WIGuide

I don't know what they are coming out with, but being Rapala, it's worth a shot. The shadow rap lived up to the hype for me putting some big fish in the boat in both the spring and fall.

You might or might not notice them. I've got A-stock rods from other companies that don't look as good as a B-stock. For the price difference (usually around 50% sometimes more) you can overlook an imperfection if you can find it. Also, word from the wise....stay far far away from that place if you're broke. If that store is not where the bait monkey resides full time then it's definitely his second home! I don't know that I've ever been able to get out of there without buying something.

Take a trip up to the factory in Park Falls. You can get a B-stock rod up there for much cheaper than you can buy an A-stock. Most blemishes on them are cosmetic, and they're very small. Things I've seen in the past have been the color not being quite perfect, tiny air bubbles in the clear coat, or a label being slightly crooked. They only have a 1 year warranty, but a factory defect will normally show itself within the first few fish, after that it's normally user error. The savings is usually worth the trip.

I try to keep it pretty simple. For my flippin', pitchin' and froggin' rods I don't lock them down, but they're pretty close to max drag. For treble hook baits I keep them nice and loose. Loose enough that the drag may slightly slip on a hard hookset. Everything else I have set pretty much right in the middle. I keep it tight enough that it won't budge on a hookset, but light enough that if my line is weakened I'm not going to break off before the drag gives. My system isn't exact as I don't set them with a scale, but use a hand to check.

My oldest would be my Shimano Bantam Coriolis. It was the first baitcaster I ever purchased back in either 4th or 5th grade. That would put it at 18 years old. Mine doesn't look quite as good as the picture, has a little more boat rash, but not bad for a reel that old. I attribute the fact that it has mostly bushings as to why it's still working. It will however be retired to the back up shelf for this year.

Cloud to ground lightning, and a lake with no open water is what stops me.

Looks pretty good. If you give Ranger a call, I'd think they could sell you the blank of what you had and you can cut the pieces out like you did on your plywood version.

If I had to choose, I'd probably go GPS every time. It's great to have especially once you find something and you can go right back to it. For example, on this one lake I fish there's a long featureless bank that drops off pretty quick. In the first 20 feet or so there's scattered wood. There's one tree that is about 10 feet further out than that, and it's deep enough and the bank is featureless enough that it's pretty much only visible once you're right on top of it. I've since pulled a few fish off that tree because I know exactly where it is without being able to see it. I can just look at my map and know that it's there. There are many other useful advantages to mapping as well. Personally I'm glad I have both, but if I had to pick one, I'd go mapping.

I use a mix of baits, but some of my go to's have been the Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper Jr. It's cheap and effective. This last year I did pretty well on the YUM DS baits. My odd ball bait that seems to do well in dingier water is the Strike King Baby Rodent. I reserve the Dream shots for tournament situations, or really tough fishing days as they always seem to come through, but I tend to get a fish or less out of them.

Not to worry that still leaves you 20-30 notches above the rest of us!

When I'm punching, I'm usually adding a little more verticallity to my pitch. I don't want to get it way up there, but in the thicker matts that'll usually punch it through. If it doesn't go through a lot of times you can almost dig a little hole with the bait by pulling it towards yourself slightly and giving it slack and repeating until it drops through. Once it's through I let it fall all the way down, give it a few hops and if i don't get anything I'll pull it back up to the mat and bang it against the underside a time or two letting it drop slightly. If I don't have anything by then I pick a different spot or hole and repeat. I've only used the same type of rig in thick non-emergent veggies a few times but I'd try to work it the same way. Short casts and let it penetrate before I'd pull it up shaking it until I felt it pop free of the grass and would let it fall right back down.

You can get by fishing one in open water. There may be better options at times, but places like overhanging banks, or docks can still be considered open water. A frog is much easier to skip up under something than a spook is. I do think there are better baits in a true open water situation, but you can still get by using one if you wish.

Although I don't have a PQ, I have 5 other BPS reels with the DBS system and have been using them over 9 years so I'm fairly familiar with that system. The great thing about the DBS braking platform is that it incorporates the best of both systems into one. The centrifugal brakes work best when the spool rpm's are at their highest (beginning of the cast). The magnets work best for feathering the end of the cast. The spool tension knob applies braking throughout the cast. For the initial setup, set the magnetic brakes in the middle, set the centrifugal brakes with 4 pins on. (Use brakes opposite one another). Set the spool tension however you prefer. Some like it so the bait slowly drops when you push the thumb bar, some like it to just take the side to side play out of the spool. Now it's time to make some test casts. Start off easy and work your way up. As you cast keep an eye on the spool. If a backlash starts right at the beginning of the cast, you need more centrifugal braking. If the beginning of the cast is fine but it fluffs some at the end, you can bump the magnets up some. If it happens during both or right in the middle, you can bump up the spool tension. As you get more comfortable with it, you can start to experiment with removing some of the braking force to increase your casting distance. One of the nice things about the DBS system is once you have the centrifugal brakes set correctly to your casting motion, you vary rarely if ever have to adjust them. When you change baits, or there's a change in wind all it takes to adjust is usually a click or two more or less on the spool tension and/or the same with the magnetic brakes. Hopefully this helps you out some and gets you casting like a champ in no time.

@Basspro3106 I've had plenty of luck going straight braid even in clear water. When you're pitching or flipping it's more of a reaction presentation. You're basically dropping the bait on their head. In grass where I tend to work the bait a little longer the braid blends in, and if I'm fishing a dock or shallow wood the bait is dropping straight down on them, gets a few hops, and is then reeled in to go out to the next target. I don't think the fish really gets a very good look at the line. I've had success in water with 10-15' visibility with straight 50 lb braid.

I'd probably go with a 6 lb test leader regardless of where you're fishing it. You just have to learn not to horse them.

I like blue had one as my first boat. Bought it in between 5th and 6th grade and fish that boat hard all the way up through college. Fond memories of that little boat and there's times I wish I still had one for a few really small lakes around me. Enjoy slaying the fish out of it like I did!

That seems like that type of thing happens a lot during tournaments! Two things I want to get better at are improving my deep game, and my other goal is to better pattern fish every day I'm on the water.

I've seen a heart that is comprised of two hooks. Maybe she could get the heart with her dad's name or some quote inside of it.

The Swimmin' Dinger has a good swiming action and will work great on the back of a swim jig.

Try them on a 4/0 BPS vertical drop hook. It's just a keel weighted Gamakatsu hook, but that hook will fit the 5" Cane Thumper perfectly. It actually fits it so well the first 2-3 fish you don't usually even have to texpose the hook because the point stays right in the hook channel. After that I've had them last as long as 20 fish. That doesn't happen real often since a northern will usually come shred one with their teeth before it makes that long, but it's definitely possible.

You flat out shouldn't be breaking off with braid, unless as DVT noted that if you get a backlash with a heavier bait it's prone to snap. The only time I've had issues with braid breaking is when it gets in a northern's teeth and they go through it like a hot knife through butter. If you're breaking off there's a weak link in the chain somewhere and you need to find where that is. Take a look at your line when it breaks. You should be able to tell if it's at a knot, or if it's in the middle of the line. You also need to look at the line around the break to find out if it's frayed.

Yes I try to get everything organized, cleaned and ready to go for spring. Do my best to get all the tackle work done first since my boat gets stored in my neighbors garage over the winter and there's no electric in it. In the spring when there is more light I'm outside getting it all ready to go.

You can't go wrong with either stick. The LTB is going to be a little bit crisper and slightly more sensitive. What your decision might really come down to is the length and taper you're looking for. Both are great rods.

I don't know how it would affect the fish. Coming from a small speaker probably not at all, but from a bigger system built into the boat I would think might have some adverse affects. I don't think you'll ever catch any music coming out of my boat though. The sounds of being on the lake, the wildlife rustling on the bank, the eagles flying overhead, fish splashing, or bullfrogs croaking. I also think it doesn't let you catch those little things, like the sound of the fish jumping. Fishing without it makes me feel more in tune with what's going on around me. For those who do listen to music, please be considerate and either use headphones or keep it on very low as sound carries a lot farther over water than it does any other place.

I don't know much about the Mercury veriblend system ( I think that's what it's called). I can say that premixing isn't that big of a deal. It's a toss up on if you want to remove it though. On one had it's been going strong since 84 so if it hasn't died yet it'll keep on trucking. On the other side that plastic gear has been going since 84 and there's a chance it could fail. If you do remove it, go to walmart and pick up a marked premix bottle. They are less than $5 and all you do is fill it up with oil to the line of the amount of gallons you are going to add and then dump it in the tank before adding gas. It'll get you close enough and if you need to add more when filling up you can pour the rest in after. Having the oil res is nicer, but it's not nicer when you need to rebuild your motor because of it.