5dollarsplash

Shhhhhh!!!!!! He has work on my stuff! LOL

I was amazed at the price Mike offered me to build the rod I'd been looking for. I'm at the opposite end length wise, I want a 7'6" MH spinning rod. Mike is making it happen and not blowing up my bank account in the process.

That offer has me doing math........I don't like it I wish there was a dicks closer to me, or a reason to head over towards Minnesota.

I'd look for a bait that moves a lot on its own. They have good eyesight but with muddy water extra vibration from a lively bait would help. At least in my brain it works that way.

What weight are you using on your carolina rig? It may just be that you could downsize the rig, almost to a split shot style, then the M power would cover you. I don't throw the C-Rig a ton. Like BrianinMD said, its just so different I can't justify keeping a setup for it. If I do feel compelled to use it usually I'll use my H frogging rod.

Neither one will excell at all of those applications IMO(take it with a grain or two). A MH would be my choice as it will be able to handle the carolina rig and beefier T-rigs. I'm in the same postition right now and if I had to pick either/or thats the way I'd go. I know you do a lot of bank fishing so keeping down amount of gear is smart, but I would try to do the T-rig and C-rig on your lews.

Texas rig can be thrown further and I tend to use it when I know fish are near the bottom of the water column. Like derekxec said, go weightless when distance isn't as paramount and the fish are up higher. I try to find a happy inbetween by using the lightest weight I can that will get my bait down. That way if you retrieve or twitch your rod the bait will float some, but you can still maintain contact with the bottom when you want it.

Can I add one more to your mix? I love my Lexa 300. Big baits, umbrella, heavy punching, frogging, it does it all and hasn't missed a beat all year. I thought it might come up short, but at the price savings, I figured give it a shot. Color me impressed.

Thats what the giant reels of big game are for!!!

Keep us informed x2! I'm trying to avoid buying one of these beauties, but I love my 50e and if they feel similar.....well, we all know when the bait monkey comes to call its a matter of time before I say

Rope, 80lb braid, is what I use for musky lures in that weight range. Tie a good knot and don't get overconfident with the brakes and you shouldn't have to worry about losing baits with birdsnests

If it comes with the blonde, I'm in!!!

Out of those you mentioned along with the handle type you like, I'd look at the Mojo spinnerbait rod. It's 7' and I've found it to be very versatile. It has a MH rating, and unless your trying to pull stumps it should hold up to the high end of it's rating. I use mine for jigs,spinnerbaits, and weighted plastics.

Congratulations!

Pike? Overpowered for them, now musky........lol. I've had success throwing a lot of smaller musky baits for bass, although I believe most strikes are out of aggression not feeding. I use a Lexa 300 reel on a St Croix Triumph. It's not really my preferred method, but it gets the job done when I'm not being too species specific. Once I pile the dog, lady friend, lunch etc, into my little 14' boat sometimes its nice to only have one combo with lol.

A walk the dog bait falls inbetween for me. A popper I tend to let sit after a pop or two, and I can do the same with a walk the dog, but I can't walk a popper all the way home without pause. It also offers up that wide, struggling pattern that you don't get with the buzzbait. They each have their place, and if you don't have confidence in it, honestly I wouldn't use my limited time on a bait I don't have faith in. Maybe after you get a chance to fish it in a place you know better and land a few and build that confidence up.

Braid with a flouro leader for me for managability.

I'm in agreement with Brian on this. To me, warmer means matabolism is up, big trailer time. Cooler the opposite. Although larger/smaller varies with your area. Where I live in Wisconsin, I never get too crazy on size, the 16-22" that are what I'm usually targeting run small up here and a huge trailer would put more bass off and more pike on. Of course take all this with a grain or two of salt, and your experience may vary.

x2 on appreciating any advice. I've tried to figure out this weather the last couple times out, and really have done poorly both numbers and size.

Good thinking on the dumbells, I'll have to raid the girlfriends workout gear!

Thats a pretty musky. My homelake has a limit of 50" for musky now, in the fall you can get some big monsters on. Check DNR population records, Rice Lake WI has a number of large (35"+) fish compared to smaller sizes. If you can find similar lakes near you, it'll increase your chances of getting a wall hanger. I was trying the same presentation last night with a suick, I think I need to find a smaller one as it was getting attention but they seemed like aggression strikes not feeding bites.

They look like a good idea for light anchors if you don't use them much. This review would worry me though: I have a catahoula and I have bought and used up at least 20 of these particular leashes in the past 4 years. Usual mode of failure is the cord breaks after friction thins it down. I used to have a lot of spring problems causing failure, but not in the last 18 months or so. I was going through so many when the dog was younger that, as the cords broke, I would open and replace with 3/32 coated steel cable; now I just buy a new one (or three) when they go on sale. I have also bought several more expensive and supposedly more rugged retracting leashes but they all fail fairly quickly. My dog has hip problems, so the leashes are not failing from being abused - just from normal use (1 1/2 to 3 hrs of mostly slow walking/day). It's the constant in-and-out is that kills these things. I view it as one (of the many) costs of dog ownership to have to buy a new retractable leash every couple of months. I would hate losing a 20+ dollar anchor or having to dive to get it. If I only anchored shallow though they would seem a good option.

Just make sure to note the lure rating, I believe the Bucco MH is rated to 3/4oz. A lot of other brands MH are rated to 1oz. They are nice and lighweight if you plan to stay under the rating, just be careful not to overload it.

With weed cover getting thick around me the frog is tied on all the time! Good catch! When they hit as soon as the bait lands its almost a blessing, you end up letting the fish take the bait better as you engage your reel and take up line.

Try working a cadence for awhile. I'll walk a frog over an open stretch between pads or grasses. Sometimes they want a little more commotion! As a side note, those snag proof frogs are one of my favorites. Try bending the hooks out very slightly, helped my hookup percentage.