offsidewing

The Pfluger President LE goes on sale regularly. Just picked up a couple 30 sized reels from cabales for $64 a piece.

2016 Vanquish is my favorite spinning reel. I currently have a 2500HGS. I had a Stella C2500HGS and like the Vanquish better in similar applications. I have the Vanquish sitting on a St Croix Legend Elite 610MLXF and it is a heavenly pair for bass fishing. Its my drop shot and Ned Rig set up. I'll also toss light tube jigs with it. The drag so far has been smooth and consistent. I also have a 2016 Stradic Ci4 3000XGM. Its a great reel too, although not used as much as the Vanquish as its just been released. The Vanquish does feel more refined in terms of rotor balance and overall feel. Is the Vanquish $200 better than the Stradic? No. Do I regret spending $400+ on the Vanquish? Not for a second. Would I buy a Stella again? Probably not, unless I was fishing every day.

Stick Jackets for me. Micro guide tips poke through most every other rod sock/glove/sleeve I've tried. Also super easy to untangle hooks.

Picked up a 71MHF casting for me and 68MXF spinning for a buddy. Each cost $160 out the door.

I go JDM with my spinning gear for that reason. They make so many differen spools sizes and you can buy them individually. I have both 2500S and 3000M spools for Shimanos.

for fishing, it has a better selection of baits than Cabelas or Gander Mountain. For rods and reels, it will regress towards the mean as evident by every rod over $250 currently being close to 50% off. The NRXs and Elite/Extreme rods went on sale over the winter. The E6X and Avid X are the most exotic rod either Cabelas or Gander currently stock locally. The Exception being fly rods and reels.

I walked into my local field and stream store today to buy some Sniper FC and noticed they had a sale going on, 25% off lowest marked price. Then I noticed the St Croix LTB rods were already marked down 25%. So that's almost 50% off St Croix LTB rods. Not sure if that's all Field and Stream stores, or just mine. That's less than $160 for a 68MXF/610MLXF spinning rod or less than $170 for a 71MF or MHF casting rod.

Once you figure out where Smallmouth hang out in the summer, fishing the spawn will feel like cheating. I've found in New England once the sun is up, the smallies like to get in 15-30 feet of water off points or steeper banks with access to shallow water with cover or structure. The biggest fish I've caught in the summer months in Maine have been in areas where the water transitions from shallow water (4-8') to deep water 20' plus. My PB smallie and LMB have been caught in the afternoon in transition areas.

I've fished tube jigs for smallies a bunch of different ways. My two favorite and most productive are the Gitzit 1/4 oz jig head in most depths and "weightless" in shallow water 2-6' deep or for bank beating. Weightless is in quotes because i shove a broken 5" senko chunk into the tube cavity to give it some weight, then use a hook designed for weightless tube jigs.

Sold my Core 50 Mg7 to buy a new Aldebaran. I regret that decision.

I prefer the sensitivity of a premium fluoro for slack line fishing or contact baits. Co-Poly if I'm on a tight budget. I use #6/#8 for 4" or 5" weightless Senkos in any presentation. I switch to Bait Casting gear and #10/#12 line for wacky rigging 6" senkos. I only wacky rig the 6 and 7 inchers.

I fish just up the road on Long Lake. Never fished Sebago, but its often over looked for smallies. On Long Lake in the summer its a lot of plastics for me in 10-20 feet of water. Tube jigs, senkos, fat ikas, and drop shot do well in the summer. Fish in deeper water near structure. You can also jig and pig for hawgs too but the bite will be slower. Guys in the glitter boats pound docks all day with mixed results. Wind is a bigger factor on Sebago as others have said, so keep an eye on the weather.

I've drop shotted successfully with the St Croix 68MXF LTB. I drop shot vertically in deep water and it worked well. The fish in my profile pic was caught dropshotting on 68MXF LTB in about 12 feet of water. That being said, I added a 610MLXF Elite to replace my venerable 70MLF as a dedicated drop shot/Ned Rig set up.

Ditto. Tatsu is amazeb@lls

If my son had just done this, this is what I'do suggest... If you want to start fishing right away, head to Cabelas and buy the Pflueger President Special Edition spinning reel for $65 and Cabelas Tournament ZX Drop shot spinning rod for $99 (you can talk them down to $75 pretty easily). Then fire up tackle warehouse * and pick up some of the following tackle: 6lb yozuri hybrid fishing line, Gitzit 3.5 inch tube jigs with 1/4 jig heads, 4 and 5 inch senkos, Ned rig mushroom jig heads and Zman TRD baits, a couple packs of fat ikas, 4" rage tail craws, hula grubs, some Berkley ribbon tail worms, a pack of zoom super flukes, a pack of Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbaits, and a pack of 4" robo worms. Then GamaKatsu hooks: 4/0 and 5/0 EWG for senkos, ikas, hula grubs, rage tails; gamakatsu 2/0 octopus hooks for wacky rigging senkos and drop shot; 5/0 owner hooks for ribbon tail worms, flukes, and Keitech Fat swimbaits. Toss in some 3/16 oz drop shot weights and 1/8 ox bullet weights. Learn to tie the palomar knot and read the articles and posts on this site while your tackle ships. You will catch bass on most bodies of water in all but extreme conditions with this tackle. I have a couple $600+ spinning combos and my son has what I suggested to you. When we both use our gear and tackle correctly, we catch the same amount and quality of fish.

I have the 68MXF in LTB and 2016 Elite. I have the 70MF in a Avid X casting. The 68MXF in the Elite Spinning is a fantastic plastics rod, if fishes better than the LTB.. I fish 1/4 oz tube jigs, 3,4, and 5 inch senkos, Ned Rig, hula grubs, and drop shot on it. The Elite 68MXF rod is You will be very pleased with the Elite/Extreme blanks. I've fished both and preferred the Elites. As far as reels, I had a Stella 2500HGS which I sold to buy a 2016 Vanquish 2500HGS and 2016 Stradic Ci4+ 3000XGM. The new JDM Stradic Ci4+ is a great reel after only spending a week with it. Going to put it through the paces over the next few weeks.

For comparison sake, I've fished the Ned Rig on my son's Cabelas ZX rod with YoZuri 6lb and my St Croix Legend Elite rod w/ 6lb Tatsu side-by-side. I don't need to line watch with the LE because you can feel the bass suck up the rig. That being said, The Ned Rig catches fish no matter what gear you're using at an exceptional rate. You could use a cane pole and 25lb mono and the ned rig catches bass.

My curado 70 does it if I tug the handle just right. Never ever noticed it fishing.

I don't know if it's $20 better than InvisX or AbrazX, but in my experience Tatsu is noticeably better than either of those lines as line management and memory. I bought 3 spools of Tatsu at a significant discount from TW during a sale over the winter which made them much more affordable. No buyers remorse from me. I've had a great experience using Tatsu on my spinning reels and will be trying it out on my casting gear soon.

I use 6 lb Tatsu on my spinning gear and I really like it. I use it on a shallow spool JDM shimano spinning reel to maximize line capacity while taking advantage of the shallow spool's castability. I also took advantage of a winter time sale to get significant savings.

I have both. The functional differences are: Spool Size - '13 is a 100, '16 is a 70 and is ported. Silent Tune Spool - '13 has traditional spool bearing placement. '16 has the handle side bearing on the spool. Both spool bearings spring loaded. Braking System - '13 has 6 block SVS Infinity. '16 has a completely new SVS system with 4 brake blocks and a larger brass cone. Bearings: '13 has your standard Shimano high end bearing count. '16 adds a bearing under the handle and the ability to add a bearing to the level wind. To me, the biggest difference is in the braking system. The external dial does impact the braking more, meaning you have to open the side plate less to dial in different weights. I'm not interested in throwing baits weighing less than a 1/4 ounce with the Metaniums, so I might not get much benefit from the Silent Tune bearings.

I have two Avid X casting rods, 70MF and 70MHF, and love them both. Liked them better than the Loomis E6Xs I had. Both rods balance well. I can't say enough good things about St Croix customer service.

I've fished Pymatuning a few times. Great for Walleye and Muskie, but why they have a bass tournament there I'll never know. The only advice I can give is the bass are not big in Pymatuning. Biggest bass caught is usually in the high 4 lb, low 5 lb range. If I were to fish a bass tourney there, I would use baits that get the most bites and the most fish in the boat. I don't know how guys do on that lake if they are targeting 7-8lb bass.

I've owned both and neither reel is a slouch. I prefer the Shimano's, but I also recommend the Lew's BB1. I like the SVS braking system a little better and there are lots of 'cool' aftermarket parts for the Curado if you're into that.

I have "body of water specific" favorites, but these are within reach at all times where ever I'm bass fishing year round: - Fat Ika (caught 4lb+ fish on every color I've tried) - 5" Senko weightless. Wacky or T-rigged. Can't go wrong with Green Pumpkin/Black flake or Black w/ Blue Flake. - 3.5 inch Fat Gitzit Tube Jig on 1/4oz jig head. Brown Craw Salt and Pepper color. - Drop shot a 4-5 inch Roboworm - 5" Hula Grub. Weightless or with an 1/8th ounce bullet weight. Same color as Senkos. If they aren't biting on any of these, they aren't biting. Added flukes and Ned Rig to my tackle box this year because so many people recommed them. I also use have crankbaits and swim jigs for when the body of water allows it.