Christian M

I agree with ***atic. There are several rods that will do the job in the $100 range, but you really want to get a reel that will stand up to that kind of hard use, remember, the recommended line weight for an Alabama rig is 60-90lb braided. You can pick up a Veritas, Carrot Stix, St. Criox Mojo, or even Field & Stream Rod for under $100. As far as the reel goes, you're really going to want something with quality bearings, drag, and brakes. If you're planning on throwing a rig that can potentially hook several big bass at once you're really gonna want to have a reel that has the power to wench in that kind of weight and wont wear out on you after one season. Also you'll want a spool that can hold enough line. IMHO save some more money up and get yourself something you wont have to replace. I used to be of the same mindset when it came to rods & reels, but you really do get what you pay for. Good luck & tight lines!

Nice post, I have a Scanoe that I have only used in lakes with skinny water or no boat ramp. This year I would really like to get it out on the Delaware to do some Smallmouth fishing. What type of tackle do you use, rod, reel, line?

I have the well set up with everything on rocker switches. So I can turn on the freshwater aerator pump, fill the well, turn it off, then turn on the recirculator pump which also is an aerator & has a screen filter. That way i can keep the same water in the well w/an additive, add ice & manage the water temp while keeping the water circulating & aerated. I constructed the spraybar & fresh water pump w/PVC pipe & slide fittings so that if I want to drain some of the old water I just pop off the pump, take the end of the hose that draws in fresh water (which also has a screen filter on the end) pump out the old water, pop it back into place & fill it w/fresh water again. I also have the option of opening the overflow valve & just letting both pumps run so that there is a constant flow of fresh, aerated water being pumped in, recirculated, & dumped out. Ill take pics & post them so u guys can see everything.

Lol, Yea its an igloo 150qt marine cooler. Its primarily for bass in tournaments, but I fish for chain pickeril which I have caught up to about 42'. Also there is a reservoir less than 20 miles from my home thats stocked w/big hybrid striper & tiger musky. My boat is a Glastron trihull, its super wide & stable & its just one wide open deck so the well fits w/no problem. I usually fish with a friend who weighs about 260lbs, I weigh 200, plus our gear must weigh another 150. I'll be fishing solo during tournaments so I'm not concerned with the weight much.

So I finished buidling the live-well this week. I ended up not using the 2 fish savers & going with a 500gph recirc aerator pump. My reasoning behind getting rid of the fish savers was that they took up too much space inside the livewell, there were too many moving parts, & I had to splice the wires together. The live-well looks much cleaner and is much less complicated w/just a spraybar & recirculator spray valve inside, & outside a "freshwater" pump in, and recirc pump w/a short length of hose to the spray valve. I do have 1 more question now though, the "freshwater pump" is 800ghp, & the recirc pump is 500 gph, should I match the two? I figured this way with water draining out of the overflow, I have more fresh water coming in per hour than recirculated water. Im not really worried about weight, the boat is like a tank, its a 14' glastron, I've fished 3 grown men w/all their gear (600-700lbs), 4 big marine batteries, & 2 trolling motors without any problems. The cooler will only be filled with about 25-30 gallons of water.

I'm getting the Quantum TE HPT100 @ Dicks today!! Its basically the KVD Quantum touring reel without his name on it, it sold new for around $350, then went down to $250, then went on clearance. Since theres only 2 left & the manager of the store (where I spend my every dollar) is buying one, he's giving me the last one for $93!!! Just in time for my first tournament next week too!

LMAO...thats great I've never heard about the 3 tap system...its so true though, the past couple seasons I really started practicing setting the hook on the first hint of a fish & my hook up rate went up a good 20%-50%

Thats until you really start getting into it. Then you'll find yourself with about 2-3 dozen rods that run anywhere from $100-$400 and up, 2-3 dozen reels @ $200-$400 and up to match the rods, a bass boat that can be like buying an old used honda, or a brand new corvette, and a few thousand dollars worth of tackle (lures, line, hooks, tools, etc...). In all reality, bass fishing as a hobby can be as expensive as racing cars or flying.

Around my area there are two little groups of stained lakes that I fish regularly. One set of lakes has that dark "tea color" stain, on the darkest one I do really well with a purple w/emerald fleck (junebug) worm, then black as the sun light gets lower. There are some days where ill spend hours throwing everything in my bag at em just to see if I can catch one on something, anything else. Then low & behold I break out the purple worm & 3 casts in I'll hook into a 4 pounder lol. The other set of lakes has that "pea soup" color, on those lakes I like white/chartreuse worms, spinners, cranks. On both types of lakes I always catch fish on good old baby bass worms & flukes.

I'm ordering an additive for my livewell today, I've seen a few products, "Please Release Me", "Catch & Release", and a few others, what do you guys feel is the best ? I'll be purchasing oxygen tablets as well...I keep LMB as pets in an aquarium so I have a good idea of what it takes to keep the fish healthy...

I just built my first livewell too, I used a 150qt marine cooler (37.5 gallons), I guess as long as you keep the water aerated, put in fresh water every couple hours, keep the water cool w/ice, & have the proper additives, the fish should be fine. Your only issue will be because of the lack of space, the ammonia levels will rise & oxygen levels will drop the more fish you put in.

Praying for the both of you, God Bless.

Yea man I'm getting all geared up more than usual this season, mostly because I joined my first bass club. I got 2 new combos, replaced 3 reels, & built a livewell. Not to mention all the new lures I bought.

I used them last week, I live in Jersey so the bass arent biting just yet, but I did catch a bunch of chain pickeril. I really liked them, the hook point stayed straight up, hook sets felt good, the knot points felt strong, & it made drop shotting a lot more convenient cause we all know how much of a pain it is when you have to re-tie the drop-shot rig.

So I'm in the middle of building my first livewell, I have my first club tournament on the 18th. I bought a 150qt marine cooler with a door on top thats perfect for dropping fish in without having to open the whole cooler lid. I have an 800ghp aerator pump connected to a PVC spraybar that fits perfectly inside the cooler. On the other end of the main pump I have 10' of 1/2" clear hose with a round screen filter so that I can just put the hose overboard & fill the cooler w/aerated water (since my boat is only 14' I wanted to design the livewell so that I can remove it when I dont need it). Inside of the livewell I have two Fishsaver aerator/filters, each is good for 25 gallons of water so I figured two would be sufficient. I have the main pump & the two Fishsavers wired up to rocker switches that I added to my electrical panel. So what I'm wondering is, seeing as how I have 2 aerators inside the well, would it be overkill putting a recirc aerator in also? It would actually be easy because the drain plug is threaded & I have a hole drilled for overflow that is in a good spot, but for now the well already has enough aeration & everything is wired up. I dont want to over-complicate things & also I have to keep battery draw in mind. I'm thinking later on when I have more time I'll build a box around the well that can double as dry storage, That way I can make the well permanent & go through the hull with the main pump, maybe then I will get rid of the two fish savers & do a recirc pump instead. What do you guys think? I would really appreciate input from anyone who has experience with designing live-wells, Later ill post up pics so that you guys can see how things came out.

Thanks for the advice, I haven't fished the particular lake the tourney is being held on, but I have fished one that is connected to it. Its a pretty tough set of lakes to fish. They all have that pea soup color and get a lot of pressure. Im hoping that with it being so early in the season the water will be a little more clear and the fish wont be so pressured. Either way Im gonna do my best to get some fish in the livewell.

So I finally joined my first bass club as a boater! Our first tournament is in March, then we have one every weekend after that. I'm really excited & nervous, I hope I do well.

There is no size limit for boats on manasquan, but it is an electric only lake and any vessel that is powered needs to be registered at the DMV and the boater musts have a valid nj boaters license. I tried to register my canoe once but the DMV made it so difficult that I just gave up, the manufacturer faxed them a certificate of origin and everything but they said they need and "original", which I never had in the first place when I bought it new. So now I just stick to using my 14'er. But there is no size limit, Ive seen plenty of 10' tenders & jon boats on the lake.

Im in the same boat too man, just joined my first club but we're not holding our first tournament til the end of march, good luck man, hope u win

Really the reason I want the S-Glass rod was because you need the extra fast rod tip so that the rod has a chance to load up and set those trebel hooks w/o ripping the lure out of the fishes mouth, plus I feel like it would be a lot more forgiving when the fish jumps with just one trebel hook keeping it on. I fish my crankbaits on 10lb braid w/a ball bearing swivel to a 12 lb 100% flouro leader.

I just bought a Wright Mcgill/Skeete Reese Casting reel and I'm looking to pair it up to a Wright Mcgill/Skeete Reese S-Glass 6'8" crankin rod. They're selling for $90 & I wanted to get some opinions from anyone who owns one of these rods/reels or even the whole combo. I really like the looks & design of the rod & I've never owned a glass rod before, everything up until now has been graphite. I would really appreciate any input ~ Christian

I was wondering why you're fishing such heavy line?? The only time I go up that high with braided line is when Im throwing Frogs or punching jigs or weighted creature baits into the heaviest slop I can find, and even then I use 50lb power pro tied straight to the lure. Any other time I'm using braid for LMB I stick with 10lb power pro with a really small ball bearing swivel, usually #12 (16lb test), to a 12 lb 100% flouro leader. 10lb braid will give you plenty of power for fighting large & smallmouth, plus your casts will be about a mile longer.

Nice, I did know they made it in a 5.3:1, I would definitely go for it, just remember the rod is just as important when cranking, good luck & tight lines...

Hello all, Im looking for a Bass Club in or near Ocean County NJ accepting new members. If there's anyone out there that's in a club, or knows of one I might be able to join, I would really appreciate some info.

I think that the red does make a difference, whether its a confidence thing or proven to work, I look at it as just one more thing that may entice a strike out of a fish that might not have hit my bait otherwise. I always put a red hook on my favorite crankbaits, rattletraps, topwaters, and jerkbaits. Just be careful when changing out the front hook on certain baits. Sometimes it will impede the action that the bait was designed to have. I keep a LMB in a tank and I notice that whenever I'm cleaning the tank, and I clean the bigger rocks, when I go to put them back in, he will completely ignore the black, tan, & grey ones, but the minute I drop a red gem in, he charges at it & sometimes tries to eat it. Ive had the fish for 8 months since it was the size of a small baitfish, so it's definitely instinctual. Just something I found interesting