smalljaw67

Me either. Shorter rods in the 6' and shorter don't seem to have balance issues and the only rods that I ever used that were tip heavy were rods 6'6" and longer, especially the 7'+. Before I make any suggestions, what kind of fish and lures/baits are you going to use with the rod? I have a rod that is a casting rod with a full cork grip, it is light but the balance is off as it is butt heavy, it is a fantastic jig rod but trying to cast a spinnerbait side arm or underhand and it feels like the rod weighs 10 pounds but because it is butt heavy there isn't much I can do about it but I don't want to since it does do a super job fishing jigs. If you are going to be using live bait I can see were you may want more weight on the back but if you end up with a reel that is too large it will hurt your casting ability as the line is really going to drag the stripper guide and that will hurt distance and sensitivity due to the amount of friction on the guides. Your best bet is to use the appropriate size reel and then go to BPS and get a balancing system.

The Zoom super fluke and super fluke jr are more of a topwater bait for me, I live and fish in PA and the way I use them is I let them sink a few feet and then give a couple of quick jerks and stop it and repeat. I also like to use a 1/8oz scrounger for fishing close to but not in cover and open water. For a slug-o I fish the same way but I do move it faster as it doesn't come up as fast as the fluke and I found a bait that is awesome, River Rock Baits jointed jerkbait in 4" and 5", these are made with a denser plastic but they have a joint in the center so it has a lot more action than a standard fluke or slug-o. Those I fish with a jerk-jerk-jerk, quick stop and repeat, they stay a little deeper in the water so you can fish them unweighted much faster than the others.

Thanks cadman, in all the years I've been doing this, it is the first time I was asked to make identical baits with completely different blade configurations. When I finished them I knew I had to take a pic because even up close there is an illusion that one is larger until you put them side by side, I thought it was pretty neat. I also made one for myself, the angler that I made these for has been getting this same pattern for years, he told me has has won 2 tournaments with it and has placed high in a bunch of others so I need to see for myself on the waters I fish if there may be something to it or it may be a local thing where he fishes.

Here are 2 spinnerbaits I just did for a local angler, the both are a pattern called "Pink Shad", these were made for stained water. Both a 1/2oz baits but I thought it was neat to see how different blade configurations make one bait appear to be larger than the other. The bait on top is 1/2oz with a size #6 indiana blade as the main and a size #3 colorado blade as the secondary. The bottom bait is also a 1/2oz but it has a double mag willow configuration with a size #5 mag willow as the main and a size #4 mag willow as the secondary. Both configurations are intended for slow to moderate speeds with heavy vibration.

7" power worm or a 5" Senko, I know most wacky rig the senko style baits but I love T-rigging them.

Why not get him a gift card for tackle warehouse? Get him one based on the most expensive model of carrot stix and if he wants the slitly less expensive version he can use the extra for shipping and maybe a few bags of Senkos. If you do that I know it won't be quite as personal but at least he will get exactly what he has been wanting.

What you basically did was a slight upgrade to a beetlespin, those types of spinnerbaits catch fish but I stay away from them as the places I fish , they tend to catch a lot of bluegills and perch. Since I make my own spinnerbaits to match certain situatations I really don't know of 1 that isn't the best in its own right at certain times but for my money the best "all-purpose" spinnerbait would be a 3/8oz in white with a #5 indiana main blade in nickel and a #2 brass colorado blade as the secondary, that is a bait you could fish fast or slow in clear water or dirty water and from the surface to 6' deep.

Jonh G is right, bass fishing swimbaits range from 1/4oz to 6oz or more. The price range you stated, 100 - 200 isn't going to get you a Loomis unless it is a GL2 and in my opinion the components used in that rod plus the weight, it is heavy, don't warrant anywhere near that price. The distance you are looking for can be done with just about any length over 6' so what kind of preference do you have on length. If you provide a little more specifics you'll get a lot of good suggestions.

I don't know what affect it will have but I can tell you this, no matter what you do, you can't change a fast action graphite rod into a moderate fast action. A moderate action graphite rod is done using different materials and tapers, thats why you see a resurgence in glass rods as blank makers can only make a graphite rod so soft, I think Falcon rods have the most moderate action blanks for graphite rods.

What he means is you don't want your jika rig using a heavy duty 4/0 EWG superline hook to fish a finesse worm or a 2/0 lightwire hook with a 5" creature type bait. Whatever the plastic you are going to use make sure the hook on your rig works with the plastic you are using either big or small, don't try using the same hook for a creature bait and then use it to thread a finesse worm on instead of changing out the hook.

The frog-r and the Koppers walking frog are different and more like a sammy or spook. I think it would be very effective since it is a different profile in a walking bait, the frog-r from rebel is something I may try as it looks to have a smaller profile with a good weight, I could see this getting inhaled much easier and more oftem than a spook, I think it is more of a numbers bait but still any fish on topwater is welcomed!

Coffin bills are usually found on flatsided baits, and right now is a great time to use them. I have a wonderful crankbait that I use all summer, I call it my finesse square bill, it is a Rapala DT flat 3, it doesn't wobble, it shimmys and you'd be surprised how many times I fished an area using the DT Fat 3 without a strike and then go back through using the flat 3 and end up catch 3 or 4 nice fish. The other thing is they are great around wood as the deflection quality is outstanding.

How did you manage that...lol. Sorry about that, yeah it is pretty easy to do if you don't pay attention because Amazon has both spinning and casting lumped together and both spinning and casting have the same lengths and actions so unless you look for it to say spinning it could be confusing. I got my 6'9" M-XF spinning direct from Fenwick but I had to pay retail but it was right when they were released and nobody had them yet. I think Fenwick realized a potential problem as the spinning and casting models were on different pages. Can you send the rod back? If so you may be able to get a refund purchase it elsewhere or just wait until it comes back in stock. If that was the rod I was looking to get I would buy it from you but I'm actually looking to get the 6'3" M-MF casting rod.

Use the baby rage craw for a trailer on a 3/8oz jig, rig the rig the regular rage craw on the jika rig with a 3/0 ot 4/0 hook. A finesse worm would work but you could accomplish the same thing using a drop shot or shaky head, the jika lets you present a creature bait in a different way which is why I would go with the craw on it. I use rage craws as a trailer for swim jigs in 3/8oz but I make my own and I know for a fact I'm using a bigger hook than most production model 3/8oz jigs but the baby rage will work just as well. I know a lot of things we hear is hype but the rage craw is a really good bait and I'll tell you, I don't care for Strike King plastic baits, but they really have a winner with the rage series and the craw is the best of them, you won't be sorry.

Could it be the FLW series angler used an alabama rig while the Elite series pros didn't bother with it? I say the Elite series pros are the better anglers, while UMF is a one on one matchup, the overall format has a lot of luck involved unlike a 4 day tournament but everytime I see one of the elite anglers fish an FLW event they seem to dominate it, in fact it happened so much with Ike that FLW began making anglers pick and pay for tournaments 6 months in advance and they can no longer cherry pick events, I like that rule but it was done in part to keep elite guys from showing up FLW circut only anglers. Both series feature great anglers, there is no disputing that but I think the top 25 elite series guys are slightly better than the top 25 FLW anglers.

I own 9 baitcasting reels, 2 are high speed, 1 is a 5.4:1 and the rest oer in that 6.2:1 to 6.4:1 area. I use 1 high speed reel for jigs and worms, and the other for spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. The 5.4:1 is my deep cranking reel and the others are all purpose but I use them mostly for jerkbaits, square bills and mid depth cranks.

Justin, what I'm about to tell you may seem a bit harsh but I don't mean it that way, I'm only interested in helping you. I've been making spinnerbaits and other stuff for over 15 years so I know of a lot of sources for materials but when someone wants to know the most affordable way to make baits I tell them just to buy them because there is no such thing in tacklmaking as affordable. That being said the most affordable way is to buy the heads and do the rest or buy them painted and do the rest but it is still going to cost a good bit and if you are looking into bending your own wire, pouring your own heads and making skirts and basically the whole nine yards then you need a significant investment. If you want to make 15 to 25 baits the initial start up would be around $200 to $300 depending on how many items you can get discounted. Affordable buld blades are raw steel and it won't make for a good bait unless you can afford to have them plated which is why steel blades are cheap, because without any treatment they rust in 2 days. To make a great bait you have to be willing to use premium blades, you need to use good hooks and the wire must be of good grade, there is no affordable in it, affordable makes you produce 1 dollar walmart specials. The most important part of a good blade is the swivel, crane swivels are cheap and work but you aren't going to effectively slow roll a bait with a crane swivel, then you have roller swivels which are good but at only a few cents cheaper than a good ball bearing swivel it makes no sense to use them. Ball bearing swivels are expensive, the imported one that are of a good price all fail, trust me I've tried to find good one and they don't exist, there are only 2 swivels that will ever go on my baits, and they are Sampo or Worth, personally I use Worth swivels almost exclusively and to make them affordable you need to buy a thousand at a time and buy the split rings seperate and it is going to cost you $300 just for those. I know it sounds like I'm trying to discourage you, I'm not, I'm trying to let you know that making tackle is about quality and quality isn't affordable because if you are making tackle to save money it isn't going to work because of initial investment and if you are doing it for better lures then you can't do it with cheap components. If money is an issue there are 2 things you can do, 1 is to save up about $500 and get good quality stuff or 2 is find a partner that can help split the cost and you and your partner can learn together but to save money you are just spinning your wheels because even with bulk pricing a good bait with good componets is still going to run about $2.00 per and that is only counting the blads, swivel, paint, eyes, and wire, not included is the lead or your time. So think it through and if you want to get started I'll help you out by giving you places I've found the best prices for different things, and this is not going to be a one stop shop, once you get into it you'll end up with 10 or 12 different suppliers as some will have better prices on one item while another has a better price on a different item. Good luck on what you decide.

I like the Yum Dingers as well as the Senkos. If fish are spooky and just nipping I'll use the Senko, there is 2 reasons, the first is the Senko falls faster and that often gets more of a reaction strike. The second reason is the softness of the Senko will often make spooky fish hold the bait longer and even decide to eat it if they are just grabbing the tail, in fact I had fish do that in the fall when the water temp dropped a lot in one day, they hit the Dinger but just barely and then spit it out but they held onto the senko eventually they would take it far enough that I could set the hook. Dingers are great if fish won't hit a faster sinking bait, I often use both in the same day and it is why I use both, if they won't hit the Senko they will hit a Dinger, it is just that simple.

I have 4 colors all the time, watermelon/red flake, green pumpkin, black neon, and black.

I use these and it works great for weeds but not algae, you need to use the drop shot. It isn't hard, and you can use a tube. Just tie a palomar not but use enough line that you leave at least an 8" tag end and attach your weight, not you are using the tube but the weight is actually in the algae instead of the tube.

Globadoc, thats some good info you found. One thing I did when I first got my 6'9"M-XF was to go with the small stuff, 5" finesse worms on 1/16oz shaky heads and 3" senkos and when I looked at the rod rating and knew how well I was able to throw the smaller lures, I set out to use big things I normally wouldn't use like the 6" slug-o and a 3/8oz spinnerbait. The surprising thing for me was that when I was fishing the small stuff, the rod felt great, it was sensitive and it didn't feel like the rod was too powerful or big for finesse techniques and that is why I tested the bigger lures, I figured that if the rod was really good with light offerings it would have to labor with the big soft jerkbaits and it would really be under stress pulling a 3/8oz spinnerbait but it handled those just as well without being taxed, that is something that stood out for me. I not only caught fish with it, but I was actually able to make a long cast with a 1/8oz shaky head with a 5" finesse worm, have it hit bottom in 26' of water using mono and not only could I feel the bait but I also could feel rocks and best of all was the light bites I was getting, it truly is a great rod. I got the 6'10" MH-MF casting rod and I'm as impressed as ever with it, I can't believe how light it is yet still balanced well and at a price that goes beyond excellent, I plan on getting the 6'3" M-MF casting rod as well, I'm absolutely sold on this series.

Craws will work anywhere and they may be very good in a place where the fish don't see them very much. Grubs and twin tail grubs are also good but if I was fishing an area or a body of water that didn't have many craws that would be the first thing I would use simply because it is a profile the fish instintively know and the lack of them in the water may cause them to hit even more since it is something they don't see.

What kind of crank and how deep? Those are nice fish and to get on a crank bite is awesome, you just got to love that early in the season! Great job!

I had a discussion with a fisheries biologist some time ago and the subject came up about big bait and big fish and what I learned is interesting. He told me bass, unlike trout are very opprotunistic, trout will only feed when the need arises but bass will eat out of pure aggression which is why we like to pursue them. Areas with a large forage base of a certain type like alewives or shad will be the most difficult places to catch a fish on something really big because more often than not each year class tends to key on certain size forage. lakes that contain a lot of bluegill, crappie, chubs and shiners will provide the best chance at getting fish to hit large baits as these types of forage are also egg stealers and the bass will often hit them just to kill them and larger fish also see them as a big meal. I also got a good answer as to why gaudy colors catch fish like a bait that is all chartreuse or bubblegum, and it has to do with the fish being genetically programmed to eat sick or dying fish as they are an easy meal. When they observe fish feeding on schools of bait what biologist saw was instead of just swimming through the school the bass would swim around, under and over the tops of bait balls looking for sick or injured fish and what it seems they look for is something different whether it is a slightly different color of something being off in the way a particular fish is swimming but it has to be something different. When they can't differentiate they either abandon the school or they swim though the school tail whipping at times and it oftem results in injuring a fish and then they just circle back and eat it. This often happens when fishing topwaters baits, the bass will sometimes tail whip it to kill it, sometimes just to kill it and other times to make it into an easy meal which is why sometimes they leave the bait alone after hitting it like that or sometimes coming back and eating it. But just like everything else, fish aren't robots so they are often unpredictable and that explains anglers catching fish on topwater baits in 40 degree water but most fish behave within a certain set of guidelines.

I'll make this as simple as I can, most baitcasters are good for baits 1/4oz and up to say 1oz. If you want to use a baitcaster for baits under 1/4oz you can get a finesse casting reel, you can tell these reels but looking at the line capacity, most finesse reels will usually start with the line capacity of the reel with the 6# line rating up to 10# or 12#, while regular casting reels will usually start with 10# or 12# and go to 14#. If you are going to fish baits over 1oz you will want to look at the bigger models, typically the round reels handle bigger line and bigger baits that low profile reels but there are some good low profile reels out there for bigger lures.