smalljaw67

I'm saying no, and here is the reason. You have a medium heavy moderate, most rods that are moderate for flipping and pitching are heavy power and 7'9" or better made to be used with heavy braid. Also, medium heavy moderate rods for flipping and pitching are usually made technique specific medium heavy and those are usually a lot more stout than the average medium heavy, it makes it confusing that there isn't industry standards. Anyway, if it is a standard rod line MH-M and they make fast action rods in the line up, then the rod you got was designed to crank with and probably won't have the backbone for flipping and pitching. Frogging is another no, it isn't like punching when you are in close quarters and need to keep the fish pinned, frogging requires you to get the fish hooked and up coming forward in order not to lose it, a moderate action rod, especially if it isn't a heavy power, isn't going to work, maybe open water but not in slop.

Bagley Diving Killer B is a good one and the Rapala DT Flat 7, bot of those have the 7' zone covered. The next level you can go with the Spro Little John MD, that will get you to the 8 and mayby 9 foot zone and you can jump to a DT-10 for the 10' area. I haven't used it but the Spro RK Crawler 55 looks like it will cover the entire zone depending on line size, so you may want to look at those as well as the wiggle warts, and the new ones work well so don't over pay for originals.

I've been doing it for close to 20 years, it is a fun hobby but it can get expensive so if you are looking to save money it isn't going to happen right away. You got excellent advice already and the only thing I'll add is that if you want to go ahead and get into it, go over to tackle underground and post in the wire bait section, you get detailed answers from guy of all levels. I think Braberry gave you a great option, if you aren't sure you are going to like doing it, you can jigs already poured and painted or unpainted and try your hand at it before investing in a melting pot and molds.

I like using the larger baits most of the time, the 4" to 4.5" seem to draw larger strikes for me but I do use smaller baits when the fish want smaller. The 3DB jerkbait is really nice, it is a smaller bait that fishes like a large bait and the lures in that series have all been great. I like the Pointer 78 and the size 8 X-Rap along with a few other smaller baits but they get thrown only after the large ones failed to work.

There is a rod that will be perfect for your situation, the Okuma Scott Martin TCS 6'9" MH-MF, it will handle all your weight ranges plus it is the right length for jerkbaits and is under the $150 price point.

Like Bluebasser86, I too prefer the 110 size and my favorite pattern is cell mate. The old glory is a pattern I don't have but if I did, it would be one I would reach for on an overcast day.

When the sun is out and the water has a little color to it and the fish aren't moving, a chrome/black back Cotton Cordell Big-O is a killer!!!!! I also have a stash of of old Rapala Fat Raps in a color called silver blue which is chrome/blue back and when the sun is shinning it is tough to beat. For me it is a matter of how stained the water is, light stain or cleat I like the chrome/blue back, if the water has light to moderate stain I like the chrome/black back but the one element that is common is there has to be sun.

Yes, the slim Senko is heavier than most finesse worms of the same size.

I use a shorter rod as I work the rod straight down, from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock and long rods end up in the water. If you twitch it this way your bait gets to maximum depth, I don't know how some guys do it but I see it all the time, 7' rods working the bait sideways, I just never knew you can get bites like that.

These rods are similar to Fitzgerald, Hammer, and Okuma TCS rods in that they all have a parabolic action. So if you use braided line you may like the rod but if you use fluorocarbon or mono you may want to look at something with a fast action.

I was just there and my local store had a 25% sale on all Rapala crankbaits, I loaded up on Shadow Raps and DT-4s.

I have had 2 days this past summer where the fish wouldn't touch a regular 4" Senko but destroyed a 4" slim Senko, go figure.

The Ultimate Mono and ultimate mono clear is one in the same, if you look you'll notice the mono is only available in 14lb test. The reason it is listed like that is because the clear is the new packaging, when it came out it was only available as clear but now they added the brown recluse to it. So I use the clear and to me this is the best mono I ever used, period!!!

I have used hat rod and it would be perfect as iabass8 has already said. I was going to get that rod but I chose the 7' ML-F, it has a little softer tip with less backbone than the 6'9" ML-XF.

The knock on the original Villain is they were supposed to be super light with carbon thread wraps on the guides and their own carbon formulation in-house reel seat. What happened is the rod they cam out with was much heavier than a lot of rods in their price range so they took a bad rap because of it but it isn't what I'd call a bad rod. If you get one at a good price that fits your needs then pick one up.

Mark, I'm a big fan of that rod and I'm getting the 7' ML-F for hair jigs and small tubes. I have used that rod as well as the 6'9" ML-XF and I was just looking at the 6'8" M-XF at Cabelas this weekend and it felt similar to the 6'9" ML-XF except for the action. The 6'9" ML-XF will work but if I was going to use a swim bait head with a hook that had a little heavier wire diameter, I'd go with the 6'8" M-XF, that extra backbone is going to drive the larger hook better but it isn't going to be too stout that you overpower smaller fish, it will still have some play. These seem to fish spot on to the rating and even though they claim it is the same blank as the Avid, it feels a lot more responsive, just a very nice stick and if I were you, it would come down to the hook you are going to use, heavy wire hook go for the medium, lighter hook the ML.

That is the Bat Jig mold, it uses the wacky hooks from Do-it as well as the wire keeper.

I have done the drill and lead deal before suspending baits came on the market. I have a friend that still does it, he was at a show and got to speak to Kevin Short and he told him he likes the Bill Norman Razor Minnow but it is a floating bait that needs to be weighted. The suspend dots and strips make weighting a bait very easy anymore plus the suspending baits that are available right out of the box make weighting them a thing of the past.

That doesn't work when you get hooked in the finger tip like that. The other thing is the amount of nerves in the fingertip, that is the most painful place to get hooked and if you get hooked there it is a trip to the ER.

I have a flipping stick and frog rod with braid and the ret of my set ups are mono and I feel I have no disadvantage at all. I'm using Big Game 10lb and 12lb on my cranking and topwater set ups and I'm using Spider Wire ultimate Mono on everything else, I really love this line, it has a really low stretch, excellent knot strength and the abrasion resistance is incredible. I do like Big Game almost as much, the difference is the spider wire Ultimate Mono has less stretch and it is super thin, the 10lb Spider wire is the same diameter as 8lb Big Game and the 12lb diameter is the same as 10lb Big Game, the stuff is really nice.

It isn't a price drop, it is a separate bait as they still make the higher end model. The email response I got from them was that they wanted to make a series of lures at a lower price point as a "thank you" to their loyal customers in the U.S. and to also introduce to brand to those who haven't used Lucky Craft yet due to the price. They also said the baits are genuine Lucky Craft and they are produced to the same standard, the difference is there are only a limited number of color options and the hooks aren't the same. They also are making a less expensive jerkbait called the Lightning Pointer XR which is a slow sinking bait that runs $9 to $10.

For years we've been using a small ball head jig with 1/2 Senko or other stick worm threaded on. This was long before we even heard of the ned rig, it was a popular river smallmouth tactic and as Bluebasser86 has stated, it would rarely hit the bottom, actually ours would bounce off the bottom occasionally. I use a double barb mushroom head, it is actually the Do-it worm nose head and it starts at 3/32oz which is my favorite weight, a little more than 1/16oz but not quite 1/8oz. Anyway, if I need to go with a 1/16 or 1/32 I'll use a ball head and if I need some help with snags I'll make the small 1/16oz ball head with a small weed guard but I think the mushroom head just gives it a seamless look with a large surface area to glue the bait should you need or want to do it.

I talked to guys that got them and had to order some myself and then emailed Lucky Craft USA to find what the deal was. What I can tell you is that the more expensive ones are still available but the $6.99 version was made as sort of a "Thank you" to American customers for loyalty, the difference is they are only available in a few colors, no high end finishes and the hooks aren't the same but they aren't junk either. I haven't got to use mine and won't until spring but with people I've talked to that have order more after using them told that the action and durability seems to be close to the same as the RTO with the less expensive version being a little larger which is probably due to the fact that they don't have the Tungstun ball inside so it has to be larger and because it is larger the diving depth is less. 3' to 3.5' depending on line size is what I was told. In the email I asked about the 1 in 100 being checked for quality and the response I got is the Lucky Craft has a very strict quality standard that applies to everything that they produce regardless of price point, now they didn't confirm or deny that claim but rather side stepped it so who knows for sure but I like what I see and they are good enough with just the right amount of patterns that I will have a few more before they go away.

There are those who prefer a shorter fast action rod in a medium power, and others who like a longer, moderate action rod and it depends on how you work the bait and what you value as more important which can be different depending on the water your fishing. As for reels, if you aren't sure, go with one in the 6 range, that is like the jac-of-all-trades gear ratio, me, I prefer something in the 7 range but also use the 6 in cold water, as it was already mentioned, you are reeling up slack, and sometimes the fish will hit it and not move and when you make a jerk that is when you feel the fish, a fast reel will help you get control of it faster but anything in the 6 range is fast enough.

I check my oven every 6 months with an oven thermometer and I time it to see how long it takes to get to temp. My oven takes 4 minutes to reach 350 degrees, so when I put them in I add this to the 15 minutes and since it adds to 19 I round it up and go to 20 minutes. So the short answer is 350 for 15 minutes, I'm pretty precise as I've been doing this close to 20 years but just starting out, put them in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes and you'll be good.