smalljaw67

Ima Bass Ninja sums it up perfectly!!!! To put enthusiast reels in perspective you have to look at how few are sold, Shakespear sells more ugly sticks in 1 month than Daiwa sells Steez reels in 1 year, the demographic is less than 1% of the fishing population. Enthusiast level rods and reels are all about refinement, high end material and components and precise tolerances manufactured by skilled workers in Japan and those workers get paid very well, that is why the high price tag. I talked to a pro about these things and what I was told that yes, these expensive Japanese reels and rods and expertly built and worth every penny if you are into the tackle side of it but they are precise instruments, they don't take much abuse, in fact dropping them on a boat 4 or 5 times in a tournament is going to have an effect because the tolerances are so tight but they aren't made to be work horse reels, they are made to be enjoyed by those who respect the tackle as much as the sport itself. Even when I was able to afford high end reels I always stuck to work horse reels in the $120-$250 range and I have a couple that were more expensive and the biggest difference is the refinement, anglers who never fished with reels in the $400 dollar range don't know how smooth manufacturers can make a reel, try using a Chronarch and you think it doesn't get any better and then you use a Core and you realize it just went to a new level and the same with Daiwa, The Advantage was smooth, the Zillion was even better and the type R was a little better and then the Steez came out and the refinement went up another notch. Fish with the Steez and enjoy it, enjoy the fact that you have a brother-in-law that thinks so much of you he drops some serious coin on a piece of equipment for you to use for your past time, that says a lot. Be warned, once you fish with that reel, you'll know how good it is but you really understand when you put it down and pick up a Revo or Lews or the Curado, all really good reels but not in the same class, some guys can't go back after using enthusiast level stuff and end up getting more reels and rods so they don't have to pick up another work horse reel so be careful of the dark side of it.

I consider shallow and medium divers as search baits, deep diving cranks are to use when you are on fish or fish holding structure like a ledge or hump or something similar. The easiest way to build confidence is to use them but don't just blindly cast any one you find, start with organizing your box, for example, put your shallow diving baits in one box and the medium divers in another and deep divers a different one as well unless you have enough room in a box to keep these separate. Start with shallow cranks and when you are out and going down the bank simply put the jig and worm rod down and start chucking the square bill or better yet, you Rapala Fat Rap, those just flat out catch fish and they dive to almost 4' on 12lb line, if you do that you will catch fish and it doesn't take long before you get consistent enough that you gain a lot of confidence in it. After that you can move off the bank a little to the first drop and use the medium divers, the ones in the 6' to 10' range to fish the outer weed edges and the mid section of main lake points and then you can go off shore and use your graph to find structure and fish and use deep cranks to get them. The key is confidence, both in the bait and your ability to use it, trust me, you'll get it down and when you do you may find there is some cranking you may like, for me it is shallow cranking the 3' to 6' range, there is just something so cool about banging a square bill along and having it get hammered by a 5lber after your bait passed by a laydown.

My shaky head rod is a Fenwick Elite Tech smallmouth spinning rod, 6'9" medium power with extra fast action, I have a medium light as well that I use for small hair jigs and I have used it for shaky heads and I feel the medium is the best bet. The reason why is you may be throwing 1/8oz to 1/4oz heads but what kind of worms? I don't know about you but I use some small finesse worms but I will also use larger worms like senkos or Stanley Sidewinders and the Hags Tornado and with those types of baits even on a 1/8oz head the medium will be better because you will have plenty of power to set the hook as you will be in the the rods normal weight reange were as a medium light you'll be on the upper end of the rods power range. I think the medium light is great for drop shots but a little too light for a good shaky head rod.

Go with the graphite if you are going to use jerkbaits or other shallow cranks that will encounter cover. I'm in awe of how guys can use 7' moderate rods to fish jerkbaits, I try it and I can't get the bait to work right, I hit the water and the side of the boat, it is just very hard to do but some can do it. The glass rod is going to be heavier and slower in action, I use a glass rod for medium diving and deep diving cranks only, and it is because I normally fish those in more open water, if you have to get a fish away from cover as soon as it is hooked, well that is extremely tough, and almost impossible to do with a glass rod. I know the Dobyns graphite rods are really moderate but they will have more backbone than the glass so based on what you will be using I'd go with that over the glass.

I used to use them but right now I would suggest you not use them, especially if you have a bottom pour pot. I see more and more people ruining pots to the point LEE has put a warning in with the new pots saying not to use them and I'll explain why. The newer wheel weights have a large amount of zinc in them, they used to be mostly lead and antimony which all you had to do was melt them down, scrape the slag off, flux and scrape again and you could make some good ingots from them but not anymore. What happens to the lead when you have zinc contamination is the lead gets a goo like consistency and it will not pour out a bottom pour and it will clog it up real quick and they really isn't anyway to tell the difference unless you know wheel weights that you can tell which ones have a lot of zinc. What you want is linotype, sheet, or plumbers lead but if you decide to use the wheel weights be very careful because fluxing doesn't fix zinc contamination.

I never understood the sure set hooks until I used them and I don't really have any problems with them but I can tell you that when you get those barely hooked fish that are hanging on by 1 single hook on the treble, well you feel a lot more confident when that is the sure set. In fact every time I get one like that it is hooked on the sure set hook and I don't think it is the cause as it only seems to happen in cold water but no unusual snagging or anything, I like them.

WRB explained extremely well, spider jigs/hula grubs and jig-n-pigs are 2 entirely different presentations. You also have a the downsized version like the old Cabin Creek salty spiders which were more of a finesse bait as they were only like 2" or so with a light soft plastic skirt and were fished on a light wire ball head jig without a weed guard. The larger hula grubs are sometimes used as jig trailers but without the skirt on them but they are different so choosing which to use would, to me, be based on how heavy the cover is in the area you are going to fish.

I fish a similar type area but it isn't a lake, it is a warm water discharge from a power plant on the river and it is prime for spinnerbaits but another surprising pattern is jerkbaits but it is due to cold water being present further away from the discharge. If you have any areas where the water temp drops a few degrees go there and use a jerkbait, you won't see many do this but it works because of what happens. Fish normally will go to the warmer water and predator fish will do the same only the larger ones often set up on some type of cover or structure to intercept baitfish moving into a warmer cove. That happens a lot where I fish which I know id different but if you have water that is cooler try to find it, I watch boats go by me because the water isn't cold where I'm at but it is 4 and 5 degrees warmer closer to the discharge but I'm on fish getting fat on others coming into the warm water. The jerkbait works because what happens a lot is the baitfish that move out of the area will often end up stunned by the sudden temp change and a jerkbait imitates the action perfectly, the hits can be vicious and the fish, big!!!! Good luck!

I'm not sure if it stands for "Hard Crankbait" but you are correct, it is used for their own cataloging purposes. The 1.5 flat is silent, and while I haven't tried them I was bummed that they didn't use the coffin lip like other flat sides have which make them great around wood and rock in the warm water period but it should still be good in cooler water.

Aetos = Awesome!!!! Seriously, I have a 7'2" MH-XF Aetos that is a mean pitching stick and the sensitivity is above par, in fact I have a hard time putting it down. I have 3 smallmouth series now and the Aetos along with the old HMG and I'm really liking Fenwick lately. I was a custom and G.Loomis guy but my income went in the tank after I got sick so to make a long story short I was looking for a high end rod with out the price and that is when I discovered the smallmouth series, I was hooked. It strated with 1 spinning rod and then I added a casting rod and then another and then an Aetos, awesome rods that fish well above the price point. I was going to get another Aetos until I got a chance to check out the new HMG, now I'm conflicted, the Aetos is a better rod, to that there is no doubt but the new HMG is a lot of rod at the $100 dollar price point, and when I say a lot of rod I mean I haven't found anything even close, it is very light weight and balanced perfectly but it may be too thin in diameter for some so that is out there. I think an Aetos would fit your needs, I got mine from Fish usa, great place to buy from with great prices.

It is an older stock BPS Triple Ripple, they keep a few standard colors but if you look, every 2 years or so they will replace certain colors with new ones and the ones that sell are the ones they keep. If you know anyone that does custom soft plastic baits just ask them about the old colors that didn't sell, I bet everyone that pours plastic has been asked to reproduce a color that a Cabelas, BPS, or Gander Mtn. worm had back in the day because they all switch colors, it is why when you find one that really works in your waters you go and buy 50 bags when they are on sale because you know there will come a time when it gets discontinued and they will be no more as in the case for that worm.

It isn't a Skitter walk, it is an X-Rap walk and I'm pretty sure they don't make them anymore. These were made in 3 sizes, the 9, 11, and 13 and what you probably have is a size 11. I fish the Susquehanna river for smallmouth and my personal best was 5lb 4oz caught on the old model Zara Spook which is close to 5" long and weighs 7/8oz and one secret to catch big smallies in the warm water is to use big topwaters because they eliminate a lot of the smaller fish at that time of year but the big girls won't hesitate, they'll eat it!!!

Flukes will work in cold water to a certain degree but when you are in the 40s I think a suspending hard bait is the way to go. The reason is how they bite it, it can be very light and with a hard bait you often get fish to the boat that are barely hooked on the rear treble, those are fish that you'd never get with the fluke because they will often just nip at it. Keep trying, that is if you have clear water, I'm a jerkbait fanatic and I have used them in all conditions and it is true, anything less than 3' of visibility and the prospect of catching fish goes way down, 2' is the absolute lowest I use them and for that I use Rattlin' Rogues due to the sound, and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows as they have some really bright reflective tape finishes that I think helps the fish find it. So if you are in dirty water it you may need to go to a different presentation but if the water is clear enough, focus on the pause and the cadence of working the bait. I'll start with a jerk-jerk-jerk-jerk-jerk just to get the bait down and then pause it for 5 seconds and then jerk-jerk-jerk and pause. If I use that cadence for a few minutes and I don't get any action I'll switch it up, if it is really cold I'll make the pause longer, and sometimes making it shorter works but you have to experiment until you get bit and then you repeat the process. In water that is in the upper 40s you could probably get fish on a soft jerkbait, well not just probably but you can, I've watched a friend do it consistently but the fish have to be pretty active, when it was tough the hard jerkbait worked much better.

Any glass or composite rods will be heavy, the only difference in weight is because Dobyns makes use of S-Glass while the KVD rods are E-Glass and feel like the Lamiglas cranking rods. I have an old Quantum Tour USA edition E-Glass rod that I love, it was made in America with a blank by Lamiglas and has the same action as the Excel glass rod. The only knock on Dobyns is they are way overpriced for a rod made overseas, go to Tackle Warehouse, the old Model KVD cranking rods are on sale and you can get one for less than 100 bucks, the difference is some cosmetics and different guides but the blanks are the same.

The best advise I could give is to take your time and learn to work with 1 material first and add others as you get better. I would also add to get the best equipment you can afford, I tied for years on a standard AA vise and I thought it was fine and when it broke I got a Griffin rotary vise and now tying is easier, I can tie faster and the jigs are better than ever, a quality bobbin also helps.

Felix, for yellow perch here is my new version, go to Lure Parts Online, and under the skirt material you will see one called "Real Bait", then you want number 111 which is yellow perch. The color by itself is more like a yellow gold but what I do is use a full tab of that with a 1/2 tab of watermelon barbed wire on top with a 1/2 tab of white or pearl on bottom with 2 strands, yes, just 2 strands of orange under the white. So you should end up with 46 strands or close to it, maybe 48 but the watermelon barbed wire with the little bit of black and the lighter green really gets picked up by the yellow gold of the real bait yellow perch tab. You can also use the yellow perch tabs straight up and they will look good, I've done it and I liked the result but more importantly, the fish did as well.

The best colors in the Super Spook are Bone and Nickel, but I would think clear too because I have a clear Dying Flutter and it gets crushed so the clear may also be good with the Spook as well.

For those that never saw the original Cabelas reels the last time Daiwa made them I'll let you know what the deal was. The gray Prodigy was really close to the Advantage, I still have mine and it was hands down the best $99.00 reel available, way above price point in quality. Then they came out with the B series which was supposed to be above the Exceler but lower than the Aggrest, it wasn't very good. They had a spinning reel, the Tournament ZX, it was white and had Daiwa logos all over it, the specs were identical to the Tierra with the difference being the Cabelas version had a power T knob and all regular bearings were the Tierra had 2 corrosion resistant bearings but the counts were the same, I grabbed one when they discontinued them for $40 and I'm sorry I didn't buy 10 more. I usually use casting reels in the $120 to $270 price range, I have 1 that goes over and 1 that is below which happens to be the old gray Prodigy, that said, I'll take a ride to Cables and check these out but considering what Daiwa has made for them in the past I would not be afraid to bet that these will be right smack in between the Lexa and Exceler with only a small tweak to make them different.

Most of the time you'll find casting them in is stronger but I use both epoxy and super glue gel and never had any come off so I'm not sure if stronger is better. The exception to that is a football jig mold I have, the 1/8oz cavity is made to use a 1/8" diameter weed guard known as the FG-30, if you cast it in it will fall out so you have to epoxy it in. The reason is there is very little of the weed guard actually goes into the head so there is very little lead to hold it in place, if you use the epoxy right it will bond the weed guard into the hole as well as the surround area outside the weed guard and it will hold better. That one mold is the exception, I have never run into another mold like that so casting them in may work for you.

I'm not sure if cosmetics mean anything to you but I'd look seriously at a Fenwick HMG over both of those. You are talking around 100 dollars, the new HMG from Fenwick is super light, has a Fuji reel seat and the guided are Titanium frames with titanium inserts with a lifetime warranty. The Powell Inferno has stainless steel guided with stainless inserts so they won't pop out and will wear ok too but the Duckett Ghost rods have the stainless guides with a chrome insert, they aren't going to last, if you use braid you'll get 3, maybe 4 years and the guides will begin grooving. I'm also thinking the HMG has a better blank than the Duckett, I haven't picked up the Powell but for $100 the HMG is a lot of rod, fthe blanks are thinner and lighter than the old series with crisp actions and a lifetime warranty, check them out.

Tackle Warehouse has them listed as a lifetime warranty.

I fish the Susquehanna River which is a lot like the upper Potomac, I make my own shaky heads and the only place I use them are behind islands in the deeper pools, shaky heads don't work well in the curret but if you are looking for some try any brand with a full round head, I found they are better in the river than the stand up ones with a flat edge on them.

I don't like the fact that the Ghost rods have chrome inserts on stainless guides, if the guides were stainless with aluminum oxide or even stainless inserts then fine but chrome inserts won't last, especially using braided line. I don't know what the warranty of the Ghost rods are but any more than 3 years and Duckett will be doing a lot of warranty replacement because anyone buying a ghost flipping stick is more than likely using braid and chrome inserts don't like it. Grab the Lamiglas, both are made overseas but the Lamiglas has a lifetime warranty at the same price point and from what I was told directly from Lamiglas was the blanks are very similar and use the same graphite pre peg used on the regular EXcell, just some cosmetic and component differences as well as where they are made.

That chart says to use a size #4 clevis, that is too big. The blade sizes you chose are fine but here is the problem, the bottom blade isn't going to spin at a normal speed, you'll have to burn it, a size #3 willow is a bottom blade on a 1/4oz bait and even on those if I want a regular moderate speed bait I'll use a 3.5. When you get your stuff you'll see how every thing will fit and that is the best way to learn, good luck and be sure to show off the baits you make!!

I have been using the Biffle bug, sweet beaver, and a big lizard like the Trigger X Big Moe. My favorites and what I use most of the time is the Biffle bug and beaver style baits and I texas rig it when I'm banging it along the bottom like a crankbait or if I lift and drop in cover, if I'm doing the lift and drop in open water with light weights then I'll texpose it and skin hook the plastic. I don't know how much it helps but I fooled with a few plastic baits on that head and those 3 are the best and the only reason I include the lizard is a friend had told me to try it and we had a good day but it was late spring and we never had any other good days with but the beaver and bug seem to always get bit with that presentation.