the reel ess

This is great! I've had this level of service from Daiwa as well. Abu-Garcia doesn't answer the phone, return messages or, apparently, even monitor their email. In those instances, BPS rod and reel repair does good work, for usually about $20. I have two Tournament MB's as well. I liked the first one so much I bought a second. It's a lotta reel for $120.

Sunny: Gold, double willow gold blades Overcast: Gold, double willow gold blades Rainy: Gold, double willow gold blades A really good gold spinnerbait is the War Eagle Gold Shiner color. Last time I bought one, I bought three. I wish you could get it with gold hammered blades. They throw off even more vibration and look like scales. Dark or exceedingly muddy....No, not gold. Black/Blue with Black Colorado blade. Specifically, Strike King Night SB. You can fish it so slowly, it's a good winter bait 'round here.

Me either. And I'm 46. At least not all the way past the barb.

Here's what I have. The Frog model. It's $30 off right now. That's a $100 rod for $70. It's stiff as a pool cue. But I use it for jigs when it's not frog season. http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/fishing-rods/casting-rods|/pc/104793480/c/104764680/sc/104823180/cabela-s-tournament-zx-bass-casting-rods/1619298.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-rods%2F_%2FN-1102351%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104823180

Yes

I have a dedicated frog (I consider rats and some other large topwaters to be in the frog category) setup with PowerPro 50 lb braid on it. But the rod is way too stiff for most treble topwaters. I use a 6'6" M rod with 15 lb Big Game for that purpose. In an effort to maximize my rods, I use the frog rod for jigs and heavy T rigs too. About the only treble lure I'd use this rod for is the SPRO rat. It's the Cabela's Frog model Tournament XT 7'3" Hvy-Fast. But, man, does it lay the smackdown on fish with the frog.

Well, I've only caught one bass with the bait rigged with an offset bend hook, weedless. I was not using a bullet weight. But I've caught a good bit with it wacky rigged. I just placed an order for more because i can't seem to find the bags I had. I guess I'll give it another shot the regular way.

Just my $0.02, but here's what I use: Spinning: 7' M M-F rod, 20 lb braid (I use braid on all bass spinning). I don't usually use a leader, but I'm experimenting with a short one right now. This combo is for light treble lures like a Rapala minnow. Baitcasting: 6'6" M MF rod with 15 lb Berkley Big Game. This combo's for heavier treble baits, topwaters and lipless cranks. If I fished deep cranks a lot, I'd probably opt for a crankbait specific rod for them. These are both Lightning Rods. I know their are people on this board who consider these as useless as Ugly Stiks for bass fishing, but their action is just right for trebles, they're light and they just keep getting the job done. When using a reaction bait with trebles, the lack of sensitivity can be a plus. I'll replace the BC rod at some point, but not for a while.

I have access to a private pond where I know fish will almost always bite. They're stunted and staring there. I've caught 50 in two hours there before. If I need to gain confidence with a technique that's the place to do it. When I started fishing it was the 70's-80's and all I knew was 6" or 8" plastic worms, T rigged. Then I got a second BC combo and put a Rebel Deep Wee R crankbait on it. Those were all I fished for a long time and they seemed to do pretty well at either getting reactions or finessing fish to bite. If those didn't work, I'd switch species or go mow the grass. Next I moved to spinnerbait, then hard topwaters, then buzzbaits, etc., etc. Now the running joke with my family and friends is that I like fishing tackle more than fishing. Here's a good guide that will give you the basics and a way to catch most bass in most situations. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/starter-kit-bass Among these, I use jerkbaits the least, probably because I don't like them much. A couple of spring sleepers that a lot of people ignore are Trick Worms and flukes, both weightless. I went Sunday and got 14 at my buddy's pond. Most were on these two baits.

I never use a trailer unless the bait came with it. Why add something to the bait that the bass can nip at away from the hook?That's just my $0.02. But I ALWAYS use a trailer hook on spinner/buzzbaits. People who don't use them will say they aren't useful, but they can't know because they don't have one on. They have no idea how many fish are striking short that they can't catch. I've caught an awful lot of bass on the trailer hook.

I tend to do that after changing baits.

I can't help with those models. But I can tell you not to make your decision all about the money unless you'll only use it very occasionally. I spent $550 on a decent model (Pescador 14') about 6 years ago and it has served well. My next one will be stable enough to stand and must have a good stadium style seat. Those are the only tings I'm lacking, but I'm getting too old to have my butt asleep and feet going numb for 3+ hours.

About a year ago I couldn't cram any more tackle in my bag so I went thru it all and culled the baits I either never caught a fish on or thought I'd never use due to lack of confidence I took it all out and gave most of it to a local kid who I know is into fishing. Coincidentally, most of it was Wally World bargain bin knockoffs that I bought because I was on a really strict budget 20 years ago that I'm not on now. Of course, I still have my pain threshold and I'll cut a corner if it works and/or has good reviews. But I'm prepared to pay some scratch to get results.

It's a very crowded market these days, with some previously cheap mfg's making serious fishing kayaks cheaper. Add to that there are SUP's siphoning off some business. If you want to remain relevant and still command a high price you're going to have to be innovative.

I just recently yard sold an old Shakespeare Liberty 98% graphite rod as well as an older 96%, both 5-6 pistol grips. They served me well for way more than a decade and were the only two rods I had at one time, but there are just better options out there now. Rods with better actions that cast farther and are more sensitive and better suited for specific techniques. Honestly, I look upon my 2 baitcasting Lightning Rods as old technology that I'll replace at some time.

I caught a couple bass on the Mann's Hardnose fluke yesterday at my friend's pond. I saw a video recently of a guy using them nose-hooked with a finesse hook. I thought they'd be too big because of the cooler water, but was pleasantly surprised. If you haven't used them rigged this way, give it a shot. The action is better I guess because there is no hook in the body. And the Mann's fluke is just "wigglier" than Zoom's and the material is much more durable. I also got 5 on the Ned first time I tried it and 3 on the Finesse Worm and missed several more, mostly on the Ned.

I use 20 lb min on spinning gear and 30 min on BC. Then I have 50 on the frog combo. 30 is the diameter of 10 lb mono so you won't have a problem casting it and it won't dig into your spool excessively. I like it even more on spinning gear. 20 lb is about the diameter of 6-8 lb mono but it doesn't have memory and doesn't seem to get those loops that become line-shortening knots from long-term use that other lines get. But you MUST manually flip the bail before you start retrieving. It will also add to you casting distance over the other similar lb test lines.

I have long believed it didn't matter if I used a leader or not. I tried once a few years ago with a dbl-uni knot and had the thing break off on a good fish in cover so I started using straight braid with good results. I just recently started using a heavier fluoro or mono leader tied with a surgeon's knot depending on the situation. Honestly, I can see those in water too. My philosophy has been that if fish (and big ones) will bite a spinnerbait or even a Bama rig, why would a little visible line hurt your chances? On the other hand, I'm trying the low-vis Trilene XL for Finesse applications and Fuoro 17 lb for heavier situations. I have only used a 2-3' leader thus far. So far, so good.

Thanks guys! I'm dying to catch a smallie, even a little one. There aren't any withing less than an hour's drive from me.

And I caught 5 on it today, biggest being about 2 lbs. I also caught 3 on a Zoom Finesse Worm, weightless, and 2 on a weightless chartreuse Manns fluke.

I got a pack and some shroom heads in the mail today. Tied one on immediately. I cannot wait.

Welcome! The wife has family in Frederick.

I have 2 of the the LFS Tournament MB in 7.5:1. There are no cons that I can see. I've been more than a year using one of them without a backlash. It is very low profile, very light and very strong. The drag is silky smooth. I liked it so much I bought another this past Christmas with Amazon gift cards. I'll probably be replacing my spinner/buzzbait reel with one of these before long. I'm using one on my frog/jig/flipping combo with heavy braid and one on my lipless cranks/topwaters combo with heavy mono (I don't fish much deep diving cranks anymore because my favorite lake has a weedy bottom. We just fish lipless cranks very slowly.) Anyway, I love these reels.

GASP!!! You cretin! Yeah, I eat them too sometimes. You can't live in nature without being a part of it and when you take and eat game, you're fulfilling part of your natural directive. There's nothing like the feeling of being part of nature.

What about in the dead of winter? I'll be on vacation at a mountain cabin on the South Fork of the New River in NC next weekend. This will be following a very cold spell, but should be warming a little before the next weekend. I imagine they'll be sluggish, but I've also heard it can't really get too cold for smallies.