B@ssCrzy

No way I would be satisfied with doing that. Practice your knots like previously said. There are some great knots out there that you can learn that will save you from a lot of heart ache if you take the time to practice. If you have an ipod...knotwars is a great app that can teach you how to do it.

I don't have the Wild Black, but I have a carrot stix and if he says that one of the selling points is the weight of it i don't think he will be disappointed in whatever model you get as long as it is the power and taper that he prefers...i.e. M/M. If he likes to throw a lot of lighter stuff then I am guessing that a M/M power is more along the lines of what would fit his style than the MH with a fast tip. The M/M action will help him to cast lighter baits farther. Either way I am sure he will love it.

You can't beat curado e series for under that price....$133 w/free shipping at ohya.com

x2...except I still use only mono. Like to tie long leaders so I can switch out lures all day and not have to take the time on the boat to tie two lines together. I firmly believe that it makes a difference in how many fish get in the boat.

I prefer cork, but I think that is just because I am used to it. Only have 1 split handle and it is growing on me. It is a carrot stix. The only thing I don't like about it is that the hook keeper is located on the split part. So occassionally my hand will grab it when casting with two hands. Worst place ever for a hook keeper.

Good starter is a regular ribbon tail worm. They seem to work anywhere.

I don't see anything wrong with getting a skin mount vs replica. I personally don't like the look of the replica as much and would go with the skin mount. I don't think they look as realistic. If you practice catch and release and then catch a big fish then you have earned the right to do whatever you want to do with it. Just enjoy it because it is an accomplishment that you can be proud of. It does not bug me one bit if somebody wants to hang a trophy on a wall. What bugs me is when people want to fill up buckets and buckets of fish for the freezer without regard for the damage they do to the fishery they enjoy.

It may trigger things a little bit earlier, but I have not seen any signs of spawning bass. In Indiana we had 2 weeks of solid 70-80 degree weather and the bass in the small pond I fish did not show any spawning activity. However, they were definitely actively feeding. With the cold front coming in and the weather dropping it shut that down pretty good. I can't imagine that there have been any spawning bass farther up north.

I would go with the citica...

I prefer baitcasters over spinning b/c I like the way they don't twist your line after casting a 100x's. I am still old school in that I like to use mono for most of my fishing b/c it is more forgiving. So when casting cranks, spinners, jerkbaits, etc it would snarl constantly. Hated it!! Braid on a spinning reel makes sense b/c you don't get that as much, but you still get some line twist which will occassionally cause problems. With the baitcaster you don't ever get that. The only real presentations I use my spinning gear for anymore is for dropshotting or anything under 1/4 oz.

I went out last night to a local pond and started throwing one of these. Keep in mind I have hardly ever caught anything on a lipless crank. I was trying to break out of the mold and try to build some confidence in something other than soft plactics. I fished from about 7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. and caught about 9 fish with one of them being probably my PB for a largemouth. I was just throwing it out and cranking it back in. I think this was probably the best fishing outing I have ever had for largemouth. I hear the red eyes and the rat-l-traps are the main lipless cranks that most people like, but I can't get hardly a bite on a rat-l-trap. So my question is what was the deal last night? Was it the lure or was it just the time of year and any lipless crank would have worked. If you like the rapala lipless...why over the other brands? or if you don't like it...why?

I agree with you that I don't see a need to change mono line every two weeks, but I have also seen line that is 3-4 years old be much weaker than newer line. 8-9 years ago my wife and I were fishing on a sunken island when we came into a school of 3-4 lb smallmouth. I hooked 3 with no breakoffs, and she hooked 3 but only brought in 1 and had two break-offs. The only difference was that I had just re-spooled. Drag was set light after the first breakoff and still broke another one off. After that I make sure every spring to re-spool. To me it's not worth risking a fish of a life time for $10-$20 per year.

Depending on how deep you are fishing the Original Floating Repala is a killer. Which is why it has been around for years and years.

x2

Mono gets changed every spring...braid only when it gets low.

x2....Not sure what baits you are using, but if you are using any type of trebel hook you are not going to want to be setting the hook very hard. If you do you can rip bait out of their mouth. If you are loosing them on worms and lizards my guess would be that you may have a real "whippy" rod that with the added stretch of monofilament line does not let you set the hook hard enough to penetrate the tough parts of the bass' mouth. There are some good articles and posts on this site that talk about rod strengths and tapers that you should read before you go out and buy a new rod. Armed with that information you can get a good rod that should help you to do better on your hookup ratio. Welcome to the site!!! There is a lot of good information on here!!

It would be great to have our own Bass Resource app. There has to be someone on the sight here that has the knowledge on how to do something like this. You could do some cool stuff like posting pics of fish as you catch them, include a fishing journal, fish weight calculator, weather, how-to videos, knot tying, etc. I don't mind using the browser, but sometimes it can be a little cumbersom. I am sure that the sponsors would appreciate it especially if it had their info at the bottom.

Ditto....I would not be on the points, but back in the shallow coves looking for the warmest water possible. I would start out with jerk-baits, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks. Then slow it down if no bites.

I use the clinch for mono and polomar for braid. If you have an ipod check out the app called Knot Wars. Really helpful for knowing some good knots to tie.

I agree with the above mentioned posts...that is some excellent advise on how to become proficient with a baitcaster. However, I also think the issue may also have to do with the quality of your reel. I believe that when you get into trying to cast lighter baits, that is where you will see the real quality in a more expensive reel. The bandit 200's are 1/4 oz and unless you are able to take the breaks way down you will probably always get that fade to the left like you mentioned. Not to say that you can't learn to cast it that way (like previously mentioned), but that definitely takes some practice or you will spend your whole day picking out snarls. There is nothing more frustrating than spending half your time out on the boat fixing your over runs when you could be fishing. Last year I bought my first curado after having a pflueger eschelon. Makes a huge difference. Now I have two more and the eschelon stays home. Just my .02.

Been looking for a rod in the $80 range. Was not even looking at Carrot Stix since they were out of my price range. Thanks for the post eyedabassman!!! Think I got a great deal, and had the pick of whatever I wanted since here in Indiana they don't go on sale till next week. Got the 7' MH-F. They price matched it with their website. Were listed at $149.99, bought it for $74.99 like posted. Great deal!!!

Love it when deals like that happen!!! Nice!!

These rods "look" awesome, but just wondering how people like them and how they compare to the other rods in this price range. I am trying to say under $80. I am looking at getting a medium heavy so am also wondering if they are more on the heavy side or are a true medium heavy. Any info you can share would be great.

I'm in. Sounds like fun.

They do stink pretty bad. Just double and triple bag them, but don't throw them away!!