BronzeChaser

I put a lot of time in on clear water fisheries. One body of water in particular is extremely clear and deep, inhabited by only smallmouth, pickerel, and baitfish. You can see boulders and logs on the bottom in 25' of water. My favorites are usually finesse presentations. Ned rig, wacky/ neko rig, drop shot, shaky head. For hard baits a walking bait and a spybait in natural colors get the most bites for me. Long cats and light line are important, but being stealthy (no splashing/ being noisy, etc.) is importanter.

I throw walking baits on a 7' medium mod. fast rod with a 7:1 reel and 12-15lb mono or 30-40lb braid. I use braid in grassy bodies of water, but I mostly fish clear/rocky rivers and lakes for smallmouth. I almost never lose a hooked fish with this setup

Strengths: Fishing in clear water, topwater and any finesse tactics. Weakness: Deep cranking

7lb largemouth on a nightcrawler, when I first started fishing. 5.75lb smallmouth on a 3xd a few years ago. No pictures, but the same weekend my buddy caught a 7lb smallie on a shakyhead. Out on the lake at a rural camp with dead cameras and phones with no chargers. It sucked to not get pictures, but it was so cool to watch that fish swim away.

Braid with a fluoro leader for as long as I can remember. Just watch your line

I've used fluoroclear and that stuff is trash. However, cxx is a great line in my opinion. I used 8lb for jerkbaits this spring in air temps down to 20 degrees and it performed flawlessly.

I'm looking for a new rod for mainly squarebills, topwater, and occasionally other small to medium size reaction baits. I'm looking mostly at cheaper stuff and these two seem to be the front runners. I owned the previous generation of diesel crank rod and I loved it until it broke, my fault. So I got another one and it broke, my fault again. But now I'm trying to decide between the new diesel and the bps crankin stick 7' med. Any one have experience with either of these rods?

I love fishing for smallies in rivers, and do it mostly from a kayak. I'm most comfortable in the rivers with 3 rods. So I'm wondering what you guys like to use for your top 3 river smallmouth setups. Right now mine are probably a 6'9 m/f spinning rod, 6'10 m/f casting rod, and a 7'2 mh/fast casting rod. The last one maybe switched to a ml spinning rod or a med casting. So what are yours?

I fish out of a kayak a lot. I usually bring 3-4 rods. Which ones I bring are dictated by the body of water I'm going to fish. If I'm going to lake full of grass and pads, I'll bring a 7'3 heavy for frogs and a 7'6 heavy for flippin/ punching. If I'm going to a river to chase smallies I'll bring a 6'9 medium spinning rod, a 6'10 medium casting rod, and then maybe one or two more medium or med. heavy casting or spinning. More rods are usually for convenience, not necessity.

I use braid with a mono leader for most of my topwater fishing and I really think it's the best way to go. Further casts and better hooksets. Just make sure you have a soft enough rod to avoid pulling hooks.

I usually just say "fish". But when I'm fishing with my friend anytime someone does a big hookset we say "Thunder C*ck". I don't know where it came from but the first time he said it I laughed way too hard

Interestingly enough, no one in my family is or ever was an avid fisherman. Most don't even have any fishing gear at all, but quite a few like to hunt. I got into fishing simply by chance. I didn't get my first rod until I was 15 and it wasn't anything special at all. I had no one to show me the ropes and had to learn everything on my own. I started seriously targeting bass when I was 16 and taught myself how to use casting reels shortly after. That was tricky to learn with no idea how to use one, and i went through a lot of line lol. Eventually I found resources online like this site which are invaluable for people like me, with only one or two friends who seriously fish in the area. Fast forward 6 years later and I'm "hooked". Not the way most people get started, but I'm glad I did.

I used to use a veritas for jerkbaits, but it broke. IMO they are a little too stiff for treble hook baits, unless you get the winch series. I would go with the bucoo out of the rods you listed. They are great rods for what they cost. With that being said, the number after 12 rod is better to me, and it's what I use for jerkbaits.

I've never had any instance like this. But I am able to stay level headed better than most in similar situations. I also concealed carry, and when you decide to carry you accept a great responsibility and need to be able to keep your emotions in check. In any case my response would be to s**t talk back at them and laugh it off later. If they instigate a physical altercation then self defense is totally legal. Although using a weapon is the very last resort.

I must be the only one ever to not catch a ton of fish on the ned rig. I've fished it some, and caught fish, but not a whole lot. Maybe I'm missing something