kickerfish1

What do we think about what? Are you wanting to know what its value is? Are you wondering if you should keep it? If you don't have a place in your arsenal for it or if you don't like it just give it back to your friend, sell it, or give it to a youngster to learn on.

For vertical presentations where line is essentially free spooled, and the angler is using their electronics to target fish deeper a spinning rod is a good choice. I also like spinning gear for finesse presentations where I am tossing smaller baits and lighter weights. Casting gear is great for techniques requiring 1 of 3 things. High resistance baits that put a lot of strain on a reel. Take deep diving cranks or really big spinnerbaits for example. These would be very tough to use on spinning gear. Another example where the excel is heavy cover fishing when one is punching/flipping or tossing frogs over heavy vegetation. Last place would be for big swimbaits. There aren't many spinning rods that are geared for this technique outside of using a Muskie or Catfish spinning rod. Another thing to consider is gear ratio. Bait casters are made in some very fast ratios like 8:1 or 9:1 or faster. They are just tools like anything else. I would try a decent casting setup and see if you like it. Until you use one you won't be able to form your own opinion on what you prefer. Personally I have 2 casting setups to every 1 spinning setup. Some guys will use 100% casting gear or 100% spinning gear. Neither is right or wrong its just what they prefer to use based upon their experience and the lakes they fish. Guys fishing Lake Okechobbee or Bacarac can make a good case for exclusively using casting gear. Guys fishing lake Erie or some of the deep clear lakes in CA could make a case for an arsenal heavy on spinning gear.

It's the Scorpion which is a JDM reel. For more info on the reel JapanTackle would be a good place to start.

Thought this was interesting. Two guys with many years of bass fishing under their belts and their personal preferences are nearly 100% opposite. Just goes to show there are many ways to achieve the same result. Neither line preference is right and neither is wrong its just what they choose to use or what has worked best for them. I am just glad we have all the options we have nowadays to pick what we like.

I feel your frustration. About every lake here has some amount of flooded timber. Some of the lakes have quite a bit more than others and sometimes it seems like it goes on for days. Last year we were fishing some flooded timber in a lake that is full of it. Tossing the usual jigs and Texas rigged plastics. My buddy lost 2 baits to the flooded timber and I lost 10. That was in 6 hours of fishing. Timber was in 15 -20 FOW so not the easiest stuff to get baits back from. I also probably snagged up another 10-15 times and was successful getting my baits back.

Shimano and Daiwa for casting reels. A mix of brands for spinning but 80% are Shimano... mostly Stradics. Rods are all over the place, Loomis, Dobyns, Custom builds, Shimanos, Fenwick, Powell, Megabass, and a few classic Daiwa rods.

Mono - Sunline defier (Berkley trilene XL and big game = runners up) Flourocarbon - Seaguar Tatsu (Sniper and Invisix = runners up) Braid - Daiwa Samurai (832 and FX2 = runners up) Copoly - Yozuri Hybrid

Probably enough to buy a really big house boat for the BR gang to use!

Are they going to remove a little clothing? It's summer for goodness sake!

Over the last 5 years I have pondered the idea of going the custom route. During that time I have looked over lots of rod builders websites and have paid close attention to custom rod photos posted around the net. I was fortunate enough to be able tour a custom rod builders facility that was here in town before he relocated to Louisiana but didn't care for his build style. The problem was I still couldn't really find the exact look I wanted until the last year or so. After debating whether or not this was the right time to piece together some custom builds with a builder I decided to take the plunge late this past winter. After thinking about techniques that I fish a lot, as well as the missing pieces in my lineup I came up 3 that I wanted to have built from scratch. The first was something on the heavy end for bigger paddle tail swimbaits and jigs. The second was designed for more all around use. And the third was for small topwater poppers and jerkbaits. The first two were built on MHX Hi Mod blanks (874 and 843 MBR respectively) and the third was built on a standard MHX blanks (842 spin jig). I can now fish about anything I would want with these 3. The last rod was a custom built I bought (lightly used). This rod was built on a 682 K2 blank and using Fuji components. Perfect for panfish and small lures for bass. If you are on the fence about going custom I would encourage you to try it. Seeing a pile of components transform into a completed rod is pretty awesome. Getting updates and pics from the builder along the way only adds to the anticipation. The amount of the input the user can provide really allows you get something unique that matches what you are looking for. From color to components, and from budge to higher end, there is something for almost everyone. Here are some photos of everything: Custom MHX Hi Mod 874 - Custom MHX Hi Mod 843 MBR - Custom MHX Sping Jig 842 trimmed to 6"10 Group shot of all 3 Custom 682 K2

A Google search for me as well. Looking for a review on some rods and reels at the time and it brought me here.

I always try to throw the lightest I can get away with. The action on the fall is also better the lighter you go as it isn't sinking like a ton of bricks. I don't have any rules on when to use a 1/4 vs 3/8 vs 1/2 vs 3/4 etc. Most of the time I would say for under 10-15 feet you would be fine with a 3/8 oz jig. Once you get closer to 20 FOW or more I would look at the 1/2 oz size just to get the bait down their faster. Most of the jigs I own are 3/8 oz if that tells you anything. It is a good all around weight for "most" situations.

Using them? Yes Worth the price? IMO, most of the time not. I used to be a big fan of their jerkbaits but with the price of one jerkbait around $25 a piece I think there are better options. The last few years I have been using more of the Lucky Craft pointers than any other bait. Between $15-17 a piece, and unlike MB baits, they are readily available on sale for 15-20% off. At that rate I can buy 2 LC baits to just one MB bait. LC offers tons of colors, dive depths, profiles, etc to help you find the right jerkbait. Also if you fish waters with Pike, Muskie, or Pickerel than, the odds of losing one two one of these fish is also high. Yes, there are some days the MB 110 is a dominant bait and its success has been well documented in various tournaments across the country but to me it is a good bait but not worth the price tag IMO. While I have never had an issue with any of the baits I have owned there have been issues with the bills breaking for some folks. Will I buy another 110? Probably, but it is very far down the list of jerkbaits I would consider right now. Duo Realis 100s and Ima Flits are also good choices for great prices too.

As with any purchase decision budget has to be taken into account. The cheapest way to do that is by adding a finesse oriented spool to a current reel you have in your collection. If you don't have an extra reel that has a finesse spool option than the next question would be a new reel or a used reel. When you say light, that word means different things to different people. Unweighted 5 inch senkos are about 3/8 oz and a touch heavier with the hook which can be cast on about any reel. When you are talking about baits below 1/4 oz you will be looking for a more specialty reel. My personal picks for reels just above the true BFS stuff are the 50 platform Shimanos and the Alphas reels. They do very well stock for baits from 3/16 oz on up. Price used starts around $140 on up. I currently have 6 of the 50 sized reels and 2 Alphas SV reels. They are great for all around use as well for 3/16 oz baits on up.

So with the 2016 Olympics fast approaching and all the problems associated with Rio de Janeiro, would you go if you were an athlete that was invited? Polution, garbage in the water, terrorist threats, etc. are potential problems facing this years group. After reading some ramblings on ESPN about some of the guys declining to play it is just sad to see this. Some cited they were tired from their regular 'seasons', some were healing from injuries, and others didn't specify. It makes you wonder how many are truly declining due the potential for terrorist attacks, the Zika virus, or other reasons associated with the trash and pollution there that could impact their health. It looks like many of the top basketball players and some golfers have turned down competing. If the problem with this bad in Rio when they were selected to host it, it makes you wonder why another location wasn't selected from the get go. Why not choose one that was already up to par from a sanitation standpoint? I know representing your country is one of the greatest honors but I can't say I blame the athletes for not going. Should be a fun Olympics to watch still, and hoping and praying for all the fans and athletes safety.

If it is a G or E they have a side plate with a latch to prevent the side plate from falling off. To disengage the side plate or lock it back in place is kind of like putting a key into a cars ignition. So it sounds like the side plate is off and hanging lose by the hinge. You just need to line the side plate up with the frame and turn it to lock it in place. Unless a part is broken somewhere in the frame or side plate which is not allowing to fasten down, it should be easy to put back together. There are videos on YouTube that may help.

Not a fan of the Sahara (can be found for around $60) due to binding issues. I have heard the Symetre is pretty much the same though mine hasn't had that problem like my Sahara. My Sedona is a decent reel but fairly heavy for the money and after a few years isn't as smooth as it was early on. Not bashing Shimano as I am a huge fan, I just don't care for their budget stuff. Under $100 I would by a President or anything from Pflueger. The only Shimano Spinning reels I would suggest would be the Saros and above which is far above your budget.

I like Hybrid as a compromise line. It isn't great at anything other than breaking strength but is good at a lot of different things. I have few reels spooled with it right now and am pleased with it. In my books it is a 7.5 out of 10.

I strongly dislike typing on my phone for this reason. Looks like some things never escape the grammar police Don't forget to capatlize an "I" once in while

Heck yea, like father like son! He has a good teacher!

Awesome! When they are catching and having fun they want to stay. Looks like he did well - Kudos Pops!

Grammar/Splelling - A Spacing of Ideas/thoughts - A Staying on Topic - A Development of thesis - A Organization/cohesiveness - A On a serious note that was quite interesting. Our lakes around here are sort of the opposite. Lots of emergent and submergent vegetation and generally not the greatest of fishing mostly due to lots of angling pressure. If you ever get bored collecting data there, we could probably use you here.

Georgia Tech eh? So black and gold? That was covered a few months back but in case you missed it. Then it joined forces with the next two builds. With these 3 outfits I can cover anything from 1/4 to 3/4 ounces.

Interesting find and thanks for sharing it. With respect to the tagging program you are working on, could you give more info on it? Is it just for monitoring growth rates for bass on several bodies of water or are there other less obvious reasons?

Nice review bluebasser86