EmersonFish

One mistake a lot of people make when they bank fish at campgrounds or parks is fishing at the most accessible places. Those places get hammered by fishermen. Don't be afraid to walk a ways or crawl between some trees or bushes to get to some spots that are not fished as much. Look for little areas that have plenty of water but a boater would have a hard time getting to. If you are confined to the bank, take advantage of it, if you can. Fish early and late. Personal pet peeve: Never fish in or even near a swimming area; even in the off season when no one is around. Broken off hooks, lures, and line in/near swimming areas is not cool. There are plenty of other, better places to fish. Not implying you do that; I'm just venting.

As a right-handed person who uses left-hand retrieve baitcasters exclusively, I find the theories of how the right-hand retrieve casting reel came to be as it is interesting. What I try not to do is get into debates about what retrieve side makes more sense. I might joke around with people now and then, but at the end of the day, whatever works for someone is just fine. I'm just happy that left-hand retrieve reels are popular enough that there are plenty of them available.

Watch Youtube. You'll see a bunch of semi-obnoxious videos of young people talking about being "pro-staff" for a company and talking about how great the product is. At least in some of the videos, they are fishing, but usually, it's an "unboxing" where they are just showing us what came in the mail. The problem is, all they really get is a little discount on the product in exchange for promoting it. I guess it can be mutually beneficial, particularly if the company is trying to get its name out there. For a young person to really bring value to the company, they would have to have quite a presence. Do you do videos that get lots of views? Are you out where people will see you? You have to give the company a reason to work with you, so when you write the letters, you stand out, because there are a lot of people writing letters wanting freebies. You have to convince them they get something out of it.

I'll say this. If you are going to invest time and money in going to college, your education is priority #1, BUT, I could have played college basketball, and decided at the time not to take on that challenge, and went to a school close to home where life would be a cake walk. Do I regret it? Well, I'm 40 now and I'm here on a forum telling people about it, so I guess you can say I wish I could change things. There's nothing wrong with wanting to fish on the college club or team. And if you do well, it might be beneficial to you as you attempt to make a career in the fishing industry. I think a lot of people are a little too cynical about it. As long as you have a good plan for your education and career, and a way to finance your fishing passion as you take a shot at the "big time," then give it a shot. Just don't put yourself into financial ruin. You can't enter tournaments if they repossess your truck and boat, and your gas card is maxed out. And once you start a family, well, that's a whole different story. As for the boat: You can buy a pretty nice rig for $5000 if you shop around. Plenty good for your needs. And I know a lot of college bass clubs/teams have sponsors (not necessarily companies, but individuals) that will loan them boats for big tournaments. The ones you see on TV, where the 20 year old kids are fishing out of fully-rigged Rangers? Those kids didn't buy those boats.

I'd take that $100-$120 and see what might pop up as a "too good to pass up" deal in one of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday type sales. You might be able to get something that is normally in the $150 range, which can be a pretty nice step up. If nothing comes up, there are still a ton of quality rods in that $100-$120. Almost every manufacturer is battling to win that price-point. I think, particularly with a jig rod, what feels right in your hand is important. With a question that open, you'll get too many opinions here to really do you much good. I know that's the boring answer. I apologize. Some guy is selling a never used MH Micro Magic for $120 TYD here on the board. You can look for deals like that as well.

I have never fished it, but plan on fishing it at Table Rock in May. I'm surprised no one has any input. It seems like they have added dates, it has a lot of big sponsors, and the tour has been going on since 2010; so it must be doing okay. If it were poorly run, word would get out pretty quick, and they would not be going back to the same lakes year after year. I guess I'll find out in May.

I would not want to be the one charged with repairing the image of 'Carrotstix.' That is a tall order. But if there are, in fact, new people "at the helm" so to speak, I hope they can get things in order. Competition in the industry is good for everybody. If they are set on keeping the name, they better find ways to make it clear to the bass fishing community that things have changed and they deserve another shot at our valuable dollars. I suppose they could send me a set of their complete lineup of rods and if they are great I will make sure everyone knows about it. I'll even wear an e21 hat while I'm doing it. You gotta start somewhere.

I think everyone pretty well summed it up. Bottom line is; if you are doing something that requires muscle memory, you have to have faith in that. If you start thinking about things, you will only screw up the equation, because your conscious mind cannot account for every little variable that every little muscle needs to account for. I focus on preparing myself for what might happen once my bait enters the water, already assuming it's going to go exactly where I want it to. Usually that's just an awareness of the feeling in my hands, or watching the line, or things like that.

I think you are starting to see a movement toward simplicity for a lot of guys. Many people are looking for more versatile equipment and trying to keep things tighter, so to speak. That's why you'll see companies marketing rods as "all-around" rods. Other guys want to have very specific rod/reel/line combos for every technique, and the collection of the equipment can be as much of a hobby as the actual fishing. Most people on this forum fall somewhere in between. I know I'm at a point where I'm trying to trim my line-up down to the bare necessities. Granted, I'll still have 5 rods on my boat when I get to that point, and they might cost $300 each; but that is my version of keeping it simple. Could I buy one spinning rod and one casting rod and catch just as many fish? I don't know. Would I have just as much fun fishing? Probably. But it gets cold here in the Winter. Shopping for equipment keeps me sane.

I can only speak for me in that with Medium power spinning rods, I'm happier with one with an extra fast tip because I feel like it allows me to still cast lighter baits well, and those rods usually have that soft tip that is sensitive and fairly versatile for finesse applications, but allows me to move fish fairly quickly as well. To me the medium fast rods are more difficult to cast accurately, and I don't think I get all of those light biters that I am targeting that led me to use spinning gear in the first place. Of course, extra fast and fast can be a lot different from rod to rod. With ML rods, I don't mind a rod that is rated "fast." I have a St. Croix Rage M/XF Spinning Rod. That thing is pretty sweet. I can use it for just about any spinning application. It's out of your price range, but there is surely a Mojo equivalent. I know there is a fairly significant difference in the blanks, but a lot of people like the Mojos. In any case, it might be interesting to see what $100 can get you during the Holiday sales. They will be here very soon.

I guess if the sole purpose of having a spinning outfit is to fish lighter lures that might be difficult to manage with a baitcaster, but you still mean to use heavier gear, than maybe a M action rod would make more sense; but I'd still go with a XF action. To me a true M/F spinning rod is just kind of "meh." Nothing I'd do with it I wouldn't do with a casting rod anyway. But everybody is different. You'll just have to figure out what works for you.

I'm with DVT on this one. If you are like me, and are use to using casting gear most of the time, you will want a spinning setup that will allow you to use techniques that you can't do well with said casting gear. So to me, if you are going to have one spinning setup, you should lean ML, or perhaps toward a M rod that is "underpowered." The only spinning setup I carry regularly at the moment is a ML "Shaky Head" rod, but it is actually a fine drop shot rod if used properly, and works well for the other finesse techniques I wouldn't use a M/XF casting rod for.

I've been thinking of ordering the left hand version of that reel for some time now. The lefty only comes in 6.8:1, 12/120; but I'd still use the BB1 for lower speed stuff anyway. The reason I haven't pulled the trigger is because I don't really need it. But a 10 bearing system reel that weighs 7.0 ounces for $99 bucks? I'll find a use for it.

I have the AVC70MF rod, and I feel it's one of the versatile rods you can own. The moderate action options might be better specifically for treble hook fishing, but the action of the MF will work fine if you use it properly, particularly for the treble hook uses you mentioned, and I think you have a better stick for a variety of other uses as well.

The D22 is a classic. People around here use them a lot, and they continue to catch fish. The price is right as well.

Sounds like being in Maine, you don't have time to wait if you want to fish this season, but there might be some "Black Friday" sales just a little over 3 weeks away. Even if you just need something to hold you over for a few weeks, you might as well buy something you are going to continue using into next season, if you can afford it. I know that it's easy for the rest of us to spend your money, but the $30-$40 you spend on a cheap reel would go a long way toward one of other quality models guys have mentioned. I bought a cheap reel once to put on a rod they gave me at a tournament because I just couldn't wait. I ended up barely using the rod anyway because I couldn't stand the reel. I wished I would have saved that money for the permanent reel I knew I'd end up buying later.

Welcome to the forum. I'm a Wichita boy, born and raised; although I now live in Central Missouri. Go Shox!

Braid is certainly nothing to be intimidated by. I would recommend that you stick to the tried and true brands like J Francho mentioned. They are relatively affordable, particularly when you consider how long they should last. You can buy even cheaper braids, but super cheap braid is super cheap for a reason. Plenty of people have bought the lowest price stuff to introduce themselves to braid, and decided they hated braid all together. I'm sure the same can be said for people getting into fluorocarbon, for that matter. Pinching pennies in this case won't save you anything in the long run.

Not much difference to casting in my mind. It's little more forgiving on casting gear if you make a mistake, but make sure you are careful about pulling on something too hard and causing the line to dig into itself. It can be great for all around use if you don't mind tying leaders. I don't use straight braid often. Usually only when I'm fishing heavy stuff and getting reaction strikes. But braid is great main line, and you can tie on leaders that are a variety of lengths and pound tests depending on what type of fishing you are doing. As far as capacity, you can obviously put more braid on "pound-for-pound" because it has lower diameter. For the most part, with bass fishing equipment, reels have more capacity than they practically need anyway, so many people use lower priced line, like mono, as backing so they don't need so much braid to fill the spool. If you look at at a spool of 30 lb test braid, that's about the same as 8 lb. mono. It might take over 200 yards of that line to fill the spool, which is more than you get with a typical filler spool. Usually only in saltwater applications are you very concerned with maximizing line capacity, so it really isn't a deciding factor as far as what type of line to choose for bass fishing. There are a number of other factors related to the lines stretch, buoyancy, etc. to consider when choosing a line type for a particular setup.

Just focus on keeping your bait as low to the water (ground if you are practicing) as possible throughout the cast, and slowing the bait down (not a dead stop where the bait nosedives in) so it kind of sets in the water where you intend it to. Once the distance gets too far for you to do this effectively, it's like people say, you'll find yourself using a roll cast, which can be much more accurate and quiet than an over hand cast, although not quite as stealthy as a wonderfully performed pitch. Eventually, you'll be cruising banks alternating between all kinds of casts depending on the varying targets you are hitting and not even really thinking about your technique much. Everyone does things a little different based on their abilities, equipment, preference, etc... I do a goofy looking swinging backhand cast to get in behind low-hanging trees. No one taught me that cast, but I imagine just about everybody has their version of it because it gets the job done. You just get use to having a rod in your hand and you figure things out.

DVT got it. I usually straighten out a paper clip and put a little turn in the end to pull the plug off easier. Then work kind of delicately with the screws so you don't strip them trying to go the wrong way or strip the head using the wrong size screwdriver. A magnetic head screwdriver would make it easier. There will be some kind of spacer in there. Don't lose that when you pull the knob off. It may stay on the shaft or inside the space in the knob. The knobs I replace them with require the spacer that comes with that knob so that there is no play side-to-side, but you'll want the old spacer in case you put the old knobs back on or use them for something else. There are plenty of knobs that fit on Lew's reels (I think Abu, BPS, etc...), but not all do. There are different sizes.

The Lew's paddle handle knobs are terrible. Luckily they are easy to change, and I have a bunch of old Pro Qualifiers laying around with handle knobs I really like that work perfect.

You're spooling it fine. It doesn't matter if your baitcaster is right or left hand retrieve; you want the line coming off the top of the spool. You probably just need to make sure that your reel is set up right prior to casting so that overruns are less likely to get out of hand (there are probably threads about that here), make sure you are using the proper technique (more threads), and practice. Braid is generally more forgiving than mono when you screw up, which is why they were easier to pick out. Eventually, your thumb will get educated, and backlashes will only happen when something unexpected happens during a cast, but you have to give it time. In the meantime, practice with lures that are heavy enough for you to feel them in your backswing, and throughout the cast. The frog might be a poor practice lure as far as timing your transition from your backswing to your cast, because it's hard to feel the tension on the line unless you are roll casting.

That's a tall order man. There are good options that seat 4, but 6 is a lot of people in a boat primarily used for fishing. Maybe there are custom seating options in some of the multi species/walleye boats with four pedestal seats in the back standard? You might need to call some boat manufacturers and enquire. I'm sure you wouldn't be the first to ask. In any case, it all sounds very expensive. Good luck!

One thing to remember is that "Pro Staff" stands for "Promotional" staff, not "Professional" staff. There are a lot of people these days who are on a company's "Pro Staff" who are mainly guys who produce You Tube videos, "product reviews" and things like that, and in exchange for getting rebates on a products, they endorse the heck out of them. They may not even fish competitively, but if they can get a lot of clicks and views, they bring some value to the relationship. Of course, there are Pro Staffers who run the gamut from guys who travel to all of the trade shows, to high level professional fishermen. In the case of the latter, the distinction between sponsorship and pro staff might be a little more gray, and may be more about semantics; but I can't say. There is probably someone here who would have a better understanding of how it works at that level than I do.