CrustyMono

I am not writing this because I am disappointed about a fish that even I did not think I landed, but simply because of a misinterpreted inside joke. My fishing partner and I will never stop fishing together. We each go out of each other's way to catch fish, and help land them. I was only joking about getting a new partner to replace him. I told my friend to grab the net from the golf cart several times. he forgot. Then, when i told him i had a large fish on, he did not believe me and proceeded to boat away from me on the dock. Next time we won't forget it. He should have back reeled, when i tried to land the fish in case it thrashed around, but i can't hold that against him, because I'm not great at it either. I knew he would see this and we always joke about who's fault it was (mine). I never blamed my partner. We work very hard to find and catch a few fish in our pressured lake. We work together with everything, we share rods, tackle, food, boats, everything. We consider all fish that WE catch a result of teamwork.

What determines a landed fish? I know that a fish hooked in the mouth that is landed in a net on the boat is fair. But what about this: While fishing a dock from a dock, after getting off a boat, I thought i had hooked the motor of the docked boat. Them it started moving. Once I realized that the fish was trulls massive, i yelled for my buddy to come back and grab the net too. He didn't believe me at first. Then the fish swam up shallow so we could see. This got me way excited. I freaked out. I rushed the playing of the fish. I gave the rod to my friend and told him to put on back reel so the line wouldn't break. I grabbed the line and had the fish out of the water. All the sudden, then tired bass shook and broke my grip and 8 pound leader. I had it completely out of the water, but not on the dock yet. The fish flopped out of my hands and started to swim away. i jumped into the water but didn't recover the fish. Does this count as a landed fish? If so, I will say my PB is 8 pounds, as I can't be sure it was bigger, but it was very big compared to a 7 pounder the next day. lessons learned: 1. new partner 2. make sure to play fish 3. bring net 4. tie good knots 5. check line often when in cover 6. dont grab line tightly 7. persevere 8. don't jump off onto random docks, stay in the boat

I have at least two more bait cast setups to go until I am able to cover almost all techniques effectively. I need a rod for heavy cover fishing. It will be used with 1/2 - 1 oz tungsten flipping weights for punching through lily pads and vegetation. I will also use it for frogging too. The rod will have 50 pound braid. I can swap reels to 15 pound fluorocarbon if I need to. Looking at either a Dobyns Fury 7'6" MH Flipping Rod or a 7'6" XXH Duckett Ghost. Which is best? I also need a rod for jerk baits, senkos, rattle traps, and other 7' mf stuff. should I get the heavy dobyns and the m duckett xl?

Would the Shimano Stradic Ci 4+ be a good reel for a budget angler looking to help the idea of great reels, good rods. My philosophy is that I should spend no more than $150 on a rod, usually spending 100$. I want nice reels that get the job done, and done well. I fish some tournaments. Looking to get into that game in college and prior. This is why I want this reel. I have used the 3000 for steelhead an bigger size for stripers. Would the 3000 Ci 4+ be a good choice for drop shot only? Id use it along side my other finesse rod, a Cabela's Tournament ZX combo. That setup would be for wacky, shaky, ned, and other finesse stuff. I would wait until after I get my remaining necessary bait cast rods and reels (two more combos). This would let me get it for cheaper or find an even better reel (not likely).

Would this reel do well on a 7'1" MH fast casting rod? I will use it with 15 pound Seaguar Invisx for spinnerbaits, finesse swim jigs, small trigs, and other MH stuff. Would 6.3 or 7.2 be best? Also, should I fear the small line capacity?

This thread went from Money Saving Tricks to Berkley Lightning Rod!

Has anyone built a rod tube out of PVC? looking to store 4-6 rods on an fj cruiser.

Which is better for the money? I like the looks of the cheaper on better.

Next time I head to my PRIVATE lake in Northern Massachusetts, I would like to try an Alabama/Umbrella Rig. Im not sure the difference between the two. The lake is 75 acres with 25' visibility. Rock, Sand,and Docks along the shore. Laydowns are available too. Drop off is from 5' to about 15', 25' from shore. Bass are plentiful. Had several days where it is cast after cast. Fish size ranging from 1-6 pounds. Would a small umbrella rig with 4-6 weightless Keitechs work? I don't really have a rod that's good for big alabama rigs. Thanks!

Anyone else do this? I know that Strike King does this and it works pretty well.

Looking into getting a rod for heavy cover applications like punching, flipping, frogging and others. I would wait until late next spring to get this rod, because I don't have he money right now, and wouldn't be using it until then anyhow. I would spool the reel with 50 pound braid. Rod: Cabala's Tournament ZX 7'3" Heavy Fast Reel: Lew's Laser MG Speed Spool 6.4:1 Line: Suffix 832 50 pound test braid camo or green http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/rod-reel-combos/casting-combos|/pc/104793480/c/104762880/sc/104822280/lew-s-reg-laser-reg-mg-speed-spool-cabela-s-tournament-zx-casting-combos/2218040.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fcasting-combos%2F_%2FN-1102354%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_104822280 I would put the reel on another rod. My Quantum Smoke PT 7.3:1 would replace it. I am interested in the combo, because I can save lots of money. What do you think?

You can texas rig a senko and constantly reel it and catch fish, that is how I started bass fishing, with no clue what I was doing.

Berkley Pit Boss, great action lots of colors and cheap

You don't need 500 dollar rods and reels to catch fish and have fun!

The tackle warehouse and bassreasource articles are free and very informative. so is youtube

Strengths: pitching to cover and docks soft plastic swimbaits senko wacky dropshot texas rig swim jig jerkbait Weaknesses: spinnerbaits ned rig hook setting rattle traps

Pretty similar to what I use for jigs

1. Use backing to save line 2. Use line conditioner to save florocarbon 3. Use Yum Dingers instead of GYBs 4. Use braid on spinning reels and tie leaders 5. Melt used soft plastics and use them again 6. Use a cheaper rod for topwater because you don't need sensitivity; therefore, you can get away with lower modulus blanks

I Agree, Hamma, I really like those Keitechs. During he recent Tacklewarehouse sale, I stocked up on some swimbaits. hopefully they will produce this coming season too. I find some of the people closest to me, in regards of location, to be the most helpful. Not only are they knowledgable about local waters, they just know what they're doing. 1. Be safe 2. Enjoy the beauty of the outdoors 3. Learn to fish a bottom contact style jig 4. Learn to fish a spinnerbait 5. Assemble an arsenal of 5 baitcasting and 2 spinning combos 6. Catch an 8 pound bass 7. Do more SUP fishing 8. Do more pond hopping when I get a my full license in August 9. Find more kids that fish at my high school

Same! I have fished all 15 years of my life, but never really,y enjoyed it until I was training for soccer last summer, and would train at the park then fish until dark...

One summer time, while fishing a gin clear lake in northern MA, i found a school of bass while swimming. I an home to grab a drop shot. Caught about 30 fish between *** pounds and then one 5 pounder, so in this case they were mixed together. You could try larger baits too.

no problem!

add a 7'3" Heavy with at least 50 pound braid for frogs, and flipping

They are fairly light like 4.5 ounces I believe. The cork is Portuguese 2A, which is really nice, but not 3A, which is the best. The reel seats are Fuji and feature a blank thru design, which is lightweight and increases sensitivity. The blanks are high modulus graphite. It will be sensitive but brittle. These are similar blanks to most other companies, being higher modulus. The blanks are 30 million modulus graphite. The guide brand is not stated, nor is the blank's brand. The guides are wrapped in Kevlar, which will make them durable. All 11 rods are fast action. They are very sensitive. You can feel the vibration of bladed lures, like spinnerbaits and chatter baits, easily. Overall it is a great rod! https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dobyns_Fury_Casting_Rods/descpage-DFC.html?from=basres

Who doesn't like a good topwater blowup? All jokes aside, I mainly fish finesse versions of faster reaction strike baits (swim jigs)