RyanDR

Was thinking about using flies for bass and I came across this article. Anybody have any experience with this? I may tie some up. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/drop-shot-fly-rig

Right now the situation I seem to have the most trouble with is temperature drops. For example, last week, one day it was 70 and nice, I catch fish all the time in this weather on my favorite clear water reservoir up in MA. Then the next day it was 55, cold, and rainy. I have trouble fishing these conditions. I usually throw TR worms, ned rig, grubs when this happens. Does anybody have any tips or suggestions as to what to do in these situations?

Do you use anything in the light to ultra light range by them?

1. Can I use a light power rod for a drop shot rod? 2. Benefits of fast vs x-fast? Does it really make a big difference. Many of the x-fast rods that I like seem to all be 1 piece rods. I would prefer a 2 piece rod. 3. Does the size of the bait have a big influence on the rod power? I plan on drop shotting something as small as a fly or two on my line to a 4 or 5 inch finesse worm. They would be on similar sized hooks.

Two questions. If the first is answered then the seconded shouldn't really matter. 1. Is there anywhere to buy Fenwick Rod Blanks? I'm specifically looking for the blank they use for the Elite Tech river runner 6'9" fast action light blank 2. I like slimmer handles, such as on the HMG model but I like the specs of the Elite Tech better. How much of a hassle would it be to buy an Elite Tech then switch out the handle to something similar to the HMG. I feel like if I did that I might as well just buy a slightly more expensive rod and save the hassle. Thinking about or making a custom rod or ordering one and I have recently fallen in love with fenwick rods. But it doesn't seem like you can really buy them.

I just made a post about this rod. If you are willing to spend the money the Medium fast Fenwick Aetos is my suggestion for a spinning rod. If not that rod I would definitely suggest another medium fast action as the rod specs.

Does anybody have any experience with these rods? They look pretty solid but not too much info on them out there.

I got it because of your suggestion in my other post.

I haven't seen much about this rod around so I thought I would write up a review after using it for about a week now. I was looking for a "do it all" rod for travel and bank fishing. I only like carrying one rod when bank fishing which I do a lot of. The setup: 7'0" Medium fast action 1/16-5/8 2 piece. Paired with a Pflueger President 30 and #4 Yo Zuri Hybrid with KVD line and lure conditioner. I'll talk about the casting distance first. Anything over 1/8 oz casts like a dream, 20+ yards. I wasn't blown away with the casting distance of my 1/16 hair jigs but it certainly wasn't disappointing in the slightest. I could even cast the small Joe's Fly spinner for some panfish, although not very far, not even an ultra light could cast it too far. I fished jigs, worms, crankbaits, spinners, drop shot, and grubs on this rod. All performed great. It also super light and felt great in my hands. The Fuji split group took a little getting used to but now I am in love with it. I think it definitely adds some sensitivity. The sensitivity was nice too. I again wasn't blown away by the sensitivity but I was extremely happy with it. Anything more would have been really amazing. In the past week it handled anything from a 5 inch shiner to about a 3.5 bass. I could set the hook very well and fighting the fish felt great. Just like a medium rod should. The only thing is I think I should have gone with the 6'6" model, just as a personal preference. It might have been a little better to control and cast especially from the shore. Also I highly recomend the Plueger Supreme. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this rod and I am in love with it. I can do practically anything I will need. While other rods may be more ideal for ceartain techniques. If you want one rod that does it all I would recommend this rod.

I know this topic has been covered somewhat. I have my jigs stored in Plano boxes with foam. But I wanted something a little more compact. I was thinking of storing in a binder made for soft plastics with a bunch of hair jigs in separate small bags. Will the buck tail get kinked this way? What should I do with the wet jigs?

Today I was out on my kayak and found a really nice spot for carp in a bay in a river. The edges on one side is all weeds and it was swarming with carp. The biggest weedy area was a few hundred yards long and about 30 yards wide. Literally every 30 seconds or less at least one carp was rolling and jumping out of the water. I brought only bass/pike gear and tried to snag one but it was too hard. At one point a carp jumped and hit my kayak. So that should give you an idea of just how many carp there were and how active they were. This is up in MA by the way. It killed me that I had to go home and couldn't catch one of those. I am going back tomorrow morning and I hope they are still fairly active. Anyway, my questions are. How should I fish for these carp? I have never caught a carp before and it is on my bucket list. I know all the rigs and such so I don't really need help there. But should I put my bait on the edges? I didn't see any carp outside of the weedy section, but it is way too weedy to cast in there. What should I use worms, bread, corn? One thought I had was to use bread and cast it out into the weeds and wait since it would float more than the other baits. But I'm afraid of fighting the fish in the weeds because they were just so dense. My kayak situation is not ideal right now as it is a sit in kayak not meant for fishing. So I'll be limited to one rod which I will be holding/resting on my body. I'll throw out my little anchor somewhere and wait.

Looking to get my first fishing kayak. I have been using a 9.5 sit in kayak. I love fishing out of the kayak but it really sucks having no storage and having to awkwardly store the rod. Anyway, if I am mainly going to be fishing rivers where occasionally I'll have to "scoot" over a downed tree or squeeze through a gap or something of the likes. I'll also be fishing some ponds and small lakes. What specs should I look for and in general what should I look for in a kayak? I don't know much at all about fishing kayaks. I was looking around and the Vibe Sea Ghost 130 looks pretty good. Would this be a good kayak for my needs? I was hoping to get an end of the season deal or get a used one off craiglist and I can probably sell my other kayak for $200. http://vibekayaks.com/products/vibe-kayaks-sea-ghost-130-angler-kayak

I will probably make another post once I am able to fish this rod for a bit. But just made some quick casts in my yard and all I can say is wow. This thing can launch my 1/8 rigs super far. It could even cast my 1/16 hair jigs decently far. I have 7lb flourocarbon currently. My initial reaction to this rod is it's awesome. Light and comfortable. I'll report back again once I get a chance to fish. Unfortunately won't be able to for a few days. But first impressions is this rod is awesome. The ml shimano compre is the highest end rod I have used besides this. So this is my highest end rod I have ever used.

Sold an old setup so I decided to put that money towards the Medium Fast Aetos. Should be here in a few days.

With a 1/16 I don't know how much distance is expected to begin with. Is the weightless worm the lightest you have used?

Any personal experience with this rod? If it can really cast a 1/16 and a 3/4 adequately. Then that looks like I may never need another rod again. That covers pretty much everything I throw 95% of the time.

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like I will focus more on lure rating than specifically a medium rod. The fenwick HMG is definitely up there, but preferably I am trying to find a split grip, as they feel better in my hangs for some reason. About 130 is my top dollar.

What model for do you use? I would love an Avid X but I don't have that much disposable income right now.

I was planning on using this rod as pretty much my "Swiss army knife rod" when bank fishing. So a rod with that could be used with a wide variety of techniques.

I have been loving my new ML Shimano Compre. It covers pretty much everything I need for bank fishing (Ned rig, hair jigs, grubs, lighter crankbaits, lighter jigs). It's rated 1/16-3/8. But one thing I am worried to throw on it is a senko. As I only like to bring one rod bank fishing and if the fishing is slow my backup/confidence lures are typically lighter lures. I'm looking for a rod, preferably medium with a rating of 1/8 to around 5/8 so I can throw anything from a grub or 1/8 ned rig up to a 5 or 6 inch senko. The medium compre has a rating of 3/16-5/8. Will the 1/8 to 3/16 difference of ratings even be noticeable when throwing for example a 1/8 ned rig? One of the only medium rods I found with a 1/8-5/8 is the Fenwick HMX, so any thoughts on that rod? If the 1/8 to 3/16 difference wont be noticeable than I would prefer to g with a rod with the 3/16-5/8 rating, which I already have some in mind.

I do a lot of bank fishing as I'm currently in college and don't have access do my little Jon boat about 10 months out of the year. I always want to bring way too much. I know I would be fine with just one tackle box and throw a bunch of stuff in there and one rod. But there's always the "what if" and I'll need all my baits. Recently I've been bringing 2 rods and 2-3 3601 size tackle boxes + whatever random plastics and crap I think I'll need in a backpack. I sometimes miss the days where I was first getting into fishing and only had one rod and a few lures. So what do you all bring bank fishing?

Looking to get a crappie setup this year. I have a Plfueger President 6925 already I think I'll use. Never had a dedicated setup/lures for crappie/panfish before. Should I go light or ultralight? Any suggestions for a rod? I'd like to keep it on the cheaper side, so around $60 maybe. Thanks, Ryan

So I'm joining a bass fishing club this year as a non-boater. So I would ride along with another boater. My question is, what should I expect and bring? How does being a non-boating fishing off the back of another's boat? Is my score separate? I am going to talk to the members more but I just wanted to get a sense of what to expect before. Also I don't have too much gear either. I'm looking to expand. The first tournament is in a few weeks so I can't really buy too much stuff that fast as I won't have the money. Thanks, Ryan

Specifically materials for hair jigs for me.

From what I've read and experienced. St. Croix rods are rated lower then they actually are. So that MH rod may be closer to H. I have a MH BPS extreme that I use for plastics and Texas rigs and it works great.