MIbassyaker

Don't know anything about the ballistic, I expect you want the 30. Pflueger sizes are smaller than the number suggests. Check out the weight, spool size and retrieve rates on the Pflueger site: http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/pflueger-reels-spinning-reels/pflueger-supreme-xt-spinning-reel/1347904.html#start=7 Size 25: holds 90 yards of 6# line, 6oz weight, and a 22" retrieve rate Size 30: holds 145 yards of 6# or 130 of 8#, 6.8oz weight, 31" retrieve rate. the 25 is more like a 1000 series reel of other manufactureres. And the 30 has a lot more capacity and inches of line pick-up on the retrieve for only being .8oz heavier.

238. Mostly largemouth, 34 smallies, 12 pike, 4 rock bass

They will work without a trailer, but you can just put a fluke or part of a worm on -- the blade provides the action so the trailer doesn't need to have any action of its own. I fish them in vegetation 100% of the time. you will get hung up some, but they usually can be dislodged by popping the rod tip upward and back to slack quickly a few times.

Maybe he forgot to have BOTH the jig and the texas rig tied on 24/7! Newbies should take note: If it happens to Catt, it will happen to you too....

I saw some version of this question posed a couple times around here last November, when St. Croix put the last-gen LTBs on sale in the website.. One that seemed to be mentioned a lot was a model I had also been looking at: the 6'10" ML-XF "drop shot/finesse" spinning rod. So I got one. Wish I could tell you how well it fishes....but of course, that was only in november, and I live at about the same latitude as you...

That would be my choice. I have the 6'8 MXF spinning in the Avid X line, and it is my favorite rod.

Here is my most recent fishing report from.......er, my office at work on Friday:

On first pass, just eyeballing the choices (will probably change before the event): A: Martens B: DeFoe C: Elam D: Clausen E: Hartman "Time remaining: 31 days" Ugh.

I for one have great difficultly figuring them out during the "post-spawn blues"...although it seems to me the concern should be more about location and depth, rather than particular bait.

So to recap: A trailer that provides resistance slows it down, and a bulkier skirt slows it down...and the slower fall rate, however you get it, may be a key factor in cold murky water. Have I got it?

Most of the places I fish are like this -- small, public access bodies of water (natural lakes, small dam backwaters, river bayous, gravel pits), often with one or more holes 20' or deeper, loaded with largemouth up to the state 14" size limit, but mostly under, with an occasional 4LB+. I pulled a 5lb out of a 30-acre lake last summer in which I had previously not caught anything over 16". In MI, a 5lb largemouth is around 10 years old -- surviving 10 years in a 30 acre lake with public access, within an hour's drive of the 2nd largest population center in the state is something of an achievement, and not something I expect to encounter very often, especially in a place that doesn't have much of a catch-and-release culture. I know of a very small handful of confirmed 7lbers caught in lakes near me but none going 8 or more. There is simply no place I can expect a 5+ every trip, no matter what bait I throw. I have a few swimbaits -- a couple s-wavers, a magic swimmer, and a couple others whose names I can't think of at the moment, and have used them with the intent of catching larger fish. Perhaps I'm just in the minority, but I have not honestly seen any increase in the number of larger bass I catch, or indeed any reduction in the number of smaller bass I catch.

Rojas was saying he's back and feeling great after surgery for a wrist that was hampering him most of last year...I got Dean "The machine" on my radar going forward, for sure. He reeled in a bass with his lost crankbait in its mouth! Might have been one of those occasions where the bass hits, gets wrapped around a tree, and breaks off. *************** I ended at 901 points. 48% overall, and ranked 56th in BR league. A worse start than last year. It's all good, though....the view from my my office window, Friday:

Holy smokes, CeCole, way to nail it. Very close to a prize. And Clausen and Hawk are separated by 3 oz. Has anybody else in our group won prizes in an event or come this close to the top?

I agree with the "neither" comments. Spinnerbaits, like buzzbaits, will wear out after awhile if they're catching fish. I call that getting my money's worth. On top of that, up here there's always a chance I'll lose my spinnerbait to a pike on my next cast. Is it the vibration that makes them effective? Sometimes yes, sometimes maybe not. What I don't want are spinnerbaits that don't hook up well, or fall apart out out of the blue (like the wire just breaks or blade falls off). Like WRB says, that can be avoided with quality components and a good hook.

3 in the cut for me too: Ike, Hite, & Fukae. The top 5 teams in the BR group all have one angler in common and it's actually not Takahiro: It's Justin Lucas.

I heard someone on Live before the break say Horton has a 5lber in there. Meanwhile, hilariously, basstrakk lists Mark Davis with a 5 fish limit going 3-2.

Well, I guess even Jacob Wheeler has days on the water like the kind I have. According Basstrakk, my team is being pulled off the absolute bottom by BHite and Shin, who are unofficially in the the top 12 right now....with the other three below 80th. It showed Ike with no fish in the boat a moment ago. Now updated with 1. Herren with three dinks so far, going 3lb, Wheeler with two...yikes.

So, one more jig and you'll need another box....the bait monkey will definitely see that!

Looks great -- based on experience, I expect it will stay nicely organized until.....oh, the first 10 minutes on the water....

Ouch! 65th place among BR, 22% overall...

Wheeler, Iaconelli, Herren, Hite, Fukae

Missile D-Bomb, Buddha Baits Baby Momma, or Biospawn VileCraw

Good stuff Glenn, Keep' em coming.

I used to watch more of them than I do now. These days, the only ones I make much time for regularly are Bassresource, although I'll go down the rabbit hole sometimes and watch any of the others, if I see something interesting. I do wish KeepinItReelFishing was more prolific -- his analysis and reviews are outstanding. I also like some of the content from FLW and Bassmaster channels, especially FLW circuitbreaker and the old Bassmaster Classics recaps.

Tick, Tock... Less than 48 hours to go. I hemmed, I hawed, I swapped some in, swapped some out, but I think I'm all set. In the end, my team is.....well, not the most risky or insightful choices, i must say, but I'm happy with them. Hoping for an uneventful Friday morning so I can put Bassmaster Live on in my office at work. It is very cold here. And there is much snow.