think it has good potential to work well, but surely there are better things to use.

As for retrieve styles...I rarely ever fish a jitterbug fast enough for me to hear it. I like the sound only because it tells me i'm going to fast lol I throw the muskie jitterbug for bass a lot. If I end up getting a hit going fast, I usualy switch to a buzzbait and work it as slow as possible... Mind you this is mostly at night. I know the baits work with the faster retrieve but its a confidence factor that has worked out extremely well for me thus far. EDIT: Oops, bigbassctchr101 you beat me to some points on your first sentence...LOL...Sorry bud...We must have posted within seconds of each other. No worries, I saw at the bottom that two forum members were reading the post, I figured that answer would probably be number one on the list lol

I would have started with a faster, slower, stop-n-go, retreive pattern first. There are many factors that could have changed that could have turned them off. For example, here in Tennessee these factors may be. Current or no current generation. Barometric pressure. Water temp. Water clarity. Bait abundance. Many many more including...the fish just flat out aint interested. I guess there is no science to some things. Once I tried about 15-20 casts of different retrieve styles, i would probably start working my way down the water column. A fluke or senko first. Maybe a spinnerbait or shallow crankbait as well. Then switch to a light weight texas rig. You really just have to learn to listen what the fish are telling you.

I have several different cranking combos. 4600c3 with a 7-10 rod,Quantum Energy 5.1:1 with 7-10 rod, Pflueger Trion 5.2:1 with a 7-6 rod, Pflueger Trion 6.3:1 with a 7-2 rod, Older model Citica with a 7 rod, Pflueger Summit WLP 7.1:1 with 7 rod. I use the the 6.3 and 7.1 for traps and some shallow cranks and the citica for squarebills-mid diving baits. I used to do very well cranking with a higher speed reel, but it started taking a toll on my wrists after cranking all day. It was a very successfull way of getting a reaction bite however. I still try it from time to time, but its a little to much anymore.

I fish deep crankbaits a lot. I use them in wood and a lot of rocks. So I am constantly having to re-tie. I may have to cut off a yard or more each time. Within one day, I may lose 20yds of line. If I am using a reel that only holds 110yds of 12test,that would shortly dwindle away on my casting distance. A fuller spool will cast much farther than one thats not full. If you are spooling your reel in a day or so after cutting away frayed line you'd be happy with the bigger spool. If you don't bang up against cover and have to retie often and your not fishing big 1 ounce plugs and casting long distances, it would probably benefit you to have a smaller spool and just save yourself on the weight of the reel.

I use these type of stinger hooks: http://www.***.com/Gamakatsu_G-Stinger_Hook_4pk/descpage-GSH.html I don't fish a senko much, but they work on 10.5-15" inch worms when I feel like they are only taking the back end of the bait. It doesn't effect the action much at all. But, I realized how easy this could be and started making my own with braid and size 2 or 4 hooks. If gets simple enough to do, worth it if your in a tournament, and if you deep hook the fish you can simply cut it off.

I use a 5/0 on most of the plastics I fish. Brush hogs, worms over 7inches, flukes, frogs, etc... And most of my jigs have a 5/0 hook in them as well. We don't have much stuff to punch through over here, but my bullet sinkers are usually 1/4-1/2. I would fish any sizes in that range with a 5/0 hook. Smaller baits like, creature baits, craws, baby brush hogs, etc I throw 3/0-4/0 hook and would not mind a bit to go 1/8-3/8 bullet on anything like this. Thats just my personaly preference because it hooks out just fine for me.

I think he's referring to a bait caster reel.

Same for me as Goose said. We used to shiner fish under a balloon in Florida and when we would run out of shiners we would catch bluegill and start using them. Usually worked just as good. I've caught several up here in Tennessee doing this too. Usually in farm ponds. You'd be very suprised how small of a bass will eat, not such a small bluegill. I've caught several 5+ on it, but i've also caught fish that may not have hit 2lbs. I usually hook them in the back side on either side of the dorsal fin (I used to do this alot when I would catfish with bluegill) When rockfishing I would go between the eyes or thru the lips. Bass just depends on how long I am wanting to fish. I rarely do it anymore, because I fish so many tournaments now.

I agree with BobP. You could also just troll out your line like you'd do with a spinning reel. Cut off the bait, walk out or troll behind the boat about 50-60yrds then reel it back in with your fingers pinching the line. This will allow whatever twist is in the line to run all the way out. Mix that with some line conditioner and you should be good to go for a least a day or so?

I've tried 2 rattle traps before...I'd love to figure out how to make that rig work lol But with soft plastics, I use a double 10" worm a lot. Just like the double fluke. I place the sinker on first then the swivel (both ways work, but when fishing rocky stuff it keeps both under control a little better) Have also done this with a c-rig with a jig as the sinker. Floating worm/fluke, 5 inch grub to a swimbait both on mainline. Some have worked better than others.

I agree, I thought the jig/worm and the senko/toad were both not whippy rods. In fact, i thought they were extemely stiff and quite heavy. The magnum crank was very whippy IMO. I still use the jig/worm, but I use it for c-rigging because I didn't think it had enough sensitivity and was too heavy for most of my jig fishing.

Is there a small baitcaster that would easily accept 6 or 8lb diam line? I do not like spinning reels. I'd like to have something that could accurately pitch a shaky head, or throw a small fluke, and a float-n-fly in winter.

I personally do like a stout rod for spinnerbaits so I can set the hook and horse the fish out of cover. So, in my opinion its a good rod for that. It may be a little light for heavy frog fishing, but it can be done if its all you have. I wouldn't mind a bit the throw any shallow or med depth crank on it either. I don't put as much money in my rods for moving baits (topwaters,s-baits,squarebills-mid divers, etc.) because I don't personally feel that I need to feel every tick of grass in the places I fish so sensitivity is not as much as a factor. I think you have a good set up that I would keep for a good while. When you can I would buy a more sensitive rod for t-rigs and jigs and other types of baits where sensitivity is most important. I'm not sure how much quality the rod is made with, so I would just keep an eye on my braid and guides to see if the guides don't get grooves and start fraying the line. The reel is a great reel. I look at it as a heavier revo. I've got 3 that I swap out from time to time and they can cast long, handle braid, decent drag, and can take abuse.

You can also tie directly to the spool by threading the braid line through the ported holes in the spool (if your spool has them) and tie a know this way before spooling up. With using 17lb powerpro your best bet would be to save some money and use a backing so you could spool up two reels instead of only one. I rarely use braid anymore, but I would usually tie directly to the spool when using 50-65lb braid.

I use the Spro poppin frog when I want a more aggressive action and the tru tungsten when I want more settle or more of a walk.

I haven't used the Veritas. But I would rate the carrot stick above the skeet reese in action, sensitivity, and weight. So, if I was making the decision it would be between the Veritas and Carrot Sticks. I have a 6'9", 7', and 7'3" carrot stick and my buddy does have a Veritas. He usually uses one of my CS over it for bottom contact baits, but not for any other techniques. Several pros use the Veritas so it can't be a bad choice. But, several also use skeets line, I've had 3 and sold 3 after using them. They may not be bad, but they do not fit me. Hope this helps you a little bit.

I am not sure if its called spiral or not. But I use tire weights from a local tire dealer. They usually just throw the bad ones away so they come free by the bucket loads to me. They are usually mixed in with a couple different metals as I understand...Maybe thats where the spiral comes into play? Its not pure lead, but works great.

Most people talk about the surface temp. Which really don't mean a whole lot. It could be 85 on top and 78 5ft down. The transducers or temp gauges usually don't go but 2-3ft in the water which is where the temps are usually coming from. An accurate temp reading would be at the depth the fish are holding. After 70 degrees DO, pH, thermoclines, and other factors usually matter more than the tempature.

Bass can see color anytime there is enough light to be reflected to produce a color. Colors are made by the absorbtion and reflection of light off a surface. But, once it gets dark, light is still around but there is not as much of it to reflect certain wavelengths. So, thats when a silhouette comes into play. A black or dark bait will silhouette itself against the brighter (lighter) sky/water. The silhouette has nothing to do with color, it is not reflecting anything, but it is showing up as negative space against a lighter backdrop. That is why fish can "see" a darker lure better on dark nights. The lateral lines, smell, and hearing all also play a huge part in a bass's ability to feed. Probably more so than sight when its dark. Check out this site... http://www.bassfishingandcatching.com/bass-fish.html A lot of good info on there for a brief but thourough explanation. I graduated as a fisheries biologist in 09, knowing how a bass behaves and reacts and why it does the things they do have really helped my fishing.

In my experiences the reel performs best with the stated pound test and yardage. But, I think that is just a starting point. If a reel holds 120 yrds of 14# test, it may only hold 80yrds of 17# or 20# test and your reel may still perform just as great. I just look at it as a starting point. Because, now you know that if you need 120yds, you need to fill it up with 14# or whatever the case may be. You can compensate one way or another based off that.

The microguides actually do better than other rods in the winter. The small top eye wicks away the rest of the water from the other guides. SO, the only eye that freezes up is the first one. I do a lot of below freezing fishing here in winter, and the Duckett rod really suprised me. The eyes are going to freeze up anyway... with a micro guide at least its only the top eye, and all you have to do is dip it into the water and shake it around!

I agree. Great info. I'll have this in, in printed form, in each season section of my fishing log!

Its hard to beat some of the prices in the flea market too. I've almost quit buying online except from the flea market posts. You come across some great deals and you help out a fellow fisherman that may want the money for several other good reasons. I've got 5 or 6 pro qualifier reels and have never paid over $50 for any of them. Same holds true with just about anything else if your patient enough to wait until what your looking for comes around. *** will match any online deal you can find on other websites too. So, if your a bargain hunter that can really help out.

They may not be pretty...But I'm not in it for the looks when it comes to most of my rods/reels. Actually, my duckett has a carbonlite reel on it. You wanna talk about one ugly combo, thats it. But it feels awesome! It may only catch fish because they wanna come up and laugh, but with that kind of lightness and sensitivity, I will fish it and have them laugh at me all day.