Boomstick

How far do you expect to be able to cast a 1/16 oz or 1/8oz lure with a baitcaster? I have a feeling you will spend more time and maybe money on a baitcaster while trying several different lines before ending up with something heavier than you would otherwise want to for the type of finesse jigs you're throwing. I mean I paid something like $40 for my Daiwa BG (although I would expect to pay $70-85 normally) which can throw light jigs far and accurately all day where you can spend $300+ rather easily and you may find you are disappointed with the performance at the end of the day, or unable to cast more than 20ft without issues.

I would say a rod like the Dobyns Sierra 704C or 734C would be great choice (I don't have much experience with the Fury but will assume it should have similar power and action). It has a solid tip on it and can fish up to 1/2oz jigs. I just got a Daiwa Tatula 7'1' MH/XF rod on Black Friday, and while I haven't got to use it it feels very similar overall. The Shimano Zodias MH/F is worth a look if you want a rod that's a little better for jigs than t-rigs.

Yeah, if you were to fish the frog on a separate rod and fish your t-rigs either weightless or with a 1/16oz weight, the 703C would be perfect. It has a bit more flex and can can fish treble hooked baits nicely and throw lighter lures far but it's not a rod I would throw anything larger than light finesse jigs on, and I would not use it for a frog. Ideally both the 703C and 704C rods would compliment each other very nicely.

I have a handful of Tatula rods, 6'10" MH/F prior gen, 7' M/R glass (r or regular is basically mod. fast on glass and closer to fast for graphite rods), 7'2" MH/R glass, 7'1' MH/XF (new this year), and a 7'1" H/F. My oldest son has two Dobyns Sierra rods, a 704C (labeled as H/F but basically MH+/F comparable to Daiwa's MH/F) and a 703C (labeled MH/F but more of a MH/F or M+/F, comparable to Daiwa's M/F). While I haven't got to use the Daiwa 7'1" MH/XF yet, it feels very close to the Dobyns 704C in overall power and action. It's not the extra fastest extra fast rod that I've seen and the 704C has a solid tip on it. Both rods should be good for weighted soft plastics, jigs up to 1/2oz plus spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, paddle tail swimbaits, hollow body frogs if you run braid and the like. I have fished 1/2oz jigs on my Tatula MH/F rod as well, but that rod is better suited for 3/8oz jigs. The Dobyns Sierra 703C has a lot less tip than the 704C. That really is more of a mod. fast rod than fast, and I would say you can fish light, weightless soft plastics on it but I would not use anything more than a 1/16oz weight with a senko -- and that might even be better fished on the 704C. It's also great for squarebills, jerkbaits and topwaters and even 3/8oz and under spinnerbaits, but it's more of a medium plus with a mod. fast tip rod so it would not be comprable to a Daiwa. Both lines of rods are very good rods and at a price where you get what you pay for. I would suggest either the Daiwa Tatula 7'1" MH/F rod for your needs as it will have slightly less tip than the Sierra 704C and may be a little better with the lighter lures and can still handle fishing a frog. If it wasn't for the frog I would say to downside your weights on your t-rigs and the Dobyns Sierra 703C would be great for those lighter lures.

This is the jig I would tie on if you took me to a lake I knew absolutely nothing about. I also like their football head jigs a lot in lakes where I'll be hopping it off rocks and picked up heavier flippin' jigs for next year when I'm fishing heavy cover, but up in the southern VT, western MA and eastern NY area, 99% of the time the pitchin' jig will do. The hooks are pretty series on these jigs and would take something like a 20 pounder to have a shot at bending them. I use these a lot as well. They're a solid cheaper and easier to find option than the Dirty Jigs I usually buy.

I don't know how I missed this year's fishmas. I had been meaning to participate all year, but I was so busy that I didn't even have time to check.

So I got my oldest son a Sierra 703C and wrapped that last night. Before wrapping it, I put it through the ringer and while I would say the 704C is a straight up fast rod, the 703C is definitely more towards the moderate fast side, although should have enough tip to fish weightless soft plastics.

Well I'm watching Castle Rock on Hulu and catching up on older episodes of The Curse of Oak Island (the stuff they find there is fascinating) and at some point I would like to watch The Witcher on Netflix. But yeah, I'm bored in the winter too

Merry Christmas

Oh good luck! I hope they can find out why you're having seizures and get a working treatment so you can drive again. My girlfriend had a string of having seizures every hour or more and they couldn't find anything, not 100% to this day but they have stopped and it's been years since she had one, and she couldn't drive for 6 months. At least nobody was hurt and it sounds like nothing too major was wrecked.

I always wanted a Buick Grand National myself, although they tend to be a bit pricey these days.

I ran straight braid a couple of years ago with no issues, and occasionally tied on a leader.. The advantage is that you can fish things like a frog on your MH/F rod but the downside is you will want a medium moderate rod for cranking instead of a MH/MF, M/MF or maybe M/F to compensate for the lack of line stretch. I still run straight braid on my H/F rod I use for frogs and jigs. It's actually a microguide rod so I can't tie on a leader, so I'm either running straight braid or in cases where a leader seems appropriate I just fish my other reel with 17lb fluorocarbon. The only time I really would use a leader is more for presentation than worrying about the line being seen and around rocks when abrasion might become an issue (although rarely is) or in areas with fewer weeds.

You can use a drop shot basically any time and any where as long as it's not in some thick weeds where it'll get snagged, but drop shots work well along grass lines. And drop shots remain effective at times where other lures do not like on a hot summers day or in colder water.

I have not tried using them but I would imagine they would be good smallie lures. Usually walleye lures also make decent smallie lures.

I have usually seen MF from most people, but based solely on the Sierra 704C, I am in the F camp, maybe a little bit on the XF side but I wouldn't call it a XF at least from my experience with XF rods which I will admit not being the type to use a XF tip on a rod above a medium power, is not the best judge of XF tips on heavier rods. Some Fury 704C rods at a local Dick's did not seem to have as much tip as my son's Sierra either so I could put them on the mod.. fast side of fast. I must say though I like that Sierra though, I bought it for him for soft plastics and lighter jigs and the tip on that handles up to 1/2oz jigs well!

I just got it for Black Friday so I haven't got to use it yet. I actually thought I ordered a MH/F rod, but the XF version came. I checked my order and TW doesn't even sell the fast rod and I ordered the XF. I debated sending it back, but it should do nicely for what I plan to use it for. As far as the tip, it does not feel all that much different than my 6'10" MH/F rod. It actually feels similar to my son's Dobyns Sierra 704C which is a H/F (comprable to Daiwa's MH). As for the extra three inches, it's nice when fighting a fish for extra hooksetting power and it definitely helps with casting distance. On the 6'10", I can't throw a spinnerbait as far as I can on my kids 7' and 7'1" MH/F rods for example. I can even throw a 2 1/4" live target frog on my 7'1" H/F rod on 65lb braid significantly further than I throw a 1/2oz spinnerbait on my 6'10" with 12lb mono. That said, the 6'10" is the prior gen with the split grip and I love the split grip when fishing soft plastics and sometimes jigs slowly across the bottom because I can palm balance it, and the slightest bite will usually cause the rod to turn tip down should I get distracted with something else.

I am actually running 7 right now Casting rods: 7'1" Daiwa Tatula H/F - frogs and jigs 7'1" Daiwa Tatula MH/XF - ordered this year as an alternate to mh 6'10" MH/F for better casting distance and hooksetting power for jigs, spinnerbaits and chatterbaits 6'10" Daiwa Tatula MH/F - this is my soft plastic rod. The older model with a split grip which is a preference for fishing soft plastics for finicky fish. 7'2" Daiwa Tatula MH/R Glass - Spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, squarebills around grass and deep divers 7' Daiwa Tatula M/R Glass - crankbaits, jerkbaits 6'8' St. Croix Mojo Bass M/XF - topwater, jerkbaits, weightless soft plastics Spinning rods: 6'9" St. Croix Avid X ML/XF spinning Casting Reels: Daiwa Tatula CT 7.1:1 - Paired exclusively with the heavy rod - 65lb braid for frogs and jigs in thick cover. Daiwa Tatula SV 7.1:1 - Paired with any of the MH rods, 17lb flurocarbon, jigs, softplastics, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits Daiwa Tatula SV 6.3:1 - Paired with any of the MH rods, 15lb flurocarbon, soft plastics, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits Daiwa Tatula SV 6.3:1 - Paired with the M/R glass rod - 12lb flurocarbon, crankbaits jerkbaits (will likely use 10lb fluorocarbon this year however) Pflueger Patriarch 7.1?:1 - Paired with the M/XF rod - 12lb mono - topwater, jerkbaits Spinning reels: Daiwa BG 2500 with 12lb braid and usually a 6lb flurocarbon leader. If I had to cut out two, I would drop the 7'1" MH/XF rod and the 7'2" MH/R glass rod, the latter would be a real sad day because if I only want to carry two or three rods, the MH/R glass rod makes a great all around moving bait stick.

Of the Googan squad, I think LunkersTV is the only one that uses his rod 90% of the time. Flair and Jon B appear to use whatever, and LakeForGuy usually uses Dobyns rods and Shimano reels. They are definitely not the best rods out there -- or the best rods for the price. Go in the store and light tap the tip on something (preferably moderately soft) and see if you can even feel it -- I bet you won't. I can honestly feel vibrations in the tip of my glass rods long before I could with Favorite rods. And since you're in a store, do the same with Dobyns Fury or Sierra or a St. Croix Mojo Bass or a G Loomis E6X and feel the difference. And if they have any super expensive rods, see if you can feel the difference there. The sensitivity per dollar seems to drop quite a bit after the $150 mark or so, but that isn't to say there isn't any but most of my rods are $130-150. The most expensive rod I have is a $200 St. Croix Avid X, 6'9" ML/XF spinning rod that I use for finesse presentations. I got my youngest son a much cheaper rod for the same presentations, and it's not actually too bad, but you definitely can tell a difference.

The Shimano Curado 70 is pretty light and would be perfect to run 30 or 40lb braid on. If you plan on running mono, fluoro or heavier braid than 40lbs, I have a Pflueger Supreme that is about the same weight and holds more line. The Daiwa Tatula SV is also worth checking out -- while a little heavier, it's great with weightless plastics.

I keep it simple. I personally like 10lbs and under on spinning (although usually 6-8lbs) and 10lb and up on casting as far as bass fishing goes.

If I was trying to pick a single line to balance between spinning and casting setups, it would probably be 10lb -- of course if it matches with the lures I am fishing

The 7' M/R glass rod is a fantastic crankbait rod. The 7'2" MH/R glass rod also works and is better for those real deep divers and squarebills around grass -- and is also a great spinnerbait and chatterbait stick. I have both, they're a little bit heavy but that doesn't bother me, and surprisingly sensitive for glass rods. If you opt to stick to a graphite rod, I would probably go with the 7' M/R. The 7'2" MH/R graphite rod has a bit more tip than its glass counterpart from what I understand and would be a bit much for a crankbait.

I will be the first to admit that I have been quite lazy about replacing hooks proactively, but the Owner ST-36 and ST-41s are good hooks. I am contemplating trying STX-38s next year, which are the weight of a ST-36 but supposed to be stronger..

I keep it simple, straight shank hooks for wacky rigs, EWG for T-Rigs and flippin' hooks for throwing in thick cover. I use EWG at least 80% of the time.

Your weather should be similar to ours, and from what I gather many of your lakes are even clearer so here's some tips. In general, spinnerbaits are good in stained water or on cloudy and/or windy days, but every now and then you might get some in clear water on a clear still day -- not the typical place for a spinnerbait. Trailers/Trailer Hooks Personally, I hardly use trailer hooks. Depending on where the blades line up to the hook, there are some spinnerbaits you do need to extend the hook side past the blades, like the Revenge models. In clearer water, I will sometimes use a treble hook but I am still more likely to use a trailer, usually a 3.8" Keitech instead which keep the spinnerbait fairly weedless. Since most of my spinnerbaits are not models where the blades are pushed back, I will usually only add a trailer if I am getting short strikes and not landing fish or if I can see them following. The kick of the a tail from a soft plastic is usually enough to entice them to bite -- and bite the whole thing. Dirty Water - year round Colorado blades and chartreuse or black colors can typically be slow rolled through any real dirty water for good success. They put off a lot of vibration (and typically catch fewer but larger fish). But sometimes dual willow blades will surprise you. Nighttime - year round Slow roll a black, colorado blade spinnerbait. For whatever reason, black silhouettes very well in low light conditions and tends to catch the most fish. Springtime Keep it under 1/2oz, although 3/8oz is generally preferred in the spring to match the smaller baitfish. Until the water hits 55 degrees, a colorado blade will be effective. You can use a single or dual colorado bladed model, there's advantages and disadvantages to both, but in early spring (and late fall) they seem to work equally well. Once the water hits 50, a colorado/indiana blade combo will start to work well. I have a few River2Sea models with this combo, but if you don't have any, a colorado blade still work. Once the water hits 53 it's time to bring out the dual willow or willow/colorado blades. You can fish these at this time from dusk to dawn until the water hits 65, but keep in mind they do need some light to work. Use dual nickel blades in clear water, and nickel and gold in stained water. These typically produce for me in mid-late spring. You can fish them a little faster, but I usually don't burn them yet either. Try to stop occasionally on the retrieve especially after hitting a rock or a stump or try yoyoing your retrieve. Summertime For the most part, you will want to stick to the same spinnerbaits that you were using in late spring, the dual willow and usually 3/8oz early in the summer. The difference is where in the spring you can fish them from dusk to dawn, in the summer you will want to use a spinnerbait more often on cooler days, or early in the morning or late in the day and ideally. If you have a hot day where it starts to get windy because a storm is moving in and the temperature drops quickly, pull out a spinnerbait -- such days have been some of the best bass fishing I have ever experienced. As August comes along and the bass get out of the post spawn funk and the baitfish get larger, larger spinnerbaits will better imitate the baitfish and burning the spinnerbait on the retrieve becomes quite effective at covering a lot of water in a short amount of time. You may use up to 1oz spinnerbaits if you need a little more depth when burning, but 1/2oz is generally the go to. You only want to burn dual willow bladed models. Fall As fall rolls along you'll move from burning to a steady retrieve and eventually to slow rolling, in reverse order. The only difference is I would use 1/2oz models more than I did in spring. Finally as far as colors go, white is preferred in clear water, chartreuse or brown or black in dirty water, white/chartreuse in stained water and blue/sexy shad colors (not chartreuse sexy shad) tend to work pretty decently in any water short of night fishing. Gear For a rod, I fish spinnerbaits up to 1/2oz on my 7'2" Daiwa Tatula Glass MH/R (basically moderate fast) rod and normally use a 6.3:1 ratio reel, although 7.1:1 is also fine and I while I like 7.1:1 for burning them later in the summer, I do prefer the 6.3:1 reel overall. A MH/F rod is generally good for 3/8oz and 1/2oz spinnerbaits, which is what I throw 98% of the time. 3/4oz and heavier spinnerbaits can be thrown on a H/F rod. Some people even throw 3/8oz spinnerbaits on a M/F rod, although I would be hesitant if it's on the lighter side of medium. I usually use 15lb line, but will step up to 17lb if I am fishing them in solid cover. I have used 12lb in clear water without a problem before as well. I don't think spinnerbaits are a presentation where you have to use thinner line for better action or presentation either, so if you have a reel just for spinnerbaits feel free to throw 17lb line on it. I hope that helps you catch some fish and gain some confidence in a spinnerbait. One other thing I will mention is there are some lakes where they just do not chase a spinnerbait no matter how hard you try, and other lakes where it seems the spinnerbait is basically "fish crack".