smalljaw67

Cabelas often gets their merchandise at a later time and because of it they often have a lot of inventory on discontinued models so they will blow them out to get rid of them to make room for new inventory.

I have my 1 cranking setup spooled with 12 mono, the other is my shallow crank set up and it has 14lb line on it. The 12lb mono I like as I use the DT series of baits and one thing is they are very consistent divers, and the dive depth is based on 10lb line and cranking in my friends swimming pool I know a DT 6 runs about 5' to 5.5', a DT 10 runs 8.5' to 9' on 12lb test. You do the very thing I do and that is using baits you know so you have all the depth zones covered, and other than diving depths I know that guys in the great lakes and other areas with zebra muscles like fluorocarbon not for the sinking property but the abrasion resistance, or if you will be encountering weeds, then braid may be better and of course when you mess with line type you have to consider the line diameter to make sure you have the right bait on to cover the depth you need to cover.

Cold, clear water means suspending jerkbaits, plain and simple!!

This is very good information, I would also add the grip on the Aetos is thinner than some like, to me it gives me a more solid grip so I like the way it feels and I like the Fuji SK 2 reel seat. I have a 7'2" MH-XF fast Aetos, I'm also very familiar with the St.Croix Avid as one of my fishing buddies is really into the St. Croix brand and I can tell you that you really can't go wrong with either but I'd say you do get more bang for the buck with the Aetos simply because they are lighter and have a little more feel but I know from experience that if a handle is uncomfortable, then you aren't going to feel much, I have a GL3 spinning rod over an IMX simply because the GL3 was better because the handle was more comfortable so it isn't always about price.

I fish the Susquehanna river a lot and hard baits make up most of my arsenal there. In the summer, the times you have clear water is one of the best time for a floating jerkbait, the reason is you can work it faster than a soft jerkbait and you'll get the reaction strikes plus I found you get larger fish on average with the hard jerkbaits. Shallow diving square bills are a must, one of the best on the Susquehanna is a chrome with black back Big-O, for some reason the sound and action of that bait really make the smallmouth react, we use others but there are a lot of times were you can run a bunch or different square bills and not get a sniff only to tie on a Big-O and then load the boat in short order. Spinnerbaits and buzzbaits do real damage as well but you do need some hard baits and I'll give you a list for the water you fish. 1. Flaoting jerkbaits - Rapala original floater in size 9 and 11, Smithwick Rattlin' Rogue ARB1200 series, Bagley Bang-O-Lure in both sizes. 2. Square bill cranks - Cotton Cordell Big-O, Rapala DT Fa3 and Flat 3, Bagley Honey B, Bomber Square A the 3/8oz model. 3. Wake Baits - Rapala DT Fat 1, Bandit Footloose, Mann Waker Elite (if you can find them). There are more hard baits for different times of the year but those will work from mid spring to mid fall and I've caught good fish consistently on every one of those.

My favorite jig is my own 3/8oz Arky head with a River Rock Baits K-Bug trailer (beaver style bait), and my favorite technique is the "hop & shake" ! That is an easy way to fish the jig and it gets results, what you do is give the jig a short hop and then shake the rod tip with the line being semi slack, shaky for a few seconds and hop again followed by the shake, it gets results.

I like dead sticking them but you have to be careful because the bass will swallow them. If you are not catching them with a senko then there isn't any fish in the area you are using them, I'm not saying that to be smart, but that is one bait that fish just hit, it is what I call my "day saver", if no bites and no fish on anything else, I'll use the senko and yes, it is my go to when all else fails. The way I fish them most of the time is a 5" rigged Texas style with no weight, and make a cast to a laydown or other cover and just let it fall to the bottom, I wait about 10 seconds keeping an eye on my line the entire time and if no bites I'll pick it up and let it fall again and wait, it is slow this way but they will bite it. Wacky rigging is another way but I'm in and around shallow cover most of the time and get hung too much and I've only tried the weedless hooks toward the end of last season so I'm try that more this year.

Jerkbaits and hair jigs until the water temp hits 50 and then I'll add hollow body swim baits to the mix.

I haven't picked up any of the *** spinning rods so I can't give a comparison but the Fenwick is really light weight and has a lot of sensitivity but being extremely comfortable allows you to focus of your fishing instead of focusing on how to make you hand feel better. If you go with the Fenwick I would go with the 6'9" M-XF, and the reason is because of the versatility of it, it will handle light baits really well but also allow you to whip 5" senkos a mile with no problem, the ML-F will do the same but you'll begin to notice it is a ML with a 5" senko , also you are using mono so the medium with the extra fast action will let you get a little extra on the hook sets. The really nice thing is even though the action is extra fast, it still has the flex of a normal medium power spinning rod, it lets me throw #5 shad raps with no difficulty and it has plenty of flex to fight the fish once it is hooked so you can feel confident to use other treble hook baits like in-line spinners on it with no worry. I don't know off hand what kind of warranty *** has but the Fenwick smallmouth series has a lifetime warranty with good customer service, that is about all I can tell you.

I had to pick up an order at Cabelas, I said I had enough jerkbaits, I really don't need anymore. I walked in and saw a line at the pick up/customer service area, (3 people) so I figured I'd take a quick look in the fishing section, just a look, it won't hurt to look. I walked out with the order I picked up, 2 packs of trebls hooks, a pack of bobber stops, 6 more jerkbaits, 2 containers of powder paint, and a pack or spinner blades. We all feel your pain but if you don't feed the addiction just a little it is going to really cost you the second you get some extra money, you'll explode into a buying frenzy with more rod and reels than you can imagine.

For a 3.5" to 4" paddle tail minnow like the Gene Larew Sweet Swimmer of the Keitech Easy Shiner a swim bait head in the 1/8oz to 1/4oz with a 3/0 hook works great.

I use the smallie beaver on the back of a jig and it is awesome but if they aren't taking the jig I'll often switch over to a sweet beaver T-rigged with a 1/4oz bullet weight and that usually gets bit, keep using it, you'll catch fish don't worry.

I have the 100SPT and the 150HPT and I like the 150 more but the 100 is really good as well, I think they are the best reels Quantum ever made. I prefer the 150 because it has the clicking spool tension knob and the ACS 3 brake system which works fantastic, that is one reel I'd say is worth buying.

If you are getting them at BPS I doubt you'll find the Fenwick HMG, I think they only carry the Methods and the River Runner. It would also depend on your preference for looks as the Carbonlite is a split grip while the HMG is a full grip. If none of that matters I'd go with the Fenwick but I'm biased, I own a nice stable of Fenwicks and the rods they've been coming out with have performed really well but the Carbonlite has a big following and I bet it performs well so cosmetics may be the key for you.

I was thinking of getting that or an Aetos 7' M-M, the thing with the Fenwick moderate fast is they are normally stiffer than others rated as moderate fast. I will tell you that my smallmouth moderate fast is a square bill throwing machine, I had to have one for jerkbait and square bills and it had to be able to handle big baits because I tend to use bigger square bills like the XCS 200 and 300 and the DT Fat 3 and Fat 1. If the moderate fast rating holds true in that series then it should be great for those, I even throw DT 6s with mine with good results but I haven't seen or held that model, my Cabelas only has the 7'MH-F and the 6'6" M-F. If you get that let me know what you think, I'm torn after handling the new HMG, I know there are some that don't like the SK2 reel seat but that combined with the thinner handle and blank make it feel very nice in hand but I do like the Aetos a lot but saving some coin is nice too.

The JDM version of the 110 is a true suspending bait, the 110 we have here is listed as a slow riser, it was only in the last 3 years or so that Megabass USA added the "suspending/slow rising" to the description. The one thing I liked about the RC STX better than the 110 was it did suspend better but my Megabass Hi-Float is the only floating jerkbait I ever caught a bass on in cold water and by cold I mean less than 45 degrees. At times the 110 is unbeatable but I've witnessed a lot of days were an X-Rap would out fish them but the biggest difference is like the yellow magic poppers, the 100 has an ability to get fish to hit when they normally wouldn't take a jerkbait, the same thing with those poppers, the fish hit them when they don't normally take a topwater.

Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth 6'9" ML-F, this is in your budget and is perfect for the light line you want, it is fast enough for good hook sets yet will have good flex.

In the warmer months we use them to search the deeper points when the shallow bite goes away. We will hit the points that come off of the flats, in the lakes here the flats that hold the most fish seem to have points extending out to deep water very close by. We position the boat in about 30' or so and cast up into 8' to 10' and let it hit the bottom and then rip it off the bottom about 2' to 4' and let it fall back yo-yoing it all the way back to the boat. This is a great way to search as you either get the fish to hit it or follow and then when we know they are there we can use football jigs or deep diving cranks to get them although sometimes they hit the lipless so good there is no need to change up.

1. Xcalibur XCS 200 square bill - Chartreuse/Black. 2. Rapala DT 6 - Bluegill. 3.Rapala DT 16 - Ike's Smash. 4. Xcalibur XR75 - Foxy Momma. These are baits and colors that should do well in your waters.

There are a ton of great jerkbaits, the thing I found is they seem to draw big strikes more often, or should I say more consistently. The same thing was asked about Pointers from Lucky Craft, the deal with those were the finishes plus the suspending qualities but there are time when other baits will do better. I have a couple but I prefer other baits over them like the Smithwick Rogue, people think I'm lying but I have about 25 or 30 Rogues, I use the shallow floating versions in the summer and in the cold water period I use the suspending rogues and the super rogues and even the super rogue jr.s and they flat out work but I keep a 110 and a Pointer 100 with me for the times I need to get a fish to bite and they won't commit to other baits.

I have some Quantum reels that work well but I always thought the Abu Garcia Revos were great and nothing Quantum had could compete until I got a Smoke. I know a lot don't like them, for me if it works great and I have 2 Smoke reels, a 2nd generation Revo Premier, and a Lews Tourney Pro and that is how I ended up with 2 Smoke reels. I got the Smoke before the Lews, and my second Smoke came after, to me, if all their reels are at the level of the Smoke then I will grab another, to me the Smoke was the best reel Quantum ever made but I never tried an EXO as I'm happy with what I have. I'm not sure about Magnesium reels at any price.

DVT is absolutely correct, it is thought about too much and the term tip heavy also gets used negatively and it isn't always that way. I prefer a rod that when I have a reel mounted on, it slightly tip heavy for cranking rods and spinnerbait rods but jig and worm set ups have to balance with the way I hold my set up, which means a perfectly balanced rod isn't going to be balanced for me, most of my rods that I find balanced right for me are what others consider being tip heavy, it is a reason I like split grips over full grips because slightly tip heavy is perfect for the way I hold my rods but if it is too tip heave, then that isn't good either.

I'm glad they put the video of that up, I don't see Randy Howell as the type of guy who would lie but so much money is involved with a sponsorship that you never know and lets face it, how many of us would have changed baits after pounding them like that? I'm glad Randy Howell won but he told the truth, he caught his limit on the DT6 and then culled twice with the Livingston and he won by 1 pound so if he wouldn't have culled he may have come in 2nd.

I'd use the jerkbait if you have clear water but based on the weather you said was coming is going to mean you are on a warming trend and the middle to last day of a warming trend will get fish active. Based on that I would have a #7 shad rap ready for the 6' to 8' range, a flat side crank like a DT Flat 7 and 3 to cover shallow and mid depth areas along with a jig or finesse rig. If you need to swing for the fence try a chatterbait or a swim bait retrieved slowly around any cover, the best bet would be a hollow body like a money minnow, shadalicious or the Basstrix, this is under utilized and doesn't get a bunch of bites but the ones you get are big and this is the perfect time for them, good luck!!

I had to go to Walmart yesterday and while there I noticed they had the discount bin filled up and there to my delight was the Cotton Cordell Super Spots, and not the ones in the blister pack but instead the ones that come in a box. I even was lucky enough that they had them in the right size and color, $1.96, great! Anyway it got me thinking about lipless baits, for me these are like fishing rods, I have them for all kinds of conditions and I was wondering if any of you do this. I love the Cordell super spots but only in 1/4oz and my favorite colors are blue shiner and royal shad, royal chrome is what they normally have at wally world. These are the only lipless baits I use in 1/4oz and they are my shallow baits, the one thing with the super spot is it will make noise and vibrate at a slower speed that others and it is a killer in pressured water situations. Next is the one knockers, I use the Rapala clacking rap and the Xcalibur one knocker, I use the Rapala in the colder months as the water is generally clearer and the purple gold and silver colors are more natural which I think is better for that clear water. The warmer, more stained water I go with the Xcalburs as they work better when you really rip them and the Tilapia and Lemon-Lime are really visible in stained water. My last one is my summer bait and it is a combination, it is a 1/2oz chrome with a black back Bill Lewis rattle trap for the most part and it is just because the one knockers don't always draw strikes. The thing is I have a few more that I will switch out and the fish at times will seem to have a preference for the sound of one bait over another a lot, the Rattlin' Rapala in silver blue works fantastic if they are following or just barely getting the back hook on the rattle trap and then last year I got a gold chrome Rippin Rap and that has quickly taken over, I may experiment with that in other situations but in the warm water it has been a real fish catcher. I know, a lot of different baits but over they years and fishing with other people is what got me to that, but I'm pretty much ready for anything, so ho many have various models for certain situation?