tcbass

Smart.

I thought running odd number brakes makes them unbalanced?

I guess either centrifugal only or centrifugal and magnetic brake combos.

As the title says: does anyone use their centrifugal baitcasting reel with all of the magnets turned off? If not, what how many brakes do you have on?

I know that a lot of people like at least some wave action when fishing topwater. It makes the lure a little harder to distinguish for fish and may count for more strikes. How much wave action do you like? Are there some lures where you don't like any wave action and just a flat, calm, glass like surface? I know I have more success with a glass like surface when using a Ragetail Toad. But when I use a KVD Sexy Dawg just a tiny amount of wave action is usually better. And I just mean tiny ripples. It's strange, it's like glass surface, no bites. And then a tiny breeze picks up a second later causing the water to not be glass and then bites. Not saying I haven't caught with with that lure on glass surfaces though. I'd think buzzbaits are another one where you don't want to any waves. Maybe it's lures that are constantly being retrieved like Ragetail Toads and Buzzbaits that you want a near glass surface while ones that are stop and go like poppers and spook types you want a little but of surface distortion because the baits sit up on the water for awhile where fish can get a good look at it vs. being retrieved quickly where a fish can't get a good look at it.

I just do a straight retrieve with pauses over holes in lily pads.

You've never seen anyone fight an ocean fish for a long time and get tired? After palming a baitcaster for a day my hand is sore sometimes afterward.

Why would you outlaw a 6'6" MH? I have two Mojo bass rods. The Frog one is Heavy and it's like a broomstick. I'm selling it. The second, a MH is I liked alot until I got my new Cabelas Tournament ZX rods. Now I'll probably never use it again. The Cabelas ZX rods are awesome. I realized the Mojo bass rod had way too short of a butt and the Cabelas rods all feel a weight lower then they actually are. The Cabelas Tournament ZX rods are awesome for $100 and really great when they go on sale for $69. The Cabelas Tournament ZX Platinum rods are supposed to be better and are on sale for $139 right now.

I'm very small. It actually makes fishing much harder. When I stand I can't reach the trolling motor pedal. Holding a baitcasting rod and reel correctly is nearly impossible. My hands get cramped up sometimes attempting to make the stretch. I can guarantee you it's not flawed technique. I use both baitcasting and spinning. They both have here purposes and both do better at some things then the other.

Abu Garcia Revo Rocket.

9:0:1

Thanks guys. Any other lakes?

I'm not saying that baitcasters are better than spinning set ups just that in some circumstances one will outshine the other and in the case of lures with a lot of size, resistance, baitcasting setups will mostly be the better choice. One area is fatigue. When your throwing something with a lot of resistance or something that is heavy, usually a baitcaster is easier on you. When you see muskie fisherman they are throwing those big lures with heavy duty baitcasting setups. And no one would recommend throwing an Alabama/Umbrella Rig with spinning gear. If you did your reel and rod would be huge. Yes, spinning gear can be used for heavier-duty applications and a lot of off-shore saltwater fisherman will use them for bigger fish. But mostly you see heavy duty baitcasting setups. And for the same fish you can have a medium sized baitcasting setup while the comparable spinning rod setup would be considerably larger. Baitcasting setups can be downsized more and keep the same performance while a spinning setup will be bigger IMO. If you see a lot of commercial fisherman they use baitcasting setups, not spinning. They need to get the fish in efficiently and as quickly as possible. Same for downrigger fishing, I don't know anyone who uses spinning rods for downrigger fishing. Baitcasting setups just seem to be more heavy-duty but still a moderate size. I came to this realization the other day when I was fishing a very small lure. I was casting a Rapala Scatter Rap shallow on my baitcasting set up. Worked great. However, I decided to put it on my medium spinning rod for longer and easier casting. It did great in that aspect however, I noticed that reeling it back I felt a lot more resistance and it felt a lot hard and after 10 casts I knew I would get tired more quickly. I switched it back to my baitcasting setup and wasn't fatigued at all the rest of the day. I realized that this might be because of the distance of the reel from the rod. On a baitcasting setup the reel is right at the rod. On a spinning setup the reel is actually quite a bit away from the rod. I don't know if this effects angle, torque, or what. But it is easier to reel in an object with a baitcasting rig than it would be with a spinning rig. When I fish spinning I use the reels base to split my fingers, so I have two above and 2 below. Also of note, with a baitcaster I reel with my right hand (dominant hand) and hold the rod with my left, when I'm using spinning, I'm reeling with my left hand and holding the rod with my right hand. This could also effect fatigue. I could tell though that the Scatter Rap's resistance put much more strain on the spinning setup than it did the baitcasting setup.

I've read so many articles where people say, "Find the shad" and use shad-like baits. Well, I fish the Twin Cities of Minnesota and I'm not sure our lakes up here have shad. Do Minnesota lakes have shad?

How many colors did you just mention? lol. Is chartreuse black back sexy shad one color or is that multiple colors?

My bow alone, retail, almost cost the same as all of my rods and reels I bought this year. lol

What's the worse that could happen? I just ordered a pack of Rage Bugs in green watermelon.

So, I made my (knock on wood) final fishing purchases this year. I really outdid myself. I got 2 new Cabelas Tournament ZX baitcasting rods with 2 Abu Garcia Revo Rockets, 2 Cabelas Tournament ZX spinning rods with a Shimano Stradic FJ and Ci4. I don't plan on buying any more rods or reels unless I break one of these and need a replacement. I'm set. I probably spent about $250 more on line and lures this year. I am done, done for fishing stuff. That's what I told my gf....and then my ignoramus brother piped in, "Until archery season!" Ugh, he's right. Deer rifle and archery, turkey, and other is just around the corner. And then there's ice fishing. I spent a lot of money on archery gear last year, a new bow for and my gf, battery operated electronic jacket from Milwaukee (I have a condition where I can't stay warm). So, if I added it all up, I don't know what is more expensive, all I know is they the Bait Monkey and Gear Gorilla are equally taxing! I'd classify the Bait Monkey as fishing gear and the Gear Gorilla as hunting equipment. So, is the Gear Gorilla lurking in your house too?

Yep. The wind blown side is where I caught them with the Scatter Rap and lost one on a Senko.

I think I read this too. But I think they only meant original colors. Not sure.

I have a carpeted deck. It just sits on top and never moves by itself even in big waves.

So I was fishing a local lake today and it was really windy. Winds were in the 18-25mph zone. Keeping my boat in one place was really hard. This is where a nice set of Power Poles would have come in handy. I fished out deep, docks, between docks, and out around some reeds. I caught 2 bass under a dock with a Senko. Three bass with a Scatter Rap. One was out near some reeds and the other two were from under docks. I didn't get one hit on a white/red spinnerbait, KVD Sexy Shad, KVD Swim Jig, or Ragetail Toad. I did lose at least a few fish under the dock on a Senko and one fish out in the open water on a Senko that was near the bottom. It was 75' degrees and sunny with a lot of cloud cover, so it would go from sunny to dark every few seconds. It was really hard to stay in place and if I had been able to do that, I think I could have pulled some more bass out from underneath docks. The surface of the water was very wavy and choppy. I was surprised at no bites near the reeds and not one bite on the swim jig which had been very successful the last few outings at this lake. I really thought about using a weighted T-Rig worm and Zoom Fluke but didn't. Would those have been good choices? Here's the reeds I was fishing: Here's what the docks and between the docks: These pics aren't from today. What could I have done to catch more fish?

I like the Emeril Deep Fryer with built in filter. That way you can keep using the same oil like 11-15 times and saves a ton of money. Peanut oil isn't cheap! Also, if you get that type, make sure you let it cool before you turn the release knob to "automatic drain". Apparently someone did that right after using it and the hot oil strained and melted his plastic container because it was 375' degrees. lol.

I use braid on all of my baitcasters and spinning reels. Could mono or fluro work better in certain situations? Yes. But I'm too cheap. I've had the same Power Pro on one baitcaster for 6 years and it still works strong. I did just order some Sufix 832 though based on recommendations from people on here.

Same here with the one in MN. I spent like $84. FML.