GANGGREEN

I'm one of those guys who think it's borderline insane to have the latest and "greatest" all the time. I'm finally at a time in my life when I can afford nice things and to travel some and I'm sick and tired of hearing, "geez, it must be nice" from guys who have wasted their money their entire lives on stupid new products that they didn't need, and who simply can't afford to travel or buy a new pickup or boat because they've never made a single sacrifice in their life. Most of the stuff in my boat is at least 5 or 6 years old and many of my rod/reel combos are far older than that, though I'll admit to having made a fairly serious commitment to upgrading some stuff this year. I've added a new boat, new sonar and equipment last year and I've already added 6 new rod/reel outfits this winter and all of them are a bit higher quality than what I'm used to. I suspect that I'll see a substantial jump in productivity and effectiveness in this new equipment because it's substantially better than the stuff I had been using. Many of the guys who replace gear every single year as the new models are announced probably see little, if any, improvement in function.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I think they ended the Smallmouth line and if you can still get one, the 6'9" MH/F might be a good option and you might get one really inexpensively.

I use ultralight a lot, sometimes specifically for bass and more frequently, for perch or other species and the bass come as a bonus. I've caught lots of 4 pounders on UL gear and I suspect I've probably been around or over 5 pounds a number of times as well. Even though we're talking UL for throwing small lures and using light line (yes, I typically use 4 pound test mono), I don't use very short or buggy whip rods, I typically stick with 6' rods that are fast or extra fast action and I enjoy them immensely.

Yellow perch for me. I love them for a bunch of reasons. First of all, they bite really well on slow, bottom, finesse presentations most of the time. They can bite aggressively but more often, they're finicky and bite softly. They're as beautiful as any fish out there and they taste fantastic. They remind me a lot of a smaller and more numerous walleye, which would probably be my next favorite.

As others have pointed out, the actual prespawn is a distinct pattern and time of year, but I've had some of my very best days, particularly for smallmouth, during the late winter period. When I can find open water, I'll fish as early as March when many lakes in my area are still iced over and water temps are in the 30s. The fish are lethargic, but they'll definitely bite on the right presentation and when it's the only game in town, I'm all over it.

Yep, I'd also like to second the original poster's thoughts. I've been fishing somewhat seriously for the better part of 5 decades but I had gotten off track over the last half dozen years or so, mostly because of family commitments and kids' sports. I'm back on track and I found this board just recently. It's been a pleasure to read for entertainment purposes or to educate myself about gear and techniques that I may not be good at. Thanks for all of your work and keeping the board available for us. Merry Christmas to all.

I'm basically in the same position that you are in that my family doesn't have a clue what to get me. Thankfully, my wife is pretty good about getting me the things that I pick out or just giving me gift certificates. I did really well in the fishing department this year with gifts of a Quantum fisherman's tool (a small "leatherman's" tool that can be clipped to your shirt or fishing boxes), an Ice Rigger (rod tender for ice fishing), a large Plano 3700 tackle box with 6 insert boxes and a $250 gift certificate to Field and Stream. My wife was even kind enough to give me the certificate last week because I had to be in Erie, PA to pick up my son at college so I've already redeemed it. I got a St. Croix trout series 6'4" UL rod, a Daiwa Cielo 6'9" MLXF rod and a Lew's Speed Spool Tournament MG reel. I'm very pleased with the haul.

Yep, I used to fish with spoons a good bit and I've had partners ask me if I was fishing for tarpon when I repeatedly put the boots to them. Wham, wham, wham!!!

I tend not to have dedicated rods for a particular technique, but I've always had a dedicated Senko combo and it always worked very, very well for me. It was a rather inexpensive Berkley 6' MHF rod with a 2000 size spinning reel and either 8 or more frequently 10 pound mono. I tend to rarely use a MH action for my waters and my fish, but this action worked well for Senkos, and I rarely fish anything heavier than 8 pound test on my spinning reels but again, it worked great and I loved the combo. I've mostly retired it now for better quality gear but I don't see that I catch more on the higher end stuff for this technique. If I could have changed one thing about it, I probably would have gone to a slightly longer rod for those sweeping hook-sets, although I never go longer than 7' long, I'm a short guy and it just feels awkward to me.

I've never fished those Field and Stream Tech Spec rods but they seem to get pretty good reviews and they were 20% off the reduced price when I was at the store the other day, so $48. I picked up a medium weight spinning rod and was on my way to the checkout but I ran into the Daiwa Cielo rack at half price on the way out so I went that direction instead.

Thanks for the info guys, it was precisely the type of first hand information that I was interested in. Typically, I don't mind the hard to get to, nothing going on spots but I'm not a huge fan of the crazy weekend crowds, though I suppose the winter months where you have the place to yourself probably balance it out well enough. I'll try to get down this year and see what I think.

Yep, you could do a lot worse than the Fenwick HMG and the President is a good choice too, though I might go with a Pflueger Purist instead or you could easily make the argument for an Abu Orra or several other reels.

Oh, I believe you. Why would any angler lie?

OK, thanks. I'll probably try on Thursday anyway, just in case. If anything's going on, I'll post.

I know that it's a different store chain but Field and Stream is owned by Dick's. Has anyone been to a F&S store recently to see if they're running this same sale? I'm going to be in Erie, PA on Thursday morning and I'd love to know if the sale's going on there too because I'd go out of my way and drop a few bucks.

OK, I'll let it go for a bit if people want to guess the lure/bait. To give some perspective and clues, the fish was taken on Memorial Day weekend in upstate NY. I'll let everyone take a guess and report back at some point, probably later today. OK, I've given it several hours and nobody's made any further guesses as to the lure used so here you go. Like I said, it was Memorial Day weekend and on the lake I was on, the big smallies were either on beds or cruising. This one was taken while she was cruising a large flat. I'd think a jerkbait would have been a great way to crush the big ones, but she was actually taken on a Senko style stickbait. As I recall, I took multiple 4 plus pounders that day. I try to avoid targeting bedding bass and don't fish a lot at this time of year but I happened to be there and took a bunch of these big ones that didn't seem to be sitting on beds.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. The fish was 22 3/4" long and weighed 6.4 pounds on a scale (which is probably around 6 pounds 6 ounces or 6 pounds 7 ounces without checking my math). The photo doesn't do it justice but if you compare the body of the fish to my meat head, you can see that it's a big fish. I've caught a number of honest 6 pounders and I thought the scale was broken when it "only" registered 6.4. And by the way, I'm not a terribly tall guy but I'm a big guy across the chest and shoulders so it's not as if a little dude is holding a big one way out in front of him for the camera.

OK, how big? This is one of my largest smallmouth ever. I know what he went on the handscale, just thought I'd see what people's guesses are. Sometimes I see photos of fish with "confirmed weights" and I think the fish looks smaller. Occasionally the fish looks bigger than the confirmed weight. Any guesses?

I just got three new Purists in different sizes but haven't had the opportunity to use them. I can't wait and hope that I enjoy them as much as all of you. One note, I keep seeing the that the only difference between the President and Purist is the drag but isn't the Purist also lighter?

I know that the Field and Stream stores are owned by Dick's and a little bird told me that there may be a F&S gift certificate under the tree for yours truly. I'd be thrilled if they were running some big closeouts and discounts the week or two after Christmas.

I've already done a search and didn't find a lot of information other than the fact that the lake is big, can be heavily fished and can be good fishing or tough fishing, depending on conditions. OK, here's why I ask. I have a brother who lived for a number of years in West Virginia who's considering retiring to West Virginia and he's inquired as to whether I'd have interest in purchasing some land near Smith Mountain Lake, I presume to be used as a camp or hunting land. I'm also going to be retiring, probably between 1 year from now and 8 years from now (I know it's a wide swing but it really does depend on a few factors), and I had already been considering the purchase of a lake home on SML. Aside from general thoughts about the quality of the fishing, I'm also interested in the area, tax burden, real estate for lakefront homes or homes near the lake and marinas, the qualities of the area in general for a guy who loves to fish but also likes his privacy, etc.. I'd greatly appreciate any and all thoughts from you folks who may live in the area or who use the area frequently. I'd also be interested if there are other "secret" spots that would be more to my liking as a quiet, retirement home.

Yeah, me too. I have an Elite Tech Smallmouth and several HMGs but I'm curious about the Elite Tech Bass and might make it my next rod purchase as well.

There's a point of diminishing returns for any product, fishing related or otherwise. That point is determined by two things, the financial ability of the buyer to pay a lot more for a small improvement in quality and the absolute value/quality of the product being offered. Technology has advanced us light years and good to great products should be less expensive to produce to a large degree, although all manufacturers have to deal with the reality of inflation and increasing costs of limited natural resources to some degree. Personally, while I see the value of purchasing better/more expensive gear and while I happen to be at the stage of my life where I have some expendable income, I'd surely like to see the prices start to go the other way (in other words, come down in price). I suspect that I'm like many on this board who believe that once you get to the $100 level or so for a rod or a reel, that the quality continues to go up as the price increases but probably more slowly than it did from $30 to $100. I tend to purchase $80 spinning reels, $100 casting reels and $100 rods, though I have a few more expensive items. Same for everything else, a $50 net is more than enough, a $600 electronics unit does fine for me, etc.. I would also add that most of us almost never find ourselves in the situation where we truly need a new rod, reel, lure, etc. and because of that, I'm inclined to purchase only when I find a deal. I'm not sure when I last purchased a rod or reel at retail price. Since I don't NEED one, why not wait until I see a smashing deal somewhere and get that $150 rod or reel for $80 (which I just did times 4 on some Abu and Fenwick products)?

I agree. Maybe he got an incredible deal on it himself, who knows. Most people ask what they think something is worth and oftentimes, their perception is inflated and they're actually asking more than it's worth. If they were happy with 75 clams and you gave them a bonus, you did the right thing and leave it at that. All that said, if your conscience really hurts, take them $25 more bucks. Personally I don't think it's necessary, there are yard sale deals that occur all the time.

Yep. I know that the OP asked specifically about a baitcasting combo but I'm one of those guys that would use a spinning combo if I was fairly new to the sport and looking for just one combo to be used for bank fishing. As Snook pointed out, Pflueger's a pretty good option. You can often find a Pflueger President reel paired to a Cabela's Tourney Trail rod on special in Cabela's and that's a fine combo for a good price. In upstate NY, I'd go with a 6-6'6" M power rod paired with a reel sized appropriately to 8 pound test (you could use 6 for finesse or bump up to 10 if you felt the need in weeds, cover, etc.). That's plenty of rod for most bank fishing situations in the north east.