blckshirt98

Sadly I don't clean my guides unless I notice they have some dirt buildup on them. Exception is when I go saltwater fishing, in which case I always make sure to rinse and wipe down every guide (and the rest of the rod, and reel). Salt is no bueno.

Check to make sure there aren't any weeds or debris in the tail where it spins, sometimes I'll get moss in there and I"ll need to clean it out at home. Also what size are you using? The smaller ones you need to reel in faster to get the tail to start moving. As for retrieve I always just go slow and steady once you find the reel speed to get the tail buzzing.

I was a Norman Speed Clip guy until I tried the Decoy V-Snaps. Winner winner chicken dinner, found my quick snap for life.

This is good to know, so I don't waste a trip up there lol.

The River2Sea poppers cast a country mile. Also check out the 6th Sense Splash Back poppers.

Not sure what it's like in other states but California is one person/one rod. You can't bring like ten rods, bait up each rod, set down ten rod holds, and cast them all in the water at the same time and let them soak. The two rod stamp lets you have a second line in the water - usually if you're baitfishing where you can either have two poles in the water soaking bait, or, can have one pole soaking bait while you work another pole with lures. Note that there are exceptions where even with the two rod stamp, you still can only fish one rod so check regulations for where you're going.

For 1.5 size KVD squarebills in light cover...I'd use a spinning rod, Medium Extra Fast. Specifically my Phenix M1 7'2" MXF.

I have kind of the opposite experience - I started out as a Shimano guy but as I use other brands I've realized how much I really don't like the majority of the Shimano rods I've accumulated. I find them to be a bit stiff and not fun to fish, with the exception of my Cumara 6'8" MXF dropshot rod. Clarus/Compre/Crucial/Scimitar all seem a tad stiff compared to the Phenix and St. Croix rods I use. For me it's been Phenix that's really struck home, followed by St. Croix, and though I only have one model, the Megabass Orochi Swingfire has been amazing to fish crankbaits on.

Amazon is rough but once in a blue moon you find an amazing deal. They once has Curado reels for like $120 or so, and another seller had Okuma Cedros Low Profile Baitcasting reels for like $80. But for the most part, yeah Amazon is a pretty horrible place to buy tackle.

To play devil's advocate, if fishing is a hobby for you, just focus on going to the best school you can get into and find what you want to do for a career. If it means going to a school in the middle of Nebraska without a good fishing spot within a 4 hour drive, make the sacrifice to get a good degree in the field you like. Nobody ever looks back and thinks "man I wish I had better fishing for those four years of my life", but they do look back and wish they applied priorities in a better way.

My advice is actually to try and pare down the amount of tackle you take, especially when bank fishing. Two 3600 size Planos and one 3500 size should be enough to carry what you need if it's a familiar lake. If you like to stay mobile and move around a lot you'll appreciate the lighter weight and being able to find what you need in your pack a lot faster.

I want to get in on the Frabill deal but I hate figuring out sizing. Does anyone know how the Frabill sizing compares to BPS sizes? Compared to a say a BPS 100MPH XL, does the Frabill XL fit the same or larger/smaller?

The Plano Elite Crankbait Storage boxes are nice. If you have really large crankbaits you might want to just get one of the single-open-compartment Planos, put hook bonnets on all crankbaits, and just put them all in the single compartment. This will only work if you use the hook bonnets so the crankbaits don't get all tangled up but you can store a bunch of baits in there.

For me it was when I went to my favorite local lake one afternoon and it was exceptionally windy (from shore, 15mph+ steady). I was dropshotting and the wind/current kept taking my rig to places where it would get hung up and I'd have to re-tie (which in the bad wind brought my frustration level up even more). I got hung up 5-6 times (at one point it was three casts in a row) at which point i started cussing and packed up and left. So with driving time included it was about 2.5 hours wasted, and $10 worth of gas, a bunch of lost terminal tackle, and not a single bite. This is why when I see heavy winds I just go home now.

I got a few when they were first released and I found them on sale but haven't thrown them much. I've had success throwing other cheaper baits so never bothered to go back to them, so now they're more of a conversation piece in the tackle box.

I wrote a little review on them in this forum but it's been pushed down quite a ways. It was only for the smaller dropshot hooks and while I didn't have any problems with hookup, removing the hooks are another story. With normal hooks you can just remove the hook by reversing the curve of the hook. Not with the Trappers! The first 90 degree bend after the point gets in the way when trying to remove the hook, where you have to push the barb out in a straight plane, and if the hook is embedded in a weird way in the fish's mouth, you don't have the movement/space to push the barb straight out. Fish will have a hard time shaking your hook but I see a potential issue with damage/mortality rates to the fish in the unhooking process. I was hoping someone else would have a chance to use the hooks and share their experience.

Anything in 3.5"-4.5" range that will have good movement while nose-hooked with almost no rod movement. Yamamoto Kut Tails are my "budget" dropshot bait that's I've been able to buy in volume for cheap (thanks Outlet Bait!) but some of the pricier baits I'll use are the Molix Sator Worm and Reins Bubbring Shaker. The new KVD Half Shell in Morning Dawn has been on fire for me at one of the local reservoirs this year.

Cabela's has the St. Croix Triumph at 50% off. Casting rod only one model - 7' 1-piece Heavy; spinning rod only one model 5' 1-piece UL. I don't need any more trout rods but dang...

Sounds like someone I'd stop calling or returning calls to. Is he an actual friend or a fishing acquaintance?

It looks like Gander is liquidating - https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2017/05/02/gander-mountain-is-closing-down-a-bunch-of-stores/22066240/ Get on those deals!

Depending on where i'm fishing, but small 3.5"-4.5" baits - Molix Sator Worm or Reins Bubbring Shaker, but the new SK Half Shell is finding a place.

Nose hooked dropshot times a billion.

Another upvote for the 6th Sense squarebills. I'm mainly a KVD squarebill guy but one gripe I have with them is if they don't run true they're hard to tune because the eye is half embedded into the plastic lip. The 6th Sense eye is just above the plastic so much easier to tune.

DSG shipping is ridiculous. When they had their sale on Trokar hooks I ordered probably 30 packs of hooks and they came in at least 15 different shipments. It was a mix and match of boxes and padded envelopes, oftentimes it would be a single pack of hooks in a box that could fit two reels.

I haven't had a problem with paint chipping (granted I don't cast it into anything abrasive where it might cause the paint to chip) but one of the eyes came off on like the second cast. I glued on an aftermarket eye and the other original eye has stayed on.