Preytorien

Seems to be about the same here in Indiana, a fiver is a really good fish. Anything above that is almost unheard of. A few months ago a guy pulled out a 7lb-er from a well known reservoir here and it literally made the newspaper.

Spend the $20 bucks more and get the Zodias.....it's the best rod I've ever used.....amazing. I had a Crucial though, and they're excellent rods.

I've tried it, but it mostly depends on the current flow. If the water's fast I'll throw it in the eddies, maybe one will pluck it there. Otherwise if the water's fast, it's tough to fish them.

I've never witnessed a spray treatment or otherwise that killed fish. I seriously doubt any pond treatment company could (or would) legally use an agent that would result in a wildlife kill. The DNR would be all over that. But as Tom said it'll affect the fishing for a good week, maybe a bit less if the pond is on the bigger side.

Wow.....all I can say is wow. That's a gorgeous rig!

Keep in mind too that if you're using 65-80lb braid the higher diameter braids won't cast as far as smaller braids, so your larger spool size will be all for naught. Might be worth checking out the Power Pro Maxcuatro braid, same strength at a lower diameter. I've been using the 50lb test (same diameter as 35lb braid) all year so far and love it.

Yea, this is what I do. I usually buy Seaguar Red Label and it does just fine as a leader

Great combo. I love those iRods, they're sharp looking and seem to get good feedback......also I'm a Shimano-head and have used many Sedona's.....you'll love it!

Yes this ^^ If you put it in the wrong way it'll go in, but not the entire way, and you'll have a badly working reel - not to mention the AR won't function

This is epic. I forgot that scene in Happy Gilmore. It could be applied to a lot of things concerning the baitmonkey or reelweasel

I managed to talk myself out of using the Ned Rig for a month or two. I kept seeing good reviews on here, but along with supply constraints, I finally saw that my local shop had both the TRD's and Shroomz in stock (although he had to do an order a week so far). I bought 10th and 15th OZ heads and an assortment of colors of the TRD. Took it out fishing with my cousin. Those things catch fish. I don't know how, or why they're attractive, but man it kills em' - especially the baby bass color. It does however catch a lot of small fish too, so it's a lot of wading through the smalls to find the bigs, but man it's fun. So yea, I'm a believer now. Getchyer self some and try it out.

http://www.hc-reporter.com/tragedy-on-morse/ I can't figure the logic behind tubing/water skiing and NOT wearing any kind of PFD. I know that I'm guilty of taking off my mustang once we're done running the lake, but I think I'll train myself to do otherwise.

That's my hangup (no pun intended), I bank fish quite a bit and almost every body of water I fish is quite weedy, so until they're more weedless I'm holding off. I can just see myself getting hyper frustrated when every cast comes back with a bowl of salad and no fish.

I always see pros doing it. Are there any tricks, tips, or lessons that can show me how to do this?

Get a bit stronger trolling motor than you think you'll need. The extra power will come in handy at some point, and you'll thank your lucky stars

I posted this in another thread, but I think it would be applicable here too..... Fish have (as far as we know) 3 major senses they utilize when finding prey 1. Sight 2. Smell/Taste (whatever you want to call it - its different than ours) 3. Lateral Line Those senses aren't listed in any order in accordance to importance or most-used, but they certainly can be moved up and down in priority to determine what bait or color we throw. If you've got gin-clear water your bait selection needs to ring true to the "match the hatch" concept, and probably be a bit more subtle since the fish will rely heavily on its sight to distinguish and hone in on prey If you're faced with chocolate milk dirty water then you're not going to have to rely quite so heavily on sight. This is where they lean on their lateral line as their locating method. That's why the heavy thumping baits shine in those conditions. I feel that smell is probably always a sort of secondary sense for them. "Knowing Bass" by Dr. Jones spends a good deal of time on what scents seem to trigger bass, but ultimately ends up determining that smell is not usually the deciding factor in how or even IF smell played a major part in the hunt. So what I do is I approach a body of water and check it out. See the visibility, chop, cover, etc. and make your lure decision (including color) based on the process of lure color and profile priority. It might be more simple than I've put it, or heck it could be more complicated. But it's done wonders for me to just take a couple minutes at first and really think about the conditions I'm dealing with before I throw my first lure.

I understand that lures, and some more specifically than others, require a good deal of technique to master/use and use effectively. However, there are times when in frustration or simple curiosity I'll throw a lure and use it "the wrong way", sometimes that has it's success, and often as expected, it's failure. Lately I've been using a spybait all the wrong ways Dirty water 50lb braid fast - subsurface retrieves slow - dredge the bottom retrieves Basically all the opposite of the gin-clear-light-line-deep-slow-retrieve method.....which DOES work by the way But using all the "wrong methods" that thing still catches fish. I don't know how on earth those bass even see it most of the time, let alone become interested by its subtle flash, it's props don't even really work up the water. What's fun too is that it's not always a bass at the end of the line, it'll bring up an occasional crappie or bluegill which adds a bit to the day. But hey......who knows....sometimes it's worth throwing a lure and using it the "wrong way"....just might get you a bite or two

I like them, but only for specific situations. They're crazy sharp, which I'm sure is effective for where I use them....soft plastics

After using this for a couple more months, here are some additional details I've found.... 1. Almost every braid manufacturer touts their braid not losing it's color as bad, and I have yet to find one that lives up to that accolade, including Maxcuatro. It's a great braid, no doubt, but it experiences the same fading other brands do. I use the moss green and don't notice it on my equipment/clothes/accessories 2. Knot strength seems to be very good, not foolproof, but the one time I purposely snagged a lure and broke the line, it took an immense amount of pull to break the line and it didn't happen at the knot I'll keep providing more details as I use it....but so far, as I've said....I'm very impressed

Ha, John that's a good one!

Mine varies, but I would probably recommend trying to forego a swivel. If you're in a situation that calls for a long leader, you don't want to have to cast starting at the leader joint. A good tight Alberto knot will easily pass through your rod guides, I've even had them long enough to pass through the reel level-wind guide.

While Indiana hasn't seen 11 inches of rain this year, we do have enough rain/runoff to severely muddy up some of my favorite ponds/lakes. This is when I do my own personal checklist to figure out what to throw Bass seem to use one/combination/all of three of their abilities to hunt food. Sight (their advanced underwater eyesight), Smell (or taste or whatever), Vibration (like "hearing" with their lateral line) When I get to a body of water I assess the water to determine the most probable form of navigation and food detection they'll use, then tailor my lure to appeal to the likely most dominant form of detection. In super gin-clear water, they're likely to use sight as a considerably larger portion of their detection methods, so I'll pay close attention to "match the hatch". In extremely muddy water, they're likely only able to rely on their lateral line as their primary detection method, maybe eyesight as a secondary form. So in your case, and mine some of the time this year, muddy water would call for something that makes a helicopter engine feel like a small tap. Use something that straight up massages your arm as you're reeling it in. I use a black/blue chatterbait with a RageTail trailer, the blade of the chatterbait is curved downward at the top for extra thump. Man, that thing will nearly rattle the fillings in your teeth. But it's worked wonders this year with muddy water for me. I don't use a scent and I use mainly a dark color in case they're using sight to fine-tune their approach as they get closer to my chatterbait. Reel it in at a speed just fast enough to get the blade thumping, that way the bass have more time to hit the slowly moving target. I'm sure a large profile dark colorado-blade spinnerbait, maybe even a loud lipless crank would also get it done. I just know nothing in my tackle box thumps like that chatterbait.

Wherever you get it, you'll be pleased with your purchase. I got the 6'10" MedHvy casting model, and it's by far the best rod I've ever owned.

I use the Permethrin stuff, works great. I also use normal ole' Off or Cutter spray.....I don't really see any decrease in catches with it. I'm sure if you sprayed senkos or something you might see a difference, but it could be just me. Like Tom said, just don't spray it on your lures.

Yea, it's often hit or miss, which is why they suggest doing it over and over a few times, it just seems to gradually wiggle it unstuck. Of course there are times when it doesn't work. I don't do anything that will put my rod tip in some kind of un-natural use or motion. I've had 3 rods in 2 years broken at the tip, so I'm tip-concious. I couldn't see myself pushing at the lure with my rod tip of my new Zodias.