Pegwedge

I have this exact set up with 12 lb Yo-Zuri on it at the moment and I love it. It was also the first low profile baitcaster set up I've owned that I didn't backlash every other cast. The rod is pretty dang good for a $40 Walmart pole too. (Just make sure it's straight. When I bought mine it was the only one that was even close to being straight.) I can fish all day and not get tired. It's supposedly made for braid but I'm going to wait until I use up this spool of Yo-Zuri before I invest in some.

I literally just got done spooling up my first reel with 6 lb Elite. Just from the spooling process I can tell I'm going to love how limp it is. I've used Seige quite a bit in 8 and 10 lb on my spinning reels and like it too.

I do the ziplock freezer bags stuffed wth plastics in their original bags, thanks to Gene's video. I'm a bank fisherman so I can't carry a whole lot with me and I don't really have a ton of soft plastics to start with. I usually keep them sorted by type (craw, worm, lizard, etc) at home and then, when I get my stuff ready to go, I pick and choose what I want to take and put them in a zipper bag. That and a couple 4600s is all I can fit in my backpack and it's really all I need on my outings.

This was the only episode I saw on this lake because I kept forgetting to set the DVR to record them, but I'm glad I saw it. He definitely capitalized on it. I always like his segments on Bass Pros but had never really paid much attention to him during tournaments. I will from now on. Seeing him reel in good sized fish one after another like that was a real eye opener. I also think I'm going to tie a fluke on my next fishing trip and see what I can do.

I don't know if this is really necessary but... *****!!!!!***Possible Spoiler Alert if you haven't seen the championship round of MLF***!!!!!***** Was that just a weightless fluke that Edwin Evers used to haul in all those bass in the last period? You couldn't get a real close look at it, but that's all it looked like to me. It's a little inspiration to really try to learn how to fish one this year.

I wanted the five inch ones but the threes were all they had. Honestly, I'll be ecstatic if I manage to catch anything. I was talking about how cold it was and I didn't even consider they may be a little lethargic. I guess I'll take some jigheads with me and see what I can produce. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm going to try walleye fishing this weekend in a river/lake. It'll be mostly where a river meets the lake it feeds. The lake is at winter pool so there's not too much depth in the area at the moment. There is current with a few pools of slow moving water. It'll probably be stained water this weekend because it's supposed to warm up tomorrow and we have about six or so inches of snow. Air temp is supposed around 52, but we're coming out a week in the mid-20s. As for water temp, I'd say low 40s maybe, if even that. So after a little research I picked up a pack of the 3" Gulp! Leeches at the local sporting goods shop this afternoon. I tried to do a little more research on how to rig them but I couldn't find a whole lot. I saw some people liked to rig them on a jighead or texas rig them. Both of these setups, to me, seem like they would just kill the action. I thought maybe taking a drop shot or mosquito hook, nose hooking them, and then either putting some split shot a little ways up the line or pegging a bullet weight. Then just throwing it out and letting it drift with the current. Any input on this tactic or using these lures "correctly"? Or maybe even some other lures to try in this area?

I picked up one of the YUM Ultralight rigs and some of the 2" Berkley Realistix to try out. I've never thrown an A-rig before. Is it just cast and retrieve or do you guys pause and put little nuances on it like a spinnerbait?

Well I know where I'm going after work. My Wally World never has good stuff like that but I have to go check it out. As for buying stuff, it wasn't today but I got my order from TW yesterday. Not much, just some flukes, hooks, KVD L&L, and my very first tube of Megastrike. I'm really excited to get out this weekend and try out the Megastrike. I haven't caught a fish since last May (A new kid + college + work = no time for fishing) and I'm hoping it might help a little bit.

I just ordered my first tube when Tackle Warehouse had them on sale last week. I got the original and I'm definitely excited to try it out. I used the KVD Fish Sticks last year but I never really thought they made that much of a difference.

It's really hard to argue with free. I plan on putting it on a Lew's Speed Spin reel that came with a "braid ready" spool. I assume this means that it won't need mono backing? If so, do you use the same slip knot to attach the braid to the spool as the mono? And how much of a leader do you guys usually put on? A few feet? A few yards? And do you generally match the size of the fluoro leader to the size of the braid or does that even matter? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for taking the time to answer them.

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I was thinking I might take two rigs with me when I go out, one spinning for worms and a baitcaster for spinnerbaits, but I'm starting to think that might not be a good idea. I'm already kinda falling into coak's pattern and being impatient, throwing steady retrieve stuff all the time. So after half an hour of not getting bit on the worm/lizard/craw/creature, I'd probably just end up throwing a spinnerbait the rest of the day, which just ends up reinforcing the impatientness. It might be a good idea to leave the spinnerbaits at home, at least for a little while. Also, I feel like an idiot asking this question, but hey, we gotta start somewhere. Are braid and fluorocarbon really necessary? Will they really improve my experience all that much? I guess it's just hard for me to justify spending $20 or more on 150 yards of line when I can just grab a spool of Big Game mono and fill all of my reels for the year. I can see their advantages, but are they that much of a game changer?

I got into fishing last year and have bought gear and tackle willy nilly. I haven't really devoted much time to any one technique. I want that to change starting this spring. The problem is is that I'm not real sure what to start with. I fish a lake in central WV primarily that I've been told quite a few times is "tough to fish". I'm also a bank fisher 98% of the time. Every once in a while have a friend that I get to go out on a boat with. He's a diehard crankbaiter and never lets off the trolling motor. I've been watching videos left and right, especially Glenn's, which are great by the way. I'm intrigued with learning to fish a fluke. I've tried it before but never had much luck. I'm also kinda leaning towards the basic Texas or split-shot rig. Or spinnerbaits. Or lipless cranks. Dropshot? Somebody help me! Thanks! Ben

I picked up a tackle box at the local pawn shop filled with jitterbugs, torpedoes, and poppers this fall. In with the jitterbugs was one with a glow in the dark paint job. Anyone ever use one? I'm like to think it'll catch fish but I'm honestly not really sure. Either way it's going to be the first lure I tie on come the first summer night I get to go out.

My Wal-Mart has the Rapalas on sale too but they just have the huge ones in weird colors. Nothing that I would use unfortunately. They did have some nice Bombers on sale that I picked up though.

I got three pretty violent hits yesterday in central WV twitching a Rapala minnow on top. I was cranking it but we weren't getting any hits so I thought I might try something different. Never would have dreamed it would work this early. We've had a bit of a warm streak but the water was still pretty chilly.

I love my ultralight President. Haven't used one of the bigger ones but I wouldn't hesitate to buy one if I needed a mid-priced reel. I have one of the Lew's Speed Spins but I've only gotten it out on the water once this year. I like it so far but haven't used it enough to vouch for it yet. But knowing Lew's history, I'm not too worried about it.

I fish with my dad mostly as well but he's the complete opposite. He's got a severe case of no confidence. He claims he's my-bad luck charm and that I always catch more/better fish when he's not around. Kinda depressing but I make him come fishing with me as often as I can. He's also one that refuses to upgrade his equipment. Still using a Shakespeare spin cast combo he's had since I was a kid that grinds and grinds on the retrieve. But he enjoys using it for some reason so I keep my mouth shut. .

I did ultralight on the cheap because I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. I got one of the small Pflueger Presidents and one of the cheapo 6'6" BPS Micro Lite fiberglass rods at the local shop. The little President is awesome. I put it through its paces this summer on a decent smallmouth stream and it never gave me the least bit of trouble. The rod, while not exactly great, isn't bad. I actually kinda like it. It had problems coming apart (they only come in two pieces unless you get the 5' one) till I fixed it, literally, with some epoxy. Hard to beat for $20. I love ultralight fishing now, and although I haven't caught anything too big, I've caught a lot and I enjoy catching a lot of dinks compared to one big fish. Well, at least for a while. And that kinda comes with the ultralight territory.

I fished the New this weekend except I was on the other end of Bluestone right below the dam under the bridge. Some of the most fun I've had fishing. The sad part is I only live about an hour and a half away and had never been there. Definitely be heading back there in the future. We didn't catch anything huge but it was one of my more successful days. Edit: I just realized I added nothing to the conversation. We were mostly using Rebel Crawdads and bouncing them off the rocks on the bottom. Also caught a few on some smaller Rapala cranks and my favorite a Luhr Jensen Super Duper. Like I said, nothing real big but we caught a lot.