Hawgin

I had a guy who was in a mony crunch and he sold me a 7' MH Fenwick Techna AV for $50. Got me started on my Fenwick buying binge....wait, maybe that wasn't such a good deal.

These are not really a top water bait, but they can be an effective shallow crank when used around fallen trees, etc. They are very good at coming through thick cover without getting hung up.

Those almost look a combo split grip/powerhump handle. Interesting.

Thanks guys. I'm glad to get two trusted opinions on this.

Man that really sucks for you. My wife and I had that happen to us in our old apartment, only ours was the hose on the washing maching broke. Glad the machine was provided by the landlord so it was their fault. On the bright side, I would start by pitching a jig to the outside edges of the furniture and then working in towards the center. I would also try bouncing a crank off the boxes. ;D Sorry, I had to.

I recently went to a seminar hosted by Mike Iaconelli, and he said that even though his sponsor doesn't like him to mention it, that you only need 5 basic colors: Green pumpkin Watermelon seed Junebug Black/blue white

I pretty much fish them the same as you on 1/2 oz jig heads. I am thinking about using a heavier jig for deeper water, but I'm not sure if I should. When you are fishing them deep, what size jig do you use?

I have the Citica 200 D, and I really like it, however I am looking at the 100 DSV version to use for pitching jigs. My question is, since it does not have the High Efficiency Gearing and the smaller paddles on the handle, does this reel have enough OOMPH to horse fish out of the heavier cover, or do I need to go with the 200 size? I mostly want the 100 for it's smaller size, and reduced weight, but I'm not interest if it can not hold up to the stress of heavy fishing.

The biggest problem I have had with these baits is that occassionally when burying the hook point to make them weedless, I have had the hook not pop back out when setting the hook on a fish, causing me to miss it. I will continue to use them when I want a bait to float up off the bottom, but be sure that you rig it so the point is barely under the skin. Oh, and good luck getting it back off the hook.

I'm pretty sure that it is twice as good as any BPS reel with the possible exception of the Johnny Morris reels(and even then it's close). However if you are really that unsure I have 3 BPS reels I will trade you for the curado. ;D

I would personally go with the 683 Medium Heavy. Unless you are fishing extremely heavy cover, you can use a MH for most all applications. I throw 1/2 oz jigs, t-rigged plastics, etc. on my MH Techna AV and I've had no problems making fish do what I want most of the time. I have a heavy flipping stick that I use for heavy grass, and the really nasty stuff, but for everything else I use a MH.

I currently have 3 fenwicks, and I will finish swapping out my other rods when I get the chance and money. I currently have 2 Techna AV's, and 1 Eagle GT. I think for their price Fenwick rods are the best choice available. My experience has been that they are very close to being as light and sensitive as G Loomis rods, at a fraction of the price. I don't think you can go wrong, especially at that price.

Crazed...PM Sent

I use the Carolina keepers. I like them when I need to quick rig a rod, but the biggest problem I have had is if the keeper gets snagged a little, it will slide on the line shortening the length of your leader on that cast. I like that fact that by reducing the number of knots, it reduces my chances of screwing one up and losing a fish on a failed knot.

I was fishing in a tournament and on the second cast of the day I snagged my spinnerbait on a log sitting on a point. We moved back and retrieve my bait. After retying I cast back towards that same log and as I started reeling, my line bowed and I told my partner "I'm an idiot, I just snagged that log again." As he was giving me a death stare I noticed that my line started moving, and after a few minutes I boated a nice 5.15. We both over-estimated it at about 7 lbs. At the weigh in we were talking smack to some buddies about their 6 lber, which ended up beating us for big bass by about a 6 oz.

I must have misunderstood your post. When you say you wouldn't let them stand, I'm thinking now that you meant leaning them against the wall. That makes more sense to me now. With the ceiling hooks, I would mostly be afraid of accidentally damaging them when hanging them, or taking them off the hook. Thanks for the info RM.

You may want to send a PM to fatman1267. He fishes almost exclusively with pinnacle reels, and I think he owns a couple of the inertia reels. I know he's a big fan of them, except for the fact that he can't find anyone around here to service them.

Well, I know the revo's are getting good reviews from everyone using them, but they've only been out for a few months so I will reserve judgement for now. I would personally recommend you look at either the Shimano Cruxius, or even better the Citica. Top quality reels, proven over time, strong company standing behind them. If something goes wrong Shimano will stand behind their product, and that's important for a student so you don't have to pay to replace a reel if something goes wrong. Now that I've done my duty as a posse member, I would also tell you to check out the Quantum Accurists. They are good reels, but I personally don't like how they fit my hand, but you may be different. My buddy uses Pinnacles and swears by them. There are quality choices available, but my experience with all these reels would lead me to Shimano.

RM- Why would storing them vertically in a wall rack with the reels off them be harmful. With the reels off, and supported in two spots by the rack, woud they still run the risk of developing a curve in the blank? Why wouldn't hanging them by the top guide cause damage to the eye? Please educate me.

I think it will be Steve Kennedy. He was on such a great run last year, and I think that rolls over to this year. Also, since he is somewhat local I think he has the advantage of knowing the lake, seasonal pattern, and he is familiar with fishing for both LM's and spots, and when to switch between them. I would like to see Timmy Horton win it, but I think Kennedy is just to dialed in right now.

Yeah, that guy is definitely on my list of sleepers this year. One of these days he's going to break out and put up a good season. When he does, the other guys could really be in trouble. ;D Way to go out on a limb!

Give us a price range to work with, so we can give you a better idea.

I've read on here before, and I'm sure someone (ReelMech) will help out with this info again, but you can buy a regular handle for one of the shimano reels, and it's pretty inexpensive to swap out to a longer handle. Check some of the older posts on Scorpions and you can find that info.

I was reading a post in another section about La Cygne, a power plant lake in Kansas, and it got me thinking about something. In these power plant lakes where warm water is constantly discharged, how does that affect the spawn. Is the spawn a cyclical thing where fish always look to do it around the same time of year? I know a lot of it is dictated by water temp, but if that stays constant during the winter months what triggers the bass to begin?

The reason I would remove the belly treble is because the lake I want to use these in has a lot of grass in it, and the belly treble would tend to snag a lot.