fishballer06

Lost a Curado on a BPS Extreme rod before. Was driving down the lake about 70 mph. Hit a big wake. The rod strap velcro was no good and didn't hold, and the rod blew into the lake in about 40 feet of water. Sad, sad day. I was only about 17-18 at the time, so that was a very expensive setup for me at the time. On another note, earlier this year, I was throwing crankbaits in front of the dam at a local lake. I managed to hook someone's rod and reel it in. Got kind of excited whenever I was reeling in and saw it was a rod. After pulling it out of the water, I realized it was a cheap Wal-Mart setup with a broken tip and the reel was pretty rusty.

I think it all depends on the rod, and the application of it. I personally really like the feel of a split grip more, and I like it a lot better while making my cast as well. However, I feel like a split grip handle on most rods that are 7'+ makes them unbalanced, and that a full grip is better for those longer rods. In the end, it's all personal preference.

Glad to hear they took care of you. I bought 4 Fenwick's myself this spring and I have been loving all of them.

I've never been a fan of buzzbaits with the clacker.

Never hurts to throw a trailer hook on there

I picked a few of those up at my local Wal Mart and gave them to my father. After his first weekend of fishing with them, he told me to buy him more skirts!

Put some new hooks on there. I like using Gami's.

I love throwing topwater in the summer.

I've been having a lot of success on the Rapala BX Minnows. I also just got into fishing plastics after being a crankbait guy for years. So I guess you could add wacky rigged Senko's to my list.

I'm torn between the 6'10" and the 7'3". Looks like an awesome rod! I wonder if TW will actually have them in stock for the 21st?

Like others have stated, most pike can be handled with common bass fishing gear. I've caught lots of pike in the 32-38" range on my MH bass rods with a standard Shimano Curado reel. If you primarily fish for bass, I would get yourself something fairly heavy (MH or H), but something that is still useful for bass fishing as well. There's no sense spending $200 for a setup if you're going to use it once a year. I would recommend either a BPS Extreme rod, or a Fenwick HMG rod, in about a 7' MH or H action. Both rods are around $100. Then for a reel, pick your favorite reel in your budget and go with it. A 6 to 1 ratio baitcaster will handle anything out there just fine.

I love my BPS Extreme rods. A little on the heavier side compared to some other higher end rods, but they're still great rods for the money. If you're trying to stay in the $100 range, I'd recommend checking out the Fenwick HMG and HMX rods.

They're both small mouth. Largemouth have two different fins on their back. Smallmouth only have one.

One time in Canada, we were drift fishing in the middle of this large bay. This bay was probably 2 miles around and we were smack dab in the middle of it. When out of no where, we see this little chipmunk swimming across the water right beside the boat. How he made it out to where we were with how many pike and bass were in that lake, I don't know. But I can't imagine he ever made it back to land alive.

Pretty cool clip. Thanks for sharing!

I run Suffix 832 on almost all of my baitcasters. The Suffix 832 is much smoother, much quieter, and I think it holds up better as well. Not to mention, my Father is a die hard PowerPro user and I experience far less line issues than he does (and we both use the same reels). As far as the PowerPro Super Slick 8, I have one of my spinning reels spooled up with it and I like it a lot better than standard PowerPro. Just not sold on the colors of the Super Slick.

I highly recommend Suffix 832. Works much better than Power Pro.

Heard about the Beast for a while. Should be a nice reel.

I'm a big fan of the Heddon Torpedo and the Rapala Skitter Prop for topwater prop baits. Throw them out, give them about a one foot jerk, let it rest for 2-3 seconds, and repeat.

Water is likely around 80* in Indiana where you are. They're not spawning now, just likely feeding. I know here in PA, the catfish are spawning right now. But they're about the last fish to spawn.

^^^ He's right. Could be a number of different things. Is the water high? Is the water very muddy? Have you had better success at this spot in years past?

Both ways work great, but I primarily use them wacky style.

Hog

$180 Curado I $220 Chronarch aluminum $270 Chronarch Ci4 I'd say the bases are all covered if that's the case.

Walleye. So challenging, so rewarding.