fishwizzard

I have never caught one before, am I right in thinking that my little ML ned rig rod would be very outclassed by one of those things?

I have never fished or even held a Steez but have stopped looked for a good deal on one. The used prices on the Alphas reels (or at least the common ones) are so good for the quality of reel you get, it's insane. I have been looking around for a good, solid inexpensive reel for a pair of MH rods I picked up for my kayak. I think at this point I am just going to hunt up a pair of alphas 103's and tune them up as needed. They are gonna look weird on green rods, but such is life. How are the Megabass Alphas variants? I don't hear much about them.

Why the F over a 103 or a Finesse Special? I think I am going to start a small collection of the less rare Alphas variants. They are by far the most comfortable reels I have used and I am really getting into them.

I have fished it a little this spring and had some good results. I was using 6" Robos and 6" Jelly Worms. For hooks I have used both 1/0 Robo Rebar hooks, a needle point, and Trokar 1/0 Finesse hooks, a cutting point. Both seem to work but the Trokars both snag more and seem to get better hooksets. While the Neko does seem to catch well, it also attracts an endless parade of sunfish to peck at the tails. The Jelly Worms seem to be the worst about it. At least with the Ned or a slider rig I can have the satisfaction of catching them, but the sunnies never seem to be able to be hooked.

I hit on in the head with a nose hooked 3" tube full of megastrike the last time I was there. It just swam off with no real reaction. It was maddening.

The same. So yea, a ton of the little ponds and lakes around here are good for finesse bassing. Even the Little Pax has enough smaller bass to be interesting. However, I am finding that I am needing heavier gear than I first thought in order to keep my options open during the summer. A lot of spots get enough cover to really limit lure options. But honestly, while there are some nice fish around here, they take a lot of work. Being able to grab a light rod and go catch a dozen one to two pounders on a Ned or small spinnerbait has saved many afternoons for me. I do own a decent M/XF spinning rod, but I only really use it for flukes and more often than not I grab a lighter or heavier option on my way out the door.

I am likely to be the lone vote for ML, but I love fishing small, light plastics. Most of my favorites are so thin/soft that hooksets are not an issue with a good sharp hook. I do fish a lot of spots with open water or very sparse cover, so your local conditions might not be as favorable, but I really enjoy the light stuff. I would honestly go MH and ML, so you still have a lot of lure options at both ends.

Yep, I love it, it zips line back in so fast for pitching and honestly I kinda like slow-rolling a big spinnerbait on it, there is something soothing and meditative about how slow you have to crank the handle. I have been really really startled by a fish grabbing it a few times.

Honestly I don't miss a clicker. I picked up a Finesse Special for a song on ebay and, once I replaced the pads, the drag is smooth as silk in both pullout and the star movement. It does not seem to slip at all and I really feel like I can be more slow and even in upping it to fight a fish. It really seems to help in landing larger bass on light line with a BFS rod.

Stay strong my correct-handed brother. It's a fun reel, but mine had a bad pinion gear and being JDM, no warranty support. I knew that getting into it, but it still stings a little.

Hah, I like the little guy too much to part with him, he keeps me humble. Most of my other reels have SV spools and I sometimes think I have better thumb control then I actually do. I mean, don't get me wrong, I like the sound of that Sol

Huh. I was looking at it as a salt-friendly replacement for a PX68. The PX is currently on a trout rod that sees 90% of it's use in brackish water and it often gets totally soaked. I keep up with cleaning it, but I know it isnt a good idea long term. I would also like to move the PX68 to a rod I would use more often, I only really go after perch/panfish/trout a few dozen times a year. I am also really getting into the Alphas platform in general and was thinking of starting a small collection of them, so the Air would be a good addition that would also fill a practical role. But if even a bearing change will not let it cast tiny 1/16-1/8 spinners, it isnt much use to me.

Yea, I am coming around to that line of thinking, but I would still buy a SV spool for mine just to see how it casted. Between the stock spool, the DIY ones, and a SV option, you would have a ton of options. And besides, while I do love my pixy, my thumb still fails me often enough to make casting it kinda expensive

How are they in general? I love the Alphas platform, I love finesse fishing, so it seems right up my alley, but I have never read much about them one way or the other.

Daiwa would make a killing if they offered one I bet.

If I were staring over I would buy a singe 6'6" M/F spinning rod, any major brand in the $100 range. Look for a used Shimano Stradic FJ/FK reel in either 1000 or 2000 size. This is probably the most "middle of the road" combo out there and after fishing this for a season you should have a really good idea what you want your next rod to to be in terms of power, length, and action.

I usually try to limit the number of rods I carry, with four being the max. 2 @ 6'8" MH/F casting rods, Fenwick Smallmouths, they have a nice short butt section. They cover all non-finesse stuff, one usualy has a spinnerbait tied on, the other a worm or jig. 1 @ 6' ML/F spinning rod, a custom from Smalliestix, also with a short butt. This starts with a Ned Rig tied on but covers all "lighter than a senko" plastics. It also will throw inline spinners if I give up on bass to chase panfish. The last rod is the wildcard, being whatever will best cast my current lure obsession. My main criteria for a kayak combo is a rod with a short butt and a total combo replacement cost in the ~$300 range. I use rod floats and have yet to turtle, but I know that day will come.

I have a hard time striking a balance between throwing an unproductive lure all day and burning through a dozen feet of line with constant re-tying. Instead of focusing on specific lures, I try to change broad categories, so like if bottom contact isnt working, switch to something I can work higher up in the water column. If a subtle natural looking presentation isnt working, I will go for like a neon spinnerbait to see if they want that. Lately I have been erring on the side of changing up lures less often and it seems to be working out better then more frequent changes.

A few weeks ago I was wading by a ruined mill. I saw about 3' of a shed snake skin laying on the bank, with more of it under a flat piece of rubble. I wanted to see how long it was, so I flipped the rubble only find the very cranky owner of said skin. I should have expected it, but I still yelled a little.

I have a buddy who works in marketing and he was telling me that in general, the entire Youtube ad revenue model is going to collpase sooner rather then later. He said that companies are not seeing the returns they were looking for and consequently are will to pay less and less to run ads. There is also a huge issue with "bots" being used to generate page clicks and thus far Youtube has not responded in a way that is reassuring to advertisers. He also said that the percentage of times on average ads are fully watched and not clicked through is in the low single digits. I think it comes down to companies wanting to pay less and have more control, which leaves Youtube with less revenue for themselves. The big money makers are video game related content and even in that area the ad revenue is going down. I personaly watch very very few videos, mainly due to being really fussy about audio quality.

I like mine as short as I can get away with, so just long enough to get a fish around the bow. Which in my 10' yak means about 6' ish. Short butts are essential though, the old Fenwick Elitetech Smallmouth rods are perfect kayak rods if you can find them.

Braid tied in a tiny prussic knot?

I preordered one but am super on the fence about actualy buying one. I have never ussd a round reel before and am suddenly worried that i will hate the ergonomics of it.

That is where I have seen them. It's a nice little stretch of river.

Awesome, thanks man! Sadly that renders them more or less useless for me as that is too heavy for most of my combos. Time to start hoarding the 90s in ernest.