georgiaken

It's kind of both...it's flexible, so you can shape it...

The snow in Philly certainly sucks!

When casting with my Quantum PT Reels, the magnetic bail will often times swing around and close on the cast, the line will snap, and you get to watch $3.00-$15.00 fly across the water. This often happens if you try to cast "too hard" or you don't use perfect form or if they are greased just a little too much (so that they feel buttery when reeling). Several of my friends have experienced this with the magnetic bails as well. But I love that the bails are titanium...you can bend them back into place if they get crushed.

I will be ordering one this week. A few of my buddies have them and they love them. I'm getting the 101#, US2, i pilot.

I've only had one season of cold water smallie fishing, but we had success with the small version of Cabin Creek spider jigs, and really small finesse tubes (1.5 to 2.5 inches). I have heard that the hair jig is very productive, and smaller leech type lures work well, but I've never used either. Like everyone else said...find the deeper pools and fish slow...real slow. Use the lightest line you can get away with and the lightest tube jig you can stand. A well balanced rod helps you out a lot as well. I tend to use braid, with a fluoro leader for increased sensitivity.

The Rat-L-Trap in Diamond Dust does quite well on one of the rivers I fish...I guess it imitates shad. The Red Eyes are also very productive.

Cabin Creek spider jigs and tubes.

Yup, GeorgiaKen, but in Philly...it's a long story, but my wife's from Georgia and I'll be moving there within a year or two... I've been fishing for a little over a year, but I got it bad...my buddy took me smallmouth fishing during my bachelor party/camping trip. I've been fishing ever since. I own a Ranger Cherokee 116 with a 90/65 (recently bought). My previous rig was a 14ft Lowe Roughneck with a 20hp Merc on it. 2010 was incredible! It was my first year fishing, but the PBs were real nice... Migrating River Striper 31" and I caught a tagged striper (hat and certificate) Largemouth 22 inches Smallmouth 19 inches Walleye 27 inches Chain pickeral 22 inches Yellow perch 2 lbs Bluegill 8 inches I even hooked into a tiger musky while bass fishing. When he got back to the boat, I just looked at him, like, so what am I supposed to do with him? After about 15-30 seconds of doing nothing, he thrashed enough to break the line...I figured, by the time I get my grips, he'll be gone anyway... So, 2010 was incredible...had a great newbie year...I'm real pumped! I spend at least 20-30 hours fishing a week between late Febraury and November. I spend about that much time reading and watching videos on the internet as well. I try and learn as much as I possibly can... I have Kistler Helium II rods and Quantum PT Tour reels...I kind of got hooked on those two brands. Hopefully I can learn a lot here and contribute some too...