smalljaw67

I don't know why they do not use rating systems to give someone an idea of the power they have but I will say this, Halo rods fished with anything other than braid are a waste of time. I didn't say they are bad rods, but they all have moderate actions, even with braid it is hard to get use to setting the hook and the rod bending so steep, almost like fishing a jig with an ugly stick only the Halo is lighter.

The faster the better for jigs and plastics. My rule of thumb is use a fast reel for any technique in which you use the rod to move the bait, use a slow to medium speed reel for any technique in which you use the reel to move the bait, and so far this rule has helped me but in your case a 6.4:1 isn't bad but if there is a faster option then I would go that route.

3 different ways I rig them, the first is on a swim jig, the second way is on a jig head with a 3/0 or 4/0 hook depending on which swim bait, and on a twist lock hook with a 1/8oz weight, hook size depends on the swim bait but usually 3/0.

I'd go with a white trailer for an all white swim jig, if there was another color in it say a whaite and chartreuse with white being the majority then I would use a chartreuse trailer to add contrast especially if fishing in stained water. For the type of trailer I really like the small swim baits, I wasn't sure about using them until I saw others using it and so I gave it a try and I'm convinced it is the best presentation. On a 1/4oz swim jig which is what I use most, I like a 3.5" to 4" swim bait, my favorite being the River Rock RR Striker but I also like the Gene Larew sweet swimmer as well as the Keitech easy shiner.

There are a lot of things that can cause the loss of a fish but if you are using a single hook lure and your rod is bending in half like in a parabolic way then the action of the rod is way too soft regardless of backbone. In fact, don't look at how thick a rod is at the butt section, newer rods have thin blanks, especially the decent rods, instead look at power and action of the rod. Another reason is you are using a soft rod with copoly line, a line that has stretch with a soft rod equals a lot of lost fish when using baits like T- rigged plastics and jigs, even spinnerbaits will present a problem on a long cast, Try using a medium heavy power, with a fast action, based on the info about the rods you currently use, a fast action rod is going to feel pretty stiff in comparison.

I actually went through this with a friend of mine in June. The water temp was up and so I had a floating model hard jerkbait tied on and my friend was using a fluke, the fish were on the fluke but they were slashing at it and he would get 1 fish out of 4 or 5 strikes. Seeing this go on I picked up my Rattlin' Rogue in clown, shallow diving model and I was getting bit working the bait very aggressively but the difference was those fish that were just slashing at the bait were now getting hooked on the on the trebles as they weren't grabbing the fluke hard enough to get the hook into them but they were taking enough of the rogue to allow a set of trebles to latch on. There are times for the soft jerkbait but there are times you can use a hard jerkbait and do just as well if not better and then there is the cold water factor, nothing like a suspending jerkbait that gets down between 4' to 8' and just sits there and the fish if just staring at it wondering if it is even alive and then it twitches and the bass can't help itself, it strikes and now you have a nice one on and at that moment you know the power of the hard jerkbait.

The Saavy isn't a bad rod but there is a lot more sensitive rods you can get in that price range, I put them in the GL2 category, nice rods that are over priced, well made but there are a lot better blanks out there for the same price and lower.

This is funny but so true!!!! I make custom tackle so I know the value of good hooks and when I had my business the only guys that would complain and argue about price were the guys that had $1000 dollar Evergreen or Megabass rods and exotic JDM reels along with tricked out boats, and to be fair it wasn't all of them but they were the only group I ever had complain. There is another thing with quality hooks which a lot don't understand, and it isn't the price of a hook but the design. If you are fishing a large creature bait with the hook point buried, you are going to want to use a hook like a Gamakatsu, Owner, or Trokar, those are made with cutting points that allow the hook point and barb to go through plastic and into the fish quickly with little effort, but you don't want a cutting point on a spinnerbait or a jig hook. Those baits look for a needle point such as a Mustad, Eagle Claw Laser Sharp, or VMC, the reason is these are bulky baits with weight attached, the fish moves its head back and forth and the cutting points will often end up creating a large hole and then the hook ends up falling out at the first hint of slack line. The exception to this is the Owner deep throat jig hook, they recognized this so they made a hook with a bend designed to keep the cutting point away from the fish's mouth once it penetrates. Crankbait hooks work well with cutting point hooks, the exception to this is the Mustad triple grip hooks, they realized the needle points penetrate well but they also come out the same way they came in so they created a bend that directs the point of the hook away from where it entered. The wire diameter is another place of concern, but hook manufactures make it easy for us, if you are using a worm hook in heavy cover with braid or heavy flouro or mono you will see the name "flipping hook" applied so you know the hook is correct, the same with finesse hooks. I like the post, someone who is relatively new to bass fishing has quickly noticed how important hooks are in landing and you can notice the difference, great job.

These stores don't usually move, they normally just open a new store and add to the chain but I'll tell you what prompted the move, a demographics shift. This happens in areas were the target demographic starts to decline so the store moves to an area that will be easy to access for a larger demographic. I live in a small town and 20 minutes from my home is a Cabelas, 40 minutes is a BPS, the reason is 1 out of every 7 residents has a hunting license, 1 out of every 4 has a fishing license, in those there are some that have both. Our Cabelas is a super store, they get around 15 trucks a week, that is what a lot of store do in a month and BPS isn't hurt one bit, plenty to go around and there is even some small mom and pop type places that are still doing good because no matter how bad the economy is here, everyone finds the money to buy hunting or fishing stuff. That said it is a shame your store is closing, I know how I would feel after having both near me for over 10 year, I'd be devastated since I thought I would never see the inside of one of those stores to begin with.

DVT is exactly spot on, listen to this and make adjustments in your casting and you will be fine.

It is just the opposite side, 4 o'clock is the same as 8'oclock which is where I begin my stroke, and then 1 o'clock is the same as 11 o'clock, I find it easier to teach guys how to stroke a jig with the rod slightly lower and most will over swing and once anyone gets a feel for it they tend to make it their own anyway. I remember the first fish I caught stroking, I pulled my rod back past the 12 o'clock position and I lost contact with my line and as I lowered the rod and was reeling in the slack I noticed the line was now coming back to the rod on an angle and then I noticed it was moving and then I finally got all the slack in and set the hook on a 5lb. 2oz pig and I started stroking a jig more often.

There isn't a rule of thumb and places like lure making * or lure parts online have charts that give you a general idea of what size you should use. I'll try to give you some help with this and cover the basics. First, if you want to make what I call an "all purpose" bait and the spinnerbait head you are using is a normal head, not a hidden weight, then for double willows you want a size #5 blade on top on the swivel and a size #4.5 or a #4 on the clevis. If you are using a hidden weight head I would go with a #4 or #4.5 on top and a # 3.5 or #4 on the bottom. Here is some terminology that will make it easy to convey what you want in a spinnerbait, what you want to make is called a double willow, a tandem willow is a willow on top and a Colorado on bottom, a tandem Indiana is an Indiana on top and Colorado on bottom, and then you have double Colorado and double Indiana. I know it is tick tacky but I know for a fact that if you order a tandem willow from Nichols bait company you will get the willow and Colorado, it happened to a friend of mine and when he told them they messed up his order they sent him a copy of the invoice along with the terminology explanation. BTW, if you want the 1/2oz bait for burning, they you will want to drop the blade size down a full size or better depending on which you go with, the reason is the blades cause drag and create torque, if you burn a bait with normal size blades it is going to up to the top super fast and it will roll over, smaller blades means less drag and torque so that will stop the roll and the bait will also have a lot less lift.

You can make long cast with any jig however I would recommend braided line for jigs with a heavy wire hook just because the amount of stretch mono and even flourcarbon has over a long distance. Now as far as the jigs I would cast far, number 1 would be a swim jig and yes, I believe in jigs that are designed to swim rather than swimming just any jig. Other jigs would be shaky heads, football jigs, and normal casting jigs, I would say a flipping jig if you are stroking but that is the only way I'm casting a flipping jig far. If you don't know what stroking is you can try it, you may end up with a pig and I have caught nice fish stroking a jig from shore so don't feel disadvantaged just because you aren't in a boat. To stroke a jig you need a jig, usually flipping as they tend to be heavier but any jig that is at minimum 1/2oz with 3/4oz being optimum and 1oz being at the end of the weight spectrum. Make a cast and let the jig hit bottom and then reel the slack just so the line is tight without moving the jig and then rip the jig up off the bottom, I swing my rod from the 4 0'clock position to the 1 0'clock position and then let the jig fall on a semi slack line making sure to watch for and abnormal movements or sudden stops as the fish normally hit the jig either on the fall or as soon as it hits bottom.

I'm in PA and I fish a lake that is like that, and I found that there are a couple ways to get them to bite, the best way is either a flutter spoon or a silver buddy blade bait depending on water temp. I also have had luck yo-yoing a lipless crankbait but the spoon in warm water works the best. The a-rig was made for that type of fishing but I don't like it and in my home state you are limited to 3 baits but if you don't mind throwing it that will work.

I have no problem with it, I simply put it in a container (small cool whip bowl with lid) shake it and then dip my jigs and it goes on and cures just as good as any other. I have been using it for a long time however so I know just by looking at the powder if I have to really fluff it up, the only knock on harbor freight powder is that you need to fluff or shake it up pretty good, the same thing with pro-tec white. To each their own, if I get a pound of paint for less than 2oz and the only difference is I have to give it a few extra shakes so be it.

I have a 1st gen Vendetta, a 6'6" M-F casting rod and I really like it. I got it for fishing out of the jon boat on the river where space is limited so I figured the Vendetta would be a good versatile rod that wouldn't hurt so bad if it broke, I now use it a good bit besides on a jon boat. I like my Vendetta as an all purpose set up but what it really does well is larger jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, the 6'6" length makes it perfect for those two techniques because it allows for accurate casting and you can work a jerkbait without hitting the rod tip on the water. It is a little stiff but it will fool you because it is a powerful caster and while it is stiff the medium still will flex like a normal medium power rod when you fight a fish, I would have been satisfied had I paid more money for it when they came out because it does fish very well for the price point.

There are all kinds but they all pretty much work the same, depending on the colors you want you can always get a lb. of harbor freight powder for $4.99, but they only have red, yellow, white, and flat black. The nice thing with powder is there are no fumes and it is 1 coat and done, I used to use vinyl and everything had to have a white base coat, and the fumes would give me such vicious headaches that it wasn't worth doing anymore. Pro-tec is on the expensive side but you can do a lot of jigs with 2oz.

832 is the only braid I ujse and I only use braid for froggin'. TT runs lab tests and then uses the product, the abrasion resistance may have been lower but it seems to hold up better with nicks and frayed spots than other braid. The PP was good, the new super slick8 is getting a lot of breakage reports, a lot more than pp or others have had.

The new Lews BB1 has 2 models, 1 has what they call multi-stop anti reverse which has back play purposely, old school crankbait guys like the back play in the reel.

I don't balance my outfits, I try to buy rods that are decent and match them up with weight and size appropriate reels but some off balance set ups I look for on purpose. My spinnerbait set ups are slightly tip heavy, this makes for great roll casting and perfect feel on the retrieve since the rod is tip down most of the time. I also think balance is over hyped, most good set ups are pretty good, the only real rods I found that were extremely tip heavy were rods that are 7'6" and longer.

The first thing you need to know is that when you hear guys saying they can feel rock, wood, or grass and they can tell the difference, well that is because they have experience fishing in all different areas and lakes so you end up getting use to feeling what the vibrations are coming from. If you have limited experience in fishing different types of lakes then a rod like an NRX isn't going to help you interpret what you feel, you will feel vibrations but unless you know 100% that you are fishing on rock or wood, well then you really don't know what it is you feel. Sensitivity comes with experience, so lets say you are dragging a worm along the bottom, if you feel nothing it could be because the weight is too light and when you drag the worm it is actually coming off the bottom, or it could be a muck bottom in which you aren't digging in to get resistance so you feel nothing, or the rod and line combo isn't transmitting the minute vibrations of a gravel type bottom to your hands or they are so subtle you just don't feel them. A good way to learn what stuff feels like is finding a shallow spot in a pond or lake that you can see bottom and make a cast with a small weight and drag it along the bottom and make note of the bottom, is it hard or soft, is there gravel or rocks and drag the weight over small sticks and limbs, this will give you a little bit of understanding exactly what you are feeling and how it feels with the equipment you are using.

Since you are talking spinning, I'd go with the Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth rod, I assume it will be an all purpose rod so the 6'9" medium, extra fast would be my choice, it handles small lures like a dream yet has more than enough backbone for stuff over 1/2oz and still remain very sensitive, extremely versatile. If you prefer more length then the 7'4" medium power, fast action will work well for you, it has more length and the same line and lure ratings as the 6'9" medium but it has a fast instead of an extra fast action os it will have more flex but should work just as well, $99.95 at Fish USA tackle with free shipping, this is the best $100 dollar rod with a lifetime warranty on the market, but that is my opinion.

I live in PA and I know what the problem is, it happens every year, temperature fluctuation, what happens is the night is cool and the water temp drops a good bit as the days are shorter. I hit the water last week and the water temp was 58, by the time we took out it had climbed back up to 76, but the temps have dropped by 10 to 15 degrees this week, so the lakes here will finally finish turnover and then next week the bite should be better but keep after it, these are the days when you may only get 3 bites but most of the time they are good ones, the good fall bite is only a week or 2 away at most.

Cotton Cordell Super Spot in royal shad, I think that color is as close to perfect as you can get, it works in any water clarity. My other favorite is a tie depending on conditions but both are one knockers, the Rapala Clackin' Rap and the Xcalibur One Knocker, the Rapala in silver or gold in clear water and the Xcalibur in lemon lime or Tilapia for stained water. I use the Rapala in sliver for clear water with clear skies, the gold works better in clear water with overcast skies, the Xcalibur in lemon lime for heavier staned water and the Tilapia for mild stained water.

Being a certified jerkbait nut for a decade or more I'll tell you what I use, which was a medium power fast action, I could not stand the moderate action rod as I felt I had no control, there was a noticeable recovery time for the rod tip, it was like fishing a bait that I had little or no control. I now use a medium heavy with a moderate fast action but it is a true moderate fast in that the rod doesn't have a parabolic bend and the tip is fast, the only difference is the rod has some extra give, very similar to a medium power with a fast action. As for the 6'8" medium extra fast, I'd say it would be fine, you may even find you don't need a different jerkbait rod. You are going to have great control but the medium power is forgiving enough that you will still have a good amount of forgiveness, the only way I'd say a medium extra fast would be a St. Croix casting rod as their medium is like most others medium heavy which I think would be too stout but the Shimano should be no problem.