HookRz

Live bait is bad Trolling is worse. Trolling live bait bait is the work of the devil. Just ask the tackle manufacturers, or the fish.

Snagged a whole mattress frame once. First cast and I was already over my spring limit.

You have a right to your opinion but I wouldn't cal fishing sales persons athletes. Know any? They live on sponsor salary, not winnings. Examine their contracts.

Live bait doesn't get much press these days cuz crawlers picked from your yard and crawdads caught from a creek don't sponsor any pros or buy adds on the internet.

look, I don't want to break the news there is no Santa to anyone, but job one for these pros is to sell stuff. That's what buys them their beans. Make no mistake about that. It's been proven fluorocarbon is not invisible in water, any more than tubular glass is invisible in air. He was short pitching. The fish isn't bothered by a huge sparkly boat covered with gaudy adds, a man in a multi-colored sponsor suit, a 4/0 hook, but thin braid freaks them out? Really? The main tell; who believes he was conducting leader experiments on the water with the tournament (and his salesmanship value) on the line? That said I usually do use short leads that don't go through the guides , made of actual fluorocarbon leader material, not soft line made to be cast, for abrasion reasons only. I live in the land of toothy critters and Zebra Mussel covered docks. Neither have ant respect for 40# braid.

St Croix has a six footer in the Premier line.

Woo Davies used to fish them, particularly around docks. I don't understand why though.

If you caught the Smallie in your profile pic that way I'm not gonna argue! All about what works for you! Nice fish!

Viva the older crowd! I want my rods and reels to look like fishing tackle and my Miata to look like a sports car, not the other way around. Seems like bright, shiny things sell these days though. Too many new bass fisherman don't really come from a outdoors tradition. They remind me more of golfers. Rant over.

Yo peeps we need a hashtag after this years icast. $40 dollar buckets bat lures, other BS. @icastisalmostagoodlaugh.

I think about trying Dobyns all the time, but info on what goes into the blanks isn't available, and no one in my area carries them. I'd love to see what they feel like in hand. Gret looking rods though. If they fished as good as they look I'd be sold.

Yup. Made for the by Zman.

Less than one eighth, and as light as depth and wind allow. What most fish and call a Ned rig these days has little to do with Ned Kehdes no-feel Midwest finesse system. It catches fish, don't get me wrong, but it's really nothing more than a short jig-worm.

Funny how the old becomes new again. Sinking plugs with spinners were popular years ago, then reinvented as the Spy bait. Now we have the Prank. How many of you remember the Creek Chub Pop-n-Dunk from over 70 years ago? http://finandflame.com/tag/creek-chub-pop-n-dunk-lure/

The only problem I heave with Pflueger is the slow gear ratios on all but the highest price models.

Yep. The simple answer. I got a little carried awayZ,

You will probably get a wide range of answers to that friend. First you have to ask yourself what it is you enjoy fishing. Me, I'm a jig guy in the broadest sense of the term. So a 6'8" medium heavy XF Bait-caster (Skirted Jigs, big tubes, jig worms etc.) with 14# to 17# co-poly, and a 6'9" Medium light spinning rod with 8# braid and flouro leader is were I would start. (finesse tubes, spider sliders, light hair) is where I would start. Can't fish without those two. But it that's just me. And I'm up North. Extending the post because you might want to pick jig rods that fit where you fish; After that a 7' heavy fast action cover rod 20# co-poly or 50# braid, 6' 8" medium XF spinner, 10# braid 8-10# leader, 6'3" light super finesse spinner deep water semi/vertical spinning rod. 6# flouro. Oh yeah. A 7'2" moderate fast finesse rod with good 6# braid, 6# or 8# leader for shallow (down to 8 feet) for true Midwest Finesse. Not to be confused with the Ned rig. Maybe I should have listed one that first. It's in my hands much of the time from 11:00am till 5:00pm on many waters many days. BTW; my all around reaction bait rod is a 7' medium fast casting rod with 10# co-poly. But my jig rods do double duty fishing reaction baits too. Then there are wade time smallie creek rods....lol I'll shut up now!!! i get carried away musing about rods...

Depends. Like many mentioned for tip up presentations it's essential. Finesse worm, hair jigs, tubes. Yeah, even the "Ned" I know the latter is supposed to be a "no-feel" rig but with a light, sensitive and properly balanced rod I can feel the fish suck it in unless its really windy. I find myself enjoying finesse, and catching more fish these days, but the tackle has to be just right. I mean just right.

The best spinning reel under $150 was all the 2015 Stradics that got marked down when the 2016s came out! Or the new models if you have Gander closing near you that has any left. Yeah, I'm pretty well set on spinning reels as far as this lifetime goes. Couldn't resist.

That's easy to answer. Finesse. And it catches a good portion of my big fish too. But if I'm in a hawg hunting mood flipping big ugly jigs into ugly places gets the big uglies!

Hey, great excuse to buy that 4 weight panfish rod you want! I'm no expert, but when I fly fished more I was always a one weight over guy.

Not a lot. There are always the overlooked largemouth though. Odd thing about the bay, you can catch 3-4# LM in numbers but rarely catch a five. I've lived in Erie all my life and all the 6 pound plus LMB I've caught in NWPA have come from the inland lakes.

Tubes! Rebel teeny wee craw!

Back when I was fishing local tournaments in our area there was a young fella named Dave LeFevbre. Doing pretty good as a pro these days! One of the best jig fisherman you'll ever meet. He's a lefty and used right hand reels as they were pretty much all that was easily available back then. The advantage of setting the hook with your strong hand when you got a quick bite at the end of a long pitch was obvious when you watched him awhile. That and he never got caught out of position changing hand when he got bit. I remember him saying that once you find fish it's all about mechanics. I ordered a couple left hand Curados and never looked back.

Yup. Not all smallmouth are created equal. Up my way we have an Erie tributary creek, Conneaut, that holds Smallies all summer. Some big ones too. Spend their whole life in the creek. Others move from the lake into the mouth in Ohio to spawn, then head back to the Lake. Other "regular" Erie smallness spawn on deep flats and never run the creeks. Elk Creek in Pa gets a huge run from the lake to spawn but all the adults go back. They even look different then the Lake Erie fish somehow. Smaller heads for their size? Nothing official but in my eyes they are different fish.