dwtaylor

There have been reports of 10lb smallies sampled in Chequamegon Bay near Ashland, WI. However, I know of people catching 10lb bass in southeast Iowa quite regularly this spring. I am going to be Doubting Thomas on this one and say that it will be nearly impossible to do within a reasonable driving distance. That is why I am saving my pennies for a trip down to Falcon Lake next March for spring break (and possibly South Padre too).

I like to use the grubs as swim jigs trailers too, but sometimes a 4-5" grub on a 1/4 ounce jighead absolutely kills them. As far as colors go, smoke is a really good color for baitfish imitations. As far as a floating worm, try the strike king elaztech worms. Their tail sticks straight up on a jighead, no matter what. However, keep the worms in their original package because the elaztech has a tendency to disintegrate when mixed with normal plastic baits. Also, they are very hard to get on screwlock jigheads too. However, I usually buy the shakey heads molded from a do-it mold made by a guy I know. They seem to work pretty well with each other, as I have caught plenty of fish on that combo.

Most all of the time I am using a 3/16th sinker. I see no need to go up heavier than 1/2 oz unless you are fishing heavy current as you will get a lot of snags and you will lose a lot of sinkers. However, 1/4th ounce is a pretty good all around size.

I have also had issues with their warranty. I had a rod break a couple years ago and they tried to make me pay half of the rods retail for a new one. The rod was not broken on a hard hookset or a car door. I took a closer look at the rod, and it had broken underneath the guide wraps on the rod (it was also a perfect perpendicular break to the length of the rod), a place that would be impossible for me to scratch. I kept really good care of the rod, never stepped on it, boat lifted fish, high sticked a fish, and I always stored it in a rod tube during travel or in its rod sock. They insisted it was my fault, and soon after trying to reason with them they discontinued the rod. This is truly the only rod that I had break without my fault, and with the customer service I had received, I will never by Kistler again or will I ever encourage someone to do so. Also, the stick was a magnesium ts and it was not very sensitive at all compared to an allstar rod of same length and action for half the price. I would give the company a solid two thumbs down, but then again it is my own opinion and I know of others that beg to differ.

Personally, I would look at buying a used reel here on the flea market forum. You can find reels that normally retail much more at a good discount. For the money, I believe a used Curado B would be your best bet. People still swear by them today. Also, keep a look out for those citica E reels too, they are great reels for the money. PS...I am a revo guy myself, but my collection does include a couple curado e, a curado b, and a citica e.

I would make sure that your line is tight when setting the hook and fighting the fish. Sometimes when a fish hits a bait hard, it puts slack in the line and when you set, you only remove the slack. I had a big problem with landing fish this summer because of this. I would also lose fish while fighting them because of a little slack in the line. Try to learn to reel set jigs, it will help you land those fish.

Some of my bigger bass have come off of ultralight rods while fishing for bluegill or crappie. It is very difficult to reel fish in with 2-4 lb line (whatever is left over from ice season) but it can be done. My biggest on an ultralight is somewhere around 5 lbs caught on a crappie jig with a bit of a crawler on it. Its huge stress reliever fighting a smallie on ultralights too. The sound of a screaming drag always brings a smile to my face!

I am for sure getting the blackfin frames, but I am kind of confused about lens color. I am primarily using these for sight fishing, and I want an amber lens for that. I have noticed that the green mirror is an amber base with a green mirror finish and offered in the 580G, while the amber is only offered up to 580P. Should I go with the green mirror with the 580G's or maybe look at the copper 580G's? Thanks! Sorry admins if I put this in the wrong forum. I have no idea where it would fit.

I totally argue the point here that fish are not line shy by tying straight braid. After taking a summer worth of statistics, I found that I would get more bites with a lure tied to fluorocarbon. I have experimented with the leaders and I like them for the most part. I, however, would not recommend nanofil. That stuff slips so easily that I don't think its worth the extra casting distance and manageability. I will spool up with powerpro or spiderwire and tie 7ft leaders from now on. The braid will last longer on a reel and won't develop memory like straight fluoro will. Also, 50lb braid is tough to break, so adding a lighter leader helps save your rods and reels for another day.

+1 on Ashland, WI. There are some absolute MONSTERS in there. The Wisconsin DNR has claimed that samples of 10 lb smallies have been seen. . I would like to go to Falcon sometime myself, my grandparents winter down in that area so I could combine it in a trip down there sometime. Maybe during spring break...

I don't see any problem with making a "how to make it" video, as it is granted in our Constitution (1st Amendment). I do understand why they are doing it, but it is kind of like kleenex. Everyone uses the term incorrectly, but no one really cares. If I were to make a how to make it video and named the title "how to make a castable umbrella rig" and they (Manns) thought it was against their copyright and threatened me in a lawsuit, couldn't I sue them? I mean if they did not have a copyright on castable umbrella rig, they do no own rights to the name, so I would be good right?

I do this technique a lot during the summer. I fish a really clear lake around here and the longer I can keep a bait still and in their face, sometimes the better. I use 3/8-1/2 oz casting sinkers because I snag them a lot and drop shot sinkers are too expensive sometimes. I personally dictate my hook style on the bait. If it is a straight/curltail worm, I use a straight shanked offset hook, much like the trokar hd offset hook. If I am using a thicker bait like a tube, I will use a wide gap offset hook. Big worms are absolutely deadly with this technique. I really want to try the new YUM F2 Mightee Worm for it this summer. It looks like a great bait.

Eakins jigs. I found them for sale at wal mart for $1.50 for two jigs and I don't think I will use another. Quite literally I probably won't use another because I bought out all of the local wal marts here in central Iowa and I have about 3 sacks full. I like to use a zoom superchunk jr or crazy legs chigger craws as trailers. I like netbait trailers too because of the colors, but I find that they tear way too easily. Especially the pincers.

Here are the two color selections at JAX. I don't know how long they are, but they weigh 1/4 oz. The price on them is $4.95 and only the two colors, silver and gold, are in stock.

Jax outdoor gear here in Ames, IA has them. It is were I work. I could get pictures and prices to you, and maybe I could ship them to you. I couldn't tell you what colors we have, but I know I have seen them. I will try to post the pictures of them after I get off tonight.

I would go with the veritas as well. The mojo series of rods are way too tip heavy for my preference, and actually the 6'6" mh model they have was more tip heavy than the 7'6" mh veritas I now own. I am making the slow transition to making nearly all of my rods veritas rods. For 100 bucks, you can't beat them.

X2 on the Strike King elaztech finesse worm. I also use 4.5" roboworms too, but they do not last long...unfortunately. Two of my favorite drop shot baits are a 4" wacky rigged senko and a YUM 2.5" crawbug. Any of these plastics are great on a drop shot, and I guarantee you will catch fish on them. Strike King colors: green pumpkin, dirt, watermelon seed roboworms: morning dawn, aarons magic, oxblood red flake senko: white with silver flake, green pumpkin black flake, watermelon red flake. crawbug: crawdad, green pumpkin, watermelon red flake, pumpkinseed

If you are talking about the wapsi river in Iowa, I would use a 1/8 oz ball jighead with either a live craw or a yum crawbug. Most local walmarts carry a yum crawbug kit. Another good bait is a senko type bait cut in half and threaded on the same jighead. The In-Fisherman guys call it the "Ned Rig." Also, a #5 gold/black back original floating rapala on 6 lb test is always fun. They will both catch walleyes and catfish too. Here in Ames, the Skunk River smallies love a #2 mepps spinner with an orange blade. They also like a small white grub on a pink jighead (yes, the pink jighead gets more bites....trust me).

How long do bearings require to soak in acetone? Also, do I need the tools shown in baluga's post? Thank you guys so much. This place is always so very helpful.

What do you guys use for cleaning/flushing out bearings and what not on reels? I have heard of people using acetone, but I kind of want some others' opinions about what they use before I try it myself.

This is actually a pretty common problem with these reels. I first noticed it when I spooled it up with line and started practicing, so it must have came like that. All of the reels that my buddies got too were doing the same thing. I have just learned from feel not to let the line go when the clutch doesn't fully release. Actually, right now it isn't as bad as it used to be. Although, I seem to pick up my revo flipping stick more than the aggrest one.

I bought one in the spring of 2010 and I only bought it because our college fishing team had a good deal with daiwa. I didn't pay half of what it normally runs, and it is only worth half. It makes a really bad grinding noise every 30 casts or so due to the thumb-bar not totally engaging itself. I just use it as a pitching and flipping reel, but I would also throw frogs with it. I did have a couple times where on the hookset, the drag let out some line. The drag was fully winched down, yet it would still slip. However, I like the way the reel feels in my hand and I rarely use it for anything other than close quarters bassin, so I will continue to use it. I had originally bought the reel because it was so fast, as it does reduce the number of handle turns per cast. I do want to upgrade the drag, although it may not be necessary. Overall: 6.5/10....8/10 at the price I paid.

I have heard of knot slippage with it, but I have also heard that nanofil is WAY worse with that. A double palomar, from what I have heard, is recommended. I actually tie a little overhand knot after the palomar on all of my braid. This way, if the knot does slip, it only slips to that overhand knot. It takes some practice to get the knot to cinch down where you want it, but It really helps, especially with small diameter braids (<15lb).

These are pretty sweet. A buddy of mine uses them in the treestand to film some hunts, and he has some pretty sweet footage of deer walking through. Its not quite the rut here in Iowa yet, but with this colder weather coming through, they are sure moving. The lenses aren't really the best IMO. Some people do remove the lenses and put them on top of your existing shades. That looks pretty goofy though.

I completely agree. I had a buddy of mine and me fish for walleye one day on a really clear lake vertical jigging. One of the rods had 10 lb power pro and one had 6 lb seaguar invisx. In our experiment, we exchanged rods every 5 minutes when we were on fish. Both lines had the same exact rig on, and the fluorocarbon combo caught more fish. In total, the braid rod caught 5 fish and the fluoro rod caught 23 fish. Water visibility was around 10-12 feet deep.