MontclairDave

SC AVID 68MXF. Best Senko rod ever made. Went in the drink when I dumped my kayak. Haven’t found the $$$ to replace it yet. (SC Premier doing a pretty good job filling in.) Ah, one of my holy grails for used gear. Been searching for one for years. What an amazing rod. (Though I’d go for the Medium.)

Just picked these up from my fav JDM tackle shop. Have caught a bunch of LMB on highland reservoirs on the 6” size; really excited to try the 5” in my local pond where smaller swimbaits work well. Anyone use these 5”ers and have any luck?

Save yourself some $$ and get a Quantum Tour S3 for around $125 on fleabay (retailed for $200). There’s a few NIB right-handed versions available (6:31). I’ve got a 7:something and it is an amazing reel for the price. I’ve got a Shimano Curado 70 MGL and a Curado DC and I keep reaching for that Quantum. Bombs long casts, easy to dial in, rarely backlashes.

I forgot about the Falcon Bayou! That indeed is a great choice, especially for kayakers and bank anglers who like shorter rods. I have the Falcon Expert Head Turner and it’s my fav rod for most single hook presentations. A tad light for heavy frogging but great for moderate cover to open water frogging. Love Falcon rods!! (I have their $69 HD in a medium for light stuff and it’s amazing rod the the $)

Personally, if I’m gonna spend big bucks on my best combo it’s not going to be for frogging. I’ll spend that on techniques that require sensitivity like jigging, t-rigs, etc. Frog fishing is a power thing…for me the trick is to have a rod with enough give in the tip to walk a frog but enough backbone to yank em out of the slop. You can find that without breaking the bank. I actually am in the market for a new frog setup and probably will get the new Daiwa revamped Tatula: they have a dedicated 7’ 4” frog rod. For $99 seems like a great deal. Maybe pair it with a Shimano SLX XT for $130. sorry it ain’t your big-ticket OP request but for me that’s the max I’d spend on a frog setup. Especially since the Bait Monkey tells me I need a new jerkbait setup. Now THAT is gonna hurt my wallet ?

Great advice! I noticed once I did this that I was food shopping “the edges” of my supermarket predominantly—fresh fruit and veggies, whole grain breads, etc—and not venturing into the aisles too much because all of that stuff is highly processed. Just one example: I eat gluten-free pasta but make my own simple sauce with canned organic tomatoes, garlic and olive oil. Because the bottled pasta sauce is LOADED with sugar. My model is Roland Martin, stlll fishing hard at 82 because he woke up about 10 years ago and realized if he wanted to fish another 10+ years he had to add daily exercise and a revamped diet to his fishing regimen. If it works for the GOAT it’s good enough for me.

Ok, then DTs will be putting the next ding in my wallet. Check your PM for when I may be going next. And I like the suggestion of short FL leader to braid because that’s what I use the most for a lot of other applications. Thanks! Ah, so many takes on this one! Why do you feel mono and copoly superior—more stretch to keep fish pinned? Mostly casting for the baits 3/8 or 1/2 max. The smaller 1/4 ounce baits I’ll probably throw on spinner and that would def be braid to leader—I can’t deal with all fluoro on spinners. Tried it, disaster every time. Maybe mono leader to add a bit of stretch? In fact could do that on spinner or baitcaster…

Split rock, although admittedly blowdowns few and far between. Great info! Do you find straight braid doesn’t spook fish? I know that tends to be less of an issue with reaction baits like cranks. And not like this is crystal clear water we’re taking about. Also: the DTs have a bad rep for fragile bills breaking on rocks etc so I didn’t include them in my first purchase of mid-depth cranks. That a mistake? (Got the usual Bombers, Normans, Bagleys, 6th Sense, etc)

Not a big crankbait guy but gonna give it a shot this fall in a highland reservoir with plenty of smallies. Lots of hard bottom and riprap and wood blowdowns. Some grass. I’m gonna use fluorocarbon as main line, probably Sunline Sniper or Seagar InvisX because I have experience with and like both. But not sure of optimal line weight? Rod is a 7’ medium power with a moderate-fast action (not composite) optimized for treble-hook baits. Mostly throwing 1/4 to 3/8 cranks that dive up to 10’. Thanks!

Thanks!

This reel is out of stock everywhere. Anyone know what’s up with that? I’ve got the SLX DC and love it but don’t need that extra cast control anymore, so the XT seems like a great “budget” option at $130ish. If I can find $70 extra lying around, the Curado MGL 150 is on my short list. But not really wanting to spend that much after the bait monkey chewed my arse good this summer.

I’ve had a Quantum Tour S3 for about a year now. The noise doesn’t bug me because I am too busy loving the incredible distance I get on every cast, the smooth drag and the overall fit and finish of the reel. I have a Curado 70 mgl and a Curado DC and I like both but I keep reaching for that Quantum…. And they are very heavily discounted if you know where to find em which makes it a no-brainer for me to buy a few more with my next reel purchase dollars.

Same here. Got it when I was a newbie to baistcasting and within a year I had enough of a trained thumb that I didn’t need the DC control anymore and now prefer my non-DC reels for longer casts. I way overestimated the learning curve but I guess for someone who is nervous about backlashes as a beginner it’s a good place to start. But you still gotta learn to thumb the reel even with a DC reel, particularly in very windy conditions, lighter lures etc. Otherwise you’re gonna backlash for sure.

That made me think of this one: a small popper for back bays in salt. Nice and thick and a huge cupped face for throwing lots of water but only 5” long. Thinking of putting on thinner-wire hooks and trying it on LMB.

Yeah I noticed with the jointed rapala I was getting a lot less distance than most other plugs I usually throw in this particular lake. Thought there was something wrong with my reel or line and then remembered oh yeah, this thing helicopters a bit. I switched to a smoother casting motion to keep the bait more aerodynamic and that helped. I did switch to a MG jerkbait at one point to reach breaking fish beyond where the Rapala couldn’t reach and I did get a few extra fish that way. So there you go—one benefit of some of the newer lures is weight-forward transfer system.

Heading back up to the Adirondacks soon and remember last year I caught a bigun on this beauty (RM Smith Lures, I think what he calls a peanut bunker). It makes a very enticing “v” wake on the surface if fished very slow. Run this thing over grass beds a foot or two below surface and hang on, when they hit it, they hit it hard. Anyone else throw saltwater plugs in lakes and rivers? I’ve got a bunch more and they all are fished at night, mostly all metal-lipped swimmers like this one. Haven’t tried small darters (or daghters for all of you New Englanders) but I bet they slay.

I bought a vintage Devil’s horse on fleabay after seeing Roland Martin tout them on his YouTube channel. Not sure I have the technique down with that one, not too productive for me so far. Gotta put more time in with it.

x2! The Pop Max and PopX have been the reason why all my other poppers, including the Chug Bug, get left in the box. They’ll stay in the rotation but my Chug Bug isn’t gonna be benched any more.

Poking through an old tackle box and came across a bunch of lures with rusted hooks I haven’t used in years, including a Storm Rattlin Chug Bug and a Rapala Jointed Minnow (J11). Used to slay em on these lures, just kinda forgot about em with all the other newer stuff I’ve gotten over the years. Put new Stinger trebles on em and went to my local pond tonight. Mirror calm, no wind and I’m thinking, ooh, perfect conditions for both of those lures. Start with Chug Bug, hits water, one twitch, boom, fish on. Caught 5 more, then the light mostly gone, switched to Rapala, crawl it SLOW so it makes that v-wake that bass love, boom, fish on. Lost count of how many more I caught before the skeeters chased me out of there. Nothing big but boy was it a blast on 10 lb straight braid and a medium spinner. So guys, what do you have lying around that used to slay for you and maybe you’ve left for the new shiny lure, only to realize that newer is not always better? Next trip, it’s time to break out the Hula Poppers and Tiny Torpedos and leave all of my Megabass bling at home!

I’d buy that for a dollar! ?

x2. I was fishing a WP 90 on MHF Kistler Argon on braid with a very small bit of mono leader just to avoid line fouling on front hook and losing way too many fish soon after hooking them. Switched to a Falcon HD medium power/mod fast action casting rod, problem solved. Also use medium spinner if cover is pretty sparse, works like a charm. (But you’re screwed if they take you into any cover.)

I’ve got a Falcon Mansfield spinner and it’s great for small squarebills, WP 90 and other treble hook baits due to its moderate action. Sweet rod.

It was absolute glass. Indeed perfect for subtle topwaters like the MG popper. My buddy was throwing a Whopper Plopper 90 and not getting a single bite. Switched to Super Spook Jr and immediately got bit.

I’ve caught 2 LMB over 5 lbs. out of a local pond near me that I could have sworn only had dinks in them after my first 5 or 6 outings there, when I caught nothing but 1 lbers all day. Ya never know…

On my buddy’s private lake, early morning when the bluegill are sipping bugs on the surface, the biguns are close by. Got this one on a MG Popmax (the smaller one). Jumped 3 times and I dropped the rod tip, kept the line tight and boated her pretty easy peasy. On a medium spinner with 15 lb straight braid. 5.9 lbs on the scale. My 2nd biggest bass.