churchcc12

I'm also curious to see what opinions people have on the new mojos, I've heard they balance better but haven't been able to get my hands on one yet

I'm sure the 08s would cast fine on a M/f baitcaster. The 10s cast really far on every rod I've tried them with, and I bet the smaller xraps wouldn't be too light for most mediums. I usually use the 10s but I plan to pick up some of the smaller x raps soon.

I don't think fish really care. I've caught a lot of bass around ducks/geese. A few weeks ago I caught a 20" smallie around about 70-80 ducks and 40+ geese. I wouldn't worry about it personally

For my hands, yeah. Mentally not really. I've had to take breaks from hunting before because I got burned out. If you think a break would be a good idea, just stay off the water until you want to go and it should be fun again.

Thanks for the help everybody. I lost this one during the fight, so I probably got some slack in the line somehow. I was using a st croix avid M/F spinning rod with 20lb power pro braid and a 10lb yozuri hybrid leader. In hindsight I probably should have given it a second set because he was relatively far away.

After losing a smallie that would have beaten by PB by at least a pound today, I feel like I should ask this question. How do you guys set the hook when you're using a tube on a jighead? I've tried a couple different types of sets, but I can't find one that seems more consistent.

I pitch for smallmouth pretty often, but I don't really flip for anything honestly. It's something I might work on soon. I'll pitch pretty much anything honestly, and I use the same gear that I do for largemouths. Most often I pitch tubes if I have them on a baitcaster, flukes, and texas rigged plastics (usually craws)

Both the arbor and president are solid reels, especially for their price range. I don't think you can go wrong. The Arbor would probably be better if you plan on using braid

It's kinda funny you mention that bluebass. I didn't mean to get stand up heads, I ordered the wrong heads on accident. I was just hoping that they would be good for something, instead of just falling over and having me drag them along. I do prefer "normal" shaky heads. I was just wondering if there was an advantage that I wasn't seeing.

Yeah the MegaStrike heads look like they would be much more effective, and I'll probably order some soon. I was really just wondering if the ones I have are worth it to use, even though there are better heads out there. I'm going to get Strike King heads also and see how they work.

I'm talking specifically about the heads with a flat bottom to rest on, they look much different than a football head shaky. I think some shaky heads are basically the same as normal jigs, just with larger hooks for bulkier plastics/t-rigging

So, I bought some stand up heads a few weeks ago. I've been just messing around with them. I haven't used them yet because bass season isn't open, but they don't seem that practical to me. It seems like they would fall on the side very easily, and if there was any current they look like they would just get knocked over. Is there any real advantage to a stand-up head over a normal shaky head?

What do you think about the handle length? I got the 6' 10" M/F for Christmas and it feels nice overall, but I'm not sure about the handle. Everything's iced up, so I can't really test it, but I've wondered how it will feel after a full day of fishing.

I'd say a pro qualifier and a veritas for jigs. If you don't want to spend too much, you should be fine jigging with mono or copoly IMO.

Just got a veritas last year, and for the price I think it's a great rod. Haven't had any issues with mine yet

I've also wondered that Scott. I can usually find them in a river during fall, but in a lake, I'm lost. When I have found fish in lakes, they've been on shallow flats and they've taken buzzbaits and shallow cranks most of the time.

My favorite way is definitely tubes. I like throwing topwaters too though

I've really liked the rage craws, they're a little fragile in my opinion but they certainly catch fish. My personal favorite is the Yum Crawbug. I've had great results with them everywhere I've went.

Sent an email over to daiwa at abut 3pm est, haven't heard back yet, hopefully they have one. I do not believe it's a two piece spool shaft. It's shown as one piece on the exceler parts diagram http://www.daiwa.com/PartsDiagram/PartsDiagram/EXC100H.pdf (part number 8). When I take the tension knob off I don't see a washer, just a little circle of plastic or rubber. My pinion shaft is not exactly in half and the two pieces are pretty jagged in the middle. I may have another problem though. I put in both pieces of the shaft to see if it would be back to normal thinking maybe one of the pieces had fallen out and that's why it was messed up. When I put it in and tightened the spool tension knob, the side plate with the magnetic brakes pushed out. There was a decent sized gap between the frame and the plate. I don't think that was like that before. I'm fairly certain the side plate is secured as well as it can be, and I'm not sure why it's happening.

Let me just start by saying I don't know very much about the insides of a baitcaster. I took mine apart to check and make sure everything was going okay because my spool tension knob wasn't working correctly. It wouldn't get as tight as it needed to be for most lures, even though it was all the way tightened. After taking it apart, I found my problem. The spool (pinion?) shaft had broken in half! I had done a few casts where I accidentally engaged the reel while it was still spinning and was greeted by a horrible grinding noise, and after searching the forums here, it sounds like that's how it broke. The reel is a Daiwa Exceler 100H. I have checked Daiwa's website and searched google, but I'm not sure where to find a replacement. I thought of just supergluing it together, but after reading how most people don't even lube them based on how tight it is I'm not sure that's the best idea. Are the shafts specific to brand or model. or is it a standard size? I'm hoping I can just replace it, and get it back in good shape, thanks for any help!

Thanks everybody for the advice, it certainly looks like I have a lot of options! The *** black rods look like they would be perfect for what I plan on using one for.

Thanks for the quick reply Todd. I already have a 7'0 MH and I love it for pitching and casting. I guess I should have specified that I'm looking to throw somewhat smaller weights and baits on this rod. I'm not really looking for a heavier rod to punch through cover and stuff like that. I wouldn't say I'm looking for a finesse rod, but something lighter than my MH veritas anyways.

Hey everybody, I'm in the market for a new baitcaster and I have a few questions. 1. What length rod would you recommend to throw soft plastics? I've heard anywhere from 6' to 7'3" and I'm unsure what to choose. 2. Would a St. Croix Mojo be a good rod for these techniques? I was thinking either the 6'6 or the 7' medium action rod. 3. I'm thinking about getting either an abu garcia revo stx or a pfleuger patriarch to complete the set-up. If someone could give their opinion for which of these would be better that'd be great. Thanks in advance for any advice!

My go-to lure has to be either a 3/8 oz green pumpkin jig, or a white spinnerbait. I really like the Terminators, but all of them are good in my opinion.