fishwizzard

It's taking all my will power to not jump on one of these. Right now my casting arsenal is this, from light to heavy: Phenix Recon 682c MBR 783c GLX XX Tour Versatile MB Hyuga 72H I can't decide if any of the other XX rods really fit in without a ton of overlap. I was thinking about one of the cranking rods, but I usually beat the bank with a single rod, so I like to stick to more "all around" rods.

I have been keeping my rigged zman lures in a plastic fly box with foam inserts. The foam does not seem to react with the plastics and I tossed a silica pack in there which seems to have warded off rust.

Does anyone sell a stand-alone rod locker? It seems like there would be a market for something like in A-Jay's picture, but free standing so you could say mount it to the bed of a pickup or the back of an SUV/wagon.

I fish a lot of small, shallow rivers near where I live. My area is over-developed, so most of our rivers are in poor condition, with steep eroded banks and frequent log jams from flash foods. My go to when fishing a new spot is to take a small (4" Ocho or 3" Senko, depending on current) t-rigged stick worm and fish it in and around the log jams. The larger bass seem to hold to these spots year round, but especially in the fall and winter. When the water is up and muddy I will switch to a small (3-4") white or black grub, t-rigged w/ a 1/8-1/4oz weight and fish around the same spots.

I believe that the Gulp juice does attract fish and make them more likely to bite. I also believe that it might be the worst thing I have ever had in my mouth and no amount of increased catching will make it worth the risk of having that happen again. If you want to live dangerously, stretch the salt out of some Z-man Zlinkers/TRDs, toss them in a plastic baggy full of Gulp juice mixed with Megastrike. Give them some gentle squeezes and let them sit overnight. They suck the stuff up and it really seems to turn the bite on. Just be careful and keep your mouth shut when affixing the plastic to the jighead.

I have bought a few rods and reels from Japan and piles of junk direct from china and never had to pay any tax or tariff.

Very nice! I almost headed that way yesterday, but the traffic always scares me off. In the summer it's not so bad as there is light until rushhour is over, but between the ~1 hour drive, uncertain water level, and the rush-hour drive home around the beltway, I chickened out. That is going to be my fishing-resolution for the new year, to be less lazy.

Well, my binge was all online, so it will be a week before it all arrives. I also picked up the Critical Concepts 1, 2 and 3 books. I have enjoyed a lot of the stuff on their site, so wanted to check the books out.

I tend to keep fishing until everything freezes up, but I will admit my motivation becomes more about casting practice than actually catching a bass. The main thing I struggle with in the winter is keeping my hands/fingers warm. Once my hands get cold my fun level plummets, to the point where I stopped bothering to take my kayak out once drysuit season hits. This year I am going to try fingerless gloves and handwarmers stuck to the tops of my hands to see if that helps any.

I think you should be fine, so long as it isn't too stiff. I have the Genesis II Fred's MJS and it is just a little too weak to feel confident in making hooksets on weedless Huddgills and RI Big Dippers, so the more powerful Jr Swim should be fine. I was looking at it as well, but 7'8" is too much for me to deal with.

I have already lost a bbz rat due to a getting a little too cocky, which is why I waited for the sales to stock up. I should have enough now to last me until the next BF sale, if I loose them all before next fall I am gonna sell then rod and get into micro fishing.

I have been wanting to give swimbaits/big baits a serious go but waited until yesterday to take the plunge. I knew it was better to wait and buy in at 20-25% off, but it was still a shocking amount of money to spend on rubber fish at one time. I am going to name every lure I bought and will hold a little memorial service as each is lost.

That rules out a ton of water around here. The only freshwater spots I have caught a lot of pickerel are all either trolling only or don't allow boats at all.

My ideal pickerel situation is hooking it, getting it to the bank, looking it in the eye, then slacking the line and letting it pop off without having to touch the awful thing. Last year there were all over the tidal rivers around Annapolis, but the population seems to have crashed this year. I know I caught relatively few all of this year compared to last, where I was catching them in both brackish and freshwater with pretty good frequency.

You have to look at the seller and make the call. Usually the bigger places are above board. For what it's worth, Paypal's dispute system is heavily weighed towards the buyer, so it's usually safe to take a chance.

I don't have a much experince with higher-end rods, but I did pick up a GLX MBR this fall. I don't have a ton of time on it yet, but I wouldn't swear that it was any more sensitive than the XX Dropshot. The "Show your Stuff" thread here has a bunch of good info about the XX rods and I want to say someone posted a litte review of the Spinnerbait Special. The advanced search function should let you find the relevant posts pretty quickly.

I have the Tour Versatile and the Dropshot, both of which I have been super happy with. Most people seem to like the Perfect Pitch over the TV, so I have a vague plan to pick one up some day. I was hoping to find one used, but have never managed to snag one.

It looks like American Legacy is doing 25% of GLoomis and 20% Orchi XX rods tomorrow. I am now worried that MB is going to discontinue the XX line, it's crazy how often they have been poping up onsale lately.

I have the 9.1:1 version of the Zillion SV TW and don't like it much at all. It might just be a due to the faster gearing, but it feels looser and gear-y-er then the other Daiwa's (sv105, sv103, Alphas FC, Steez ltd sv, PX68) that I have owned. I also find it less comfortable than the other reels, but that is obviously super subjective. At MSRP I wouldn't even consider another one and honestly I have had so much luck finding deals on used higher-end reels that I don't there is any reason to pick the Zillion SV over a used Steez or an NIB Tatula SV.

Is there a specific Legend Tournament Bass rod that is considered a "must have"? I don't really need another rod, but I kinda want to give a highend St Croix a go, so a 50% off sale has my attention. The ones I am looking at are the following; Top Water/Shake Flick casting rod, as I don't have anything close to an XF in that weight range. Swim Bait, I need a swimbait rod anyway, and the LTB would look great with the reel I want to use.

They really are great. I think the 3/8oz one is the perfect "medium" size spinnerbait. There is something about the blade/arm geometry that really makes them crazy weedless and they really run very straight in the water even at a crawl.

I live a bit north of you and I make it up there a few times a year. I hit SFT on the way up, stay at one of the little motels around Hamburg and fish the parks around there for a day or three. The motels can be as cheap as $50-75 a night, so it's a nice cheap little vacation.

Oh, I knew what you meant, I'm the kinda guy who peels labels off of beer bottles, that little wiggling piece would last about a second around me.

If it is anything like the Ugly Sticks I used to use for saltwater fishing, I don't think even a 3lb smallie could break it. My only fear with your setup would be hooking into a big one and not having the power to land it. 6lb braid is going to slice you like a knife if you try to pull it with a big fish on, so make sure you have a rag/hanky/whatever handy if you have to handline a fish in.

For a MH rod under $100, the Fenwick Elite Smallmouth ESMC69MH-F is a great rod that come up on ebay fairly often at around $80-90. It has a pretty short handle, but if that isn't a deal-breaker it fishes is listed range very well and will go a bit above. I have a pair I use on my kayaks because of the short handles and I couldn't be happier with them.