Smallmouth Hunter

if you buy it at the walmart (link posted by someone else above) then its cheaper then the smoke. I would say give it a shot, even though ive never used a quantum b/c

I am thinking about going to the lake tomorrow for some bassin, but i am afraid it will be unbelievably crowded like memorial day and 4th of july. Are lakes usually crowded on labor day?

Does the h20 ethos rod have a lifetime warranty like the h20 reels?

Get a very small floating jerkbait ( less than 2" long), and toss it near them and jerk it half a foot or so deep and let it float then do it again. This is similar to the spoon technique.

Next time you are doing something that may be unlawful or might offend someone else you should probably not post it on a forum. You offended someone and they are just showing their point of view...

desperate times call for drastic measures use these to unhook pike lol

I would say stick with lower price range rods. The h20 ethos rod is fantastic for $55 and is very durable. Also, when you set the hook try not to put the stress of the hookset on the thin part of the rod. Reel down on the bass when you feel him bite, and just set the hook from a 9 a'clock position to a 10-10.5 a'clock position. This will put more stress on your line rather then your rod and will not require your rod to bend so far.

I use the lock, but it just comes undone while in my pocket. I just need a new phone

I don't have that problem, but my phone constantly calls random people. I have accidentally dialed 911 twice cause the phone has 911 as a permanent emergency contact and i "pocket dial" them.

Is it possible that they are carp? A lot of times carp will just roam around on the surface feeding like crazy and they won't touch a lure other than (sometimes) a small fly. If they definitely aren't carp then i would say get a very small white soft plastic swimbait (an inch or less), and just nose hook it or texas rig it weightless. Use a spinning rod and cast it out where they are rising, and make it look like a dieing baitfish.

I am excited to watch "Johny Football". As long as he doesn't get injured, T-A&M should do very well. I am not a fan of them though. I am a southern cal. fan. I was born there and lived there a few years. Marquis lee should have another fantastic season for them. Also, Everett Golson (i think thats how its spelled) was expelled from notre dame (if i heard correctly) so i am anxious to see how they will do.

I would switch to 3/0 worm hooks. EWG hooks miss a lot of fish

Forgot to mention: I have not been closing the bail by turning the handle, I close it manually. Also, I spooled the line properly when i first put line on it. When i say "spin out", I mean cut the lure off, troll the line behind the boat and reel up again.

I have had this okuma reel around 5 years and it just recently started having issues. After a few casts the line gets so twisted up that i find its getting knots if i don't let it spin out every 3 or 4 casts. I am guessing it has to do with the line roller on the bail. I unscrewed the piece and took out the roller thing and put some oil in there, but it didn't help. Any suggestions?

To add to my previous comment, if you have ever seen a degradable bag filled with salt (it has other stuff in it too but mostly salt) that people (usually the owner of the pond, or the park ranger, or someone like that) drop in all over the pond, this is for the bass. It helps them produce that slime layer.

50% death rate is not completely accurate. It depends on the water. Water with more salt in it (and other minerals, and other certain things) will help bass regenerate their slime coat faster. I always try to get the bass back in the water in less than a minute, then revive them for 1 minute at least, even if they are ready to swim back already. Only exception is when i am going for schoolers, and i want to get a cast back in the school as fast as possible, so i unhook them as fast as possible and drop them in then lauch the bait out again.

match the hatch

That's what fishing is for. Hope everything gets better for you.

I am actually purchasing a curado 200e5 off another forum member at this time for cranking. Can't wait to use it!

A few techniques that work great with a jig are dragging and hopping. For dragging just reel down till your line is tight (while your rod is parallel to water), then slowly lift up rod tip to a 70-80 degrees angle off water. Then just dead stick it a few times. This will kick up whatever is on the bottom. When deadsticking it, just imagine that a bass is looking at your jig and that you are kicking up dirt in his face to p*** him off (lol). I get a lot of bites just dragging then shaking the rod just enough to move the jig. For hopping just hop it every 5-10 seconds, but keep the line tight throughout the whole process so you don't miss any fish. With this technique i get most of my bites when i hop it and hold my rod at about a 70 degree angle off water and just keep it tight with my jig so that i can feel EVERYTHING. When you feel that *tap-tap* on your rod, just reel down on him and cross his eyes. Hope this helps

I just tested it with 3 brakes on and magnets low. I didn't measure the distance with a tape measure or anything but it takes 50+ turns of the handle and the reel is a 6:1 ratio. I am guessing it averages about 20" per turn (since there is less line on the spool at end of cast, but after reeling in there is more = more line pick up) so that is right around 30 yards.. My math might be off so i will measure my cast later when i have some more free time. Again, Thanks for all the help everyone

I am not using L&L cause i don't have any. I have never left it in the sun though. I am always using it is out in the sun so it has water on keeping it from drying. I tried thumbing it but i just couldn't control it. I was pressing relatively hard too. The centrifugal brakes were acting up yesterday so that is probably a big part of it. I need to put just a little oil on the brake race so the brakes aren't too strong, but not so much where they will be too weak. I always side arm it when I am casting long distance, but i wasn't whipping it very hard. My rod is a h20 ethos 7'. I think it is a medium with fast tip. It says 1/4 - 1/2 oz lures. I think the kvd 1.5 is something like 1/2 oz. The reel is definetly the problem. Its brakes are finicky with hollow lures/hard baits. They slow down faster than other baits and that is where the backlashes happen most for me. I heard somewhere that the magnetics brakes are for the end part of the cast, but i put the mags at 8 and it didn't help..

I recently bought a kvd 1.5 and i am having some difficulty casting this thing far. I can get about 30 yards with it on a lews tourney pro with 15lb red label fluoro. I fish a lot of ponds where I need distance and a 30 yard cast doesn't get the crank down into the strikezone. I am not really sure how to set the brakes for this lure i guess. I tried 2 on the centrifugals and 7 on magnets (spool tension set so that lure falls slowly) and i back lash every cast badly. I have to put the magnetics on 8 or 9 and the spool tension 1 click tighter to not backlash, and that cuts the distance down to 25 yards or less. I do have the hawgtech ceramic bearings so that is probably why i am having to set the brakes so high. How do you set your brakes for KVD 1.5 squarebills? (not a very broad question, sorry bout that) All help is appreciated. Thanks

I would say get a tatula type r for that price. It has magforce z and the t-wing system, and it probably weighs less than the daiwa x.. (not sure though). You will have to wait another month for the tatula though.

What brand of line are you using? 10 lb test is a bit heavy for a spinning rod. I would recommend 8 for what you are doing. A good type of line would be berkley XL. It is not stiff so you can cast it far, and it is reliable line. Also, how much line is on your spool? If you don't have much line on, then it is harder for the line to come off the spool when casting.