FishTank

I think I will stick with the regular reel oil. I am not sure about this but I have heard about using olive oil or cooking oil on reels and I believe they are viscous. I think cold temps and water may change their properties. Somebody smarter than me can chime in on this.

10-12lb Trilene. Works for everything.

I recently received a Go Pro as a gift and was not quite sure what to do with it. It has been fun to tie to the dogs and watch them chase toys and do stupid stuff but I have been reluctant to take and video myself. Do you guys shot video while you're fishing? For me it would just be for fun and memories, nothing scientific. I just feel self conscience about putting myself out on a boat with a camera strapped to my body.

I have two of the Elite Tech rods and they are nice work horse type rods. They are not the most sensitive but they have plenty of power when it counts and are made out of nice components. Plus, they just feel nice in my hands. As far as the G Loomis E6X goes, a fishing buddy of mine swears by them. I have tried them and after fishing a couple of GLX's its hard to compare the difference. I would say they are both just a step below the St. Croix Avid. The only down side about the E6X is that if feels like a cheap G. Loomis rod. Not that it is a bad thing. It's sort of like driving a Chevy and expecting it to feel like a Cadillac.

When it comes to crankbaits, I like mixed dark colors in shallow water (Ghost minnow) and shinny cranks (American Shad) in deep water. Of course, my daughter, when she was little, had a pink crankbait that she thought was pretty. Well, her crankbait and Barbie poll would catch one fish after another so my theory is meaningless. I would use whatever you have the most confidence with and try not to over think it.

For the heavier ones like a #3 and #4 Mepps, I would say that this is fine. I have been using the 6' St. Croix Avid ML Fast for lighter spinner baits and it has been a lot of fun for crappie, smaller bass, wipers, and walleye.

I hit DSG again and found 10 more packs of senkos. They were clearance buy 5 get 5 free. I picked up the following colors.... Green Flash, Bama Bug, Smoke w/purple and blue flake and watermelon with blue flake, and purple with pearl/blue flake. With a coupon they came up to $2.85 each. They also had a bunch of stuff that was clearance. You just kind had to hunt through it all.

St. Croix Avid 6'8'' M XF. Set you back $200. I would put the Stradic Ci4 2500 on it. It should cover a lot of techniques.

I use a Shimano Stradic 2500 and a 6'8'' St. Croix Avid M XF. On a side note, years ago when this technique hit the mainstream, I would see a lot of guys out in the middle of the lake shaking their rods up and down with no bites. All I saw was frustration. I really have not had much confidence in this technique since. I'd rather work a bait slow and easy. Of course, that doesn't mean it doesn't work.

No, I aways expect to enjoy being outside first. It eases any frustration I may get if the fish are not biting.

Another that is doing well and is the Fat Ika. This has always been a good one for me at pretty much any time of the year.

Right now, I have been catching them on Zoom lizards. I fish them a little fast over weeds and they seem to be destroying it.

Big spinner baits and frogs. Not sure why but I better luck with just about anything.

I had the same problem with mine after about a month of use, except I tried 2 different types of braid and 2 different types of mono. I spooled it once and then had the guys at DSG do it three different times, all with the same result. I ended up returning it and exchanging it for something else. It was a shame because it was a nice reel, smooth and just felt good. It seemed like a good reel at a reasonable price point.

I woke up at 6am looked at the temp, 82 degrees. I just went back to sleep. It's supposed to be 95 today with a heat index of 110. I think I will be hunting down some unneeded tackle in an air conditioned store or reading a book.

For me, I tend to fish soft plastic worms weightless and Texas rigged more than anything else. I use to through jigs a lot but I got tired of loosing them in and around the heavy rock bases I usually fish. I've caught a ton of fish with them. I just wish I didn't get hung up with them so much.

I tried it out today and so far so good. I caught 4 Large Mouth in the 3-4lb range and it performed well. I had no brakes, it casted well and seemed to disappear well under water. I used it on a spinning reel that I use for weightless soft plastic. I think this line may be better suited for crank baits but I think I like it better than Trilene and Sufix mono. Only time will tell on well it holds up for me.

I tried Vanish in the past and it did not work for me. It seemed like a good line to start with but after a few outings it just became brittle and hard to manage. I have tried a few others (Gamma, P-Line, Sunline Shooter/Sniper, Trilene FC, Abrazx, Red Label and even Tatsu) and Invizx has been the best bang for the buck so far.

I stopped by another DSG today and they had the same ones I bought at regular price. When I asked about it, the sales guy said that each store has different prices and standards for clearance items. I was kind of bummed as well.

I have tried both Harry's and DSC and really didn't care for either one of them. I hate to say it but Gillette Mach 3 disposables have worked the best for me. The fusion razors are great but just too expensive.

I hope they keep them separate. I used to like bass pro shops branded gear but lately not so much. Cabela's is Ok as well but the stores seem to have a different feel. The Cabelas by me is nice, they have knowledgable staff and plenty of people in the fishing department to help (usually four or more). The last time I went to a Bass Pro shop they had two people working on a busy Saturday and one of them tried to sell me a vacation package and the other acted like he was scared of water (maybe is own shadow).

Caught a couple of 5-6lb channel cats yesterday on a senko. It seems when they are hungry they will hit on just about anything.

I have the old zillion and it has worked great. I have cast the new one and I think it has a better breaking system. My old zillion is kind of unpredictable when it comes to breaking. It also seemed that the longer I fished it (getting the reel wet) the less effective the braking was. With that said, it is a work horse. It has never failed to produce fish for me.

I picked up a spool of Sunline Super Natural Mono today. Has anybody tried this stuff out. It will probably be a week before I am able to test it out and wanted to see what I can expect.

Tatsu would be my choice. It has been great for me. I would say if it has one down side, it has a lot of stretch but strangely, it seems to improve hook sets when fishing soft plastic.