mjseverson24

I have a bunch of lipless cranks that hardly ever get used, not because they don't catch fish, but because they tend to catch more pike than bass... Mitch

for 150 I would go with an abu veritas (80.00) with the skeet reel or the GSX reel in the flyer, or the gander rod for <60 with the curado G7 for 90.00 Mitch

both rod and reel look awesome, I personally would not spend 150 on a topwater rod, but I might pull the trigger on a rocket before too long. Mitch

I am not sure what budget you are working with so I will do two options... 1) 7'3" MH/F veritas ($80.00) with a quantum accurist($100.00 or less). or the quantum kinetic for <60.00 2)7'2" MH/R Tatula($110.00 from Ron) and a citica G7 or E7 (around 100 or less)with hawgtech bearings($16.00). or the tatula reel for a little over 110.00 Mitch

I also would suggest the BB1 for cranks and not either of the mag beak models you have chosen, but thats just me... Mitch

The curado is one of the top reels on bang for your buck category. This new curado I seems like it is the first time in a while that Shimano is bringing some technology advancements to the curado line up with the X-ship and the SVS infinity breaking system. The previous models (before G) were designed to be bulletproof rock solid performers. This new one looks like they wanted to out do daiwa by placing higher end features on the curado. I am very impressed with this reels specs and am looking forward to the on the water performance reviews. I am also looking forward to seeing what kind of answer the other top reel manufacturers come up with for the I series. ( the drag star is a non factor for me)... Mitch

I think either rod is very good for their price point, I like the veritas better for the heavier applications, but I would go with the carbonlite micro for lighter t-rigs, jigs, and other lighter weight applications. I think it is kind of a confidence thing fishing in thick junk with super light weight rods makes me hesitate to set the hook as hard as I would with a mojo or veritas. i know it is mostly mental, but it definitely effects the way I fish... Mitch

I would check out the daiwa exceller in the 5 or 6:1. nice reel for less than 100. you can also get the skeet reese reel right now for like 50 or less. that is also a good option for the price. Mitch

I would put the 6:1 reel on the M action and the 7:1 on the MH. the biggest reason is if you use the MH for frogs you will probably want a faster reel to ski them in. other than that not much difference, a 7:1 will work fine with chatterbaits also... Mitch

I personally would spend summers in the Midwest (MN, WI, IL,MI,OH) and I would do the colder months down in TX. Missouri also looks like a great place for fishing. It is hard to beat MN in the summer, I have over 15 lakes over 1500 Acres within and hour of my home and 8+ of them are serious tournament waters, that see tournament of up to 50 boats. Most days especially during the week the public ramp is almost empty, and catching 50-100 bass in a day is pretty "normal". to have a chance in a mn tournament you need at least a 3lb average for 8 fish, the top spots like Minnetonka require bags up over 4lb averages to win. The winters suck big time though... Mitch

I would go with either am abu vendetta 7'6" H/F or the berkley lightning rod shock 7'6" H/F with a lews superduty in 7:1. Mitch

just exchange it for the same reel, but take the new one out of the box first and inspect it. for 70 bucks thats a pretty good reel. Mitch

I also watched the whole event, the coverage was fantastic, I feel for Tharp and Evers, but yesterday was Randy Howell's day. It was a true display of not overthinking the situation, he just went with his gut, or as he said the little voice that told him to fish the bridge. Its a God thing congratulations Mr. Howell... Mitch

I would take a look at the skeet reese reel in the 7:1 for <50 with a reel trade in, then get a heavy action 7'-7'6" gander classic rod for <40. Mitch

During the winter I would say 3 hours a day, but in the summer I would say once a week at most. This is a great place to gather information, and the warm months up north are when that information gets put to good use. Mitch

The rod I throw lipless on is the same rod I throw buzzbaits on 7'MH/F with a 7:1 ratio, it seems to work well i like the heavier action to rip it out of the grass. that being said I have a lipless tied on less than 5% of the time. Mitch

Dropshot, c-rig- football jig- heavy spinnerbaits, big swimbaits- deep cranks, spoons... there are so many presentations that you can use for deep water. You are really only limited by your imagination... Mitch

"here fishy fishy fishy" this usually doesn't come out till about 1:00 PM on a tournament day that isn't going well... Mitch

The biggest problem in my opinion is the fact that we have to talk about this at all. If you want to show support for your favorite angler go visit the expo hang out and watch the weigh-in. having hundreds if not thousands of boats on a lake is not good for competition. It really is not good for competitive fishing as a whole. Many of the top anglers make milk runs back and forth to multiple of the same spots throughout a day hoping they will be turned on when they get there, and having these spectators sucker fishing off of the pros spots is just a shame an it does effect the outcome of these major events. Now if the pro is fishing a community hole its fair game. I think with a limited field of 56 boats the classic can definitely be held on some less traveled waters other than G-ville. Mitch

For me the biggest advantage of a casting reel is accuracy. A proficient baitcaster will be much more efficient with lure placement than a proficient spinning reel guy. Also casting reels have much more power available as compared to the spinning reels commonly used for freshwater fishing. The advantages of a spinning reel is casting lighter lures easier, the drag on a spinning reel is fantastic which sets it up perfect for light line light wire hook applications(finesse). I love both for their strengths which is why I carry a good number of each. Mitch

I use floro on almost all of my bottom contact set ups, I typically use invis-x or abras-x no issues with either of these, I also like the red label. I have switched this year on all of my horizontal presentations to a hybrid line like yo zuri. Mitch

For bottom contact rods under 200 there are a ton of great options. here are my top choices 1) shimano Crucial (150 or less, a lifetime warrenty,IM10 graphite, and the best reel seat in the business(imo) the compre is also pretty nice for the 100 dollar range 2) Daiwa Tatula (around 110 from Ron) reviews are great, many say it fishes well above its price point. 3) Falcon Bucoo micro is super light well balanced and plenty sensitive. ( a lot of wallmarts have them on clearance right now too) 4) duckett micro magic ( great rod, light, sensitive, balanced) 5) st. Croix avid( awesome rod just at the high end of the price range) I have no experience with Dobyns rods, but many on here will vouch for their performance. Mitch

if you have the proper equipment and hook-setting technique the strike to land ratio can be very good. the right equipment in my opinion is a 7'6"-8' MH/F-H/F casting rod (doesn't need to be very sensitive just strong) with a 7:1+ casting reel with metal frame and gear side plate. spooled with 50-80 lb braid. the proper technique for setting the hook is (IMO) once the strike occurred and the bait is out of sight lower your tip, reel very fast till you feel weight then do a hard over the shoulder set followed with a lot of reeling. optimally the fish will ski across the water over the top of the heavy vegetation all the way to the boat. Hope this helps you out... Mitch

mjseverson24 = AIM instant messenger screen name (good old 7th grade) stands for Mitchell J Severson 24(favorite number) Mitch

lexa is a good reel, lighter baits are definitely not its specialty, but it isn't terrible either. I would also suggest the regular bb1 instead of the pro. Honestly though the tatula or the curado G5 would probabily be my reels of choice for this range. Quantum energy pt is a pretty good reel also... Mitch