shamanjp

I kayak fish mostly, and bank fish when I can't take out the kayak. I take one rod to bank fish, and 2-3 on my kayak.I usually choose from these five setups Lews custom speed stick "Top water'' 6'8" Medium Light fast rod with Shimano 70 for finesse (Love this setup) Lews custom speed stick "Spinnerbait" 6'10" Medium Heavy fast with Lews Tournament pro reel (great all around rod) Lews custom speed stick "Magnum Bass 2" 7'2" Medium Heavy fast with Lews BB1 Pro for bigger baits and bigger fish. Lews custom speed stick light "Magnum Grass 7'2" Heavy fast with Shimano citica for pitching into heavy cover and tossing huge lures and frogs. Fenwick Eagle 7' medium fast spinning rod with pflueger president reel for anything the baitcasters can't handle.

I own cork, Winn, and EVA. On my Lews rod's I love the EVA. It's hard with just a bit of give, never gets slippery, and feels the warmest on my hand without making my hand sweat, and has held up great. The other thing is the fatter profile of the grip. I had a flat round EVA grip once and hated it. The one rod I have with a Winn grip is too thin and tacky and feels like it might peel over time, hope not because I do like it otherwise, I just don't trust it yet. I am not a fan of cork, I don't have a reason but I have put shrink tubing over cork on a couple of rods that had chipping and I liked the feel of the shrink tubing better than the original cork. The shape and thickness of the handle is more important than the material to me. The handle material isn't the most important part of a rod but it does make a difference. It just needs to feel good in your hand.

Not sure why people use such heavy braid. I use 65lb "rope" on my punching rod but tend to use 20-30lb on most of my bait casters with 8-15lb fluorocarbon leaders. I even have a couple of finesse bait cast rigs with Shimano 70 reels spooled with 15lb braid to 6-8lb fluorocarbon and they cast like a dream and catch fish as well as my spinning rods. A benefit of braid is that it is thinner per its rating and thus casts farther. I rarely ever backlash or break off unless I do something foolish which has been known to happen on rare occasions. I use mostly 10lb braid to 4-8lb fluorocarbon or mono on my spinning rods.

My rods vary from 6'6" up to 7'2". The length is not my first consideration. I usually take a 6'10" and a 7' on my kayak but it depends on what I am throwing. I don't think I would like anything over 7'2" but I've never had a chance to try one. It's easier to net the fish with a shorter rod since I tend to fish solo. The butt end of my 6'10" is short so it fishes more like a 7' anyway.

J Francho you are of course correct! The rod stiffness is deceiving when you feel it unweighted but the M bends more than the MH with equal weights attached. I expected a bigger difference considering the vastly different lure weight ratings and was also confused that the M was thicker at the base than the MH. Both cast really well in their suggested lure weight ratings. I'll have to read up on rod taper and wall thickness etc. to see how they achieve the power and action as I find it most interesting. Thanks for the help!

I hope this isn't a silly question but here goes, I have two rods from the same MFG. They are BPS Pro qualifier 2 baitcaster rods. One is a M and one is a MH both are fast action. The M is stiffer than the MH. Same thing with my Lews, the ML topwater is stiffer than the MH spinnerbait rod. The Lews are different lengths but the Pro Qualifiers are both 7ft. I don't understand why the lighter action rods are stiffer than the heavier action rods and would love to know why and how that works. All these rods work really well, I bought the Pro Qualifier 2's because I wanted a couple 2 piece rods for my trunk and they are much better than expected. The Lews are better but cost more also. So why are the lighter action rods stiffer than the heavier action rods?

I know I am late to it but I really enjoyed this thread. Thanks to everyone here. I firmly believe that interpretation of what is felt is much more important than the level of sensitivity and fine tuning that is what experience provides. Here's to working on that!

If I could pick only one bait it would be a zoom ultra vibe craw either Texas rigged or as a jig trailer. This bait can be quite versatile depending on how you fish it. That said, I think it's best not to have a favorite and to let the conditions and the fish decide.

Only Michigan but with this winter weather I am wondering how far south I need to go to satisfy my addiction.

My first baitcasting reel had magnetic brakes, it was a $99 Lew's speed spool. I'm sure it was a good reel but I didn't know what I was doing and in frustration returned it and bought a Lews Tournament Pro for almost twice the price, this one has the centrifugal externally adjustable brakes. That is the reel that made me fall in love with baitcasting. Since then I've bought another of the same and some Shimano 71's because Lews doesn't make enough variety of gear ratio's for left hand retrieve. Both centrifugal systems work great once dialed in, the Lew's are easier for me to dial in. Are magnetic brakes bad? I don't know. I suppose I should try them again sometime but I rarely backlash anymore unless I get ridiculous and wasting line has, for the most part, become a thing of the past. I tend to think it's more about learning to use the tools we have rather than which is better because we each have a different casting style and what works for one person may not work for the next.

Thank you for the replies I feel welcome and got a big grin as well. Looking forward to the spring thaw!

I've been reading the forums for a while now and decided it was time to introduce myself. I'm from Michigan and love to fish from my kayak or from shore. Sometimes I wish I had a bass boat but that's not practical for me. I've always fished but I took a long break losing myself in my work. Now I am retired and back to enjoying my favorite past time. I bought my first bait caster a couple years ago and now I have several. I still use my spinning gear and of course my fly rods. I love to kayak fish lakes that are less accessible but would also like to venture out onto Lake St Clair this coming season if I get brave enough. Any tips on Michigan lakes with amazing fishing appreciated. My goal for this coming season is to catch my first pike as well as to break my record on bass. I am 90% catch and release unless my wife is pining for a fish dinner.