smalljaw67

Take a weighted Texas rig Zoom brush hog and reel it in fast giving twitches and you'll notice it stays pretty much straight, now take the same bait rigged the same way except for the weight and reel it fast and/or give it twitches. It it same deal with a fluke, a fluke has more action weightless but it will also twit your line and the same for any soft plastic fished without weight. You solution at the depth you are fishing would be a Texas rig, a C-rig you are covering water like I mentioned but after re-reading your post I'm beginning to think you may have a soft bottom and if that is the case, then you don't want a c-rig.

I have a 7' MH-F, very strong for how light weight it is and it will overpower smaller 4" Senkos or the slender models. Bluebasser86 gave you the right answer, if you are going to fish your plastics in heavy cover then go for the medium heavy, if the cover is going to be sparse then the medium will be fine.

You can get a medium heavy, fast action rod which will be good for any kind of bait except crankbaits, there is only two ways to deal with crankbaits, you either get a seperate cranking rod which is 2 set ups which you mentioned you don't want, or you get a medium power, fast action rod which limits you to smaller baits and places to fish. There is a 3rd option but you aren't going to spend the kind of money you need, and that is to get into a Megabass rod or other JDM rod as they use high modulus graphite for sensitivity but they tend to use a mod fast taper that has enough backbone to get a single hook to penetrate the mouth of a bass, yet still soft enough not to rip the treble hooks free from the mouth of a bass. If you don't mind using Texas rigs that are less than 1/2oz with lighter wire hooks in sparse cover then a medium power rod with a fast action will work for you but remember, cranks and other baits will be limited to 1/2oz and spinnerbaits and jigs will be around 3/8oz because of trailers and blades, that would be your best bet. The reason a MH-F won't work is the rod is too stout for crankbaits, and you aren't going to get a good enough quality rod in a mod-fast taper to let you fish cranks and still have enough power to set a hook with a larger wire diameter, it would be like trying to drive a golf ball with a 5 iron, it can work but not real well. So now that you know what will work, look for a 6'6" to 7' medium power, fast action rod, that will cover everything you like to use.

It depends on what kind of cranks you are going to use, if you are running square bills and other shallow cranks like the DT-6 and the DT-10 then the 7'MHM graphite rod will be a better option as the added feel will help when banging into cover. If you are going to run primarily DT-6 down to a DT-14 with little or no shallow diving baits then the glass rod will be better. The glass rod is longer with a longer handle that is designed to give you a longer cast, a factor when running deeper diving baits. You don't need to be running DT baits either, I use those to demonstrate depth so it gives you perspective on the baits you want to run. The graphite model is shorter, weighs less and has a shorter handle which will be good for one handed roll cast if using square bills or other shallow divers and you are casting to a spot versus an area, and the graphite model is also going to let you feel the bait better allowing you to walk a bait through cover a little better. So decide what kind of cranks you are going to use primarily, the graphite model can handle 14' to 16' diving baits but not as easily so if those are going to be used most of the time then go for glass, if you are going to use those baits once in awhile and primarily use shallow stuff then go for graphite, that is what I would do.

I have an old Cabelas XMLTi, it has all recoil guides with a ceramic tip top, this has been used with all kinds of line including braid and no problems with the guides at all. I have a G.Loomis GL3 that has the standard aluminum oxide rings and it too is fine, what I'm getting at is I only had a ceramic guide fail once and it popped out after it cracked but no grooves. I got a Daiwa Procyon spinning rod with Pacific Bay black ring Minima guides on it for a present 2 years ago, so far I've only used mon but the rod had several run in with muskies, 2 of them landed, 1 was 16lbs and 1 was 23lbs not too mention all the bass and other fish caught on it and no grooving. I know, 2 years isn't that long but my point is that when I hear these stories and see the pictures, the person usually states the rod is less than or only a year old or something to that effect, I don't doubt they can groove but I have quite a few Fenwicks with Zirconia rings that are fine, a few Aetos rods with the titanium inserts that still look knew even when used with braid for throwing frogs in slop, no trouble. I don't think manufactures are going to put lifetime warranties on rods that have guides that will fail after 1 season, I just don't see that being a big issue. BTW, I check my guide before the first trip out after winter, then I check them half way through, this year was the end of August and then when the water freezes over and I'm done for the winter I'll clean my rods and inspect the guides with a 10X loop and also clean the guides with a Q-Tip, if I miss something with the loop the cotton on the Q-Tip will surely grab any crack or groove and alert me to an issue.

A Texas rig is used to fish a target area, a Carolina rig is more of a search rig used to cover water with a soft plastic. If you are going to fish a certain area like a specific weed bed or a bluff bank then you'll use the Texas rig, if you are trying to locate fish across a large grass flat or tapering point, then you'll use the Carolina rig. While you can use bobber stops to hold a weight for a Carolina rig it really isn't a good choice, the reason is the stops will get moved, unlike pegging a bullet weight above a hook, the weight on a Carolina rig has more area to move and will hit the stops with more force causing them to move. Using a swivel allows you to make rigs up ahead of time and it also serves as a secure stop for a bead and weight to bang against to create sound but if you don't want to use the swivel there is a product that is better than bobber stops. The thing you want is a Carolina keeper, it is a little piece of plastic and you squeeze it with pliers and it will open for you to put your line through, it holds very well, I use them a lot as it allows a quick way to get a Carolina rig ready to fish. http://www.basspro.com/Carolina-Keeper/product/23166/

Right now the smallies where I live are spread out again, the bigger fish were coming up when the water temp had dropped into the 60s. What I bet will happen is 3 or 4 days after the front you'll start finding fish up shallow, they will be feeding up so topwater and spinnerbaits will be good baits to use and big square bills may get you some real pigs.

The mid 80s was when Loomis started getting popular with the IMX but for every casual angler there was the lightning rod, and I can't remember the exact price but it was more than the lightning rods of today. I think what made it so good was there were very few graphite rods on the market, Loomis had the IMX and Fenwick had the HMG but both were extremely expensive for fishing rods. Todays lightning rods are ok but there are so many options if you spend a little more but if you stay in the same price range then the lightning rod is probably the best you'll get.

It could possibly be a refreshed LC bait or it could be a knock-off blank that was painted that color, the body style is a match but the color pattern is a little off.

I will always try new lines to see if there is one that better fits my needs and I do use a couple different monofilaments for different techniques. Topwater baits using treble hooks gets Berkley big game, it has just enough stretch that I can set the hook without ripping the bait free yet it isn't like a bungee cord either. I really have come to like the Trilene XL Armor coated, it seems to be just as tough as XT but handles much better, it is for all my spinning set ups. I tried Sunline super natural and it is a good line, very thin diameter and handles great but it also doesn't seem to take much abuse to break it. The Senshi line I found to be great handling but it has a little more stretch than I care for but big game is still my topwater line.

I do it by feel then when I'm fighting a fish I'll adjust it up or down depending on what is happening. For those that don't have the experience to know how tight to set the drag by feel and that don't have a spring scale there is an easier way. I call it the gallon method as it is based on a gallon of water which is 128oz. a gallon of water weighs 8.33 poulds and the jug a gallon of water comes in weighs a little over an ounce but to make it easy I call it 2 ounces. Take an empty gallon jug and tie the line around the handle and then take a measuring cup and fill it with enough water, minus the 2 ounces you want to set you drag at using the starting point of what the gallon of water weighs which is 8.33 pounds. So, if you are using 10 pound line and you want to set the drag at 25% you have 2.5 lbs, so 1/2 gallon of water or 64 ounces weighs 4.17 lbs. , and 32ounces is half of that which is 2.08lbs and with the margin for error plus tare weigh of the jug, the drag set for 10lb line is 32 ounces of water in an empty gallon jug. It sounds complicated but it isn't, and I actually broke it down for my grandson so he can set his drag by himself and I laid it out for him like this, for 6lb. line he ties to the empty gallon jug and fills it with 18 ounces of water, for 8lb line he fills the jug with 30 ounces, and for 10lb. line he fills it with 34 ounces of water, it is all rounded up but close enough and is actually a little less than 25% but that is because of margin for error but the point is that method will get you close to proper drag set without using a scale.

If you call Cabelas customer service they will send you out another rod, they will charge your card for the second rod but when the UPS guy comes you simply hand him the broken one packed up in the original rod tube with the return label on it and they will then refund your money on the second rod when the broken one comes back, that will be the fastest way to get the rod on time otherwise you have to send it back and wait until they receive it to get your replacement.

I'm left handed and right handed reels are awesome but I switch up with spinning gear so it doesn't matter. When I use casting stuff I cast with my left and crank with my right so a right handed reel is perfect, but on spinning set ups I cast with my left hand and also reel with it so I switch hands. If it is the same with right handers switching hands with casting gear as it is with me and spinning gear then I don't know why it is an issue because I do it without realizing I even switch hands, it is sort of second nature. I understand that with casting you feather the spool until the bait hits while spinning the hands are switched before the bait hits the water and I can see where that makes a difference but is it so much so that right handed guys need lefty reels?

I saw a guide like that once and it wasn't from braid, it was from wire line and it was a friend of mine who got an entire spoon plug system. He got everything, a line counter reel, wire line, I mean everything except a rod, he had a rod that was used to troll for walleye and that is what he used for spoon plugging. He never noticed the guide until he went for walleye with another friend and they were rolling lead core, it didn't take but one strike for the line to break and that is when he noticed the guide. Other than that I never saw one as severe from any kind of line. In fact it looks as if some took a file to it and tried to smooth or cut the insert out, that guide would have been cutting line way before it got to that point and the 2 piece deal isn't cool either, I'd be mad at Abu Garcia.

I make my own now but before I did I tried all kinds and I'll give you my take. The heads with a barb on like the Strike King Tour Grade, well you found out that thinner finesse style worms tend to tear on the barb, others like the Fin-Tech Title shot and the Arkie models are good but they basically have a straight spike that holds a new worm but once it comes off it is pretty much done. Out of all the heads I used I found that I prefer a round head with a screw lock keeper, yes, the screw lock takes an extra second or 2 to put the worm on but I found the screw locks to hold exceptionally well and it I unscrew the worm to take it off I can still use it again and it will stay on. I will also tell you that I like the VMC Rugby heads but the problem with those is the hook size, to get a 3/0 hook you have to get to the 3/16oz head and to get a 4/0 you have to use a 3/8oz head and I don't like it because I will often use a 1/16oz head with a 3/0 hook for a 4.5" finesse worm and a 1/8oz head with a 4/0 for a 6" trick worm, I use larger hooks in my shaky head fishing when I'm in cold water or when the fish are just not biting, it cuts down on the action a bit which I think helps but that is just me.

You are correct in you assessment of using shallow cranks when fishing from shore. Deep cranks, at least to me, aren't search baits, deep cranks are used when you find fish. Square bills are great because they will deflect off cover and they cover a wide range of diving depths, the Bomber Square "A" in the 3/8oz model is small but good and inexpensive so it doesn't hurt to lose it but it also seems to come through cover extremely well. The KVD 1.5 is another good one as it dives deeper than other square bills. 2 cranks that I consider "must haves" for shore or shallow fishing is a Manns Baby 1 minus and the Manns Baby X, the 1 minus dives to a foot and the baby X dive to 2' with the same body as the 1 minus only it has a square bill. Rapala DT-4 cranks are also good if you get them on sale and the Luck-E-Strike RC square bills in the series 2 and series 3 models.

I'd base your decision of whether you want fast or Xf by the line type you are using. If you are fishing docks and sparse cover with mono or fluorocarbon then the extra fast will work, if you are going to use braid then grab the fast action. The extra fast is going to load up quickly and will be a fairly stiff rod and it compensates for the stretch of the other lines but with braid the line has absolutely zero stretch so the rod has to have a little more flex and a regular fast will work for that.

Fall fishing for smallmouth is dictated by water temperature, at least in the waters I fish. Right now the water temps are in the high 60s so topwater seems to be hot and if you have just a bit of cloud cover the bite will last all day. Prop baits, buzzbaits and wake baits are all doing well, but when we start falling into the lower 60s to upper 50s the spinnerbait is magic as well as square bills, and if you get a high pressure system or a cold front, tubes and 3" senkos will be a good bet. Last but not least in the Fluke, I mention this last because this bait, to me, is the crossover, if you can get them on top the fluke will work, if the spinnerbait bite is on the fluke will work, and post frontal conditions and the fluke will work. If you want rods rigged and read I'd have 4, one rod with wake bait, 1 with a spinnerbait, 1 with a tube and 1 with a fluke, that will get you through the fall.

Just remember, flipping is different than pitching, I can pitch with a shorter rod, in fact I use to pitch with '6" and 6'9" rods until I found a longer rod that worked for me. So if you're pitching you can get away with a shorter rod, and as I said, 7'2" is now my main weapon as my 7'6" flipping stick is awkward to pitch with. I say this because I like shorter rods overall but I just can't imagine flipping with a rod less than 7'.

I have a 7'6" flipping stick and a 7'2" pitching rod, I can't pitch with the flipping stick as it just doesn't feel right and I'm 6'2" tall. I can flip close quarters with the 7'2" which is what I use most of the time now but we do very little flipping as our waters are too clear to get close enough so pitching really is better. That said, if you flip, a long rod really will work better, you can get to places without getting too close and spook the fish and you got a lot more leverage to pull a big fish out quickly.

I thought about getting a PX68 spr for the ML cranking rod I have, it seems like it would be a good match but other than the cranking rod I have I don't have any other experience with medium light casting rods. The Phenix M1 7'2" ML-F is one of the few that I have heard that guys really like other than the JDM variety, and the price is reasonable too, might be worth a look.

I fish a river for smallmouth, our river has big ones and a jig is a good way to get them. In the cold water period I use hair jigs in slack water areas, during the warm water times I'll use jigs when we have high water with a fast current, the fish will be close to the bank behind current breaks or eddies and an Eakins style jig with a craw trailer is an excellent bait to catch the giant bass.

I would say you are looking for a 7' MH-M just because of the square bills but it will handle medium depth ok but not a shad rap, well not a 5 or 6, and even a 7 will not be the best casting on the medium heavy.

Both a size 1 and 2 are great for ultra finesse baits like the Case Micro Stick and the River Rock Baits PC Ringer. They are 2.5" and 3" stick worms that are thinner than an ordinary stick and the small hooks allow you to fish them on a split shot or mojo rig and remain weedless. I also use those size jig hooks for making cold water hair jigs, you'd be surprised how well those little hooks hold but they aren't designed to be used with heavy line, 4# to 8# line is perfect.

That color is similar to Aurora black, these do the same thing as chrome blue or chrome black, and that is provide flash. What the American shad and Aurora black do is they combine a natural look of a detailed paint job with the flash of a chrome finish making it excellent for all water clarities, very deadly when you have sun and stained water.