WI_Angler1989

I've been tempted by some new stuff! Time to find out for myself what all the hubbub is about.

That's definitely high on my list of pros when it comes to using leaders. I find that more times than not, when I snag and break off I don't lose anything further up than the knot. So the only braid I lose is the amount it takes to tie the leaders. It's a huge plus!

I use Gamakatsu 3/0 EWG hooks. They work better for me that normal offset worm hooks, especially for the durability of the worms! It's much easier to rig my 7" Power Worms weedless and make them last for a bunch of fish.

That is an AMAZING fish! Holy mother of Posiedon! Congrats man. Wow. Right?! Is it too soon to count the minutes? Beautiful fish Ajay. They have such incredible color and detail! Big fish here tend to be very dark and only the little ones have such pronounced stripes and patterns. Lucky guy!

They sure do! Pike stole all 4 of my Snipers one day on the river..... dang them! Haha

My current reel, Shimano Stradic FK 2500. I don't have as much experience and knowledge as many of the people on here, but it would take A LOT too beat out the Stradic FK in my eyes. Talk about a powerhouse of a reel! It's smooth, durable and looks awesome.

I'm a huge fan of Kalin's Lunker Grubs. They work extremely well for me here in Wisconsin on smallmouth, largemouth, pike and big panfish. I use the 3", 4" and 5" depending on what I'm targeting or what it's used for (4" and 5" for swimming on jig head, 3" for swim jig trailer) As for colors, my "favorite" would probably be watermelon red flake, but I use watermelon seed, smoke salt and pepper, chartreuse, pumpkinseed, blue pearl.... pretty much most of the ones I find in store work at one point or amother. Depends on the day and the conditions. Watermelon red tends to work more often for me.

Yeah, must the must be 3/16. It's been a while since I ordered. I personally like going as light as I can while still having bottom contact. They hang up less is my snaggy rivers.

The top picture is the plain Green Pumpkin. It does have some very black flake in it, I beleive. The bottom picture is the PBJ. A personal favorite of mine AND the smallies.

Mepps Aglia, then Mepps Aglia and followed closely by the Mepps Aglia. Get a brown dressed #3 and #4 with silver or copper blade (more flash in sun or less) and go to work. I've caught literally everything I fish for on Aglias: smallmouth, largemouth, pike, musky, Crappie, Catfish, walleye, 1 snapping turtle and some PB logs. One of my favorite lures ever.

I've had a lot of luck with his Sniper series finesse jigs too. The shape of the head is really good coming through the rocks and logs on my smallmouth river. They'd be on the lighter side (I use 1/4) of what your looking for, but are worth adding a few IMO.

Holy crap....it's like Christmas! That's awesome! I live close enough for a fun day trip, that's for sure.

Whaaaat?! What a deal! How?!?!

Good haul! I'm a spinning gear kinda guy, but a St Croix is a St Croix! Were they all full price?

That's an INCREDIBLE deal! I thinks it's an understatement to say I'm a huge fan of St Croix rods. I fished random low end rods for years before getting my first Avid and I've never once looked back. That beauty you got there can and will do anything you want it to. Overly heavy lures won't work obviously, but I fish anything from weighted plastics, weightless plastics, small jigs, topwater, jerkbaits, small cranks and spinners on my spinning rods. Never have any issues as long as the lure matches the action. Good luck and enjoy that rod! I'm so jealous of that deal you found!

Thanks! Man, I love this rod haha

All cleaned, shined and polished!

-St Croix Legend Tournament Bass 610mlxf -Shimano Stradic FK 2500 1) Cabin Creek 2.5" green pumpkin blue tube 2) War Eagle sexy shad finesse Spinnerbait 3) 7" watermelon red Berkley Power Worm

For Largemouth it's a 7" worm. For Smallmouth it's a 2.5" tube.

You should accidentally cut off 15 feet then trip and drop it into an envelope and mail it to me by accident!

Another vote for the Shimano Stradic FK. I've got the 2500 series and it's a game changer for me. I was always a Pfleuger guy, and I still do like what I have, but Shimano won me over in a heartbeat. It just feels right. Not to mention the multitude of technologies that work to male them as durable and long lasting as possible.

I'm jealous.... no cabelas near me but I'd LOVE some LC Pointers!

I like the Sunline Super Sniper best, personally. I've never used fluoro as a main line. I'm a far too poor to consider trying that. But, I did get some Super Sniper on sale to use for leaders a few years back and I STILL have some left! It's super sensitive, abrasion resistant and doesn't "seem" to have much stretch. Like I said, I use it as leaders for any bottom presentations for smallies: small worms, tubes, craws, finesse jigs, wacky rigs. It's especially nice to not have my braid get destroyed on the rocky bottoms that are all over here. I'd guess that since I started tying leaders 2 seasons ago, I've saved 90% of the braid I start the season with. When you only need the amount to tie leader knots with, you really don't end up cutting much braid off! Got some InvizX during the 25 day of xmas sale to test out this year too. While I love the Shooter, at 9.99 it was hard to pass up a spool of the Seaguar. Seaguar is pretty highly regarded so it'll be fun to branch out and see how I like it. The main knock on them is "more stretch" than other fluoros, which is probably a benefit for me when used as a leader for braid.

I have the St Croix Legend Tournament Bass Dropshot rod. It's the 610mlxf. I'll start off by saying that it does NOT fish like one would expect a ML rod to. People say St Croix rods fish heavier than their power ratings, which could be the reason. Another thing is the the XF tip. It loads up so quickly when fishing bottom contact lures that when combined with the strong backbone, the rod has some serious power. I've caught 5+ pound smallies in fast current in my local river, and the rod has ALWAYS had enough backbone to fight them in! I'm like you too, it's technically a dropshot rod, but I use it for a lot of presentations. I fish small tubes on it mostly, along with craws, 7" power worms, finesse worms, wacky rigs, small finesse jigs and any other bottom contact plastics I rig! Funny thing, I've never used it to actually dropshot! I plan to this year (and last year, whoops)!!

Hey Roadwarrior, what pound test Tatsu do you like when you use it as a main line on spinning reels? For 30$ a small spool I'd better be sure I get the right one!