Kevin22

I've caught warmouth with orange, lots of orange. But never red. The only fish I can remember catching with red were the occasional male greeny at the right time of year and redhorse.

Smallest size lindy darter through an 8" hole in the ice. Targeted bass a few times and it was a blast.

I still say its the dog. Ticks well get on him/her and as soon as they hit the pheromones they will crawl off (unless you washed the dog), otherwise when they bite they will crawl off the dog to die. There is plenty of time for them to get on the dog and then hop off when the dog comes inside. We have it happen all of the time.

To the OP. I have no clue for stripers, as I have never caught one around here. But I would venture to guess the biggest you can cast would be the best. I've caught white bass and hybrids on 3/4oz and had to pull the back treble out of their throat. I've even had those pesky 10" white bass hit a 1/2 redeye shad like its a t-bone steak. I remember bass fishing once and seeing a school bust out a little ways. I whipped that 1/2 redeye as far as I could and burned it right under the surface. WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK all the way in, then one finally hit a treble. About 8" long.

I have a non-res IL. What would be my best chance at hooking a pure striper around north west to central IL? Its on the bucket list... If this river would ever go back down I'd like to get back out and chase the whites/hybrids on the river again.

Which is why a lot of old timers use the avid. because its is the basic rod with full cork and "normal" guides.

Looks like micro guides. That should get the old croix fans riled up.

Red? on a warmouth? That's a new one. Are you sure it wasn't a green sunfish?

Buddy of mine tried it, he had the same opinion.

I'll be very interested to hear what your opinions are when you use them side by side.

6# sufix 832 (almost identical in dia and breaking strength of 10# PP) on one reel for shakey heads 10# nanofil for drop shot (comes off the spool like lightning) 30# sufix 832 for flippin 65# PP S8 for frogs (no opinion yet) I used to use 10# power pro yellow for the first two for years but have found these to be much better. I used to use the 30# for casting as well, and honestly don't see much difference between the 30# PP and 30# 832.

Probably a pet bringing them in the house. If you showered after you got home and threw your clothes into the washer you shouldn't have any more to come out. Next time put some tick repellent on around your ankles, wrists, and on your hat.

Round, casts very well, manages extremely well being overspooled on a spinning reel (done on purpose), SUPER strong (I use 6# which breaks at 19-22#), and just overall a pleasure to use. Not a one negative thing to say about it. I do have a negative on the lo-vis green, it went white very very quick on me. But I've made literally thousands of casts with the neon lime and it is still the same color as it was in the package. I use the neon lime for walleye mostly, where I need good line visibility.

Buy a cranking rod. That's my #1 tip. It sucks hooking into a nice fish and watching the trebles pull out. As for cranks, watch ebay and online stores for good deals. Fishusa has strike kings for a good price, plus if you submit a review on their website they will send you a $5 off $30 coupon. They also have free shipping on orders over $30. I ordered some KVD 1.5's a little while back and it came out to $26.50 for 6 of them, or about $4.40 each with no tax and free shipping. Cannot beat that anywhere around here.

JB weld or plastic weld. She'll be good as new.

I'm not a fan of orig powerpro anymore now that I got 2 bad spools this spring. I am trying the slick 8 now, no opinion yet. Another one you may consider is sufix 832 in neon lime. Its visible enough to see well and a lot easier to see on sunny days vs the hi-vis yellow. I've been using it since march and I have to say its by far the best braid I have used.

They are predators. Like green sunfish they like to hang around shore under rocks and wood ready to ambush small minnows/fry. But they will take bugs and small crawifsh as well. Their mouth is big enough to take crawfish and minnows. They are similar to a crappie in that aspect. Bluegill have small mouths because they are pretty much scavengers and opportunistic feeders. They just cruise around eating bugs and whatever will fit in their mouth. Different mouths for different forage.

Thought I'd pass this on.. how easy and CHEAP it is to replace them. I saw the product video on TW for how to use the replacement legs they sell and the first thing I thought of was that I could do that a lot cheaper. So I went downstairs and got into my fly tying equip looking for the round rubber. Found it and gave it a shot. Takes about 2 minutes to replace them. 1. cut a section of the rubber about 10" long. 2. count out 20 strands and separate them. 3. gather them all up as even as possible and tie a good tight knot (just an overhand granny knot) right in the center. 4. pull out the legs of your frog. Just grab one end and pull. You'll see the legs in there look exactly like your new ones 5. Stick a piece of wire, a bent paper clip, a bobbin threader, anything you have laying around through both holes of the frog 6. place one side of the legs though the wire and pull them through the frog (might have to moisten the strands a little 7. once they come though, grab a hold and pull them until the knot goes into the frog. 8. Trim however you wish. Easy as pie. The rubber is $1.79 for 5.5 feet of it which is enough for about 8 frogs. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/skirt-making-material/366200.aspx Sure beats $3.50 for 3 replacement legs. Here is the video with visual instructions (not my video)

That is a warmouth and a dandy! (don't confuse it with the green sunfish).

Spinning gear just isnt built tough enough for me to be comfortable using it for frogs. The exception would be in open water, weed edges, and sparse weeds.

That's about all I fish. Run a square bill around that concrete and bounce it off as much stuff as possible. Be sure you have good line or you'll be retying every 3 casts. If they won't hit the square bill then slow down with a LIGHT t-rigged craw. 1/16-1/8oz. Let it fall into the crevices and pop it out.

I let the day's conditions dictate what I will be throwing.

Nanofil is about as smooth as you can get and works good on spinning reels. Otherwise I would suggest sufix 832

refreshing to see they increased the breaking strength Similar 8 strands;; sufix 832 50# breaks at 75.23# PP slck 8 50# breaks at 62.62# seaguar smackdown 40# breaks at 54.72# fireline braid 8st 50# breaks at 78.8# Old tuf-line 20# breaks at 23# 30# breaks at 32# 50# breaks at 53# 65# breaks at 67#

Yes! Exactly! Worse thing you can do in bluegill infested waters is to dip the tail of the worm in scented chartreuse dye. You'll never see that tail again.