WIGuide

For topwater you really don't need an expensive high end rod. As long as it has the power and action that you're looking for you're set. The 6'6" M/F will work as well as the 6'8" M/XF the choice is really yours.

It should be the 45" shaft unless you fish a lot of big waves and open water.

And from what I'm seeing you need some help uploading/linking pics? On a serious note, congrats on the good finish at your tournament. It really stinks when you don't start out on the fish and stumble on day one. I've had that happen in a few 2 day ones too, being just a keeper shy the first day and then being only that far out of the money or higher. Keep at it though man!

I'd get something in a medium heavy power with a fast action. Buy a length that feels comfortable to you. That rod will give you a bit more backbone to handle some heavier baits.

Well, as far as cities go I'm pretty much in the middle of nowhere haha. Even if you go by my address I'm technically a Conrath resident, but I have a Sheldon phone number, and yet I live closer to Holcombe than either of those. Going by other places you may have heard of, I'm a little over an hour south of Hayward, an hour north east of Eau Claire, and about 7 miles north of Holcombe, WI. Big Chetac is a pretty good bass lake. I'm roughly an hour south east of there. It'll be interesting to see how Chetac fares after the controlled weed kill they had out there this year.There's a lot of good lakes up that way though that are pretty good bass fisheries. Red Cedar, Grindstone, Round Lake, Murphy Flowage, and the list goes on. She was. Poor girl must have had a rough life. Blind in one eye, big healed gash in her back and stomach, and part of her jaw was missing on the other side.

Looks like you two had a great day on the water! Props to you for taking a youngster fishing too!

Being a predominately shallow water fisherman, the two stomping grounds intersect quite often, at least around here anyway. Northers will spawn earlier in the year, but are just as active in the heat of summer.

Either the 723 or the Carbonlite.

In the long run, I think you'll be better off picking up an ultra light combo. When you're panfishing, there's not a lot of strain put on a reel so you don't need anything fancy. Bass Pro usually has a cheap UL combo for right around $20. It's not super fancy but gets the job done for panfish

Don't give up on team fishing events. Very few times will you have a bad experience. This guy sounds like a piece of work and I wouldn't even consider fishing with him again. If he's going to be that big of a dbag I don't think there's a chance he will straighten out. Find a different partner and have some fun. You'll be overjoyed when you even get an average one after this experience.

Haha I just can't bring myself to pay that much for a bait that is going to last 1 bite from a northern. Maybe they're even better than my normal boot tail swimbait, but I think I'll stick with what I'm using as it seems to do ok for me.

I use it for everything other than top water and on my flippin sticks. Honestly I haven't had any issues with it so apparently I'm in the minority here, but until I start having issues with it, I'm going to keep using it.

I haven't used that particular bait, but I fish similar bait's on a 6'6" M/F Legend Xtreme.

I had that happen this year as well. I had a reel seat come loose, took it up there to get it fixed knowing that the rod was past its warranty. I was just going to pay whatever the cost was to have it fixed. They didn't even question the warranty issue, just took it in and fixed it free of charge. They're definitely a top notch company that will keep me using Corix's.

It's probably a bit too big for that rod. I'd have a 1000 series or smaller on it.

Hey welcome to the forums. You might want to head over to the introduction section to introduce yourself. To answer your question, you might want to build your own combo. The new tourney special rods are not as good as the old ones and they have the hook hanger positioned in a kind of crappy position as it'll catch the line every so often. I'd probably suggest either a Berkley Lightning rod or Berkley Lightning Shock. The models are going to depend on what you fish with the most and what you're comfortable with. I'd probably suggest you pair it up with a Pflueger President reel. That will put you right around the $100 mark and get you set up fairly well.

Pretty sure you're calculating something wrong since braid is thinner than mono. Even if it was just slightly thicker it'd cut your capacity some but not 100 yards off it. That's besides the point though. 80 yards is plenty of line. Next time you're at school, go down to the football field and stand under a goal post and look towards the other one. If you were to make an 80 yard cast, you'd be casting to the 30 yard line on the opposite side of the field.

Congrats on the new PB!

I used to have to lift 4 days a week when I was playing college basketball. We did a lot more in the way of just maintaining strength throughout the season and gain a little in the off season. We never dead lifted, but I used to bench 225 and squat 375. I really need to get back to working out though. I actually kind of miss that soreness that lets you know you did something well.

I've got one and have also had mixed results. The eyes on the crankbait also light up and glow red every few seconds. I'm not sure if they produce great or not. I've caught some decent smallmouth on it when I used it. I might need to do some more experimenting with them. It's still debatable that he actually won it on that bait. He was using a Rapala DT6 for the majority of the tourney, and if I remember correctly he only switched AFTER he had his limit for the final day. Granted he caught some kickers to cull some of those out, but we also don't know that he wouldn't have caught what he did if he had kept using the DT6 or switched over to another crankbait with a different profile.

12# Berkley 100% Fluoro would be my choice.

Of the two I have, it's a toss up between the LTB 6'10" ML/XF and LTB 6'8" M/XF both paired with Abu Garcia Revo Premiers in the 30 size.

42"-45" is going to be what you're looking for.

I've had a lot of luck on spinnerbaits, small swim baits, lipless crankbaits, and square bills as well.

I've got a new one this year a 7'1" MH/F St. Croix LTB and my old one is a 7'6" H/F Quantum Tour PT.