LCG

I remember seeing a video with Aaron Marten's talking about injuries to muscles and joints. He recommended hold the spinning rod loosely and with your hand straight above the reel and a finger on the blank for leverage and comfort. I tried and it felt much better to me.

I have a fenwick hmg 6'9 ml-f that's my finesse rod. Drop shot, neko, ned, Texas rigged trick worm all work well with the rod. Shakey head or anything with a senko I prefer to step up to my st Croix 6'8 m-xf. It's a heavier, thicker bait, generally using thicker gauge hooks which means a more powerful rod. The st Croix gets more use as it can handle any of the above techniques well.

If you are fishing really clear water then I would use a leader. If you are fishing stained to muddy water, I don't think it matters as much. 8" leader I would not bother with. 3+ feet of leader if the water has at least 3+ feet of visibility.

4ft

@Bluebasser86 Thoughts and prayers for your son and your family. May God watch over and protect him. Didn't follow all the thread originally. Glad to hear he is well and running around. Nothing is worse than worrying for your child's health.

WOW! ?

Congrats of your first pike. I have only landed a few small ones, they seem to cut me off more often that not. I would love to hook into a big northern though.

So last week I caught my first two carp and this week went back to the same area and caught two Rainbow Trout. This is the first one. Didn't get a pic of the second, which was smaller and hooked deep so I had to get in back in the water asap. Amazingly Beautiful fish. Odd thing was I was using a MH-XF casting rod and 50lb braid to a 15lb fluorocarbon leader. I would have never thought that set up would work for trout. I was targeting carp but this was an awesome experience.

Would also work well for catfish or carp.

You can get bullet weights anywhere. 1/4oz would be ok for pitching into cover, but its a bit heavy for finnese. YMMV Texas rigged Zoom trick worm or curly tailed worm, 4/0 round bend worm hook, 1/8-3/16oz bullet weight. My favorite. Wacky rigged 5" Senko, 2/0 wacky hook. Drop shot rigged 4-6" worm, 1/8-3/16 drop shot weight. Neko rigged trick worm, nail weight, o ring, Any of the above mentioned hooks. Weightless senko or trick worm, nose hooked, fished like a jerkbait. All highly productive.

I have an avid x 6'6 Mh-f casting rod and I use a leader but only outside the guides. For pitching or flipping it's still about 4ft of leader. Good enough for my needs. Never tried longer on that rod afraid to cause a serious backlash, my knot tying skills are not that great to make the fg knot.

I bought the 8.1:1. I currently have a Daiwa Tatula 100 HSL in 7.3:1 that I really like. At the end of the day I guess I figured it's easy for me to slow down my speed and have the speed when I need it. A chatterbait is the only moving lure I plan on throwing. Most other stuff I do is jigs, Texas rig, and frog. All of those I move with the rod not the reel. Also 34" of line retrieval is based on a full spool. It won't be that much line moved at the end of a cast. Some food for thought. My spinning reels move 31" of line and they work well for me. Just coined it... The slow burn

Thanks for the help everyone. I will look into the mend it brand.

5" Senkos watermelon /junebug 7" curly tail worm tequila/black and blue 6.5" trick worm watermelon chartreuse / junebug chartreuse 5" curly tail grub white/chartreuse Sweet beaver cal420 Pit boss black and blue 3" Craw red Brush hog junebug All stored in a single Plano 3601 thin box. Keeps a varied selection while minimizing weight. 4-6 baits of each color.

Here in Canada, we just don't have access to some products. Mend it seems to be one of those products. Would something like gorilla glue work to "mend" soft plastic baits back together? I realize that mend it is not a glue but rather a chemical reaction substance, but the only thing I can find locally is something called JB weld which sounds similar but more industrial/extreme. Just looking for something to help cut cost on replacing worms and creature baits when ripped or torn up a bit.

The fish will let you know what they want that day.

That drives me crazy. Here in Ontario, our licence fees go towards restocking and enforcement. Originally I thought it was a money grab but now that I understand it better I am all for it. Call your local DNR or whatever it's called and report the pond location and times the guy is there. Here in Ontario the fines are severe. Licence suspension, monetary fines (sometimes thousands of dollars), seizure of equipment, vehicles, boats, etc. Also here in Canada, you can not buy ammunition without a firearms licence. Similar idea.

Like everyone has mentioned, two different techniques that are best suited to two different rods.

Those are some pretty cool colors and patterns. Hope the fish find them as appealing... Good luck to you.

I use 10lb straight braid, no backing on a Pflueger President XT 30. Holds about 150 yards. No issue at all. I figure the rod and reel are rated for between 6-12lb line and the max drag is 10lbs so everything is "balanced". Diameter is about 2lb line, casts like a dream. Just be sure to stop the line at the end of the cast with your finger and close the bail by hand and you will avoid any trouble with wind knots or line twist. All my reels have straight braid spooled. I use kastking braid which I get for $15 Canadian for a 550 yard spool so cost isn't a real factor.

Don't get me wrong. I am not a fan boy and I keep an open mind. Shimano makes some quality products, no doubt. It's just that it comes with a price tag that is a bit much for me. Other companies have some good bang for buck products that suit my needs personally. Daiwa just happens to be one of those companies. I always spend more on the rod than the reel, that's just me. My spinning rods both have Pflueger president xt's. A Shimano stradic fk would be awesome, but the Pflueger gets the job done nicely and less than half the cost. The nice thing is if you want to try the Fuego it's affordable. The Zillion SV TWS, not so much but I bet it's nice

A ned rig, depending on jig head size, is about 1/4 oz with a TRD rigged. Should be no problem, however I use spinning gear for the ned rig so I can't say for sure.

The fuego is a really good deal for a solid reel. I was in the same boat, but it was a reasonable price and I figured I would use the rod without a reel attached so it was either sell the rod or buy the reel. No regrets.

I here the casitas is a nice reel. But I went with the Daiwa Fuego CT and have no regrets. Aluminum frame and larger handle. If you can play with both and see what you think. Nothing against shimano, but I think Daiwa Fuego is better bang for your buck. YMMV

Really depends on what techniques you like. Maybe something like a 7' moderate fast crankbait rod. Spinning I highly recommend st Croix 6'8 m-xf. Pflueger and Daiwa have good reels in the $100 range.