Lucky Craft Man

i am a big fan of Rod Wraps (though, only in black as the other colors soil quickly and look bad). I tried the Bass Pro version, but it is not as good. It just didn't last as long. I also used tennis racket wrap, but it is too elastic and the rolls are too short to do a whole handle that is more than 8" long. If anyone knows a place that just sells a long roll of tennis racket wrap (say over 72"), I can overlook the stretchiness and would be willing to use it, but i just can't find it. I do agree that the Rod Wraps are expensive, but I have yet to find a better substitute. As far as their performance goes, I don't think I could fish a rod without the wrap on it. I have just become so used to the comfort and functionality in the rain that anything else feels foreign to me. Also, I feel it protects the cork and helps the resale value (if you ever decide to resell the rod). As S Hovanec said, I use the Original Rod Wrap on all my bass rods, musky rods, and even fly rods.

Thanks guys for the kind comments. I also want to thank Scott, AJay, BRONZEBACK67, and Dwight for really helping me in learning an effective way to fish for these big fish. My big five for that day was a 4 lb. 7 oz., 4 lb. 12 oz., 5 lb. 0 oz., 5 lb. 5 oz., and the 7 lb. 0 oz. Not the biggest bag ever caught on Erie, but a good day for me. I now just need to convince my wife that it is very important for my health to get back up there and go after that 8 pounder (which might be easier to catch than getting my wife to buy that argument)..

Very Nice Smallmouth! I'm sure that was a surprise coming out of such shallow water.

Great Looking Fish! Congratulations!

Nice day there! You gotta love the Spring.

Thanks, Scott!!!

Over two years ago I made a post in the Smallmouth section mentioning my mild obsession with catching a 7 pound smallmouth and asked those to post a picture of thier 7 pound+ smallmouth (below is a link to that thread) http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/84036-quest-for-the-7-pound-smallmouth/?hl=quest Since that post, I read and digested what I could concerning catching big Great Lake smallmouth. I talked with Scott Hovanec about his experience on the water several times and BRONZEBACK67 gave me a lot of good advice. The one guy who really provided me a lot of information was Dwight Hottle. I read and reread his posts and even talked with Dwight a few times on the phone (what a nice guy) to really understand his system. I even ran into Dwight and AJay on the water this past Monday and talked with them a little more (AJay is a really nice guy as well. I have yet to meet a jerk from this place, which is what I think makes this a great forum. Only nice guys are here). So after digesting all this information, adapting Dwights system to fit my style and boat, and having an incredible amount of luck on my side, the dream finally happened. Yesterday around 10:30am, I caught that 7 pound Smallmouth that I have dreamed about catching for the last seven years. It was 21.75 inches long with a 16 inch girth and it weighed 7 pounds even (talk about JUST achieving your dream). Fortunately, my friend and his father were also out fishing not far from me and I called them over to witness the measurements and take my picture. After the photo, the fish swam off strong and ready to make someone else's dream come true (that is assuming there are other idiots out there like me that dream of catching a fish). It was just a great experience to finally achieve that goal. Now on to that 50" Muskie!

Well, I have used several Drop Shot Rods and the G Loomis NRX 822S DSR is by far the best from my experience. I have it paired up with a Pflueger Supreme 8030 and 15 lb. Power Pro Braid (topped with a 6 to 8 lb. Fluoro Leader). With this set-up, you will feel a fish just swim by your lure. If you use a tungsten drop shot weight, you can literally feel even the sand grains as you go over them. The feel is incredible and I use it on Lake Erie for Smallmouth all the time. I have caught Smallmouth up to 6 pounds on this rod and it handled them well. People will say that when you feel some "resistance," just lift and you may have a fish. That was very true with the other drop shot rods I tried, but with this rod, there is no "resistance." You feel a definitive "tap" and there is no doubt there is a fish. There are times I could feel the fish just lightly mouth the tail of the bait and I just shake and wait, because many times that fish will finally commit. With what I have used in the past, I never really could feel that light mouthing bite and if I did feel any resistance because of the fish lightly mouthing it, I would lift to set the hook only to come back with no lure. This is a technique where sensitivity in a rod is a premium and a rod like this will really help you in your learning curve of mastering the technique. This rod is the first rod in my boat no matter where I fish. I have even fished somewhat heavier weed cover with this rod and pulled up to 3 pound largemouth out of the cover with it. Even though it is a lot of money, I don't think you would be disappointed one bit with it (and you may even find some good deals on one). My wife is instructed to bury me with this rod in the unfortunate event that I may pass (which I hope is a long long time from now and I hope to still have this rod then). Just a great rod. Disclaimer: This is based on my personal experience only and I have no affiliation with G Loomis or Pflueger. These are just bad @ss rods and reels. Good luck in your search and I hope you find the right rod for you.

Yeah, I was surprised I was that much of a sissy as well. I could have sworn I was throwing it farther, but actual measurments don't lie.

That is a pretty cool milestone. Remember Low Budget Hooker who used to be very active on here (I wonder what ever happened to him)? He made a video for when Bass Resource hit 10,000 members and here they are at 40,000 members. Great site and great accomplishment.

Hey Chromedog, I hope this isn't your brother.

I love his "roundhouse" casting technique! I may need to try that when casting Pounders for musky.

I sence a betting oppurtunity. Take your brother to the local football field and bet him $20 that he can't cast the lure of his choice from the one end zone line through the uprights on the other end. If he fails, you get $20 and if he succeeds, make sure to film it and put it on YouTube, because that would be an amazing feat and worth the $20 just to see. As far as the spinning vs. casting question goes, that would be a good experiemnt. I suspect I can cast a baitcaster farther, but I never really tried bombing any lure with a spinning set-up, so I can't really say.

What I meant by this was that I will fill my spool with backing (or "filler" as I call it) and then top it off with 50 yards of "good" line. I always used filler (in the case of my A-Rig combo, I was casting all the braid out right to the knot with to the mono backing), but I would try and add say 100 yards (which obviously wasn't the case for my A-Rig combo. I was way short filling that), but now I don't think I will ever add more than 50 yards (which will be determined by the portible line counter I purchased). Though, I do like 00 Mod's suggestion of filling the whole reel with cheap backing and then cast out as far as you can and double it. No quess work there or measuring needed.

Hmmmm...very ingenious approach! Thanks for the tip.

Well, I am in my 30's, so I would say that 32 yards (as I measured) would be realistic (and on the high end).

I always wondered how far I was able to cast a lure (more for the purposes of knowing how much line to put on a reel after putting filler on). Last Fall I was casting all the braid (just to the end) I had put on my A-Rig combo. I thought before I took all the braid off that reel and put on more, I would see how much line that truly was. I placed a portable line counter on my rod and used a line counting reel to wind up the braid (I wanted redundancy with the two line counters). I was surprised to learn that I was only casting out approximately 96 ft (one line counter read 96 ft. and the other read 97ft.). I felt like I was Bombing that A-Rig and in reality, if I stood on the end zone line, I could just cast over the 30 yard line. The good news is that I don't plan on ever using more than 50 yards of line on a reel (and those 150 yard spools I can use to fill 3 reels). I know in the past I was putting on way more line than this (I guess I was delusional of how much line I was really casting out). Has anyone else ever measure how far they were really casting? I would like to see how my results corroborate with others.

Shimano Core 50 - For Plastics Abu Garcia Premier - For Moving Baits

I just recieved this rod as a gift and was wondering what you guys use it for. I intend on putting into service for dragging heavier tubes in Erie (which appears to be what the rod is deisgned for), but I wonder what other uses you guys may have for it and what your opinions are of it.

According to Dave LeFebre, worms don't work well on Smallmouth (this was a quote from either his PAA Presque Isle Bay Episode, which was actually filmed on Lake Chautuaqua instead of Presque Isle Bay, or the Lost Lake Episode, which is a show where the angler finds fish on a lake he is never been, that he filmed on Lake Chatuauqua). Though, I have caught quite a few nice Smallmouth on Shakeyheads and Senkos, so I am not sure I believe that Smallmouth don't like worms.

No. From my experience Cortland Master Braid and Tuf-Line are outstanding with Power Pro (the original) getting an honorable mention. Cabelas RipCord braid has been pretty good, but likes to bleed a little. Braids I have not liked at all have been Fireline and Stren Somic Braid (these braids just aren't managable and seem to wear easier). I have no opinion on the Sufix Braids, because I have never tried them. In my opinion you are now using on of the best braids out there (only with Cortlands Master Braid might be slightly better).

In the article, under PA, is says that it is recommended that spinners be used on the two remaining arms of a five arm rig. Does that allude that "dummy" baits are not allowed? I have heard some states don't allow dummies to be used as attractors and was wondering if PA was one of them. Does anyone know for sure?

I was just going to post this when I saw someone already did. I just couldn't stop laughing! I love the part when Jeff says to the guy, "Are you alright over there, Steve?" and he responds with, "You are an IDIOT and I'm going to KILL YOU!"

Now who would be crazy enough to try and cast a 2 Pounder? ;-)

I would pick a lake. A Great Lake to be exact.