hooah212002

I would suggest building your arsenal slowly, 1 or 2 combos at a time as you find a need for them. get a couple "do it all" combos to start with (provided you don't have any now), then get technique specific set-ups. You could easily buy 7 rods/reels and only use 2.

Flukes have been my go to this year and they got me nada that day. White ice, pearl, watermelon/red flake and baby bass.

I suppose I didn't think about that. All our gear is aimed at mimicking dying bait fish, so of course these bass aren't attacking healthy bed making fish. "duh" as the kids say. It's still odd that they were able to be chased away by much smaller fish, even if just a short distance.

It's the exact opposite of what I saw 2 weeks ago when the bass were the ones doing the spawning. That made sense, at least.

I was watching some bluegill making nests while out fishing Sunday morning and periodically I would notice one of them chase off another nearby fish. Sometimes it was another gill, but other times it was a much larger bass. I then noticed that there were bass hanging out right nearby where the nests were being made, seemingly watching these bluegills make their beds. Never once did I see one attack. I thought it very strange that the bass would actually move when the bluegill chased them off. These bass wanted no part of anything I threw at them (but I did catch a few very pretty bluegill). Anyone ever seen this before? Most all the bass I saw were at least 2-3 pounds, but there were quite a few cruisers that were much larger and they just left the gills alone as well.

What about a lipless?

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow....... looks like you had a blast. Great pics, too. Congrats.

Strange. The ones I have are plastic and have a tendency to work them selves loose frequently due to how soft they are. Of course, I got mine at Wally World, so.....

Huh? How did you clip a few cm off this? And it's "soft" plastic, so it couldn't bee too stiff.

I use VMC weedless wacky hooks. I like their eyelets (on all their hooks) because they are resin coated so the knot never travels through that small space. Aannd I can't link to TW? Odd.

I got one last year on clearance at Dicks, but I doubt I would pay full price for one since there are ***'s or Powell's at that price point. That said, it is light and sensitive. I don't regret paying $45 for it.

I do all that as well as a spritz right before heading out. Heckm if it becomes unruly while fishing I spray again. But then, I don't use 22# fluoro.

Yea, but what about conditions where you can't see your line or where your line enters the water? The amount of times where I can actually see my braid all the way until the point of entry are far far fewer than the times where I can't see any of it at all, be that due to glare or chop or what have you. I would rather not suggest to someone that they should use a technique that gets bit A LOT on slack line to use a line that sucks for slack line applications except for those few times where you can see the line. This is just me speaking personally, though, so take that with a grain of salt. I prefer braid for stuff that keeps me in contact with the bottom (weighted t-rigs, jigs, c-rigs) on a taught line. For example: I have felt bites with fluoro while picking out a backlash.

Yea, a flipping stick would likely be too stiff to throw them without trouble, but the braid is fine. I use a 6'6" Veritas with 12# Invizx and I can feel the bites so no need to watch the line. Also, braid doesn't typically have good slack line sensitivity in my experience.

What rod/reel/line are you using? Senko's are heavy enough that it shouldn't be a problem if your reel is set up right and you have a soft enough rod. And yes, they do have a slow fall rate. That's what makes them so enticing. You need to fish it sloooowwww.

Everyone has their own experiences, but imo, Pinnacle can't even make golf balls right. I have had nothing but trouble with all the (low end/budget) Pinnacle reels I have bought. However, I have heard good things about the Matrix line which is $50 at Dicks.

That's your call, then. If you can gather another $50 quickly, then get a Citica 200G6 on fleabay for ~$105 and a *** rod. This set up will be the *** of all and is by no means a "beginner" one. this will last you a long time with proper maintenance. if you don't want to save, then go to Academy and grab an H2O Mettle for $50 and still get the *** for $100. OR swap rod/reel prices (your choice) and get a Berkley Lightning shock or Shimano Sellus (both about &50) and get a Lews Speed Spool. I know how I am and I am impatient, with the baitmonkey burning a hole in my pocket so I tend to make very poor decisions and you can just keep saving (you say you have $150, someone says "well save a bit more and get this", but when you save that much, someone says "well save only a little more and get this". It's a never ending cycle for someone indecisive lol). I can't make your decision because this crap ALL comes down to personal preference. There is no right choice, only not so good ones.

I'm interested to hear what you think about that combo because I have been eyeballing one as well but I am leary of combo's now.

Yes. Get a "nice" rod and use that ugly stick for junk fishing (worm and bobber beer drinkin). What is your budget? Berkley Lightning Shock rods get high accolades for budget rods, however you should up that to at least $70 and spring for a Powell Diesel or better yet, $100 for a *** *** Black.

I would recommend something with dual brakes (centrifugal AND magnetic), like a BPS Pro Qualifier (regularly $80 on sale). Spool it up with cheap-ish mono like Sufix Elite and drench it with line conditioner (I use KVD, but others work as well I'm sure). Make a good cast, then pull a bit more line out. Lay a piece of tape on the line so when you get a birds nest it only goes so far down and you don't have to ruin the entire spool. If you get a cheap-o, you will have a bad time. Higher quality reels are far more forgiving. Unless you have greasey fumble fingers and throw your reel around, beginners are fine with high price reels. It's the line that you are going to waste due to backlashes that gets expensive. Depending on your budget, there are a number of choices: $50 H2O mettle at Academy ~$80 (typically): BPS PQ ~$100: Lew Speed Spool ~$120 (this is the price point where reels start to get really good and where price really equals performance): Shimano Citica, Abu Garcia Revo S. I wouldn't recommend any higher than that since you never know if you will like BC reels

Swim Jig, soft jerkbait, senko

Yessir. It was 0300. Shortly afterwards the birds started chirping and the sun began to rise.

Doesn't fishidy do most of that? I've not tried it myself. http://www.fishidy.com/fishing-mobile-app