Spankey

Don’t think your reel is the problem. 2500 Shimano NASCI, Stradic or Sahara is the same thing.

I would go at it with what you have. Those 6.8 reels should do fine. Try to see if one of your rods has a softer tip than the other fast rods. Not all rods are created equal. Moderate or moderate fast would be nice but buy one sometime later. Not necessary to catch fish. Spool up with some Fluoro. and have at it.

Just an FYI I was able to score on some 5" Yammy Kut Tails. Colors I wanted except for no Black availiable. Oh well. From a vender they don't want us talk about here, and I won't. So there are a few Kut Tails out there. Whether they fully come back time will tell. They are just a worm that works decent for me rigged a few different ways.

I got to see the full line of those jerkbaits yesterday. I blew into the shop to order a few things and the owner was showing me the shipment of them. Still in shipping boxes not hung yet. A couple patterns caught my eye. They are steep $$$, but they are made well. The two that caught my eye I may have to get, I feel good about what I saw. The McBeth was only in one color in his shipment.

I’m one who most likely missed the boat and party with the RES. I do own a couple. And the RES has been around a long time now. For as long a I can remember I’ve fished the Rat-L-Trap along with some Spots very successfully, and I assumed they were basically the same. I just never got hooked. But I believe they are as great of bait as the Trap.

I fish a lot of crankbaits all season. I find that a flat side gets bit spring, summer and fall on the river and the lake. The older Rapala flat side is my favored but was discontinued long ago. I fished the OG Slim last season and picked up fish on it. Will continue to keep throwing it. Was a bit skeptical about the thin lip. I have not had problems with the thin lip. I’m fishing them in rock.

Shear enjoyment and it makes me feel good. An escape even though I’m running from no one or nothing. Hunting is the same. Admittedly I’m not the most religious guy on the face of the earth but it gives me time to make that connection. I’m at peace with myself. But both hunting and fishing can get frustrating at times, but you just fish or hunt your way through it.

I can feel the addiction you have. Did not see them at the shop this past Wednesday. I’ll ask about them getting them in. I could make that Dark Olive Green pattern work. Look nice, good luck.

Nothing really all that new. I’ve never went at smallies with pink or bubblegum. Bought some soft and hard baits in pink that have been productive in other patterns. RoboWorm products have been good producers for me. Picked up a few More different colors. Baitfish colors. Can’t say enough good things about DT6’s and 10’s. Picked up a few DT8’s in my three top producers. Picked up a few of Berkeley’s version of the pop-r’s. Nothing to say why they won’t work. River smallies should love them also. Nothing earth shattering for me. Just keeping it simple.

Power Worm

I never use the reuseable with the ears on them. They are problems or can be as far as hanging up. I have myself convinced of that. I use "B" size to act like stops for worm weights and egg sinkers, 4's-5's-7's for most split shot fishing, 1's and 2's for light drop shot weights. I use clam shot for drop shot weights also. I can get them slightly heavier. Split as a dropshot weight will save rigs and eliminate any headaches. To me or just my opinion split shots are better for river fishing. I've added clam shot to ewg's on a lot off occasions. Works well and you can remove it if you dont wantit on there.

I think a lot of that odd ball, uncommon name stuff is eBay and Amazon.

Mo I have that same rod and Browning reel in ultra-lite. Maybe from the late 70’s or very early 80’s. Real soft rod. The Browning fishing stuff was always hard to find in my part of the world. The fishing stuff that is. But my Browning Clay Target Guns, whole different side to Browning. My Citori O/U’s and BT-99’s have held up year after year. Countless amount of rounds through them.

This time of year I also see huge crawfish. I leave them alone. Mine are green black with a grayish bottom. Olive, black, green pumpkin crankbaits and plastics produce good when they want to hit.

I’m not that tall. Standing on my boat deck I’m not all that far above water surface. My rods max out at 7’, one may be 7’2”. The way I fish on the river I would most likely handicap myself with anything longer. Be nice to have and try. That 7’2” MH Mod-Fast I really have only used in heavy grass and pads. And this part of fishing is admittedly my weakest point. Don’t see what difference 4-6 inches of more rod will do. At least when it comes to fishing.

The 4.5 RoboWorm Fat is a good worm for me. I picked up on a few of the exclusive colors for this season. Anything that I’ve liked has worked for me. I for the most part fish the VMC Shaky Heads and the Slider Heads.

Have never been to factory, hope to go there sometime. But have been able to get show prices on new rods and pulled of big discounts when they do a change to a model. Keep factory warranty.

For the most part I fish St. Croix Avids and Premieres. About as dull as you can get. Pretty much the same when it comes to reels. Shimano are pretty basic looking. But I can see a guy wanting a cool looking or custom setup.

The gift that keeps on giving.

You are correct. Slightly different tail but you are correct. Sure there are ways around it. Probably can be done 7 ways to Sunday. Could just buy them from BPS.

You and I are a bit old school where we have been fishing like this for many years. Long before you ever called it or heard of it as finesse fishing. NED rig is just a vague term. I’m sure many old river rats on here have been fishing broken cut worms on jig heads since the 80’s. A lot of hype around nothing. But if you look up some articles about the NED rig I take it as how it came about in the mid-west.

Pretty good advise right here. OP I know that you are going to think I’m crazy but I’m not. Not really sure how long you have been fishing. But if the bass are there they will take those soft plastics. Has a lot of your bass fishing taken place with live bait versions? Nothing wrong with that. But you are going to have to leave that at home. Take a few variety of plastics out. Take a few things out that you like the looks of and take out a few that area experienced guys find to be productive. Go fish, fish slow, try to become one with the bait your are fishing, try to put real life to what you are fishing. You will get bit. Those bass will take it. But leave that live bait at home. Don’t let it be a crutch for you to fall back to because you are not getting the amount of hits and bits you expected. Seriously just stick with it. Fish 100% soft plastics for a few outings, nail a few fish and your confidence level will be right there. And just when you think you are fishing those soft plastics slow enough, probably still fishing them too fast. Leave the live bait and your other stuff at home for a little while and put your mind to it that those plastics will and are gonna work. I believe this will work for you.

Could be something to it, but it might be one of those thing that has to do with being a confidence bait. I’ve had days out where the majority of that time out was throwing soft plastics. Caught fish on a Kut, Straight & Curly Tail worms in the same outings. I have patterns of them that I have more confidence in. All of which are very basic. But there very well may be something to your thought about it.

Somewhat of an FYI or update. Somewhat of a decent source of info on them. East Coast tackle distributer guy. Was told Yamamoto was gonna drop the Kut Tail Worms. They had stopped making them. Was told they were going to put them back into production. Question on this worm were being raised. Sounds good to me. But have to see it to believe it. Sort of only believe 50% of what I’m told or read. I’d like to see the Yamamoto bring this back but if Strike King or RoboWorm were to pull off these same worms in a handful of basic patterns that would be as good or better.

The Big O has always been a good smallie catcher on the river. Pretty productive for about as basic of a lure out there.