An Outdoor Guy

Like i said I didn't have my scale but it is for sure the biggest one I have caught so far. She was a fatty. Sitting right on her bed.

Just wanted to share my new PB bass pulled out of my buddies farm pond. I caught her on a mojo bass 7' 1" spinning rod with a less Mach 1 reel. 20lb braid to 10lb fluoro. Throwing a weightless senko. She weighes about the same as my ak. I'm giving her a 10lb lol Can't say officially because I forgot my scale... Nonetheless still a monster!

So I use mostly braid to a fluoro leader and sometime straight fluoro. I tie on my favorite lures and the hook them on the bait holder on my rod. It's been about a week of my rods sitting because work has been heavy and today I noticed when I took my bait off the holder the fluoro line has a bend in it. I ran my fingers over it and I can feel the "bump" from where it was bent over my rod tip. Is this line trash now? Sorry for such a noob question but I don't want to lose a fish or my lure because of it. should I cut it off where the bend is and tie on a new leader?

well I didn't know that about them lasting longer,I just wacky rig them to get better action from a senko, they also work really great when you pop them.

well would you look at that!! THANK YOU!! what are your opinion's on that rod??

On here, How do I: - Edit a post title?? I made a typo in a title and cant figure out how to change it. - Delete a thread I made? - Change the "notify me of replies" setting? I always forget to turn it on before I post a topic and I don't know how to change it so I can get notifications.

I was kind of thinking the same thing but you never know.

Was looking around at Dicks today and I saw a St. Croix Triumph X casting rod sitting on the shelf. took a good hard look at it and I kinda liked it. Aside from the personally preferences of the split grips how is this rod? If I were to get this rod it is not going to be a technique specific rod by any means. I will be throwing anything and everything on it. It is a medium power fast action in 7' for $100 my other medium rod in my last post is going to my woman so she can learn a baitcaster. so I'm looking for a new one. advice is appreciated!

7' Medium power Fast action Duckett Ghost spinning rod and a Lews Mach 1 Spinning reel paired with 20lb power pro to a 12lb Vanish leader. using a Rapala XRap 8 in silver. then again my PB is only 4lbs so.....don't mind my post I guess

you are not terrible. I am having the same bad luck streak here in Ohio. 2 months not a single fish. even on my last resort bait which is a weightless worm (senko and trick) still haven't caught a thing. One thing that would help you is the IBobber, or Deeper castable fish finder. I don't have the money for one or I would be using it. if you have a fish finder and your still not catching fish then I don't know what to tell you other than it is the "dog days of summer"

probably not, I'm assuming they have the same diameter? or maybe its .001" difference. either way that's not going to affect casting distance unless you know how to get the most distance out of your reel anyways.

Keep up the good work on teach him proper fishing manners Things to add would be: - Don't throw soft plastics/line in the water (common sense) - Don't be shouting/loud/stomping around (also common sense) - Don't hit the trolling motor until you have checked with the other angler in the boat (my biggest pet peeve) -like you said in your OP, tell him to stop with the "ugh" thing. that really does annoy me to. but that is something he will learn in time. grab a jig and take him out and let him learn what things feel like before he goes around setting the hook into nothing. even though they are free, 100 hook sets and 0 bass can make you look pretty stupid to your fishing partner.

When you say "best" everyone sees "favorite" I'm sure you have heard that before but there really is no proof on which line is "best" just "favorites" Any of the above mentioned are really good lines BUT the MOST important thing is to look at the line DIAMETER. who cares if you have 12lb test that breaks at 50lbs when the diameter is the size of a winch cable ya know?

+2 on this^^^ anytime I'm unsure of something I just call up the manufacture and ask them. braided lines are fine in the heat. I do wonder about mono/co-poly or fluoro though. I would assume it doesn't affect the line just because people fish when its 90+ degrees out in direct sunlight but I could be wrong.

If you get a good quality Medium power rod with a nice good soft tip it can do anything and everything a Medium light rod can do. and some of the things a Medium heavy can do. just go to your local tackle shop and feel the rod tips for yourself and don't order online unless you know how the rod feels

ardent reel butter oil and quantum hot sauce reel grease. but for the best bang for your buck switch the hot sauce grease for ardent reel butter grease. both of them together costs about $10 ($5 a piece) its really good stuff.

That is exactly what I've been doing is a 20lb mono backing filled with 30-50lb braid depending on the rod then a nice long fluoro leader 12-17lb tied with an FG knot and I pull it all the way down to the line guide on the reel. now for my deep cranking rod I'm using straight 12lb fluoro. or my pitching/frog rod I'm using straight 50lb braid.

medium fast action rod that's 7' long. that is my most used rod. my only problem is that I keep switching between 12lb and 15lb line....

really??? would it be pointless to throw the other stuff? like a spinner bait? or a jerk bait?? jigs??

besides the drop shot, you guys named every bait that I DONT have....

So I have an opportunity to get out on a boat on LAKE ERIE! my friend and her boyfriend invited me to come along tomorrow to fish lake Erie with them. now I only have about 6 hours of fishing because I have a job to do at noon so ill be out there from 5AM to 11AM. My question is, what baits would you fish up there? its my first time out on the great lake and I have no idea what baits to throw to maximize my time out there. any tips or hints would be GREATLY appreciated. if you have been out to lake Erie please tell your experience! what worked? what didn't? how was the weather? the water? hell tell be about your lunch I don't care I just want info! I also need to know what rods would you bring?? I can only bring 3 rods because of the space on the boat with 3 people so I'm thinking a MH/F baitcaster, a M/F baitcaster, and H/MF baitcaster. I don't think a spinning setup would do me much good up there but I don't know, you guys help me out on that to please!

Rapala X Rap in size 8 and color silver with a red feather tail...its my search bait for a reason.

Its hard to find this combo but seriously after buying 6 different setups I have finally found the one that can be used for anything. it is the 7 foot medium power fast action rod with a decent bait cast reel. (7.1.1 gear ratio is best because you can always slow down if needed) The rod can throw anything from light 1/4 oz chatter baits up to heavy 5/8 oz Deep diving DT16 from rapala. spool up with 15lb co-poly and its the only rod I ever use.

my favorite is this: Muddy/stained water black/blue with a swimin' dinger. & my favorite is bluegill color with a bluegill flash zoom paddle tail clear water I like white or white/chartreuse with zoom white ice paddle tail. if its white and chartreuse I dip the tail in chartreuse die to match. if its really muddy I have had great luck using black/blue with a black and blue Christy craw. all that water displacement is great in muddy dirty water.

Thanks for the reply guys! I just tried to clean my cheapest reel to get practice and while it made everything operate much smother I also did something to the little saw blade looking gear that makes the thumb release go back up. (sory for my poor description) so now it feels...mushy. it still works but it doesn't feel like it used to. oh well. On a spinning reel how far of a tear down is "enough"? just taking the spool off? or should I completely tear it down?? (id rather not do that though because of my experience with the bait cast)