smalljaw67

If I didn't already have that rod I'd be getting it! I really like it foe square bills and traps and the last year I've been throwing DT 6, DT Flat 7 and Arashi Flat 7 and DT 10s on it and it works great!! At the price it is selling for on FFO it kills me as I keep thinking of getting another but I want to get another Hammer.

If aren't looking for a deep diving crank rod, and I mean baits that dive deeper than 12' to 15' then I have a rod for you. On FFO (Fisherman's Factory Outlet) there is a Fenwick HMG GT72MFCB, it is a medium power rod with a rating of 1/4oz to 1oz and it can handle all of them fine, I have the new version of this rod. It is great for square bills and traps and mid depth cranks but it lacks the backbone needed for the really deep diving models. Anyway, of there they are $58.88 and this is the older HMG with Alconite guides and is a killer deal for a good rod that can cover most of your shallow to mid depth cranking needs.

I can fish a fluke on any length rod, 6'6" and 6'9" are my preferred length for that. The problem you have now is you have a 6' rod that is a medium light power with 6lb line, as you found out it will cast a fluke well but that is the only thing it will do well with a fluke. I'll be willing to bet that the rod lacks sufficient backbone to really set the hook well and the tip section is more than likely too soft to work the bait. Get a rod in the 6' to 6'10 range that is a medium power fat or extra fast action. My favorite rod to fish flukes on in open water or in sparse cover is a 6'9" medium power, extra fast spinning rod, it makes working the bait and setting the hook child's play.

A 7'1" medium power rod should allow you to cast a little further than a 6'9" MH and I have to believe the problem is in your technique. perhaps the longer rod is causing you make a slower swing or it may make you hesitate a little. I know when I ventured into 7' rods for the first time they didn't hinder my casting like you experienced , but it did take me a bit to get my accuracy better with it.

I agree with this 100% but there has been a change and it is happening with not much being said. The plastic being used for lures is not changing as well, Bagley has started making a line of plastic crankbaits but they did copy the Kill 'R B and called it the Rattling Kill'R B and when I used them the first time I was amazed at how buoyant they were, and that is why balsa was and still is so good, it is so buoyant that it causes a different action. Well as I said, Bagley made their plastic version run really close to the same as the original wood model, it made me ask them how did they do it and they told me it is the type of plastic, they tweaked the formula to make it more buoyant. That was the secret of Japanese lures, the high end ones use a different type of plastic that gives them a more erratic action. Yeah, I agree wood baits are different but the newer plastic lure coming out are working similar to wood, and it is that close that it may be better just because the baits are consistent so you don't get 1 good one out of a dozen baits.

I've used a bunch and they all work well from cheap to expensive. My favorites are the Storm Arashi, Xcalibur XCS 100 and 200, Yo-Zuri 3DB Square bill, and the Mann's Baby X. Honorable mentions go to the Rapala DT Fat 3, the Bagley Balsa B and the Bagley Rattling Kill 'R B, the Bomber Square A, Cotton Cordell Big-O, and the Norman Fat Boy. Anyone of those baits will give me confidence and I'll add that I too like the KVD 1.5 and 2.5 baits myself but everyone lists them so I gave you my alternatives for those but they are just as good as the rest.

I use a 6'6" MH-F as my target spinnerbait rod and to be fair, I've tried cranking rods with spinnerbaits and I just didn't care for them, especially in cover. So for me it was always the fast action in a medium heavy but I found what I consider to be the best rod for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits that I ever used. I got a 6'9" heavy power Hammer rod over the winter, I got it to handle large topwaters like Super Spooks and other walking baits over 1/2oz, it is stout and pretty stiff when working the bait but when you hook up the rod has a mod-fast action. So being too early for topwaters I put it to use with the chatterbait first and then the spinnerbait, the result is no lost fish and plenty of power to rip the bait free from grass and through cover, truly the best of both worlds.

I used just about every shky head out there before making my own, that way I'd have the one that works for me. I'm different that a lot of anglers in that I like a round shaky head in a non-stand up model and I liked a flat eye hook as well. I used rugby heads as well as the Gamakatsu skip gap and those are ok and I've use the spot remover pro and the Fin Tech Title Shot and those are ok as well but I prefer a screw lock to a spike or the T-rig type. The T-rig type like the Rugby head are favored by those who like the Z-Man plastics because those worms don't like screw locks, and I found with the worms I like they end up sliding down after a fish or 2. The spike like the spot remover pro and the Title Shot use works ok and if I can have a screw lock I'd go that route. The screw lock is what I like, it takes an extra second of two to rig but it holds the best of all of them and the round head seems to work as well, if not better than a stand up head for me anyway. I use 1/16oz up to 3/8oz but 1/8oz is what I use most of the time but I'll adjust for depth. Worms, well there are a lot, my favorites are the Basstrix Locomotion worms in 6" and River Rock Baits SM Killer in 4.5", those are my clear water baits and for dirty water I like the Stanley Sidewinder and the Hags Tornado.

The only reels I ever had fail on my were 2 Shimano Symetres and they each went in the same season. I know Shimano makes great reels but they are the only brand I stay away from and it is only because I was told by customer service I should have invested in one of the better reels even though the Symetres were $100.

The rear drag was easier to adjust while fighting a fish, anglers used to lock the drags down to set the hook and then adjust the drag as needed. This was before hooks were chemically sharpened and there wasn't any super lines and the mono was really stretchy. Shimano had what they called a "fighting drag" on the Aero, it was a lever like you see being used on saltwater reels but it was in the rear of a spinning reel, there was a lever that all you did was slide over with your thumb when you set the hook, this eliminated the need to turn the knob. The downside was it made the reels heavy and the drag system wasn't not even close to the smoothness of a front drag. A lot of anglers would lock the drag down on those reels and simply use the anti-reverse switch and back reel and it is still being done today even on front drag reels.

I see the problem, you aren't sure of weights so I'll help. If we start at 1/4oz, and go by 16ths the next weight would be 5/16oz, then 3/8oz, 7/16oz, 1/2oz, 9/16oz, 5/8oz, 11/16oz, 3/4oz, 13/16oz, 7/8oz, 15/16oz and 1oz. If that is too much just got by 8ths and we have 1/4oz, 3/8oz, 1/2oz, 5/8oz, 3/4oz, 7/8oz, and 1oz. So a rod with a range of 3/8oz to 1oz will handle everything from 3/8oz to 1oz but in reality it will probably be ok with 1/4oz up 1.25oz but you would have to try it first. As someone already said, don't get caught up too much with the weight range, it is meant as a guide to help you choose the rod you need, for example, if you are throwing mostly weightless worms and smaller baits that are like 1/2oz and under then you would select a rod rated like 1/4oz to 5/88 which is slightly more than 1/2oz and that would be a medium power. Most medium power rods run in the 1/4oz to 5/8oz range and most medium heavy run 1/4oz to 3/4oz, but there are some that run up to 1oz. Jigs and worms around cover you almost always opt for a MH rod, if you are fishing jigs and worms that aren't heavy and are in open water or sparse cover, you can get away with a medium power and that is all you need to worry about.

If you are talking about a medium heavy rod with a fast action, the answer is no crankbait, that rod isn't good with most treble hook baits. The perfect baits to throw on that are a spinnerbait, 3/8oz and up, Texas rigged worms, the weight you use depends on the worm, the depth, and wheter you're casting of pitching. 1/4oz up to 3/4oz jigs with trailers, a 1/4oz jig with a chunk trailer is over 3/8oz. Now if you have a cranking rod 3/8oz to 1oz, well any crankbait in that weight range but I find there are some that I can throw 1/4oz baits with.

Your statement here is the biggest hurdle anglers have to overcome when going from spinning to casting and it is something that is never talked about. The rod difference, with casting gear the choice of M and MH is critical, you need to make sure your within the line and lure limits for the rod. The other thing is the whip cast you described, that will cause you a lot of problems, casting reels don't like whip casting, it is a smooth forward motion which can be overhand, side arm, or even underhand but it needs to be smooth. Good luck with your decision but if you have heavy enough spinning rods for what you use then you'll be ok but certain techniques are better with casting gear.

I'll give you guys a situation that happened to me on water that Munkin here knows pretty well. I was fishing the Susquehanna River with my buddy 2 years ago, it was a tough day as the water was falling and it was a bright bluebird day. After 2 hours without a bite I found a bait that was working, a 3" Senko in black neon (black with red flake) rigged on a 1/16oz ball head jig, kind of like a Ned rig. Anyway, after I land my 3rd fish my buddy goes to the same set up but the only thing is he has Bass Pro Shop 3" Stick-O worms and the closest color was one called "Sure thing" , it is a laminated color with black neon on one side and green pumpkin on the other side. I just released my 6th fish and he still didn't have a bite, he then switches to all black, and still no fish and so he begins to tell me it isn't the color, it is the fact I'm using a different brand, so I switch to an all black and after 30 minutes no takers, I go back to the black neon and immediately get another fish, my buddy then conceded and borrowed my worms and he suddenly began catching them too. I always carry black and black neon in my waters, especially the river as I've learned, by accident, that there is something that the fish in that water like about the red glitter in it. The accident that happened was many years ago when Yum first came out with their Craw bug, it was a great bait and I was getting a bag of black and the place I was at didn't have black, only black neon so I figured it was close enough, and it turned out to be the only color they would hit and ever since that trip I make sure to have that color in all my soft plastics.

The only way to know is trial and error and color is funny. There is always an argument about color and whether is is just for us or if it matters and the truth is probably a little of both. The only real way to know is to try and then keep a log.

I'd go with a Falcon Jason Christie signature rod, 6'8" MH-F, and while the specs don't sound like what you want for those techniques it is actually designed for them. It is a fast action with a soft tips section and it was made for square bills, suspending jerkbait and spinnerbaits but it will easily work for lipless cranks. The length makes it great for accuracy and it is still long enough for good casting distance and it is rated for 1/4oz to 3/4oz, perfect. We all fish different styles but here are what I see as problems for the rods you selected. The first is glass, you do not want a glass rod for jerkbaits, the weight alone will wear you out in a days time and the length, 7' is a bit long in my opinion unless you are tall, 6'4" and taller, I'm 6'2" and 6'10" rod lengths are my limit but even then I still hit the water with the tip. The problem with the 6'10" is it has the same specs as my 6'6" ML, and that rod is great of open water square bills in the 1/4oz to 3/8oz range, it can handle the 1/2oz but if there is any cover it is too moderate and the inferno is a medium power so I'll bet the rod is way to soft for a lipless crankbait. For the techniques you want to cover I use 2 rods but to do it in 1 rod your choices will force you to either throw the square bill in open water only or fish a jerkbait in a non-aggressive manner. The Falcon rod I recommended is in your price range and is designed for what you want to fish, I also think it is the best bet as you give up a little length but it will allow you to fish all of your baits really well with the only thing you sacrifice is a tiny bit of casting distance, so there you have it, that is what I'd get if I needed 1 rod to do those 3 things.

The difference between the spinning rod and the casting rod in the 6'9" m-XF is the power. The spinning rod is deceptively powerful, it is still for a medium power spinning rod but it is due to the extra fast action. It is basically an all purpose spinning rod but drop shot fishing was handled better with the 6'9" ML-F. The casting rod has more power up front in the tip section, it is rated 3/8oz to 5/8oz but I've thrown 3/16oz jigs with a little chunk trailer that probably came to 1/4oz total and I could cast that just fine but if you aren't good with a casting reel 3/8oz is easier to throw as the rod has more load with that weight but 1/4oz is well within the range. The handles are like a sore spot and so the made them larger on the ET bass series but they didn't bother me on the smallmouth series, in fact the spinning rod has one of the most comfortable handles I ever used. The thing with the casting reel seat is the short cork, if you palm your reel and have 2 fingers in front of the trigger it is fine, I have large hands so the back of my hand ends up on the blank past the cork but that feeling doesn't bother me but I see how it can be annoying. The blanks on the smallmouth rods are great, there were all under 4oz except for the 7'4" great lakes spinning rod and I believe that was just a hair over 4oz. but not only light, the sensitivity was fantastic on those rods and not just for the price point either, any rod that sensitive is good, with that kind of price it is amazing. If FFO had the 6'9" ML-F spinning rod or the 6'10" M-F casting, I'd be all over it because I already have 2 of the 6'10" MH-MF casting rods and the medium power, extra fast spinning but I want then new, I don't like buying used rods.

You can drop shot with that set up but it won't be ideal. I kind of know where you are at, my spinning set ups have to be versatile because I do use a drop shot but not to the point that I need a dedicated set up for it. That said, I had to add a second rod to really drop shot effectively, and the 7' M-F St. Croix is a little too stout in the tip section for drop shots. If you are going to use the 8lb fluorocarbon and stay within 1/4oz to 3/8oz max weight, I'd go with either the 6'10" medium, extra fast or the 7' medium light, fast. I have the Avid X in a 7' ML-F and it handles 1/4oz shaky heads, my hair jigs and micro jigs and it has a nice softer tip that is effective with drop shot fishing while being stout enough for more versatility. Good luck on your decision but in my honest opinion the medium power 7' LE is too stiff for drop shot fishing effectively.

The shaky head is a favorite finesse technique for me, I use it more than a drop shot because it covers water better. It also has helped me in tough situations and it was the first finesse technique that was responsible for me catching my first largemouth in water temps under 40 degrees. I've caught smallmouth in 34 degree water with slush pools near the banks but I never caught a largemouth with the water temp under 42 degrees and in 2012 I caught 3 nice ones on a 1/16oz shaky head with a 4.5" finesse worm and every year since I've been able to get largemouth consistently in those water temps with that presentation.

I loved the transparent Crank R from rebel, the chartreuse and green with glitter were smallmouth slayers in the 90s. They were cheap but they worked and the only problem is they weren't very durable. I'd bang them around rocks and the smallmouth would crush them and every now and again you'd hit a rock and notice a small crack but they would be still good for a bit until they started taking on water but I'd get a season and sometimes 2 out of the ones I used the most but it was worth it for how much the fish in clear water would hit them.

I stay away from the really cheap stuff but the less expensive brand name baits normally perform well. Jerkbaits and swimbaits are the two that you will find are worth paying extra either for detail or performance or both. Shallow cranks, my favorites are Mann's. the Baby 1 Minus, the Baby X and the Waker but that is discontinued, those 3 have all been the only shallow cranks that have caught me both numbers of fish and big fish. Last season each one was responsible for both a 5lb smallmouth and 10+ fish in a single day, my Sebile Cranksters are nice and they have proven to produce but I still can't get a big fish on one and when they came out they were expensive but not they are pretty cheap since they were discontinued.

Leave them in the bag they come in and get a soft sided worm binder to hold the bags. One thing I'd like for you to do as well is call the baits, "soft plastic" instead of rubber, little kids call soft plastic baits rubber worms. I know it is trivial but it is a pet peeve, it hits a nerve, the same nerve when I hear the term "pole" instead or rod, it makes me think of Mayberry RFD....LOL.

Well I had to go to Hank Parkers website and check the new spinnerbaits out, as a spinnerbait maker I'm interested in the new design and I'll give you my thoughts based on my experience. The first is the head shape, yes, having a narrow profile does allow it to come through the water better, I myself use a minnow head profile that is narrow and it works. The wire, well he is using really thin wire and it is stainless, .028"-.029" is what he states, that is extremely thin and most manufacturers that used that size wire ended up going to a slightly larger diameter, Revenge is one that used .029" diameter and went to .032" when anglers complained that after 1 large 4lb-5lb smallmouth the bait was toast. Now they did a couple things to try to alleviate that issue, they used a closed loop line tie and they added a bend, that extra bend is like a sproat bend in a hook, that tighter bend makes it harder to bend out and the same deal with the spinnerbait, it will keep the wire from bending at the head which is fatal to a spinnerbait. Overall I think it is a good design but I think if you catch a few big fish it will be done, I've made spinnerbaits with .029" diameter wire, I now use .035" for all but 1/4oz which I use .032", I still get nice vibration with a little more durable bait. Let us know how it works, I like the design even though I think the wire diameter is on the extreme side.

They are originally made with .032" or .035" wire, and that is thin for the 3/4oz size bait Hank normally used. There are 2 reason why that bait was ****, the thin wire with large blades caused it to vibrate like mad and to compensate for the thin wire, the shortened the distance from the head to the line making it a little stronger and they used a closed loop further reinforcing it. The other thing is that reels were much slower than they are today, if you use that exact same spinner now with even a 5.3:1 reel, it would be on its side unless you really slowed it down because that bait is terribly unbalanced but the reels at that time were slow. The newer "Classic" baits have downsized the blade, increased wire diameter as well as it has added distance between the head and line tie, all those changes made it compatible with todays faster reels and longer rods.

I started using Spiderwire Ultimate Mono, it has a thin diameter and was advertised as the lowest stretch mono on the market. After using 6lb, 8lb, 10lb, and 14lb line last year I can say without a doubt it is my line of choice anymore. I use Berkley Big Game on my cranking rods but spinnerbait, chatterbait, and bottom contact baits all have the Spiderwire Ultracast Ultimate mono on. The pros are that the line diameter per strength rating is great and it is very low stretch with fantastic abrasion resistance. The cons to it are that it acts like fluorocarbon in that you need to give it 2 spritzes of KVD line and lure conditioner after is has been on your reel for a week or so. I can deal with the memory because the line and lure conditioner works well but some may not like the memory but if you want low stretch this is the real deal.