TheRodFather

I should qualify my first post to say that I only carry 3 around the pond. I have 6 total in the vehicle, so it really depends on where I'm fishing that determines what 3 get taken out. If I'm at a place where there is slop/frog bite, I will take out the frog rod. Most likely a treble hooked topwater will be catching too much salad at a pond like that, so the frog rod will stay a frog rod, and if I do happen to want to fish another topwater, I will tie it onto my "middle" of the water column rod. This rarely happens for me though, If it's a frog pond, I'll stick with frogs because a popper/spook/whopper plopper won't come through without a ton of vegetation hanging off it.

A buddy bought one and it was nice at first but tightened up after a few outings to the point of binding during the retrieve. He was disappointed in it, he isn't the type to tear into it to see whats wrong, so I'm sure it just needs cleaned/greased/adjusted, but to need that in a few outings was surprising. He may have gotten a dud as well, who knows.

I carry three rods when bank fishing. One for bottom, middle and top of the water column. That's how I differentiate what gets thrown on what combo. So for me, if I was using those baits, it would be jigs and soft plastics on one rod, chatterbaits on the second, and topwaters on the third. Every type of bait can be put into these classes and fished with the 3 combos. Obviously some sacrafices are made in reguard to matching the perfect line/rod to a specific bait, but 3 is the max I want to carry while walking the bank and I don't ever feel that I'm missing fish because I have the "wrong" line on for lipless cranks VS jerkbaits. So to answer your specific question, I guess I would use the spinning rod for the soft plastics/jigs (since they are pretty slow presentations/retrieves), then I would get 2 baitcasting combos, one for middle and another for top of water column. The spinning rod is not ideal for jigs, but it's what you got for now, if your looking to save some coin. TRF

Wow, I think that would do it...........what IS the setup on that boat??

Oh yeah, used is fine with me, I'm handy. These hydraulic jack plates, are they supposed to be used on tunnel hulls? Jet drive or Prop, or would either work? I have no problem piecing this together with Craigslist finds that need repaired.

I don't know of anyone that does, though as I said I don't know much yet . I don't mind being the the first guy, long as it gets me out there . My budget is 7,500 or less, obviously the more towards the "less", the better.

I have seen those surface motors mentioned while looking at my options, I think they call them "mud motors". Most things I read say that if there is vegetation that the mud motor will be better than the jet, but lacking vegetation, the jet is a better fit. Most of the rigs up here are jets so I wouldn't think that excess vegetation is a huge problem or it wouldn't be the rig of choice.

Or do I even need to worry about all that....... I have seen them advertised, I'm still learning about whether it would be a good fit for me. Well, I suppose if I need the speed to get the boat on plane and be shallow, then I don't know the best way to accomplish that. Just out of curiosity, lets say I had a boat that I was only going, lets say 5mph VS the same boat that was on plane, how much of the boat would be under the water in both situations?

As the title states, I would like to get into a budget boat that can be run in skinny water. Specifically the Susquehanna. I talked to a guy that guides there using a "Rockproof" boat, and he tells me that anything less than a Rockproof, and even a RP can get destroyed in these waters. Now, he runs 30-35mph and knows the river really well, I am not looking for this type of speed or mobility, just something to float down the river in. I am fine with slowly going up river and drifting down and calling it a day. I am open to reinforcing the hull if need be I'm a pretty handy person. Are there any reasonably priced options that can be used for this purpose without breaking the bank. I'm fine with giving up speed to gain the ability to get out on this fishery. What would your budget Susqy setup have? TRF

I think it is desirable to have the line wound thicker in the back, makes it easier for the line to peel off the spool as it is pulled forward off the spool and through the guides. This is just a theory though, I've not got anything to back it up.

That's a good solution for letting the lure have the action it wants, but doesn't solve the issue of re-tying when trying to figure out what the fish want. For now, I am a bank fisherman and only carry 3 rods at any given time, so I usually carry three rods, to cover top, middle and bottom of the water column. The rod that covers the middle has to throw lipless cranks, cranks, jerkbaits, swimbaits, and everything else that I might need to try to bet bites. So for me, if I can reduce the amount of tying without significantly lowering my chances (with a small clip) of a bite, I'll take it. TRF

I read somewhere that the thinner the line, the more wraps you want. I average about 5 or 6 on my 6-8 lb leaders on my smallmouth setups and 4 or 5 on the thicker largemouth setups. I use floro leaders and haven't had the knot fail during cinching it down. More often than not, on the smallmouth set ups I will get hung up and bend the hook out before breaking the line or pulling the knot out, I have pulled the knot out occasionally when hung up, but never from fighting a fish.

Great question, I have been wondering this myself. I have been using the Norman clips onto the snap ring. I understand that the less clips/swivels etc are on the bait the better it looks to the fish, but honestly how can we say that fish wouldn't bite if there is a swivel, when people catch fish on chatterbaits and spinnerbaits and buzzbaits, all those baits have wires and swivels and all kinds of things that look unnatural. Not to mention the treble hooks hanging off the bottom of everything, and the huge clear plastic nose hanging of the front of a crankbait, I have a hard time believing that a small snap would make much difference. I'm certainly no pro though.

I too have had no bites at all on a jerk bait. I have tried every retrieve mentioned and just haven't hooked up yet. I am going to focus more on them this coming season.

It's made of space age polymer.........so......It's gotta be good.

Shorter that is.

I wonder if there is a longer handle available to get more mechanical advantage.....Or am I over thinking things.....? Thank you for the reply, BTW.

Picked up my first quality reel the other day, love it so far. Lets say for arguments sake that I wanted to eventually upgrade all my reels to Curados as some point. Shimano does not offer the PG (5.5:1) in a LH, this would be the ratio I would want for my crankbait rod. A guy at work was telling me to look for a "JDM". He says that they offer many other choices to the Japanese Direct Market, and may have what I'm looking for. Is this true, and how would I go about finding out if one is made and where to get it? TRF

Wow, that is low.....

Legend has it that the Safe Harbor (Lancaster PA area) hydro plant draws down the water every year and the shallow water area where the Conestoga meets up with the Susquehanna that everybody bank fishes from produces buckets of lures. I haven't seen it, nor found a way to know when they are going to do it. But I'll tell ya, I have lost a dozen lures there easy.

A spin off from the "Lost Lures Thread". I don't know why but finding a lure that somebody else lost, or wasn't up to the challenge of getting out of that d**n tree makes me feel like a kid coming down the steps on Christmas morning! This year I found a Rapala Husky Jerk in silver/blue back, and a Strike King 1.5 squarebill in sexy shad. As well as various hooks that I pulled out of fish from other anglers. The Rapala and the squarebill both will need new trebles and split rings, but the body of the lures cleaned up great. Cheap thrills right?

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the button you are tapping with your left foot when you have a fish on?

I agree, about halfway through the summer I started primarily using baits that drag or hop on the bottom, only exception was a swim bait here and there like I mentioned before, but even still I would let that hit bottom then swim a bit, then back down. I found that I was getting much more consistent catch rates than I did the first half of the season.

Sorry for the Necro thread. Been looking for some good reading, Knowing Bass by Keith Jones is going for $120 USED! Man, that must be some book.........

I started bass fishing at the beginning of summer, and followed the 6 rod and reel method outlined in this website. It worked out very well for me, I was able to have the correct lures tied for any situation and got to do a lot of fishing while I watched others constantly tying on lures. Or struggling with lures that weren't presenting well because of line choices, etc. I didn't spend a fortune on rods and reels, I mostly got cheap-ish combos that reflected the recommended rods/reels, and switched this or that to get the recommended gear ratios/rod powers, lengths, and line choices matched to the system. As the season wore on, I replaced a couple rods here and there after I had a better idea of what I wanted in a rod, rather than spend a lot right off the bat without knowing yet what I liked/wanted. I believe this to be the better route than replacing the reels first then the rods. Either way though, the cheap-ish stuff will still get used down the road as secondary gear for the family or to keep rigged up on the boat. I am a firm believer in buy once, cry once, and to buy the best you can afford, but ultimately, to gear up with top shelf gear, and get the convenience of 6 rods/reels, you would be into it for $1000+ easy. The original rods/reels that I bought will not go to waste, so I look at it as getting out there fishing ASAP and as the years go by I'll build up my kit. At this point (starting out), I prefer to have money for lures, rather than the latest and greatest $300 reel. After a few years I will have a nice cache of baits, and that $300 dollar reel or rod won't seem as silly to me I am sure.