smalljaw67

I always though the Avid was a good rod, it was light and sensitive but it performed as I thought a $200 should perform. When my buddy got an Avid X of the same length and power as his Avid, I asked why and he let me fish with the Avid for a bit and then the Avid X. The result, I bought a 7'ML-F Avid X spinning rod, I could not believe I was using the same blank. I actually called St. Croix to confirm there isn't any difference in the blank beside cosmetics and I was assured the SCIII blanks for each series is identical. The Avid X just feels more responsive and sensitive and the blank feels alive in my hands, and it is just due to using micro guides and split grip configuration. They also covered the threads on the reel seat which is nice too but that rod is really nice for the price.

Swim jigs and fish head spins are completely different and they are used in different situations. A swim jig I use like a spinnerbait, I treat it as a finesse spinnerbait as I fish it in the same places but it has no flash or thump, it just comes through cover and gives the trailer a larger profile. A fish head spin is almost a finesse bait, it was developed as a tool for suspended bass chasing baitfish off shore but it has come on in recent years as a cold water crawler being very effective in clear to lightly stained cold water.

Siebert would be my choice if I didn't make my own. BTW, this is exactly why you have custom tackle makers, if you want an arky style jig in a color that know one makes, you find a custom tackle maker and you can get exactly what you want!!

I've inquired about heads like that a long time ago and here is the deal. The rugby heads and the Gamakatsu Skip Gap heads are what I wanted to make, I have friends that use the Elaztech plastic from Strike King and Z-Man and screw locks don't play well with those and so they asked if I could make a head like that. Getting a mold made isn't the problem, I have to have a hook made with an offset like a worm hook but it would need to have an elongated hook eye leg that would make a 60 or 90 degree turn so you can pour a head on it and still have enough room to rig. There was only 1 company that would make the hooks to my design, I'd have to buy 50K minimum and only 1 size and that would cost over 5 figures, I was quoted that a hook like that in a 3/0 wide gap, not EWG, would run 22 cents per hook making just the hook cost $11,000, then the mold would be about $500 or so. I looked into that after seeing the skip gap head from Gamakatsu, but I use regular plastic and even after using those rugby heads and stuff I found I like the screw lock and that is because it holds, the T-rigged heads still have the problem of the plastic getting pulled down after awhile.

I only peg if I'm in brush type cover or heavy weeds.

When you see guys using a rod and casting a weightless worm on it, 99% of the time it is a 5" or larger stick worm or Senko, that worm in a 5" weighs 3/8oz by itself.

Cabela's has the Fenwick Silverhawk on sale for $60, it is $10 more than you wanted to spend but it is a lot better than any other rod in that price range. That rod has Fuji Alconite guides, a good blank and a Fuji reel seat, you aren't going to get that kind of quality on any other rod in the price range. The other thing is they have a 7' medium power, moderate fast action in a spinning rod but if not that you only other option with that action in a 1 piece is a Lightning rod shock.

Unless something has changed, Zoom does manufacturer their own baits, if you go to their website and look up company history they tell you that they went from a 55 gallon drum to a 40,000 sq. ft. facility and over 100 employees and they are making baits. There are a lot though like Strike king, who don't make their own and use bulk manufacturers to do it for them but Zoom isn't one of them, and Yum use to make their own also but now I'm not sure.

Even using epoxy isn't going to do much since the wood isn't strong enough to hold. You either need to use a hard wood to begin with, which is less buoyant, or you have to use a through wire or hard wood spine, no other way unless you don't mind having the hooks pull out. Making lures like that requires a certain amount of skill and knowledge and if it were as easy as just shaping a block of balsa or poplar or other wood and then screwing in hook hangers and line ties, well you'd see more anglers making them and the ones you buy wouldn't be so expensive. I know you didn't want to hear that answer but it is the truth,

Fluorocarbon sinks and with the set up you have just stick with mono. Keep your baits on the small side, 1/4oz, maybe 3/8oz the heaviest and you'll be fine.

If you are making something the size of a slammer, the object is to catch big fish, so using poplar there are 2 things you should do but you need a saw. You either do a through wire construction, which involves cutting the bait in half and making a channel in the center that holds a wire skeleton that incorporates the line tie and hook hangers. The other method is you make you poplar blank 1/4" to 1/2" thinner than your finished design and cut the blank in half and glue in and clamp a 1/4" or 1/2" piece of hard wood cut to the same length and width as the blank, the hardwood, cedar or ash, will be where you screw in your line tie and hook hangars. The reason for that is because poplar is a soft wood, a big fish or several smaller fish will eventually pull your hangers out or possible pull the line tie free. Balsa baits not made with through wire construction are made with a hard wood insert, usually ash or hard maple because of the softness of the wood. If you ever broke a Rapala DT bait, it is usually the lip that pulls free, they put the line tie on the lip, which is angled, what it does is it creates a wedge effect so if simply pulling it of fighting a fish it can pull out, but if you shock it by slapping it against the water, the lip will actually pull out with part of the head completely separating from the body but the through wire for the hook hangers will remain. So take you Dremel and put a cutting wheel and cut your blank down the middle.

Bravo Mr. Wetline, Bravo!!!!! You got me with the Metz microbarb grizzly hackle, I hate paying for that but it does add such a nice touch of realism to that jig, excellent proportion and color. As for the accent, fewer strands could be better but the black/red (I use it too) isn't outrageous and I find that you can use a little more of it, black accent is the same way. I to use super glue but I prefer the Loctite brush-on, the brush makes it easy to apply to the collar and it seems to be thinner and so it penetrates further and faster and for me it is good since I use 210 most of the time. I have to tell you that you do a magnificent jog, I really like the looks of your jigs and I know the smallmouth will as well, good luck on the trip!!!

This is a big deal for me, I so wanted a Tatula when they came out and when Cabela's got them in I was there in a flash! I still remember picking that reel up and being so disappointed, it was big, bulky and clumsy and it was as heavy as it looked. Your fishing suffers when you aren't comfortable, instead of focusing trying to feel light bites, you instead focus on how sore your finger feels or how cramped your hand is getting. So for me, reel ergonomics and reel seats on rods are both very important.

The easiest way is to take a weed guard and instead of inserting it up into the cavity, just leave it flush right at the entrance to the cavity and the close and pour. If you don't understand the way the molds work, you will once you get it as they aren't hard to figure out.

That looks like a Paca chunk on a Draggin head.

Spinning is good and in some cases it is the best way to go. Down south guys don't use it much but here in the Northeast you need it as we often fish clear water and you need to down size to get bit. I like fishing shaky heads, drop shots and tubes and micro jigs with spinning and it can be as fun as power fishing. I like banging a square bill over rock and wood or burning a spinnerbait and feeling a big fish just hammer your bait to the point it almost rips the rods from your hands. I also get a thrill by slowly pulling my 3/32oz craft fur jig along the bottom with my 7' ML-F spinning rod with 6lb line on a 2000 size reel and feeling the slightest tick and lifting up and reeling to set the size 2 fine wire hook and then expertly fighting the 5lb smallmouth back to the boat. There is just something so rewarding when using light spinning tackle and catching a big fish and the sound of the drag as line is being pulled while your is bent almost in half, if that doesn't do anything for you then you I don't know what to tell you but get a spinning outfit. I can also tell you that using a 6'9" m-XF spinning rod and working a Fluke jr. and having a big fish swirl and eat your offering and taking off is another experience worth having, casting set ups are fun but spinning takes it to a different level.

A-Jay has given you the best advise , and that is your trailer and how it affects your presentation. The first thing is if your jig didn't come with a snap, then use one, but it should have came with a size 2 or 3 Duo Lock Snap. The next part is crucial, these come in a short, medium, and long bill, the short bill one has to be reeled fast in order to vibrate, the medium one will vibrate at just about any speed and the long one will vibrate at only a slow retrieve, a little too fast and it will sort of lay on its side and just come in straight. When you say MF rod, do you mean a medium power rod with a fast action or a moderate fast action rod? That can have an affect also but it is either the bill type or the trailer like A-Jay has said, I use the 1/4oz with a 3/0 hook in a medium bill with a Zoom Fluke Jr., I think the 4.5" slug-O is too big and the 3" is too short, the 4" fluke Jr. seems to work the best and the action of a small swim bait seems to cancel out the action from the head, it make seem to kick a little faster but that is it, with a fluke Jr. it makes the bait come to life while keeping the profile small.

Berkley Frenzy Power Rattl'R . They make the regular Frenzy rattl'r which is a full hard bait and the power version has a power bait soft plastic tail.

The ET Smallmouth rods are awesome and the new bass line is ok but in my opinion they listen to too many people. Instead of adding a few longer lengths and maybe tweaking the reel seat a little, they went and added power to the rods to the point they are a lot heavier than the smallmouth rods they replaced. They are well balanced which makes them fell ok but it is hard for me to use one when I have the smallmouth rods which are better. If you can hang on for a memorial day sale, you will be able to get a Fenwick Aetos spinning rod, the 7' M-F is a very good rod, the sensitivity is just fantastic and they go for $179.99 but there will be sales and you'll be able to snag one memorial day for the price you want.

I use rods from 6'3" up to 7'6" and everywhere in between. As WRB stated, rods have been getting longer, I remember when 6'6" was considered long and the only rod longer was the original Fenwick flipping stick but they were almost impossible to cast with. Most were using 5'6" to 6' rods with pistol grips but like every thing else, it has evolved entirely to the point very few use those rods anymore, at least in the bass fishing world. I still use mostly shorter rods, 6'3" as I said to 7'2" are what I use 95% of the time.

I was always confused by the carbon/graphite difference so I contacted Lews because I was looking at one of their reels. I was wanting to buy a Lews Team Gold Carbon spinning reel, my buddy has one and he loves it so I was going to get one but I worried about it being a graphite framed reel but at $130 ???? So I got in touch with Lews and the product specialist I spoke with was very helpful, he told me to read descriptions of other reels like the laser speed spool or the American hero and they both specified graphite frames. Well he tells me the C40 carbon body is similar to the C14 from Shimano, it is a carbon composite, it is slightly heavier than Magnisium but lighter than graphite and Aluminum and it is much more rigid than graphite so there isn't much of a flexing concern like you normally have with graphite. If the frame is graphite, they will say graphite, carbon composite is different and manufacturers will not say a reel has a carbon frame if it is graphite.

He is referring to one of the articles he read about fishing river smallmouth in the early spring on hair jigs. Yes, they work in other water temps but if you fish for river smallmouth with a hair jig when the water temp hits 60 degrees, you won't catch but a few fish. Unlike their lake cousins, the river smallmouth will move out of wintering holes and spread out at much cooler temps than their lake cousins. Once the water goes above 50 degrees, covering water will get you more fish, yes, you will catch them with hair but I'll catch 5 or 6 to your 1 with a jerkbait or spinnerbait as I'll be covering more water. A lot of anglers don't understand river smallmouths, they inhabit shallower water and move in much lower water temps, we have witnessed river smallmouths on beds in 57 degree water, you won't see them do that in lakes or reservoirs under 60 degrees when the water is clear. Night and day difference.

I've been tying and fishing hair jigs for close to 20 years and most of it is done for river smallmouth. I tie jigs that range from 1/32oz up to 1/4oz but the majority are 1/16oz, 3/32oz and 1/8oz. I use all kinds of materials and if you look my name up on you tube you'll find some videos on how to tie various patterns yourself if you so choose. I use different material depending on the water temperature and time of year, and you are correct, they are really effective in water under 50 degrees. They work in water above 50 also but other presentations are better as the fish get more active. I love buck tail, that is my favorite for both fishing and tying and I like using it when the water temp is in the 30s, from 33 up to 39, the reason is buck tail has very little action, but it does move but ever so slight and that looks really natural to fish in that cold water. The other reason it is effective is that when you put a buck tail jig in the water, the wet material makes a perfect minnow profile, nothing looks as close with such subtle movement. When the water gets into the low 40s I like using marabou, it has a little more action and it is used as a swim jig almost and by the time we hit the mid to upper 40s that is when I use rabbit and craft fur. Those have a lot more movement but it is very fluid and lifelike and all of these can be used with or without a small trailer, it is a trial and error process and you will catch fish but you need to take your time. The biggest mistake anglers make when they first get into the small hair jigs is they move them too fast, and the other mistake is they expect it to catch a ton of fish and that isn't the case. I've had great days with a hair jig but most of the time you are getting 4 or 5 bites when the water is frigid, I'm talking low 30s, the real action begins when the water climbs into upper 30s and low 40s, that is when the addition or subtraction of a trailer can really make for a good day but don't get over confident, the reason they have a following is because you may only get a couple bites but it is usually due to the fact that on really tough, cold days the only thing you will be able to get them to bite is a well placed hair jig but it is simply a tool and not a magic bullet.

You have a good friend, just that mechanical drawing is worth $40. You are fortunate to have someone that is a skilled machinist and when I read the title I was waiting to see a bicycle pump and electrical tape and I'm happy it wasn't that. I've been witness to homemade hand injector failures as a friend had me come over to watch his genius come to life as he was going to inject some soft plastics with an injector he made himself. The result was the heat from the plastic weakened the o-ring to the point that once he started applying pressure it just gave out and hot plastic spewed everywhere. I was lucky enough to realize there could be a problem so I stood back and avoided getting burned but it was a lesson learned and I'm glad that isn't what I'm seeing here. Your buddy did a nice job to say the least.

When you see the term "regular" for action or taper look to the power of the rod to get a better idea of the action. The regular taper on Daiwa rods differs depending on the power, the MH rods tend to have a mod-fast taper while medium and medium light tend to be more moderate.