smalljaw67

I've tried a lot of different lines and this season I found one of the best mono lines I ever used, Spider Wire Ultimate Mono!! I got it to try as it was advertised to be the lowest stretch mono while being very thin and everything stated is true. The line is as thin as most fluorocarbon lines and thinner than every other mono and it has very little stretch, I've used it in 6lb, 8lb, 10lb, and 14lb and no break offs, no knot failures, and before I forget, the abrasion resistance is outstanding. The only knock is that it has a little more memory on spinning reels, not as much as fluorocarbon but it is there and the best part is 2 spritzes of KVD Line and lure conditioner and you're good to go for the day. I emailed pure fishing and I got a reply from them telling me the line is optimized for casting reels but it works ok in the lower strengths for spinning reels, of course I should have read the box saying optimized for casting reels but I still love the 8lb line on my 2500 size reel and what a coincidence, I just put a fresh spool on my Daiwa Tierra 2500 spinning reel as the spool of line was getting low since the start of the season from cutting off and retying every trip out. Give it a shot, I'm sure you'll like it.

Take a good look at the eyes, those are slightly raised, Bandit doesn't have eyes like that and that tells me the bait is a possibly a custom paint job and most likely a Bomber shallow A which isn't made any more. The closest thing to it in the Bomber line up is the 2A but it isn't the same as the shallow A.

Falcon, St. Croix, G.Loomis, Edge Rods, and Cousins rods, and I almost forgot Lamiglas. I only count the ones who manufacture their own blanks, Kistler still uses over seas blanks and has assembly done off shore as well with the magnesium and carbon steel lines. I understand St. Croix builds the Rage in Mexico but it is their own blank, so the American rod companies they make their own stuff is what I have listed, I'm sure there are a few more I

The Black Jack Jig, because it just clubs them to death!!!!!

Sometimes the fish aren't going to hit a topwater and sometimes they hit it better than any other lure. The fish will give you clues as to when or what type of topwater to throw, for example, during the summer if I'm on the water at daybreak, I'll throw a towater first, if it is calm I might go with a popper but if there is a little breeze I'll try a prop bait and I'll see how the fish react, if I get no hits I'll go to a walking bait and if nothing then I put it away. Before I do that however, I'll use different retrieve speeds and cadences to see if that will get the fish to react. During the day if I'm seeing fish busting minnows on the surface and it is happening more than a time or two, then I'll go with a topwater, but it doesn't always mean they will hit, you just have to try.

I stop using them with less than 2' of visibility. Now, in shallow water during the warm water period I like to use the F6 floating Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows, they have a finish made of highly reflective iridescent tape and when the sun is out you can get shallow fish to get on them. Another is the Smithwick Rattling Rogues, they have BBs in the body and when worked aggressively the fish seem to get those pretty good too but when the water is cold there has to be decent visibility or they aren't as effective and other baits come into play.

I never really had a problem with walking baits but my buddy has had a difficult time keeping them going. So, based on his input I'll say the discontinued Yo-Zuri Banana Boat and the Lucky Craft Sammy, my buddy can work both of those baits fine.

I think prop baits aren't used enough, I really like my old discontinued Heddon Dying Flutter prop baits but the Devils Horse is a good one. As it was already mentioned, calm to a little chop, I will go to the prop bait first if I see minnows scattering on top, the sound and vibration they cause mimics fleeing or injured minnows really well.

Cadman is the very person to listen too, his tutorial will get you started. The only thing I will tell you is this, you are doing crappie jigs, be careful heating tiny jigs, it doesn't take long to melt the lead right off the hook.

A-Jay is spot on, and I'll tell you now that if you take a bait that runs 4' to 5' and weight it so it sinks or runs in the 20' zone, it will be flat with very little if any action. I'm saying this because I think anyone who has been seriously pursuing bass for more than a few years has tried the very thing you're talking about. I found I can take a bait that dives in the 4' to 5' range and get 7' to 8' while keeping the same action, as A-Jay already mentioned, there is a fine line to getting the bait to run a little deeper and affecting the action.

Use a Dou lock or cross lock snap, no swivel. The only time I use snap swivels is ultra light rods with 4lb line when I'm throwing in-line spinners.

There are a bunch but this site will block out the names of a lot of them.

The 7' M-XF will make an excellent Senko and light plastics rod, if you fish tubes you will not want another rod to fish them after the first use. The Cherrywood rods in a 6'6" medium power will be good for jerkbaits, small shallow cranks, light spinnerbaits and light plastics but they aren't the most sensitive rods so I'd keep them as moving bait set ups.

Wacky jig heads seem to work the best for me.

Why be smart about it, you're correct to a point. I was referring to the Bass rods not the Swim bait series but it appears they went away from the standard Sic they were using in favor if steel. Swim bait rod is still a different rod series.

In the early to mid 90s, Quantum made a reel called the "Hypercast" , it was a spinning reel with the same lever and it allowed you to cast a spinning reel without opening the bail and holding the line, sort of a spinning reel that casted like a spin cast reel. Look up the Hypercast, this is old technology that wasn't very good.

Terminology is hard to keep up with and we often use generic terms for things, like Rat-L-Traps, now every lipless bait is called a trap, or a good example of terminology being changed is the old jig worm, that is now a shaky head and it was once viewed as a new technique but jig worms have been used for years, the only thing new was rigging it weedless instead of threading the worm all the way on and fishing it with an exposed hook.

It is very hard to say what the problem is not knowing the exact bait and line type but I'll give an educated guess. I'm going to say the steel leader you're running is affecting your bait and in a big way. Most Rapala baits are balsa and they are sensitive to small weight changes and that is why they tell you every one is tank tested before it leaves the factory. There some that are plastic and not knowing which bait it is makes it tough because plastic is different than balsa and it could be something else causing the bait not to get to depth but right now I'm going to guess the leader is causing you the problem.

You can do anything you want with a spinning rod but heavy cover flipping and pitching isn't one of them. The reason is spinning rods are made lighter, but you may find an in-shore rod that will be stout enough to handle heavy line and ripping large fish out of cover. For the person not understanding pitching, it is a simple method to place the lure softly in a spot that is too far away to flip and too close to cast, 15' is like right out of reach of a decent flip so you would disengage the reel or open the bail on a spinning reel and make a short pitch by lowering the rod to get the bait moving forward and then raising the rod quickly to propel it at a low trajectory so it doesn't splash loudly.

I think you are talking about a different series of rods, they make a 7'9" XH pitching rod and they use SiC guides, I never saw a 7'11" Mag Heavy in the Tactical series.

I sent 3 emails hoping I'd get at least one answer, I sent one to Booyah, and 2 to Pradco and I got 2 responses. Both were basically the same, I asked if there was going to be any difference in the Zell pop or the lipless cranks including the one knockers and rattle baits and both said the construction of the baits will not change, only the brand will so the baits will be the same as always. I have a good supply of one knockers so I'm not worried and at the rate I lose them I figure I got at least 2 maybe 3 years before I even think of having to buy anymore.

Square bills, I have a retrieve that I use when I get followers but not takers. I'll be reeling at a good speed and as I'm reeling I just sweep the rod back while still reeling, and that sudden change caught a lot of fish I believe were following it because there were times when I'd be half way through the sweep when the strike would happen.

Keep quiet about that method!!!!! Seriously though, that can work really well especially when the fishing is tough, I tie a 1/16oz minnow head jig with a little craft fur and mallard flank and let it drift into holes, it is a shallow water float-n-fly and it works all year long as long as it doesn't freeze over during winter.

This is going to be a popularity contest so the rod you choose is going to look good to you with features you like. I won't add a rod to this because I think any rod at that price point is going to be decent and no matter what you choose you'll get a good rod.

The only thing Gary Loomis had to do with those rods is the design of the tapers and he was paid a good bit of money for his signature. He had nothing to do with the blank or build, just the tapers but Ill say the tactical series is a lot better than the original ones. The guides seem to be good and the rod I held was a 7'3" and it seemed to be decent, and I think they go for $150 now and it seems to be a decent offering at that price but I've only handled them, I only ever got to fish with the original series which didn't impress me at all. I think you got a steal as well at $35, now give it a try and let us know how good or bad it is on the water.