smalljaw67

What they did was add power to the blank so what you have is a rod that is heavier with good sensitivity but I don't like them because of the added weight but it seems a lot of people wanted to throw light weight rigs with 30lb braid and that is why we have the ET bass line. If I were you, I'd ask about upgrading the Aetos 7' Medium power, fast action, it will cost a little more so you'll have to add some money to it but it will be in your best interest. You'll get a rod that is as light as the rod you broke (I wish I could get a few more-my favorite as well in spinning) with even better sensitivity and the fast action is very crisp and responsive. Now, the rod they sent you, if you go to tackle tour website, they have a review on the 6'9 medium, mod-fast spinning rod and they do tell you that it has more weight but it is offset in the fact the balance is perfect and the sensitivity is where is should be. The action was described as crisp with just the right amount of flex and I'll be honest as I like Fenwick, if I was using braided line, then this is the rod I'd have. You may want to give it a go or like I said, the 7' medium power, fast action Aetos is a killer rod but you have to like the skeleton reel seat which some don't care for.

Deep and others here have it nailed down, water temperature, plain and simple. Lucky Craft Pointers are good, the price is high but they seem to suspend at a wider range of temperatures than any others. Smithwick suspending models are quite consistent, I own more than 30 suspend and just as many floating and they do best in waters that are from 55 to about 48. The Luck-E-Strike RC STX that a lot complain about suspend well for me but the window is really small and I have to add this in so you understand. I list jerkbaits in 4 categories, suspending, floating, slow sinking, and slow rising. For a bait to be called suspending, for my own use, the bait need to rise, not sink, and it has to do it at a rate of 12 to 15 seconds per foot, for me that is reasonable in a suspending bait, if it rises a foot in 5 to 8 seconds it is a slow riser and any faster than a foot in 5 seconds is a floating bait. A slow sinking bait is the same, if it falls a foot in 5 to 8 seconds then it is slow sinking, I haven't found too many that actually sink besides a Rapala Countdown which isn't a jerkbait in my book. I have yet to find a bait that doesn't slowly rise or sink but what I've managed to do is keep track of which ones suspend better at each temperature so I have 1 level that does great in water from 43 degrees up to 45, and then another level that suspends good from 45 to 50 and then 50+, and of course there is a lot of overlap.

Clown Ghost minnow or pro blue White or pearl Shad or baitfish imitating.

I'm sorry to disagree with you but the medium Veritas would be fine for soft plastics, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits,buzzbaits, and swim jigs. There is no way I'd use any Veritas not called a Winch for reation baits with treble hooks like crankbaits, they are just too stiff. The winch series is what they made for fishing cranks, and if I was in a pinch and needed to throw a crank on a rod not made for it, then yes, in the Veritas series the medium would be the one.

A ton of good info here and when talking about shallow cranks you really can go either way depending on what kind of cover or structure you're fishing around. I'm in the same camp as DVT, look at the weights of the cranks you use and go from there.

I'm telling you this, I try different lines every season in addition to my main lines. I don't use fluorocarbon anymore so for me it is mono and braid and for braid I tried most of what is available and after 832 came out I pretty much stuck with it but mono I tend to use Berkly Big Game on my cranking set up and experiment with others for everything else. Last season I used a line that has ended my search, Spider Wire Ultra Cast Ultimate Mono, not EZ mono but Ultimate Mono. The first thing you notice is the line diameter, it is thinner than most other mono and copolymer lines including Yo-Zuri Hybrid. The other thing you notice when fishing it is that for mono the stretch is really low, I'm saying I never, ever, use any nylon or fluorocarbon that had as little stretch as this line does. The other properties that make it worth while is the knot strength and abrasion resistance, both are excellent and the only knock on the stuff is that it has a little more memory than what I like but it responds really well to KVD line and Lure, 2 spritzes and you're good to go, but that is the only thing I found. The memory reminds me of fluorocarbon but it isn't as bad but more than other mono line but the ones with little to no memory tend to have more stretch and slightly larger diameters.

It has the shape of a small fry but I never saw one that shape with the line tie on the nose and I never saw them with a raised side fin, at least not that shape.

Cut it off and retie, that can cost you a fish. The reason it happened is you cranked down too hard with something tied on and held by the hook keeper, I'm guessing that part by the way, but it explains the kink because it was under pressure are a hard angle. If you want to avoid that, back off your drag all the way and your line will be relaxed instead of under pressure and you won't have anymore kinks.

If you buy online you can go to TW and they will have the Yo-Zuri 3DB on sale but only until the 8th so that is 2 more days. They run $8.99 but the sale price is $4.99, there is no better at that price. Another that is inexpensive and very effective for less than $4.00 is the Bomber Square "A", the 3/8oz size is a small compact bait that will get bites when the fish don't want larger baits. Evolve Soul 5 Muscle Squared 65 at $7.00 is another great bait. As far as balsa baits go, wait until you see a sale and grab a Bagley balsa B2 or Kill'R B2, those are really good but I also like the Rapala DT Fat 3 but that is a big body bait and works great at times.

As others have said, it is a guide based on the power of the rod and what the intended use of the rod is. A medium power rod listed 8lb to 14lb or a medium heavy is sometimes listed 10lb to 17lb or 10lb to 20lb, most of it is because they is more than likely you will be using something in that range, if you are using more than 20lb you are probably using a heavy power rod and less than 10 is it probably a medium power. Lure ratings are a little different, those are usually close to what the rod can handle but it doesn't mean you can't use something out of the range, it is just a guide to give you an idea of the rods capabilities.

The OP is looking of inexpensive jerkbaits and used Megabass and Lucky Craft as examples so we are assuming he is wanting hard jerkbaits and it is why nobody has brought up the fluke. That said, a fluke is more of a warm water bait but it does work well in colder temps when fished on a light jig head or on the back of a fish head spin.

Normally when you see a large range of depth is they tested it as a trolling bait in addition to casing. Bagley and Smithwick will often list casting and trolling depths and this is no different except they don't say it. It is 1/2oz so I'd thing a decent length cast would get it down to around 10' to 12' with mono and maybe 14' with 8lb or 10lb fluorocarbon.

They are very good in the sensitivity department but they are a little heavier than the smallmouth series as they seem to be more powerful. When I got my smallmouth rods I was wondering how much the non-exposed reel seat would hurt sensitivity but surprisingly it doesn't seem to hamper it at all.

The problem is caused by the friction ring, if you contact Shimano they should be able to tell you what the problem is. The old river rats around my neck of the woods use to call them "Shimbindos" because if you were wading or fishing in the rain and it got wet, it would bind up and wouldn't work until is was completely dry.

I was having a little bit of success in summer on suspended fish but it was only 1 or 2 on an outing. I was ready to give up but before I did I made sure to try it in colder water, 52 degrees was the magic number with a light stain. I was throwing a 1/4oz model I make myself with a fluke Jr. on the back and just slow reeling it across the bottom in 6; of water and that is when I got my first good fish on it. Ever since then we've been doing well, it seems like the best conditions for our waters is from 48 degrees up to 60 degrees with the best action happening in the 52 to 55 degree range. There is one thing I learned, if you feel you are getting hit, don't set the hook, just keep reeling until the rod begins to load up, then pull it hard, it seems that just about every fish likes to bump it or push it a time or two before eating it. If you go to you tube look at a video of Paul Mueller fishing the fish head spin, that video is exactly what happens in my water, tap ..Tap..Tap..Load and then set, I was setting the hook on the taps and was missing bad until I started to keep reeling, I wish I saw this video first.

Jerkbaits and crankbaits do not count the lip as part of the overall length and the weight is with hardware on. Spinnerbaits and jigs are a different story as the weight is basically the head size not including the skirt or even the paint and that is why they vary so wildly. You will have a little difference on the crank weights because of the finish as well.

I'm bummed that that rod is discontinued as it was perfect for small topwaters and jerkbaits.

Casting or spinning? Casting rod I use my Fenwick Aetos 6'6" ML-M, it is rated 1/4oz to 1/2oz but I can throw a Rapala #5 Shad Rap with it no problem and that is 3/16oz. Anyway, I got that rod for finesse cranking and now I use it for small jerkbaits as well as small topwaters like the small size Zell Pop now called the Booyah Boss Pop.

If you stay spinning get the 7' M-F, it will work but it will be heavier and have more power than the smallmouth rod you are replacing. If you don't mind putting a few dollars to it, upgrade to the Aetos 7' M-F, that is a killer rod for tubes and light finesse jigs. I wouldn't go casting rod as none of them are made for finesse tactics. The 7' Aetos is going to have a similar feel weight wise as the smallmouth rod, the blanks are crisp and responsive, the Elite Tech bass is decent but they added power to the rod so it will fish heavier than the ML you broke and the 6'10" ML-XF is the closest thing in that line. If you can afford the upgrade the Aetos spinning rod is awesome.

Why do you want a feathered treble on that bait? I really like that jerkbait as it does give the fish a different look but a feathered treble will hurt that bait more than help it. The reason is the bait is meant to be erratic but not like an X-rap, the bait doesn't dart, it is more of a glide with a subtle tail kick. I would imagine a feather treble will catch some water and keep the bait from moving very much and may even cause it to sink on a more level field rather than nose down as there is a little extra weight with the feathered treble. So I'll put that out there but if you want the perfect match just buy the VMC size 6 X-rap tail hook, they are sold in packs of 2.

Keep it for lighter cranks, you'll be glad you did!!! I got a finesse cranking rod, a 6'6" ML-M that has the same rating, 1/4oz to 1/2oz, as the BuCoo 7'M-M. Let me tell you that I could always throw a Mann's baby 1 minus and my other 1/4oz and 5/16oz on my regular cranking rod but ever since I started throwing them on the smaller cranking rod it is like a door opened to me. The cranks actually swim better and I get more strikes and catch more because of it, it was the first time in all my years fishing that I actually had a rod make a difference in a way I could actually see. So now anything 3/8oz and under gets fished on the finesse cranking rod.

Storm Twitch Stick and the Yo-Zuri 3DB Jerkbait are both great but the Twitch Stick is $5.50 or less most of the time and they come with good hooks out of the box. When they came out, TW had them for $4.99 and I got a couple to try out, I now own a dozen, under rated bait is all I can say. You'll often hear they don't suspend well, the truth is they don't suspend well when the water temp is under 45 degrees but from 46 to 55 they are killer, the size 10 suspends better than the 8 but the 8 only needs 1 suspend dot and it is perfect. I'm giving details with that bait because it is the least expensive and the absolute best buy in jerkbaits, they have a triggering quality that I have only witnessed from 1 other bait. When you stop the bait, it has a wobble or vibration as it sits in place, the fish can't stand it. I like pearl and threadfin shad in water with color and the new ghost wakasaki, ghost pro blue, and ghost herring are killer in gin clear water.

The dirtiest water that I've had success with jerkbaits in is 2' of visibility. When I say success, I mean that I was able to catch multiple fish throughout the day and it was better than anything else. The bait I used was the Rapala X-Rap in clown and The Rapala clown pattern is bright, it is bright yellow chartreuse with a bright red head, it is the only clown pattern that I've not been able to catch largemouth on, only smallmouth. If I was fishing largemouth in waters that were stained and I wanted to try a jerkbait, I'd probably go with an X-Rap in a color called "Hot Head", it is very visible and the reason I'd go with the X-Rap is the action. The X-Rap has an extreme darting action followed by it stopping and suspending, the bright color combined with suspending capability and extreme action make it a bait that will stand out in dirty water a little better than most.

I'm not brand loyal but I do have several rods of a few different brands. The reason I have different brands is for 2 reasons, one is just because I like to try new things and the other is because there may not be the right length and power in the brand that I want so I have to look for it in another brand.

I spent almost $200 on Yo-Zuri 3DB jerkbaits, pencils, wake baits, and square bills!!!!! When they put up that 50% off those baits I jumped on it, I've been using the Yo-Zuri 3DB series since they came out in 2013 and they are impressive at regular price so 50% off meant time to load up so I got my wife to buy gift cards at 10%off for me which meant I saved a little more, Merry Christmas to me!!!!!!