gulfcaptain

I thought I would never purchase a reel with a higher ratio then 7:1. Then I found myself fishing and flipping more grass mats and decided to try a higher ratio 2 move the fish out of the grass and got a *** with the 8:1 ratio. It does have it's place flipping and pitching to get the bait in and out quickly and being able to move the fish. Now I could have gone up in reel size but liked the idea of a 100 size reel instead of say a EXO200 which would have given me the same IPT but then in a bigger reel. As for an everyday reel, 6:6 and 7:1 are my most used and have a couple in the 5:4 for bigger blades and cranks. So my answer to your question, for me it's flipping/pitching as it gives you the ability to make more casts since you can get your bait in and out of the water quicker. Yes it may only be 4 inches faster per turn of the handle, but given the amount of flips or pitches you make in say an hr, that extra bit of line could give you the ability to pitch an extra 15 times or more.

I fish S. Cal city park ponds/lakes and I wish it was as easy as walk up and catch a bunch of fish. Lakes are heavily pressured, have either a ton of weeds or are void of them. The challege to get a city park bass to bite let alone produce larger models in the 4+lb range(most city park lakes have fish over 10 in all of them) is a challenge. Almost everyone I know that fishes these parks are highly competitive among ourselves for sure. It's great to watch someone that has a boat and can catch bass on bigger bodies of water out of it get their butt's handed to them trying to figure out the park fish in these ponds. Think they did a City Limit's show on some of S.Cal's parks, and they ended up going to a private comunity because the "pro" managed a meger 3 fish and his partner 0 before they moved to the private comunity and finished fishing out of a boat. Yes, the professional angler even found it tough to get these pond fish to bite. So I do prefer fishing ponds where I live as it is a challenge on heavy pressured waters and when I get the chance to fish from a tube in a bigger lake or a boat, I have no problem putting the hurt on them.

$100 for a 6'10" or 7'01" ML Black *** and $75 for an Okuma Trio (either the 20 or 30).

I would look for the steep walls/banks that have deep water close by. The fish don't have to move much except up or down and a 1/4 to 3/8 oz finesse jig with a small trailer. I like the tiny paca chunks for 1/4 oz and the next size up for the other jigs. Jerkbaits in the same area would more then likely produce. Look for transitions on the bank...small rock to bigger, brush to rock. And note where each fish you catch come from. And I would probably look into late morning/afternoon and fish the sunny side where they can move up and sun themselves. Also late afternoon you may get a topwater bite. Had a great topwater bite in a pond one year in OK on Thanksgiving during an indian summer. Also, look for the baitfish, if you find them odds are the bass and other predators aren't far behind.

On what DVT stated, that Green *** is an inshore rod. But brand would be up to your preferences. Good luck.

Keep your neck and head covered, ladies nylon's under your fleece will also help. Yes it sounds strange but it works...(it's a bit oldschool) and not really a warmth tip, but keep the belt snug incase you happen to slip. May not keep you totally dry but will slow down the amount of water flowing in if it's snung. And as the water cools even more, think about a possible PFD just incase you end up slipping in waters 50 degrees and below. More of a safety thought.

I would look into a 7 H or 7'3" H. Or look into a MH 7'6" that you would use to flip or pitch. I use a 7'6" older Bionic Blade to throw Hudd 68's and 6" swimbaits and for River 2 Sea's Whopper Plopper. Off the top of my head a good thought might be one of Fishing 13's Green *** 7'2"MH. Have the 7'7" and use it for A-rigs and smaller swimbaits up to 6 inches.

Nice fish, I'd say 5+ on the weight, she looks pretty fat. I'd label it at 5lb's and look into buying a scale to keep with you for the next one.

Odds are most all the above posts are spot on with the problem. Salt + water = rust. Francho is spot on with the prevention method. So if your trailers are salt infused, take them off, rinse your jigs when you get home with freshwater and hang dry. If you used some and they are in your box, open your box up and let it air dry as well and that will help a lot in preventing other jigs stored with them from rusting as well.

Looks as though the honesty route is the way to go.....although I did like the "tried to be an FLW Pro and worked a crappy job for gas" reason. But have found honesty is always the best way to go. Show's character, you're up front and not trying to hide anyhing.

I used to use this all the time when I would dj a club or bar.

I have both for swimbaits, have a Cardiff 300 and a Lexa 300. If you wanted something bigger the the 400 size in the Lexa or Cardiff/Calcutta is an option. On mine, I have 40lb pp on the Cardiff and 65lb pp on the Lexa and fish both with topshots, the Cardiff gets 25lb mono and the other 25lb fc. But to answer your question of weather one reel could handle the task, I would say yes. Of the two I have if I was to fish Muskies as well as large swimbaits, I'd go with the Lexa as it has a bigger handle and better drag over my Cardiff. And I can get a little farther casting distance out of it as well. Just my opinion.

Being it was night, the baitfish may have been on that side instead. And bass in ponds atleast around me cruise when feeding at night especially when there isn't a whole lot of cover to be had.

Depends on what you want to do, if you want to burn a bait at a deeper depth, then a little heavier bait will keep it down. If you wanted to say use a oversized blade on a spinnerbait, the heavier baits will keep it from wanting to role. I'm sure there are other reasons too, just can't think of them at the moment and these came to mind.

The only time I limit myself to 1 type of bait is when fishing a big swimbait....why, because it forces me to keep fishing it and not decide to try something else. But then that is a time of year pattern for me normally from the midde of Nov. to Mid April depending on the body of water I'm fishing.

If you want a 50 size reel, I would opt for one of 13 Fishings Concepts.

I tried the suspend dots, they don't like to stick to the rubber and I ended up using them like a nail weight at one point folding them over and inserting them into the bait that way. For those to work I think it would have taken almost 8 of them to make a difference. Nail weights are the best if you have them but if not you have to improvise for the weight.

The bucco 7'MH is a great all around rod. Fishes all of what you outlined really well although if you're fishing in really heavy cover with a frog might want to look at a heavier rod. I have 2 and have used them for light duty punching (3/8 to 1/2oz) and frog fishing, but fished a pond with heavy grass and the first fish I hooked was a nice 4lb right when it hit the water. Rod didn't really have enough to pull that fish out at the end of the cast (probably 120ft away). Had to go get a heavier rod. But all around it's a great rod for most applications.

I like the above technique, just make sure if you're worried about it ripping a bit of petroleum jelly on the front of the swivel will help it pull through a bit easier also.

If it's the 8" bait, it doesn't have the new top/bottom hook slot. I put a 1/0 Mustad 1X 2X Short Shank ultra grip treble on mine. As long as you weight it between the 2 finlets on the bottom...fill you sink up or bathtub up to check it and insert the weight. Give it the float test and see how it balances out. Adjust as needed till it's level and slowly sinks or suspends. I prefer mine to slowly sink a bit tail heavy. Only because when you see a dying fish it always seems to sink tail first at a slight angle. The newer Gen 2 line thru's have hook placement where it can either be rigged tophook or bottom. If you get it were it sinks how you want, you can put a dab of Superglue or if you have it Mend-It.

Well take some side cutters (aka dikes) and cut off the end of the bullet weight and insert it into the bait between the two lower fins.

You got any1/8 oz worm weights? Make a hole and insert the weight. If it sinks to fast, clip off a piece of it and try again.

You're going to ned a heavier set up period. Weather punching or trying to frog fish. But I would skip the leader and fish straight braid and once you get bit work on slowly pulling the fish out of the grass. Sounds like you need to invest in a frog and punch rod for next year.

You like the D-Bomb, put it on a SK structure swing head or Biffle head (any swing football jighead) and slow drag/wind it keeping bottom contact. Started using this approach in certain lake/ponds I fish that have heavy pressured fish and not a lot of structure. Works great and gives the fish a new look as well as being able to stop and fish points of interest and still have it weedless but also cover water like a crankbait.

Like speedbead said, a heavier hook as well as a 1/16th nail weight right between the 2 lower finlets will cause it to sink. You can also alter how much weight you want to use and make it suspend just under the surface. This works good when they are following but have problems commiting. Fish this and a Huddleston and the fish seem to come in closer for the line thru then the hudd. The fact you can stop it and it suspends while they are following it causes them to come in closer, then quickly swim it and you can get a reaction strike out of them. Pull it about 4ft and stop it again. If they pursue and don't eat it when its moving, if they are truely interested the moment it stops they will swim up and inhale it. Or they will irritate you and nip at the tale and then swim away.