DubyaDee

I've got a scorpion 71 and love it. Great reel for finesse stuff under 1/2 ounce. I don't put a ton of weight behind the "impossible to backlash" talk with the Daiwa. If I backlash once a trip, I can fix it and be okay. Keep in mind I have about 15 shimano reels and 0 Daiwa, so I have no first hand experience with Daiwa reels.

These are the video's that I was looking for to show our OP. I love fishing as much as most folks on this forum. The pro's are either fishing/pre fishing/traveling/talking most days out of the year. The stress from needing to make the cut to be in the money would ruin the love of the sport for me. I fish to relieve stress, not bring more on. A lot of my motivation at work is to be able to fish 30 days a year and love every minute of it. I couldn't imagine being away from my family for that long either. I'll never discourage someone from following their dreams, as long as you know what you're getting into.

I'm north of Detroit, and usually don't throw a spinner bait less than 1/2 ounce. The War Eagle Screamin Eagle is 1/2 ounce but compact like a smaller spinner bait. Real light wire, small willow blades and you can burn them as fast as you can reel. My best producer is burning them right under the top and have my blades come out of the water a smidge to make some commotion, then kill it for a second. I usually don't opt for a trailer with these. For me, a trailer will go on when I slow down and work deeper water columns.

When you're looking for a house remember that you can't change the houses location. Most everything else on the house can be changed and updated. Since it is a sellers market, it wouldn't hurt to tell everyone you know that you're looking for house. Someone will know someone who is selling the house that you want. You don't have to have a realtor and can save the seller on a lot of fees if you can handle the paperwork. My wife and I are building now, and we have a dozen people that want to buy our starter home before it goes on the market. Remember that everyone works for you, the realtor, the mortgage folks, and the insurance agents. Don't make decisions that you're not comfortable with. You say "we". Is this your wife? Girlfriend? Don't get yourself in a sticky situation!

I use a small boga grip. No batteries to fail me, waterproof, dual purpose for toothy fish, plenty accurate.

Everything that J Franks said is spot on. 20 pound co-polymer is big for spinning set ups. All 6 of my spinning set ups are 10-15 pound braid to 6-12 pound fluoro. I'd put 10 pound co polymer if you're set on a single line. I tie all my hard baits directly to the split ring. A lot of folks like the snap for extra action and ease of changing lures. Use one or the other.

I have been buying a lot of Simms lately. My buddy is one of their artists, so I buy whatever they'll put his artwork on. His artwork is sweet, and the clothing is quality.

I was glued to the live coverage on Wednesday, as I'm a big Zona fan. After watching this I'm ordering a musky cradle to keep in my rod locker just in case. I don't know what I would have done in that situation. If we ever land a good size musky, it's a struggle to get her all the way in the net and in the boat. I wonder how KVD/Brandon Palaniuk feel about Zona crowning him the king of bass fishing.

I got a couple smallies on the drop shot this weekend. Drop shot is quickly becoming my favorite summer technique.

I always have this set up ready on deck. I never start with a tube but I always end up throwing it when all else fails. Fenwick Aetos ML 7'6" Shimano Stradic FK 2500 10 pound Power Pro to 12 pound fluoro leader Xtreme bass tubes, sweet green/Canadian mist Big Bite tube head 1/4-3/8

I agree with A-Jay, skip the glass and get the Champion 704cb. I use it for vision 110's and can throw 1/2 ounce top waters with ease.

I'd get a 7'-7'6" medium spinning rod with a fast tip. Any decent 2500 size spinning reel will do. My personal set up is a 7' Fenwick HMG and a pflueger supreme. 10 pound braid to a fluoro leader.

I was looking into the methods for a travel rod too. Shimano has a few rods that come in two pieces and isn't much longer than a 3 piece travel. I ended up getting a 6'10" zodias 2 piece and I love it. I wouldn't hesitate to try out the methods or 2 piece zodias.

I like izorline xxx 15 pound for a topwater leader. It absolutely helps with making sure the front treble doesn't snag on the braid. If I had to use fluoro I don't think it would be an issue. Fluoro may sink, but 2 feet on a walking bait won't make a difference at all. It could make a difference with a small pop r but not a walking bait.

Keep experimenting till you find a good rod/line/hook combo. You're going to bend out hooks if you have a med/heavy rod, braid, and light wire hooks. I like gamakatsu g finesse trebles for jerkbaits, with 10 pound flouro, medium mod/fast rod.

Closing it by hand will cut down on line twist and wind knots too. It's a great habit to get into.

I'll throw a jerkbait most of the time, so a jerkbait it is. The only exceptions are in the summer wher tubes and dropshots are all you need for smallmouth lakes.

I know it's not all of you Pennsylvanians, just the few that I've ran into. There are probably a few guys from Michigan being a bother out there in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvanians. I don't know why or how but I always end up fishing near some boat from Pennsylvania with poor fishing etiquette. I could be in the middle of Lake St Clair and a boat from Pennsylvania will pull up, mark a way point, and run off to come back later. This year on the Big Rideau in Ontario, a boat from PA pulled in front of us on a long drift to get our clean water. I must have done something in Pennsylvania years ago to deserve this.

I agree, I just picked up a 16 scorpion 71 and it's very very close to being as nice as my metanium.

I can't take credit. The lure/split ring idea was from a new friend, he gave me a handful of custom spinnerbaits. Thanks professor!

You can create a closed loop with 2 split rings. Here's a pic to help you out.

Confidence is cheap. I'd rather have 4 $25 megabass jerkbaits that I'm confident in than have $100 of dollars worth of cheap lures that I don't think will work. Zoom is good quality and is usually on sale. A bottle of mend it may save a couple bucks in the long run. Dick's had a crazy good sale on Berkley power worms a month ago. Keep an eye out for those types of sales and stock up.

I really like my first baitcasting rod, Falcon Bucoo trapcaster. I still use it to fill in the gaps, it does everything pretty well.

I use them when I'm dropshotting a worm more than 4 inches long.