smalljaw67

A spilt shot rig like WRB stated or a beetle spin or just a plain 3" grub on a small jig head. The NED rig is one that requires the kids to be slow and since it is a no feel technique you'll end up with 1 gut hooked fish after another. When I was teaching the grandson how to worm fish I made the mistake in getting him to fish a Senko too fast, he had caught about a dozen fish or so on light T-rigged power worm so I thought he would be ok with a Senko but he couldn't stay focused long enough to watch the line and his first two fish were gut hooked. I didn't have him fish a Senko for another 3 years because if the bite was slow he couldn't stay focused and that is just how it is with kids, plus it is easier for them to stay interested as long as they are casting and reeling versus a slow presentation.

It is definitely a Bomber, I'd say it is a 5A but it has a square bill but doesn't have the shape of a Square A.

That is hard to narrow down, I have a few that are killer at certain times. The Rapala Fat 3 is a big fish magnet, the discontinued Xcalibur XCS 100 and 200 in the regular and real craw series just flat out catch fish, and the Bagley Rattlin Kill'R B2 has now become a summer staple for river smallmouth. There are two that I catch a lot of fish with in conditions that other square bills don't usually work, and that is the Bomber Square A, and the Mann's Baby X, those baits can get bit when it looks as if the fish aren't chasing a fast moving bait. So for a favorite I find it impossible to narrow it down.

If you broke your line on a hook set with fluorocarbon it could have been the knot, fluorocarbon doesn't fray easily. Another thing is the hook set, I use a shaky head a lot for finesse and over the years the best hook up and landing percentage comes from just tightening the line and a firm upward lift, that is where the lighter hook works well as it penetrates with just pressure. What happens a lot with that is the fish tend to hit it and sit, they don't run so when you pull back to set the hook you end up doing it on a slack line and that gives you sort of a snap set and it will cause light line to break and also missed fish as you actually pull it away from them. I learned the hard way, I was getting bite and doing a quick pull back hook set and my buddy told me to tighten the line before pulling back and it worked, then when I was just doing the fast lift on the tight line it was even better, it took a little bit of time to break the habit of yanking when I'd get a bite but for some reason the shaky head bite is like the drop shot bite, they often grab the worm by the tail and just barely get the hook in their mouth as a lot of the fish I catch are hooked in the top of the mouth but it is right the edge and if I pulled hard I probably would have missed it.

I use a 1/4oz or 3/8oz most of the time. I use a 3/0 on the 1/4oz and a 4/0 on the 3/8oz and I've used standard wire hooks, light wire hooks and heavy wire hooks and that standard wire seems to work best for me. I do use the 4/0 32724 on swim jigs I'm using for smallmouth on the river as I'm not in grass and I'm using them on 8lb to 10lb line depending on water clarity. I use a heavy wire hook when I'm in pads or heavy brush, I can pull it off a limb without the hook being bent out. So I make a few for different situations but for the most part it is 1/4oz and 3/8oz with a 32886 in a 3/0 and 4/0.

Freelancer27, Go to the Tackle Tour home page and read the review of the Abu Garcia Villain 2.0. Don't go to the forum section but the home page, they reviewed that rod and what they said was the area of the rod that really shined was the sensitivity, in fact they gave it a rating of 8.42 and their editors choice for a rod that is $199.99 and might be had for less during sales. What I found was they used a Daiwa Exceler and a Pflueger Supreme reel to test the stick which would have you well under budget. The reason I mention this is because the sensitivity thing is one area where they will tell you that a rod is sensitive to its price point, they didn't do that, in fact they kind of went out of there way in praise for that stick, something you don't get from those guys at rods under $300 price point and they have done reviews in which they weren't a fan of the sensitivity with some high end sticks. I know you are pretty set on the saltwater deal but this may just be thing you are looking for sensitivity wise without breaking the bank. http://tackletour.com/index.html

Excellent job, and I think that material will work better than what I used for similar applications!!!!!!! I used JB Weld Epoxy Putty to fill in a collar and add a wire keeper to a jig mold, it worked great but the problem was after a dozen or so pours the putty would come out. The only saving grace was that it came out as a solid piece so I just had to put it back in all the time as every time I opened the mold and pulled the head out, the putty came out but it hardened into what I now use as an insert. I'll take a guess and say that the form a gasket material will take some time to come out, maybe plumbers putty might be easier to come out if you don't plan on having the mod be long term.

Line is funny, it is amazing how some have good experiences with some line and others don't. I don't use braid a lot, flipping and frogging is all and the Spiderwire stealth braid I used wasn't great but it wasn't horrible either. I like the Suffix 832 in lo-vis green, it handles great and casts great but if I can get decent performing braid to use for frogs or flipping at $3.00 I think I'd get it. I also don't care for the regular power pro everyone raved about, on my set up it was the worst casting braid I ever used and would get wind knots at more than 5 times the rate of any other braid I ever used. So the only way to really know is to try it and at $3.00 I'd get at least 2 spools, one to try and if you like it at least you have the second spool, if you don't like it you can donate it to a friend or use it for tying skirts or something.

Unless you get the inshore at a reduced price or you intend to saltwater fish with it I'd say no. The saltwater version is half an ounce heavier while the freshwater version has better guides. Both the guides and weight will impact sensitivity. I feel like you are grasping straws and I'm afraid the sensitivity issue is going to plague you. I noticed you asked for help on Tackle Tour and at the 400 combo range some mentioned the Avid, and of course you didn't feel good with the sensitivity. Well as I said before, the difference between the Avid and a GLX or a Legend Elite/Extreme will be noticeable but it isn't going to be stark, a light bite is still going to be light, you will pick the feel up faster but it isn't going to be night and day difference that you seem to be expecting. This wouldn't be a problem is you have been using an ugly stick but saying the Avid X wasn't sensitive enough is like saying a 357 mag didn't have enough stopping power so you need a 44 mag. There is a difference but it won't be as profound as you expect and that makes it hard to suggest anything because I feel no matter what you get it isn't going to meet your expectations. Did you ever wonder why the Avid gets mentioned so much? Because that is the mark where the sensitivity of the rod transitions into components as you go up in price range. Yes, the rods will get more sensitive but not as you seem to think, if you can't feel a light bite now, adding another $200 might not get you there either, if you can't feel the difference between rock and wood now, you may not be able to feel it after spending more. I apologize for sounding like a broken record and I want to help but I don't think I can do much for you other than to say that you either need to find someone with a high end set up and have them let you use it for a few hours so you understand what the difference is going to be. The last thing I will say is that you also have to take into consideration you are going from baitcasting to spinning, the lighter power spinning rod is going to have a lot more sensitivity just because of the lighter power, so getting a good high end rod will have a lot more feel than the heavier power casting rod, but keep an open mind and try to get any preconceived notions out of your head because it will end in nothing but disappointment as Kshultz told you, the law of diminishing returns really gets going once you pass the $200 price point. So choose wisely, don't over think it and don't look to inshore models because you find one at a discount unless you plan to do that kind of fishing, good luck.

I'd buy them up!!! They hold well but keep in mind they aren't heavy, nor are they light, I call them a standard wire hook. So if you want to use them with 10# or 12# line great, if you are using 30# braid you will flex the hook. I use the 3/0 on 8# line with spinning tackle for T-rigged weightless stick worms as well as T-rigging 4" tubes, for that price I'd scoop them up quick.

If you look at the Do-it Trokar molds they have a football like that as well but it is flat on the bottom. It will use either the Trokar TK815 hook, the Gamakatsu 674, or the Mustad 37194. I believe Bluebasser 86 will make you almost an exact copy of what is pictured as that head doesn't look to be flat and the hook he will use looks to be identical, and that is the 38109 which is a 45 degree EWG flat eye hook. I use that hook but I make round shaky heads with a flat eye hook. http://www.barlowstackle.com/Do-It-Screw-Loc-TrokarbrFootball-Jig-Mold-P2746.aspx One last thing, you'll want Bluebasser 86 to make those rather than get the one pictured. That one is powder painted with jig armor powder paint in the chestnut brown crustation color, but if you look at the hook eye you'll notice it is closed. If you have ever powder painted a jig and cured it and then tried to clean the eye after baking, you'll know how much effort and time it took in addition to possibly scarring the inside of the hook eye which can cut your line.

I'm with RW on this. Trailers on buzzbaits tend to draw short strikes which happens enough with a buzzbait to begin with. The latest trend has been to take off the skirt and just use a soft plastic swimbait or toad but they too have the same issue with drawing short strikes. I think you just use it without any trailer, they work better that way, at least to me they do.

As an older angler who still has old equipment I can give you some of what I found. The first is the newer rods are far superior to most older rods, even rods that are less expensive tend to be much lighter and make for easier fishing. Even the glass rods today aren't as bad as the old ones, most of the set ups I now use, rod AND reel, are lighter than just one of your reels by itself, it is that stark of a difference. Now weight isn't the only thing to consider but being 20 years older it will go a long way in letting you stay on the water longer and have more fun, I never worried about weight until I began using lighter weight rods and reels, my shoulders and back thank me for it all the time. I do still stay close old school ways in that I prefer shorter rods in general, other than a flipping stick, my longest rod is 7'2" and most run 6'6" to 7' with a few 6'3" models and a 6'. Since you haven't kept up a good solid mid grade rod and reel will be light years ahead of what you have, and even though those older reels are heavy, putting one of those Bantams on a 7' Medium heavy, moderate rod will give you a nice all purpose cranking set up. The Tatula on that 803 Mossyback will be a nice set up for light Texas rigs and 1/4oz to 3/8oz jigs and all you would need is either a medium power spinning rod and reel or a MH-F casting set up. As others pointed out, you don't need to spend a bunch but I can admit that I too once called guys out for being "weight weenies" only to begin fishing light weight rods and reels and become one of those guys myself. The reason I did is it made such a difference with my fishing that words can't describe it, I wasn't missing jig fish anymore as I was feeling the bottom and bites better than ever, my casting accuracy and distance improved by leaps and bounds yet I wasn't giving any extra effort, and my wrist, elbows, and shoulders along with my back actually felt better at the end of a day. So to summarize, you don't need to scrap what you have, but adding in some newer models may help your enjoyment either by being less demanding on your body or helping improve your catch rates or both, so sprinkle in something new every now and again but do so slowly as it can hurt your wallet which is the only thing I find it does hurt.

7'2" M-MF (Rated 3/8oz to 1oz) 7.1:1 reel 12lb Berkley Big Game.

You are fine with your set up and you may do better with the Owners but they will bend out as well unless you get the ST 41 and those will be too heavy. I use the Owner Stingers on some of my jerkbaits but at almost double the cost I've been just using the VMC 8540 which I believe is the hook that the Luck-E-Strike RC STX baits use as well as the Rapala. Believe me, I love throwing jerkbaits and when river smallmouth are on them they can tear your hooks up pretty quick so I've messed with a lot of replacement trebles over the years. The last ones I have that I'm going to try is the size 5 Gamakatsu Nano Finesse TGW trebles but from what some friends have told me that while the wire is thin and strong it does have slightly more weight than a stock size 6, but I have to try them myself but until I get the chance I stick with the VMC 8540, $4.00 does 5 baits and I get good hook up and I guess that around 20 fish point is right when they begin to stress, and even then if it isn't bad I can straighten out the point before I have to switch them out. I do feel the pain of having that happen and if a bait rises fast you can upsize the hooks but on a slow sinking or perfectly suspending bait your hands are pretty much tied. I will post a review on the Nano Finesse trebles once the water clears here from all the rain we had, water is too dirty for jerkbaits right now but as soon as I can throw a jerkbaits I'll let you along with everyone else know how they work and affect the baits I use them on.

The 1.5s I have run close, about 4'-4.5' and I'm using mono. It is one of the deeper diving square bills I use. Now there is a bait that I like to use that deflects as well but it doesn't have a wide wobble, it is a Rapala DT Flat 7. They have a coffin lip and they are fantastic in colder water but even in warm water when the fish are in that zone they seem to get bit even with the tighter action, and if you don't like the Rapala colors they make the bait in the Storm brand as the Arashi Flat.

If you are bending out the hooks you are using the wrong rod, line or both. If you have a bait like the Megabass Vision 110 that has a slow float you can get away with a hook that is a little more stout, on the Shadow rap you can't use any Mustad hooks because they are all too heavy. The only hook you'll replace those with that are a little stronger and won't mess up the action too much is the Owner Stinger ST-36 but you may bend those out as well. I have talked to a few guys I know who are trying out the Gamakatsu Aaron Martens Nano Finesse treble and they told me the wire is a little stronger but not by a lot and with the short shank you can go up a size to a #5 and be ok. The bait will sink faster, there is no getting around it because the hooks are heavier than the stock version, if you drop to the size 6 you may lose hooking ability because the shank is shorter. My suggestion is to just learn to use the right rod and line and have the drag set as it will help you. A lot of jerkbaits 1/2oz and under are being made with light wire hooks because a lot of anglers use spinning rods with light line, the Vision 110 was designed to be fished on 6lb line with a spinning rod, it wasn't until American angler began to use them that they were fished on casting rods. Try using a LC Pointer or Storm Twitch Stick, both of those jerkbaits have hooks that are more stout than what you see on most others but finding a hook that isn't going to bend out is going to ruin the action of the baits, especially a slow sinking version.

Uh, drop shot rods have very soft tip sections. Fish with a high end Daiwa or Megabass with the solid tip they call the stinger, those are really soft and it is why drop shot specific rods aren't really good for other techniques. The reason you want a soft tip for drop shot fishing is for two reasons, the first reason is it allows you to move the line a little more aggressively without moving the weight much helping you keep it in the same spot. The second reason is it lets you see the strike, the fish can bite and you'll see it before the fish feels the resistance and drops the bait. That is important because even with the most sensitive rod you won't always feel a strike on a drop shot, sort of like a weightless Senko in that regard, so you probably want to read some articles by Aaron Martens about fishing a drop shot. I'm not trying to be smart but every angler I know that is really good fishing a drop shot all like rods with super soft tip sections, for me, well I don't use it enough for a dedicated rod so I try to find something with a soft tip but not too soft so I can use it for other techniques because most drop shot specific rods are too soft in the tip for anything else so I compromise but if I would use it a lot I'd probably opt for a rod that is really soft.

Mann's Baby 1 minus and the Baby X are two shallow water killers for me. I use the 1 minus when most of my square bills dive too deep and will grind. The Baby X is the same body as the baby 1 minus only it has a square bill and dives to 2', maybe 2.5' on 8lb line but I normally don't use it with that light of line. I don't use the full size 1 minus, instead I like the Mann's Waker Elite, it only dives 3" but is the same body size as the 1 minus with the difference being it only weighs 3/8oz so it has a higher float. You can burn it and it won't go any deeper, in my opinion it is the best crankbait style wake bait ever made.

I'm in the same ball park as the rest of you. I'm a Fenwick fan and the ET Smallmouth rods were just great, what they did with the ET Bass line was add length and more power, something a lot of anglers asked for but it came at a price, it made the rods a little heavier and less crisp. The one good thing was they did mange to keep the rods sensitive, not quite as crisp as the smallmouth but just as sensitive. As for the 6'10" ML-XF not being an extra fast, you have power and action confused, the action is where that tip flexes before it hits backbone. The tip does flex to where it is an extra fast action but it will have give in the backbone as well because of the light power, and remember, this rod was designed primarily as a drop shot rod so the tip section is a little softer than what a normal finesse stick would be. The rods aren't bad at all but if you are use to using the smallmouth series you'll notice the added weight and power right away, I still worry about breaking my 6'9" M-XF spinning rod, that rod is so good at everything, it has the sensitivity for bottom contact baits and the backbone for power techniques with fantastic comfort and super light, I find it hard to put down when using it. If anyone knows where I can buy a 6'9" ML-F in the smallmouth rod just let me know, I've been searching for a while and haven't found any.

Using good lead will keep it from happening a little longer and it will also make it easier to clean. Last month marked a year that I've had my RCBS pro melt, it is expensive but so far not a single drip and I use it pretty hard. I have 2 Lee bottom pour pots that I now use as back ups and even when new I'd get maybe 6 to 8 months out of them before they would eventually drip but that is with good lead that I buy from Rotometals, I had to send a pot back when I used wheel weights and most were newer so I ended up with 10lbs of unusable lead and my pot needed a new line due to zinc contamination. Clean your pot as described by Cadman and reseat the plunger and it will slow the drip but it will still drip a little.

The old President was a good reel, it is much different than the new version as the old one was a little over $100 and had an aluminum frame, the new version has a graphite frame is half the cost so it has been made cheaper but I can't comment on how this version will work but I don't care for graphite framed reels in general.

Cabela's is behind Bass Pro Shops but Cabela's has a more loyal customer base. Cabela's also has a better credit card rewards program and higher quality clothing along with a better reputation on overall customer service. BPS will gain market share that they couldn't get before, a survey conducted in 2003 found that 8 out of 10 BPS customers also had made purchases at Cabela's while only 6 in 10 customers of Cabela's made purchases from BPS. They found outdoor clothing buyers overwhelmingly favored Cabela's branded outdoor apparel over BPS and the customer satisfaction rate was also a lot higher with Cabela's, in fact the only area BPS beat Cabela's was in selection. So what benefit is it to have the Cabela's brand? Well the benefit is capturing market share they were unable to get before, I hope the points system Cabela's has in place with the credit card stays the same. They say it will be in place but the terms are what I'm worried about, right now you can let your Cabela's points ride as long as you want, I've let them build up until I can get something nice, about 2 or 3 years worth, with BPS you have 1 year from your first point to use the points or you lose them.

First of all you aren't going to flip clear water, you just aren't going to get close enough without spooking the fish or putting them on alert. The next thing is the baits themselves, look for more natural offerings, if you have sun try using green pumpkins, pumpkin seed, and black with no type of reflective glitter or flake, green pumpkin or pumpkin seed has black flake and that is perfect for clear water. A MH-F or H-F in a 7' to 7'3" will work fine as you'll either be making short casts or long pitches depending on how spooky the fish are, those lengths will allow nice pitching distance with still keeping some accuracy. For the shore line cover, if it is possible make a cast or pitch to the bank and ease the bait in the water, you'll probably have to cast as you'll need to be further away if the fish are spooky. For baits use compact soft plastics, sweet beavers are excellent in that scenario, brush hogs not so much. In fact I think craw imitations are best followed by the Senko and T-rigged worm. A bait for pitching or casting to that type water that doesn't get used much is a lizard, lakes with clear water like that often have Newts living in the grass, a small lake I use to fish had super clear water and Newts living in it and a 5" lizard fished T-rigged with a 1/4oz weight was the most productive bait you could use. The last thing is a small 1/4oz spinnerbait with small willow blades, silver in sun gold for overcast, with a translucent color skirt and a white, silver, or gold head color can be deadly if the fish are active at all, the key is to burn the bait just below the surface, good luck on your trip.

Awesome!!!! That spinnerbait is the best bluegill pattern I have seen in a long time!!!!!