gulfcaptain

I totally misread that. That case find something with a 29-32 IPT and spool up with some 40-50lb braid and have at it. Either would work, I haven't fished the PQ, but do fish the Carbonlites.

Merchant Marine would be the best way to put it since I'm a Coast Guard Licensed Captain and work in the offshore oil and gas industry. How did I happen into this. Well my love of sportfishing on the West Coast I spent A LOT of time on the boats, loved to be on the water, took a test to get my license, got married, expected a child and well the sportfishing world didn't pay year round so ended up working and running crewboats which then somehow landed me into the Gulf of Mexico. Been doing it for the past 10yrs. Not quite what I pictured when I got my license. Was thinking more of a yacht in Cabo fishing.

Yes Redfish are in the drum family as are Speckled Sea Trout. I believe the freshwater drums are almost like redfish in terms of size to eat. You want to eat the smaller ones. The bigger they get the more "gritty" the meat becomes. I thought a 25lb red would be great to eat since they are in the same family as the White Sea Bass of the West Coast. Boy was I wrong. So I wouldn't try eating any freshwater drum over say 8lbs. And you forgot the White Sea Bass, all good eating.

I'd look at the specs, I'm guessing it's going to be a 40 size reel. I'd look at drag as well as IPT and go from there. But if you're happy with what you already fish, I'd stay with Pfueger.

Caught them when I was a teenager in Oklahoma. And if I recall correctly they were pretty good to eat. We would catch them while fishing for white bass or as we called them "sandbass" on jigs and grubs.

The rod would probably handle the lighter pitching. I'm guessing you are going to spool up with braid? Being a spinning set up anything over #30 is going to be tough to fish on spinning gear. I would PM Sirsnooksalot and ask him. He fishes a lot of spinning gear down in FL and could be more helpful on getting you set up on a spinning set up. But I would say yes and put either 20 or 30lb braid on and just work the fish out.

I agree with Catt, just pitching to endless areas of vegetation you will catch a few. Look for something that stands out. Something different then the rest. Edges of two different types of vegetation come together. A spot where the pads don't go out as far, a point, shade line, wood and pads. I do a lot of pitching into ponds filled with grass, but I target the areas that I feel hold the best chance of connecting. And I do a lot of pitching, a couple hops of the bait and then may drop it 2ft into the next spot. There is always some kind of structure and if you can find the stucture and cover together those are going to be your high productive areas. Also if it's clear enough, look at what is around where the pads grow after they die off. See if you can see anything under the water which you can take a mental note of and target that area when they grow the next year.

Sorry, I use quite a few rods for cranking and topwater with micro guides. And when you get to a point where you can tell what your bait is doing when you crank you do want to feel every little tick for anything that is different. And I can get just as much casting distance out of them as say a rod with larger guides. But I use mulitple rods with different styles which could be regular, micro, or minima guides. Just depends on the rod. But as far as paying the difference you were talking about, that would be tough. I can do the $25-30 extra, but higher then that, I think I'd go regular.

I'm with Tom, what presentation and size?

My job being what it is, if I didn't have kids I can tell you there would be an SUV with a bassboat attached to the back sitting in the parking lot of where my boat docks and everything I would need for those two weeks I have off would be in there. But then I wouldn't have rent to pay nor the expenses of a family either so having those two toys parked waiting for me on my two weeks off to fish all over the south would be worth the investment. But not at this point, I'm more interested in finding an older bass boat that i can afford without going broke to enjoy.

I did well this spring on a black and blue jig swimming it in some pretty dirty water. Couldn't get them to eat a slow moving jig, but happened to stumble onto it when I decided to quickly wind in a football jig I was fishing and it got smashed. I fish a black and blue jig with a matching trailer and also did really well on a brown/orange/blue jig with a green pumpkin trailer (both were 3" Trigger X Flappin Craws). Give them a try and see. They produced a lot of fish for me this spring I may not have caught had I not stubbled into it.

Most of my rods are ***, Quantum, and Falcon with a couple BPS rods mixed in. Reels, 13 Fishiing, Quantum, and a couple Johnny Morris Carbonlites. But that has been through trying out a few different companies, but those are ones I like the most and decided to stick with.

Now I did fish an event with one of my buddies on the Delta this summer that was a team event. I did pay the entry fee, but he let me stay at his house, paid all but one day of launch fees (total of 4 days) and paid for the gas. So we honestly split the costs for the event. I had fished with him before (pre-fishing) for an event he didn't fish, all he asked was I pay for the lauch fees. Some people get it, some don't .

If it starts up, revs up, and then you put it in gear it dies. I would look into possibly something gone wrong in the gearing/lower unit which is causing the motor to stall out. If it was a fuel issue it wouldn't start nor would it rev up out of gear. There's something more wrong with it then a fuel issue. Might want to question your buddy on what he did when he used it.

Shop around for deals. Right now depending on what you're looking for you can find great deals on E bay. Think I've picked up 4 reels in the last couple months that would have ran me upwards of $1100 retail for about $400. Rods can be had to if you look. Also, about the same price as the Lightning Shock you can go to Academy and get one of the H20 brand IM8 rods for $60. Much better IMO as well and work well for both.

It's $.89 for like 10!! If I'm worried about that stopper I need to quit fishing and find a better job. If it's got to go it's got to go. I can part with .09 cent bobber stop.

I have a few dedicated crankbait rods that are moderate action and I use braid. I do like you do, have a lighter drag setting, but the main benefit I find in the moderate action rod is that on that first strike it absorbs the brunt of the impact and then the constant pressure applied to the fish. A fast action rod doesn't have the same flex which IMO could result in ripping hooks out even with a soft drag. I used to fish my A-rigs on a MH 7'6" Fast action rod and I would end up pulling fish off. Switched to a 7'6" MH crankbait rod with the softer action and my lose ratio when down by over 80%. Same reel, same drag, same baits. That observation right there opened my eyes to the benefits of a "cranking" set up. I'd rather use the right rod/tool ment to crank then try and make something else work. Just my opinion. Hope that kinda helps explain.

I crank with either 20 or 30lb braid. Depending on what I want from my bait I'll put a leader on it. If I want a deeper bait, 12lb fc, if it it's going to be shallower, then 12lb mono. If I'm going to be throwing a trap style bait or a squarebill into cover I bump it up to 15 or 17lb fc. Think it was said before, just back the drag off and I use moderate to Moderate fast rods. I don't use straight mono or fc on anything anymore.

One not mentioned yet, River2Sea's Ish Monroe Biggie Square Bill. Both sizes work great. As mentioned the Strike King 1.5's are always a good bet. BPS has the ones with the rattles if you want sound. And also look into the Ima Bill Lowen Square Bills.

Strike King/Ragetail, Kietech, Netbait, and V&M almost cover everything I need for the most part.

I believe it's either under 10" or right at. I think it's 14" from the fwd part of the handle where it meets the blank. I don't like long butt sections at all. So the Bucoo's work great for me. Hope that helps.

Home Depot or Lowes even should have it. Look and see if the 4200 is slow cure or fast cure. Now fast cure isn't fast, I believe it has a 24 till its cured as where the slow cure is a bit longer. Both clean up with Paint thinner or mineral spirits. If they don't have it order it online from a marine supplier.

If you're going to do this, use 3M's 4200 sealant. Take it from someone that works in the marine industry. It costs more but well worth it and ment for the job. It has the same qualities as 5200 sealant, only you can take things back apart. Used it to seal screw holes on sportfishing boats I worked on to keep the water from creeping into the wood, but yet I could remove the screw if needed in the future.

The 6'6" MH isn't bad either. I use it to fish tight spots with 1/4-3/8oz jigs and plastics.

I use the Improved clinch, but then I also add a half hitch at the end. The San Diego knot works well too which I tend to use more. I'm not a fan of the palomar, never have so my confidence in that knot is lacking and I can't tie it as quickly as the other two which I could do in my sleep. Also wetting the braid and pulling it tight slowly until its snug and then pull tight. And for connections, always the Albright.