NathanW

I have never heard anyone say you cannot cast as far on glass. Maybe day two of a cranking tourney due to fatigue... I fish both glass and graphite for cranking. Glass can and will wear you out if you are not conditioned for it but carry every advantage once the fish is hooked. Glass also provides much better feedback on what the bait is doing. With graphite you sacrifice power for forgiveness but with glass there is no sacrifice in power. I would base your choice on how much you plan on cranking. Because if you are only going to do it once in a while go with the graphite. If its going to be your way of life go glass and get those muscles in shape.

I agree. braid is really nice on walking baits. If you watch a lot of fishing like I do you will notice most of the pros are doing this too. You will want about 2.5 foot of 15-20lbs test mono to avoid tangling your bait with the braid. Also first thing you should always do is make sure each hook point is sticky sharp.

Both of those rods are extremely durable and may last you many many years. For the price there are certainly rods that are more sensitive, better balanced, and higher performing but will not outlast either of those rods. If you are getting into saltwater you may consider the HMG. I would say the Mojo is very bass fishing specific due to its power throughout the midsection of the blank. The HMGs are a little slower and offer you some forgiveness when dealing with pulling fish from deeper waters.

Early Spring = Crankbait Spring = Swimjig Summer = 1/2ounce T-rig Fall = Spook Late Fall = Drop Shot

Be sure to thank your friend for talking you out of the Savvy. That rod is really unimpressive. The Fury is a better rod quite honestly. I love 13 rods but as of late have been more impressed by the Tatula. That rod has ridiculous power and its unbelievably light. I would definitely pick up more Tatula's over any other rod at any price.

Plano Elite 3707 Spinner & Buzz Bait Organizer works pretty well. It isn't perfect but the best I have used so far.

Totally agree. If I was single I could certainly see myself spending a much larger portion of my income on unnecessarily expensive gear. Thank god I have somebody to help keep things in perspective. I want Power Poles but I need a minivan. Anyone see that episode of the Office where Oscar is going through Michael's finances?.. Oscar: "This scary black bar is what you spend on things that no one ever, ever needs, like multiple magic sets, professional bass fishing equipment."

Big hooks require big hooksets and a stiff rod. Not some of the time but all of the time.

If I am fishing water less that 12-13 feet I will throw them on a casting rod. When I am stroking the tube I will use heavy mono or copoly to slow down the rate of fall which I cannot fish on spinning gear easily.

My biggest motivating factor when I am feeling like that is how much I regret it when I don't go. I tell myself "If I don't do this I am going to regret it all week"

I agree their keepers suck. I have *** keepers from broken Omens on my Tatulas. You absolutely cannot flip or pitch with that rod in its original configuration if you are a lefty. I just use a razor knife to cut out the original. Make sure that you all of your cuts stay on top of the metal the best you can. I add resin to the area I cut out for cosmetic reasons but it's still pretty ugly. Not going to claim it adds or retains it's cosmetic appeal so don't do it on a rod you think you may unload on craigslist next year.

Just buy some epoxy and thread on ebay. Should run you less than $20.00 and you will be replacing guides on your own for the rest of you life. No other special equipment required (maybe a heat gun) as long as you can sit on the couch for an hour watching fishing videos and turning your rod. Also, when rod manufacturers put hook keepers in dumb places (E.G. Diawa) you can easily move them. Some additional advice whenever your snap a rod make sure to strip all the guides and save them before you toss the rod.

Yeah, there are a bunch of Pacific Prides nearby that do no ethanol but I never looked into an account there. The Conoco's in Richland are out of the question for me because of Hanford traffic and dragging a trailer through Richland is stupid if you don't have to. It would be an hour ordeal for me to do that. It would be nice if one of the other marinas had it because clover islands no wake zone is massive but that is actually an option I never realized. Really though I am usually in the Moses Lake area with my boat and the only option they had there, by Connelly Park hasn't had ethanol free for a few years. Other option is to drive into Ephrata which I just not realistic. Does the Marina at Mardon offer ethanol free fuel? This would actually be a possibility for me.

If you want a rod to do both I would look at a Medium powered fast action rod in the 6'8"-6'10" range. The 7' standard length for a drop shot rod would probably work too but a couple less inches makes a big difference when you start getting into skipping baits into tight quarters around docks and boats. You also need at least the medium power as opposed to the ML a lot of the DS rods have. It takes a little more effort to drive the hook home with those weightless plastics than it does a drop shot.

I have not fished the new Veritas and have not fished the Carbon lite for a number of years. The first gen Veritas is a very capable rod and has good power and usually a pretty honest taper. Not the most sensitive or light rod but it beats out many rods twice its price, just make sure you are ready for the power they offer.

The 7'6" rod was too stiff for me. It ended up being my spinnerbait and chatterbait rod until it snapped.

A couple of takeaways from this article I read a while back. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/hybrid-electric/a11687/four-things-to-know-about-e15-15096134/ Scared me a little due to the last paragraph but not because the fuel systems can't handle it but because 2 stroke engines run hotter with ethonal. Its just not convenient for most people to go ethonal free. It would be a 40 mile round trip through the busiest part of town for me to get E Free fuel.

Yep, never had any issues with ethonal. Its interesting to me that some guys swear their problems are caused by ethonal. I live within a block of the a gas station and two blocks of the boat launch and this particular gas station is absolutely slammed with boaters all day every day and they do not sell any ethonal free gasoline. I guess those boaters are just as ignorant as I. I have a 1996 Mercury than has never seen a dealer or service shop in its 20 year life. I run Seafoam if she is acting sluggish and Startron when I think the boat might sit a little. I have been told that I use my boat to often for ethanol cause any problems. On the other hand if I was running a $15,0000-25,000 outboard I probably wouldn't risk it.

If you are fishing from the shore I think the small Pop-R makes the most sense. It will get you the most bites and build your confidence. From a boat I would consider a Spook or Spook Jr. so you can learn how to cover lots of water, or if you have a lot of cover in your lake a buzzbait.

Although its extremely exhausting to fish a fiberglass rod all day, they land more fish. They offer both power and forgiveness where graphite will only get you one or the other. You also may need a longer rod than what you are using now for a better hook set, especially considering that you fishing from a kayak. When you set the hook just lean into them until you feel the weight of the fish, then give them one more good lean to drive the hook home. You may also need to make hook adjustments to the bait. Bigger hooks are always better. I have found that you can go up in size on the body hook for just about every bait on the market but you will need to experience with the tail hook because many baits wont function well with a larger hook than come stock. Crankbait fishing will cause some heartache but the landing percentage should be well above 50% if you are doing it right. Dull hooks are probably the number one cause of misses so always check that first and pack a sharpening stone.

Although its extremely exhausting to fish a fiberglass rod all day, they land more fish. They offer both power and forgiveness where graphite will only get you one or the other. You also may need a longer rod than what you are using now for a better hook set, especially considering that you fishing from a kayak. When you set the hook just lean into them until you feel the weight of the fish, then give them one more good lean to drive the hook home. You may also need to make hook adjustments to the bait. Bigger hooks are always better. I have found that you can go up in size on the body hook for just about every bait on the market but you will need to experience with the tail hook because many baits wont function well with a larger hook than come stock. Crankbait fishing will cause some heartache but the landing percentage should be well above 50% if you are doing it right. Dull hooks are probably the number one cause of misses so always check that first and pack a sharpening stone.

If you were fishing from a boat I would have a different answer (swimjig or jerkbait). But since you are bank fishing and fall is coming learn how to skip a stickbait (Senko) into cover. Its a great way to target the fish that live under overhanging brush that you cannot get through on foot. In the process you should learn how to backhand cast so that you are not limited to effectively fishing only the cover to one side of you. You do this and you will not only be learning new techniques but you will develop new casting skills as well.

When my dad built our childhood home he also built us a man made pond. The only water it connected to was runoff and stormwater from our driveway. About 23 year later there are largemouth, mudfish, bluegill, yellow perch, goldfish, and some other types of minnows that live in it. The only fish that were ever planted were our goldfish when we got sick of cleaning their tanks. Its pretty wild that nature finds its way.

Shimano vs. Abu???? Never heard that argument in my life. It's Shimano vs. Diawa...

Nice, I didn't know they made a Sellus worm and jig rod as a spinning setup. What kind of line are you used to using? Have you ever fished anything that heavy on spinning gear? I Personally don't like going any heavier than 8lbs mono on a 3000 size reel but I know guys who do it. All of my spinning setups have a braid mainline of 10-20 lbs. Braid is always easier to manage but you will have to use a leader unless your water is really stained.