mjseverson24

for a spinnerbait/crankbait combo I would suggest the W&M Skeet reese spinnerbait rod for $90 or a st croix triumph 7' M or MH for $70 or a berkley lightning shock rod 7' M or MH for $50. for the reel I would suggest an abu black max for $50. theese combos cost $100-140. Mitch

I love the W&M Skeet rods, and I also like the W&M Victory reel. For the price range that the reel is in it is great. They usually come with too little of oil and greese in the reels so I take them apart and adjust them the way I want them. I really like how skeet seems to have US the fisheman in mind with his sponsered products. They are affordable and good quality. Are they the best rods and reels on the market? NO... are they adequate? YES... if you need a $400 combo to catch fish, that might say something about your abilities as a fisherman. I would like to think it is more the fisherman than the equipment that wins tournaments. JMO Mitch

I agree with Bass Junkie, rely more heavy on the mechanical breaking system (the spool tensioner) instead of the magnetic breaks. Spinnerbaits should be among the easiest baits to cast, the fact that you are having trouble with them says that you have the reel set up improperly. usually spinnerbaits are cast to targets not open areas so a rediculously long cast usually is not needed. I also have never seen anybody use that heavy of a rod sucessfully for reaction style baits like spinnerbaits and cranks. I would go with a 7" MH with a moderate action or a 7' M with a fast action for these baits. JMO Mitch

I love my 56* sand wedge, it feels like it is a part of me, but I am not about to play a round with only my sand wedge. In golf you can have 14 clubs for a reason, each is designed to acomplish a certain task. I take much the same approach in fishing, each rod has a purpose, a time and place. If I did not fish tournaments I might not be so adamant about multiple combos, but just one rod does not cut it for me. minimum of 7 should work but in tournaments I bring close to 30 combos. Mitch

To answer your question: can you flip a 5 lb bass up in a boat? Yes, but you use the fishes mometum to reduce stress on the rod and line. Can you flip a 5 lb bass up onto shore? yes you can, although not advised for a few reasons. on shore the fish will not have momentum and thus it will be more of a dead lift, also when you get a fish and flip her on shore you might do harm to the fish flopping around on the rocks and sticks or whatever else is on the bank. Mitch

I believe fishing is 90% fisherman 5% equipment and 5% luck. You can give anybody the most expensive equipment, but without the proper knowledge they will be no more successful than with the walmart stuff. I think rod & reel combos in the 120-150 range allow you to do just about any technique that you may need. the difference between a $120 combo and a $500 combo is mainly confidence. if you think you need a 500 dollar combo to catch fish by all means do that, but if you can catch fish with much less why wouldn't you. Mitch

I usually have my drag on baitcasting equipmet almost totally locked down. I do not want that drag to go out untill i tell it to. This is why When I have a fish worthy of taking out some drag I will freespool the line and use my thumb to keep the right ammount of pressure. I feel this gives me a smoother drag operation and more consistant performance. Since I changed to this method I have not had any line breakage issues and or fish loss issues. with my spinning gear I usually have the grag set about 50% the maximum line rating and adjust as necissary when landing fish. Mitch

MY dream sponsers: 1) US NAVY 2) Bass Pro Shops ( boats/ tackle/ rods/ reels/ clothing/ electronics, etc...) 3) Dodge Ram ( love that deisel) Mitch

Heavy milfoil (tends to have the larger fish) frogs, jigs, t-rigs. these situations have accounted for most of the big fish I catch in tournaments, especially if there is deep water near by. Mitch

It all depends where you fish. Different parts of the country call for different presentation. In the upper midwest MN, WI, SD, ND, and others the techniques on crankbait fishing that are popular down south on large deep resevoirs may not be aplicable to you where you fish. Most of the good large mouth bass waters in MN are stained water shallower, and weedier lakes. these lakes do not have brushpiles stumpfields or anything like it. what they have are weededges sandbars, and rockpiles. I very rarely run my crankbaits on the bottom, they are usually a few feet off the bottom due to the heavy vegitation in these waters. a good rule of thumb on these types of lakes you want that crankbait running just a few inches into the weeds, that way you can generate some different action ripping it off the weeds. In shallow water cover I would suggest using a squarbill, if deflects off hard cover instead of rolling like a roundbill will, and get hung up. Mitch

if you are experiancing poor strike to land ratio, check the type of hookset you are doing. I typically do more of a reel set myself only because there is a lot of plastic in that mouth and a little bit of hook, too big of a set will blow the hook out of the fish's mouth. try the more subtle and controlled reel set it might help your ratio(it has for me). Mitch

For a person just starting out with crankbaits I would sugest that you get probabily a minimum of six baits. Two different colors would work well. I like the bluegill color but any natural forage color will do for one of them, the other would be a shiny reflective color like blue and silver or some other flashy combo ( i like citris shad). I would get one of each color in a shallow square bill (i like the KVD), then some kind of mid range crank 6-10 ft (rapala DT or fat free shad) then a deeper bait 14-20 ft. (SK XD series or Rapala DT). these six combinations should set you up for most situations. this is scratching the surface of cranks but it is a start. good luck. Mitch

hmmm... Well you have to admire your goals of being a "pro", but I agree with the others. No boat, no truck, no tournament experiance. These are probabily not good recipies for success in getting a sponser. That being said I and many others on this site have wanted to be professional fisherman since we were very young also. I sugest you give it time, grow your skills, get a good education, and have a great backup plan just incase fishing for a living doesnt work out. Good Luck. Mitch

Here is some advice. If I were seeking sponserships I would pick the company or companies that I believe in the most. I would do some research on products that the company has, not just the ones that I use. I would then do research on the types of anglers that they currently sponser. Do your homework on the company history and new innovations being made by them. Once you have this information available to you, come up with areas that your own skills and abilities can help generate new/more exposure and ultimately revenue for this company. Have a clear cut plan on how you can expand their market share. These guys that do the sponsership hiring are probabily not fisherman they are either HR guys/gals or marketing. These people talk and respond to numbers, with a dollar sign in front, and not how big your PB bass is. Once again I believe the single most important thing when trying to get sponsered is have a resume and cover letter that is specifically designed for the company that you are submitting to, a broad generic resume will just get brushed aside. Another Idea is start out with sponserships that are not necissarily in the fishing industry, they are the easiest busnesses to help increase sales, and exposure. Mitch

skeet is probabily my number one. I also like aaron martens. the reasons; well skeet is realy versitile, and can catch under many different conditions, he has not been labeled as a one or two bait kind of guy. That is something I try and do in my own fishing so I appreciate that. as for aaron martens, he is one of the best finnesse fishermen on tour, I vew finnesse as one of my weaker areas so I have a lot of respect for guys that can finnesse and do well. Mitch

if you hook the two in parallel you will essentially have two of the series 24 batteries. now that being said two 24's are better than 1 29. but that also being said 2 29's are better than 2 24's except on the wallet. you will not do any damage to anything by having two mixed matched batteries though, just not maximizing the 29's potential thats all. another option that might work for you, buy the 24 keep them seperate and when one batterie gets wore down switch the leads to the other one, that way you will get max performance out of both the bateries. just a thought. if it were me I would buy another 29, but do what is best for your needs an budget. Mitch

just for thought st. criox triumph 7' ML $70.00 great rod, better price. Buy two for what you wanted to spend on the one. Mitch

I use all right handed reels, cast usually with the right, and switch over to the left durring the retreive. I have learned to do it very smoothly and efficiently, looking at it you would never know a switch happens unless you look for it. I dont believe I have ever missed a fish in the first 1/2 second while the rod is in both hands at once making the exchange. I have tought myself to be able to cast effectively with both hands so I can disect cover more efficiently. just personal reference but using a lefty baitcaster is kind of like watching a lefty golf something just aint right. lol Mitch

if you know how to take the reel appart and clean/ inspect I would start there. sometimes just by taking it appart and puting it back together it fixes the issue. otherwise you might be able to see the problem area. you should only need to take the top assembly appart leave the gearing alone. hope this helps... Mitch

The best sent in my opinion is a sent that is mixed in with hand poored plastics(great project for the winter). I spray the yum F2 but only as a confidence booster it only lasts a few casts but anyhting that makes me thing I have increased my chances is worth it(within reason). Mitch

I have been fishing squarebills for years I use them them anytime I am searching for active fish in shallow water as long as it is not too thick of grass. I usually use an irratic retreve but it depends on the day sometimes the fish want it slowrolled, sometimes they want it twitched and jerked, sometimes they want it burned. one of my favorite way of fishing them is in the weeds, let it get hung up and try a rip and stop approach some of my biggest bass of the year come when I am hung up on some weeds. I would suggest using a more parabolic rod for these, something that is easy to cast and not too much power. I also fish them on floro 12 lb with a 30 lb floro leader (too many pike in the north). I use the skeet 7' s-glass cranking rod it works great for this. But as the others have said use what you got success is 90% fisherman 10% gear. JMO Mitch

favorite soft plastic: I like the havoc craw fatty. usually t-rigged but you can also swim it. If that doesnt work a 4"-5" sneko wacky either on a dropshot or weightless/flick-shake. hard to beat a zoom brush/baby brushog. too many to pick one, i guess the one that is the most productive would be my favorite. Mitch

I agree with all of the guys who say that you should carry a long needle nose plires and wire cutters. some things that have really helped me in the past is having a tool called a spreader. it is usually used for pike/muskie, but it works well wit bass too. it will keep the fishes mouth open while you extract/cut the hooks out. also if i feel the fish's life is in danger after hook removal I will fire up the live well turn on the oxygenator and put some u2 in, maybe a bag of ice put her in the well and just kinda let her be. if after an hour or two in there she still doesnt want to live, at least you know you did everything possible to save it. I do this quite often for walleye up on lake mille lacs, but also for bass especially smallmouth as they will sometimes give everything they have to the fight. Mitch

It depends on what rod and reel you are using. I have three setups that can absolutely them out there. all are quite long rods one is 7'6" i use for hollow body frogs I would guess 40+ yards. another is an 8' flippin stick used for football jigs this one is probabily 50+ yd I use 15lb floro no backing and I get about half way through the spool. the last is a 8'6" rod I use for deep cranks and this one also uses 15lb floro and it is about half way through the spool again at full distance(50+ yds). want more distance on your casts use longer rods better bearings for your reels and or smaller diameter line. Mitch

I agree with many of the guys on here. Braid for only a few different techniques(heavy punching, jigs/trigs and frogs). I also use braid with a 12' leader for dropshoting on spinning gear. For almost everything else I use floro. I just have a lot of confidence in floro to be more invisible and reliable in tough conditions. confidence is everything in fishing. I also use a little but of mono for certain techniques ie. topwater baits (spooks/poppers). Mitch