U-boat Aficionado

A few Walmart clearance items: hooks for $1 a pack, KVD's for $3 and a Rebel for $1.50.

Took advantage of the rod and reel trade-in at Bass Pro so I could pick up a President 6930 for $49 and a 2-piece Carbonlite medium fast casting rod for $65. I've been wanting this rod for a while to pair with my 2-piece Veritas medium that feels more like a medium heavy. The Carbonlite balances perfect with a Lews LFS SS. They still had a few of the $49 PQ's, but I didn't want another.

I'm 15 minutes from BP and was thinking I would get one. Woke up this morning and decided to save my money. Want to see what the new, improved version is like. I have the current model PQ and while it's not a bad reel, I'd rather spend a little more for something a little better.

I live 15 minutes from BP and decided I'm not even going in today to pick up a $49 PQ. Would rather wait to see what the new version is like, especially when I can pick up a Lews LFS for not too much more than the sale price of the old PQ. Also, why doesn't the rod and reel trade in start until next week?

Looking at the flyer online, I didn't see the Carbonlite Rod/Pro Qualifier combo like I picked up last year. The $49 PQ is tempting but I've a feeling the local store will quickly be sold out, not have any left hand models and with the new model hitting the stores, I'd like to wait to see it. I might trade race in an old junk rod to pick up a two piece Veritas or Carbonlite or trade for another President reel.

I love it! Nothing like topwater popper smallmouth, especially when you hook into a decent one.

I should have posted this here instead of in the other forum: My inexpensive pier, jetty and boat rig. A KastKing Rover reel and medium-heavy Ugly Stik. Will work for swim baits, if I ever fish swim baits.

Wanted something for a budget light pier, jetty and boat rod and came up with this. A KastKing Rover (that I took apart and re-greased) on a 6'6" medium heavy Ugly Stik. Spooled it with 15 lb. Big Game and walked out front to see if it would cast. Put a half ounce of lead on the line and had no problems chucking it without a backlash, in fact it was smooth. Too bad its 20 degrees and that water is ready to freeze! Hope I get a chance to hook into a few fish soon. I think this could work for swim-baits, too.

Smallmouth sure seem to go for the bright, flashy colors. I love using fire tiger flavor lures for them!

5wt. fly rod, black or olive woolly buggers and balsa, foam or hair poppers. You'll have a blast!

Before tying on the black popper tonight, this nice guy tore up a white woolly bugger:

Lol! Put a pair of trebles in that and you have a great perch colored Rapala! The reel in my pic is a Pflueger Patriarch and the rod is a Fenwick World Class 5wt.

Thanks guys, besides saltwater it has to be my favorite fishing. Last night was good as well but all smaller fish. Hopefully the wind will kick down for tonight. It gets dark fast now, summer is flying by.

Just climbed out of the canoe and had to share my best night of the summer after a cold front went through. Casting a black popper just as the sun set, every fish that blew up on it was solid and a jumper. The fiberglass rod is sweet to cast. Here's photos of a couple:

Hooked into this monster yesterday and managed to land him after an epic struggle.

That's good to hear considering I just saw a boat load of people steal a canoe that had drifted away. Just threw it in their boat and took off.

Fenwick Fenglass 8 wt. rod, a non-branded Chinese reel from eBay, a bright orange fly line and a bunch of bass bugs and streamers.

Jointed #7 in Gold or Perch. Fantastic lures. I happened to get my PB smallie on one.

I pinch the barbs down to be more humane... to myself! Much easier to pull a barbless hook out of your hand.

Was out today fishing smallmouth with an 8 wt. Sage rod. I'm on a big lake where there's plenty of wind so the 8 wt. is nice when it's blowing. Otherwise, I'd suggest 7 wt. as a good all around choice. People catch bonefish and tarpon on these rods so they'll certainly handle any bass you encounter and throw a fly farther than you'll ever need. You can always go up or down a line size, too. Don't buy a gimmick short rod, get a 9 foot. You don't need a $600 Sage, but don't make the mistake of spending $100 on junk. Fenwick World Class graphite rods are good for around $300. Orvis has decent rods in that price range as do others. I think $300 is about the minimum price for a rod you'll really want to own and enjoy using. Slow or medium action isn't a bad thing when throwing big, wet bass bugs and lots of people love old fiberglass rods. Take a look at the new Fenwick Fenglass rods, they go for $200 and are fun for this kind of fishing. You can pair it with one of the new "throwback" Pflueger Medalist reels for a neat old school rig for around $300 to $350. You can save money starting out by searching eBay for machined aluminum reels direct from China. You pay $20 or $30 for a no-name reel likely made in the same plant as branded stuff selling for $100 or more. Down the road when you want to spend a lot, you can buy a Hardy or something. Reels are mostly line holders and you probably won't be fishing bass off the reel. Plus bass don't run like bonefish or big trout. I like disc drags because I troll streamers for trout and salmon. I like large arbor reels. For flies, everything loves to eat woolly buggers, muddlers, leeches, poppers and gurglers. I like chartreuse Clousers for smallmouth. There's an endless variety to try but you can't go wrong starting out with a black woolly bugger. You don't need giant flies to catch big fish. Once you make a nice cast, get a monster strike on a popper and fight a big one on the fly rod you'll wonder why everyone else isn't doing it too!

You can also get the SS for about $20 less than list on eBay as well. It's a smooth reel.

Heading toward home as the sun sets.

Out in the canoe this evening working a black woolly bugger on a 5 wt. rod and hooked into some great fighting fish! That guy with nice tiger stripes on his head just wouldn't give up, what a battle. Even the pretty little fish stick managed a jump.

I've been using bigger lures lately and am getting a lot of smaller fish (smallmouths) that are foul hooked. They tend to hit the top set of trebles and during the fight the back treble gets them in their gills, side or belly. It's not fun to catch fish you can't release because they bleed out.

Well, that hasn't been my luck but sure, every so often a snap needs a new knot. But I can change out lures a few times before doing so.