Kyle46N

I'll remember your name and send you a PM on how the rod fishes. Just for future reference, in case you see it on sale again. It's going to be put to work pitching/flipping jigs here on the Potomac the rest of May and all of June.

Good question. I payed for my rod, but other than a confirmation email, nothing has shipped yet. It's only been a day though.

Outfreaking standing!!!! Just bought the 7'4" heavy football jig for 90 bucks shipped. Thanks a bunch WPC for posting this up. I've been waiting to pull the trigger on a new jig/frog rod for the past month or so after breaking my previous rod. This deal took the cake.

Same thing happened a few Sundays ago on Burke lake. Two guys in a 18 - 20 ft jon boat of some sort with at least a 100 hp on the back. Full speed up and down the lake putting out serious wake. Lots of kayakers on the lake that day. I wanted to make a call too, but wasn't sure who would be best to call on a weekend.

Thanks a bunch for the input everyone!

For anyone who uses their medium heavy's, either 6'10" , 7'1",or 7'2", are they a true medium heavy action? Or do they fish like a heavy? Or a medium? Thanks!

And if the bass are in shallow, most likely they are active for those first few morning hours. So I would think about swimming that jig too.

I've fished out of a canoe my whole life, and I DO feel like using a 7 ft rod will make a big difference setting the hook from a kayak. It creates better leverage, takes up more line with the hook set which is important when fishing that close to the water and being in akward positions with kayaks and canoes. Not to mention it also helps out casting distance too.

Also, I throw this with micro guides. I can't even feel the knot leaving the guides on the cast.

The aggressive movement advice put a nice fish in the boat for me today. For 15 minutes I kept a bait in front of it, right on the bed, tried drop shot, various other lures. Finally just remembered what you said as I read this thread the other night. First time I aggressively ripped the lure across the bed, BAM! she inhaled it. Thanks!

I've used red power pro on some of my reels. It will fade just like moss green will. It's the end result that I don't like. The red seems to fade to a pinkish color, with a little white in it. Too me, that is fairly visible. The green fades as well, but it turns to a lighter green, which seems to not be as visible as the former.

Hit the river today. Fished in the rain from start to finish, 8 to 4. Spent the majority of my time in Pamunkey most of the day. Only managed 5 fish, went for about 14 - 15 lbs. All chunky fish. Two on a minus 1 crank, two on a chatterbait, 1 on a black/blue jig, and lost a big female at the boat that looked to be 5ish. They were all shallow.. Water temps were 60-62, I don't think they were on the beds, but were shallow. I couldn't put a good pattern together. I made the switch to the crank late, caught the two, then the tide flipped, and they didn't want that anymore. I thought I had something going with the swim jig, but couldn't get bit again, then same deal with the chatterbait. Caught two out of the same laydown, then couldn't get anything to eat it again. Through a Yum Dinger and a Cut tail worm in every area I caught fish, but nothing doing with those. Finished up the day in Pohick, missed one fish and that was it. Water was up to 65 degrees in the back of Pohick, and clear, but couldn't find anything. It was one of those days where I think someone who knows the Potomac better would have put a lot more fish in the boat. I just get the feeling the fish were eating, but I failed to find them. I'm still learning it, and learned some more today. Inspite of the rain, it was pretty fun being out there.

I have the 7'11" Veritas Heavy for punching also. It's the older version. It's a load, and I'm sure there are lighter punching rods out there. Then again, when you get that big with a rod, weight has to increase. I got it for a good deal, and I don't punch too often. Since I bought it I have done some reading about what the action of a punching rod should be. And I think my Veritas may be too fast throughout. It's stiff, with very little give. Apparently, you want some flex to a punching rod.

This is another misconception about saltwater fishing....especially inshore. You don't need to upgrade in size. If you're fishing for trout, flounder, and reds, with lures, the smaller spinning reels work just fine. If you're using cut bait and live bait, your odds of hooking up with bigger fish increase, and then you may want to upgrade to a larger reel. I drop shot for trout, and throw small soft plastics with 30 size spinning reels on medium action rods all the time.

That's the newer version. They still have the 8230 size of the older version for 69.99.

I think you should take the LFS and that weight difference all day long.

Thanks for all the advice and comments. It re-enforces what I was already thinking but at the same time advice like ClackerBuzz gave will keep me trying to skip that baitcaster. Definitely haven't kept my thumb on it the whole way through. Makes a lot of sense.

Dead on. Can't beat a sling bag when wading or fishing from shore. Been using some brand of sling my whole life, and that involves 28 years of river and stream fishing.

I need to make a big correction. I meant to say Gander had the Shimano Compre on sale for 59.99. Big difference in my opinion.

We can debate the anecdotal evidence all we want, but the truth is we have no scientific evidence that a bass or any fish for that matter has the ability to see "line" attached to a potential food source, and determine that it's dangerous or to stay away. As a matter of fact, it's kind of ridiculous that I even used the word "determine". The idea that a fish can do such is ridiculous. Maaaayyyyybbbeee, the fish would instictively not eat the lure because there is something "different", but again, that's just anecdotal. So, when you make that decision to go with one line over an other based off visibility, just understand that it really comes down to your confidence or preference, because the reality is, we just don't know. On that note, my anecdotal experience is a wash. I have caught fish on braid in very clear water, and sometimes I haven't. There are way too many other variables that could have contributed to the catching or not catching. We just can't account for all of them.

I've been thinking alot about skipping docks with a medium heavy spinning rod. I admittedly am pretty sorry when it comes to skipping with a baitcaster. It's kind of the final piece of my learning curve with baitcasters. BUT, I grew up skipping docks for crappie with ultralight rods. So I am VERY good at that, and still do it to this day. I've been so hung up with learning how to skip with a baitcast, that it never occured to me to play to my strength. The reality is, it could take years before I'm able to skip a BC as well as I can skip with a spinning rod. Any thoughts on this? Does anyone else use a spinning rod to work docks with? If so, what are your experiences? Is it effective? Do you feel you are at a disadvantage with spinning vs baitcast? I'm just looking for opinions and discussion specifically on this application, spinning rods for skipping larger lures, jigs, senkos, spinnerbaits, large plastics. I fully understand the benefits of baitcast vs spinner for other applications, flipping, pitching, etc.

Was in Gander Mountain yesterday for their pizz poor sales, but I did put my hands on a Shimano Clarus MH spinning and it felt light as a feather. Marked down to 59.99. I almost bought it. Just a thought if you have a Gander Mountain in the area.

Same here, if I bought those, it would be just because they make quality hardbaits and 7 bucks is a good deal for a quality jerkbait. Not so much because of the baitball design.

I use P-Line flouroclear for all my leaders on braid setups. It's tough, and to my eye, seems more translucent in the water. And it's cheaper than flourocarbon leader. And for me the true test was using this in saltwater for a couple years. It withstood all kinds of toothy fish inshore, not to mention all the sharp oysters and barnacle encrusted structure, so I have the utmost confidence using it for bass and the softer structure assocaiated with them.

Yep, I was going back for another Pflueger Supreme this morning, after I checked the price last night at 59.99. This morning..............79.99. Still a good deal....but dang, I was hoping for 59.99. Oh well, holding off for now.