Bass2124

Great point smalljaw. The thought of jumping overboard occurred for about 1 second until I looked at my 2 kids standing beside me with rods in their hands. Making memories is what is all about. As painful as this memory is now in a few years the tears will turn into a memorable story and a few chuckles.

I bet that is exactly what happened.

This exactly the feedback I was looking for Hogsticker! Great story to ease my pain!

I wonder how far that thing drifted down river before it got caught up. It was fairly rocky where I lost it and may have fetched up. I know exactly where I lost it but with river current and the bouyency of the rod it may have gone quite a ways before it came to rest. I pulled up a rod that I hooked a few years ago but it was a $20 walmart setup. Someone my do the same and be in for a really nice treat!

I need a little reassurance or comforting for a very unfortunate mishap (or stupid depending on how insensitive you want to be) that I made yesterday while fishing. I let a $250 rod and reel set up fly out of my hands and drift away and sink to the bottom of a river. I was in about 15 feet of water and had no luck trying to retrieve it. I am still sick over it. It was a Daiwa Balistic T3 with a Fenwick Silverhawk rod. Awesome setup and I had only used it about 4 times. I basically went to make a very long and hard cast and I think the reel came flying off the reel seat which caused it to jar out of my hands. I really don't know what happened other than it was jarred out of my hands pretty violently. I may also have caught the lure, which was a frog with tandem hooks, on the side of the windshield of my boat. It really felt like someone literally ripped the rod right out of my hands. I have never experienced such a thing and I have been fishing since I was 3. Please someone tell me they have done something crazy like this so I can feel better about myself ! On a positve note the kids and I caught 42 Bass in about 3 hours of fishing with 3-18 inch smallmouth one weighing over 3 1/2 pounds.

Thanks for the replies. Wasnt sure about the hardware but looks like they are a great bang for the buck crank. I'd like to pull the trigger on some Lucky Crafts but I just lose to many cranks in the waters that I fish. I"ll give them a try.

Anybody use Norman Lures? I see that they are reasonbly priced. I use mostly strkie king cranks because they have decent hardware and they flat out catch fish. The norman lures look a little more fancy and have better colors in my opinion so I was going to grab a few. Just looking for anyones thoughts.

I read today that you always have your foot on the pedal, which I did, until I could control it. Had to Use my hands to get out of a near disaster around some rocks. I am used to the electric steer so this is going to be a big change. I heard some love it and some hate it. I will say that the wind may have had alot to do with it (20mph) but the tension will need to be adjusted because it seemed just too out of control and touchy. I hate the fact that the footpedal it is so much higher than my powerdrive electric was. It is just awkward to control imho. I saw the recessed foot trays but really don't want to drop another $100 into my trolling unit.

Not sure as I could never get the arrow stable. It was wandering all over the place. If it isn't is there an adjustment for that as well?

Thanks for the advice. I will play around with the adjustment to see if that takes care of the issue.

Tried out my new edge today with the cable drive and really struggled with the steering. There must be some adjustment that I need to fix because it was crazy trying to keep this thing straight. The footpedal would just wander all over the place spinning the prop in every direction but straight. I would barely touch it and it would go all the way forward or back never balancing in the middle. I know it takes some getting used to compared to the electric footpedal unit but you would have to have the skills of a tap dancer to get this thing to work right. I also see why a recessed foot mount would be so much more comfortable. This thing is very cumbersome. Anyone else have problems with this?

Ok this will be my first season fishing for small mouth right after ice out. Normally I am going after salmon but have taken to the sport of bass fishing and really want to learn how to fish them throughout the entire fishing season. In the north no one that I know fishes them until the 1st of june (too busy going after salmon) so I am kind of on my own here. I was going to deadstick some senkos or plastic creatures or try jigs with trailers. I'll try spinnerbaits and jerkbaits as well but I know the presentation has to be slow and from what I have read they are all deep right now anyway when it is this cold so not sure if the shallower lures will be that effective. Any advice would be great. I'll be heading out next weekend. Up here in Maine the ice is 3/4s out on the lakes that I fish and by this weekend I expect them to be competely ice free.

I was going to pull the trigger on the 4x for 199.00 and now see that the 5x is on sale at Cabelas for 359.00. Is the the 5x size worth the extra $160? The larger screen looks nice but is it going to be more functional and show more structure than the 4x. I am thinking no but as always need advice before I can make up my mind. Any feedback would be great!

Looking for an intro down imaging sonar and I am narrowing it down to these two.....I think. Th elite 4 has the gps built in it but it does not come preloaded with any lakes that I fish. They told me I would have to pay another $100 to get software for all the maps which starts to get outside my budget, according to my wife. The rep at Cabelas said the down imaging quality was much better on the 301 than the Lowrance and he said Garmin was much more user friendly than the the Lowrance. The 4X has mixed reviews so I am not sure if this is the model to go with???? I can get the Lowrance 4x at $174 compared to the Garmin which retails for $269 about the same I can get the Lowrance Elite 4 HDI with the GPS. Any suggestions????

I just received the Daiwa T3 Ballistic and it is hands down the best of the 4 reels that I own (lews speed spool, Pfluegar President, BPS Pro Qualifier). I couldn't believe how far and smooth this thing casts! The T wing system really does what it says it does. Not the prettiest reel but boy does it perform! Can't go wrong at 109.00 at Tackle Warehouse. The T3 is around $200 I believe which is a higher end version.

Couldn't agree more! This is the best knot for braid to flouro/mono in my opinion.

That is great advice! I'll switch line the line out from the President to the Lews and put the Lews on the 7' fast action and the President on the Veritas.

OK.....I have to admit that I am relatively new to bass fishing (2 years) and up until this winter owned 1 baitcaster- BPS PQ paired up with a 6'6 medium heavy Abu Vendetta using 20 lb Spiderwire EZ braid and 1 spinning rod-Quantum Antix 40/5:2:1 gear ratio with a 6'0" Quantum Bill Dance medium using 15 lb spiderwire EZ braid (cheap walmart combo). I caught a crapload of bass with these 2 rods and used everything from 1 oz jigs to 1/8 oz baby crankbaits with anything in between. I mostly smallmouth fish and get several unwanted pickerel but rarely have the opportunity to catch largemouth because there just aren't many largemouth lakes in my area. I have to say I don't lose many fish or have many breakoffs with these 2 setups. So this winter I venture into the underground world of REAL bass fishing and see that I am very under equipped. In fact I would campare it to my other addiction (golf) as to having a 3 wood, 9 iron and putter. It will get you from tee to green but not as efficient as a full set of clubs. So the adventure began. I have spent months trying to get the best deals and setups for this coming season and this is what it looks like. Proabably alot of redundency in setups but this is what I got- (2) Fluegar President/Cabela tourney trail spinning rod combos- 6'6 medium & 7'0 medium heavy. 6'6 has 10 lb Berkely fireline and the 7' has 14 lb fireline. Lews speed spool 6.4:1 ratio on 7' Abu Veritas medium action with 12 lb Yo -Zuri hybrid, Pfluegar President Baitcaster 5.2:1 Gear ratio on 7' fast action Cabelas tourney trail with 40 lb power pro( might be wrong gear ratio with this setup???), and a Daiwa T3 Ballistic 6.3:1paired up with a 6'6" medium Fenwick Silverhawk with 20 lb powerpro which by the way is the best casting set up I have ever had. This is a whole other dimension in smoothness and distance. These are my wrenches. Tell me where I went wrong!!

Great suggestions! Thanks again guys! I think I will go over to TW and check out Smithwick and those twitch sticks.

What is a good econimical jerkbait. These friggin things are expensive! I normally use Hula Poppers (greatest thing ever in my opinion) for top water and have several crankbaits for below surface but have never had any luck with the one jerkbait that I have. Why are they more expensive than a crankbait anyway??? I bought a cheap one for 2.99 in the junk section at BPS once and never caught a thing with it. Thought about adding a few to the tacklebox but don't reaally want to pay $15-20 for them.

I know this question has probably been asked a million times but for crankbait fishing I have always used 2' of flouro attached to my braid. Is that the right length and should I give mono a try? I have heard some say that bass need that little extra stretch and others are dead aginst it. What do you say?

I got this on closeout brom Cabelas in the 14 and 10 lb test which has the line diameter of 6 and 4lb and was going to use it for drop shotting and more finesse situations. I figured the slimmer but strionger line would be ideal. After I received it, it wasn't what I expected as it feels and looks like braid. Not sure if it floats like braid? Won't know until I hit the waters. Anybody use this stuff and is the application I plan on using it for appropriate or should I just ditch it and go with some 6-8lb flourocarbon. I just hate flourocarbon because of memory especially on spinning gear.

THese are going for $109 at Tackle warehouse. I see these marked down over 50% at most places. I have heard Daiwa products are overpriced. I just bought the pfluegar president for $100 and was going to get another until I saw these. Are these a better quality reel? Originally costing $249 I would think but thought I would get peoples opinions. Some great sales going on now everywhere. I am looking to get a good flipping and pitching reel to add to the collection in the $100 range.

I have never taken the bearings out of a reel and flushed them but I will do a google search and get right on that. Probably wouldn't hurt to do the same with the PQ. I also will try the KVD line treatment. Can that be used on braid? I think not having the dual braking system has certainly caused more difficulties as Fish mentioned. I have always snapped pretty hard and I will have to relearn with the Lews. I also have a President baitcaster that I haven't tried out yet but I believe that also has a dual braking system so i may feel more confident on that one. I like the Lews alot just feels right but I obviously have some work to do. Great Feedback guys! I have learned so much on this Forum over the winter months. I just can't wait much longer to to start Bassin!

Yeh I know I will probably gain some more distance in warmer weather. I also plan on using braid which I hope gets the cranks and the jerkbaits out there. This Veritas rod had great casting reviews as did the Lews Speed spool so I know it is more user issues but wanted a general idea how long a long cast should be with a 3/8 oz lure. Thanks for the feedback!