Fishinthefish

For more detail im looking for good casting distance on 20 or 30lb power pro, with between 1/16th and 1/8 weight counting hook and rig, not counting line weight. Thanks for all of your ideas thus far. Keep em coming.

Right now I'm looking at the Abu Garcia Revo LTX leftie, on a side note the real MUST come in left handed retrieve, I can't fish righty. I'm looking to spend under 500 dollars, and this is going to be paired on an G. Loomis NRX 853C JWR. I have a lot of lighter shad raps, suspended raps, and deeper raps I plan on throwing, mixed with the occasional worm etc. What do you guys advise? What do you use?

This depends on where the balance is for me. The further the balance is up the rod the more fingers I have in front. I usually buy balancing kits and when I do it's just one finger in front.

I have a patriarch, a polycon and a shimano stradic fj right now. Out of those three my favorite is the shimano stradic. It's not as pretty as the patriarch, it's not as common as the diawa. But it's much smoother, casts further and has been more reliable for me. It's paired with a st croix legend tournament medium xfast rod with 10lb power pro.

Sorry for the late reply, but the ice was mostly gone in mid March, at least on the Rivers. The larger lakes took until late March.

Personally I don't feel like line is as important mechnically and over all as I hype it up in my own mind. I think a reel is super important because of getting the kure where it needs to go. But a rod for those super soft mush bites is hugely important so I have to vote 1 and 2. Id I had to settle for one of them it'd be the rod over the reel though.

On my native lake I've almost always hit my limit on bass. I've spent so many years on it I can see the fish before I can see the water type of thing but on new lakes I offer the advice I was given by an old man. Cover ground. Use techniques that cover as much ground as you can. If you get fish stay there an exerpiment but as soon as it dies cover more ground. It's the best strategy in my opinion if you don't have the time to research the lake. Flukes work wonders for pitching or quick casting and jerk retrievals to cover ground. Hit every point dock and structure. You'll either get lucky or get smart.

My three st croix rods. Ml fast m fast and mh extra fast. Soft plastics, jigs, anything with a treble hook. Depending on the time of yeary bet would be on soft plastics. First worms, then flukes and finally craw fish. I bump or sink worms. Swim and jerk flukes doodle craw fish. That would be the three techniques I would bet you can catch fish on any water on this country with if I had to choose one setup to use.

Third cast on a rat l trap out on the lake. Going to be a good year now that the ice is gone

I'm going to be buying another setup specifically for absolutely weightless fishing whether it be worms flukes craws or what ever plastic I feel like throwing and letting slow sink. I don't want to deal with the frustrations a baitcaster will cause me from time to time so I'm curious what reels would you all recommend for spinning? My prince range is between 150-300 dollars. I'll be pairing it with a st croix legend tournament rod. Thanks for any tips you have to offer.

I usually use 15lb. If it's just backing its never going to really matter because you shouldn't be getting spooled with 20lb braid. I use it for 25-30lb salmon that fight a thousand times stronger. You'll never end up back to the backing and if you're getting close you need to reline your reel.

Worst day of fishin is better than the best day of workin. How could it possibly end poorly with a man that I assume has a wealth of knowledge? Pay attention, ask questions. Be helpful and mindful and you'd be surprised how much you'll learn in a six series tournament

Glenn May has a great youtube video on flipping and pitching as far as how to casting. As far as advice goes it all depends man, your preference plus what's presented to you.

I'm ten minutes from Voyagers landing at most, I'm right near 31 and big timber at the moment.

Just got a phone call from the fishin' store, my Pflueger Patriarch BC and St Croix Tournament Bass series rod just got in. I'll update with a picture once I get back from the store and have them all together.

If this is your idea of digging through five inches of ice you might not want to be out there.

Always always start with plastics, if you're new to fishing you're going to lose hard baits, crank baits, swim baits and top waters left and right. It takes awhile to learn how to get out of hard snags and various other tricky situations, like trees. Flukes, worms, craws. Those are the three plastics I'd recommend starting with, you can rig all three various ways and fish them top, middle, and bottom depending on how you rig and retrieve. Highly versatile, high level of success, and a very small learning curve.

I've had a friend who never used the stuff his boat ran for ten years without an issue. If you're seriously worried about it, drain it.

I throw 15lb power pro on all of my spinning rods, even my setup for cold weather salmon (The baitcasters tend to freeze up easier, plus drip water onto your hands when the waters 30 degrees and it's negative 5 with the windchill it's not so much fun). It handles everything from rattle traps, to big swim baits, right down to 3/8ths of an ounce jig heads with a 3" minnow on it for small 8-10 pound trout fishing.

Without seeing exactly what you're doing and or using it sounds like it could be three things if you're sure its a fish. You're setting the hook too early. The most common example of this is when you have a larger sized bait and the bass only has the tail end of it in its mouth. Another option is the hook set you're using is too hard. Try researching sweeping hook sets. The third option is the hook isn't an appropriate size for the fish you're catching. Too small of a hook and you may pierce the mouth but the fish will be quick to shake it out. Too big and if you don't get a good strong hook set and it won't penetrate far enough and again will head shake its way out. A far less common issue is over used hooks being far too dull. Either way try researching your gear and hook set technique. You also may want to try waiting an extra second or two on the hook set.

I'm from otisco lake about half an hour down 20 near la fayettette. If you need any advice on that lake give me a holler.

G loomis just came out with the e6x series between 160-200 dollars. Rave reviews so far.

Not a chance, single handle knobs are super annoying when you need two hands to set a hook on larger rods, or when you're needing it to control a large fish. Not to mention it looks cheesy and cheap. I'll stick with my reels that work great, and look good.

Higher end of your price range, Pflueger Patriarch I just got one for 170.

Don't forget the boat. Yeah, 45 minutes into an hour and a half trip.