MichiganFishing1997

Thanks again everyone! I'll get some pics up later.

Thanks guys!

I would just like to thank everyone on here for all the help over the past few years! Yesterday I went out and it was a worlds difference in my fishing. You guys tought me howto fish ststructure, which i pulled all my fish off of yesterday. 9 bass to be exact. A 3.5, 3, and 2.5 were the top fish of the day for me. I have quality gear now that let me feel everything, and after watching all of the Z-man webisodes, I cought every single fish on a white chatterbait. I have improved immensely and this website played the biggest role in it. Tight lines. Christian

I was curious about these rods too, hopefully someone will have some info on them.

Thanks for all the help guys!

Do you put your used soft plastics back in the bag? Throw them out? Or put them in a seperate bag full of used baits? Im talking about a perfectly fishable soft plastic, not a torn up one. What do you guys do? Christian

Another vote for an Ugly Stick

I bought the 7' M MF Clarus this year do my square bill rod. I paired it with a BPS PQ and braid, I love it. It deffinitly has a parabolic action, casts well, has some sensitivity, and decent backbone for a M MF rod. I cought a few 2 pounders and it handled great. Hope this helps. Christian

If you have already decided on what you want, and were already willing to spend it before the gift card, then I would get what you had already pickle out. Then take the BPS gift card to get some line for your new set up! Its a win win. Christian

If you fish really nasty slop like I do, the Double Palomar works even better. Instead of doing one overhandwith the loop, wrap it twice then pull it tight, pull it around the bait and so on. It will give you four strands on the eye of the hook instead of two. You may have yo use pliers on the tag end to pull it tight though. Christian

A Redington pursuit is a great rod for the money, and then I would put something like a BPS Hobbs Creek reel on it, if thats the correct name, and then some WF float line by a company like scientific angler or Rio. That should point you in a good direction. Its a solid starter set up, and it leaves you a little bit of money for leaders, flies, and boxes. Christian

No its old and doesn't have the little plate that tells you that. But im going to have to build a raised up reinforced transom either way.

Im having a really hard time making a decision. I have a 16ft mirrocraft, I plan on putting a floor in it and a bow mounted trolling motor on the front, plus batteries. Thats a lot of weight. Right now I have a '82 Mercury 25hp, but it seems like it will be too small. I have the option to get a '74 50hp Mercury, but I dont know if my boat can hold it. Either way I am going to have to build a transom for my boat, it has the dipped down lower transom and I need it to be higher up for my long shaft motor. But can I make a transom that will hold the 50? Both motors at in great shape and great running order, the 25 is tiller the 50 has controls. Thanks, Christian

Is the lip of the spinning reel smooth? Sometimes they have a little nick in them.

The all white Booyah Pad Crasher works well for me. I mainly aim for a darker color belly when its overcast or darn stained water, and a lighter belly when its sunny or clear water. I think how you fish it is more important, if I want to fish through pads, and similar cover id use something like a pad crasher. If I want to fish slow il use a lunker hunter, if I want to make a lot of noise il use a popping frog, and then lastly if I want to burn it across the top il use a buzz frog. Christian

Welcome to the forums! Personally I find no issues with crossing brands, if you prefer to just have matching gear that is perfectly okay, but performance wish it wont be better or worse in most cases. St. Croix has great warranties and customer service, which makes the Triumph a great choice. It has a good amount of sensitivity too. I have a Pro Max reel, which is just a step up from the silver max, and It has worked very well for me. Personally I would go with that suggested combo over the BPS combo. Hope this helps. Christian

Thanks for all the info guys. Il have to give it a try and see if its comfortable for me. Christian

Hand down Lake St. Clair up here. We have amazing Smallmouth fishing. Theres also great pike, musky, walleye, perch, and cat fishing too. Christian

I guess I just dont really see the benifit in it. Is it just a comfort thing?

Hootie's post made me think of this. I usually just have my pointer finger, or my pointer finger and middle finder above the trigger. I never really understood how to palm a reel, or why people palm the reel. So why do you palm your reel? Thanks Christian

I own the 7'6 MH for frogs, with that, I would say you can go a little over the rating with a Veritas, but definitely not under. Personally between those two I would get the 6'6 because I feel like the MH would be a broomstick. Christian

It would always make a solid frog rod!

I think you would be better off in the long run if you got two separate rods, a Medium Heavy Fast or Xtra Fast, your choice in length, for spinners and chatterbaits for one rod. For the other, depending on the weight of your cranks, I would get something like a 7'6 Medium Moderate fast. Do you like you Clarus? I got the 7' Medium Moderate fast for throwing shallow to medium diving cranks and it seems like it is going to work really well. If you like your Clarus than you could get another in the crankbait model. You dont need a lot of sensitivity for reaction baits, and then you can put more money into another rod for chatterbaits and spinnerbaits. And by the way, Welcome! You will love it here! Christian

I don't have any experience with any of those rods, but id still like to give you some input. To start St. Croix rods in general seem to fish about a half a power heavier than what they are rated, thats why it seems like that medium has more backbone than the other comparable rods. If you already have a good amount of 7' Medium rods, I would go with a 7' Medium Heavy. Its a great all purpose rod length and rating. It will also hold up better against those cats. With the heavier rating you may be able to venture into some other types of fishing more effectively like flipping and pitching, frogging, and heavy jigging. Hope this helps, Christian

I love mine. Good sensitivity and its pretty light for its price range. Im looking to sell mine only because im getting away from 2 piece rods. Which model were you looking for?