Boomstick

I always gathered they were very similar, hence why I have yet to try them.

Casting: +1 for the Tatula SV Spinning: Daiwa BG (never found a need to spend anymore)

I agree with this 100%. Also colors that usually have sexy shad in the name are often a fairly safe bet in most water as well. I generally catch more fish on a willow/colorado blade or dual willow blade than I would on colorado or indiana blades even often in dirty water, but the colorado or indiana blades do seem to attact bigger fish. This time of year (still colder water in the northeast), I will usually tend to fish a spinnerbait with colorado or indiana blades. Also if you are fishing between weeds, colorado and indiana blades can be quite effective -- indiana is the better choice if the water is generally clear, there is a sun that's visible and visibility is only limited by the weeds.

Well I use a lot of Daiwa rods and reels. Both are top notch. I have no fishing experience with Shimano rods, but I have held a few in stores and they seem rather well made and would not be afraid to purchase one. The Zodias MH/F rod (that's a bit closer to a H than a MH) looks like it would make a fantastic all purpose jig rod as well. Some "reel" companies make rods (or have them made for them to sell as combos) but remember that both Daiwa and Shimano are both rod and reel companies, it's just they sell a lot more reels than rods.

I haven't used the SLX rod or reel, but I saw in a post maybe from a week ago that someone was selling the SLX combo for $129.99. So just from my experience with Shimano, the price range of the SLX rod and reel and what it's competing with, I would say it's pretty safe to assume the SLX rod would be one hell of a steal for only $30 if you can find it at that price -- and worthwhile as a backup should you buy something better later. I believe part of the reason you hear more about the reel is because like Daiwa, Shimano is one of most bass angler's preferred reel manufacturers. If you took a poll on who on these forums own at least one Shimano reel, I have a feeling that the amount of people who said yes would surprise you. But the number who said yes to owning Shimano rods would be more spread out as many people will use rods by other manufacturers that don't make reels, St. Croix, Dobyns, Megabass, etc. Oh looks like I made my prior post too late. Nice, I hope you like it.

I agree. I just won't walk it in those situations, but if I have some sort of a boat, I'm usually taking it to areas where I don't need to walk it as well. I don't think you really need an extra fast tip. A fast should do (although that is subjective by manufacturer). An extra fast tip may be a bit of a broomstick, with with a heavy backbone you should have enough power to pull frogs out of whatever weeds you're fishing. Up until this year, I used a MH/F rod with 40lb braid. I don't have too many areas with weeds that were too heavy for me, and in the few cases when I found some weeds that were really heavy I just fished around the edges (and caught tons of fish).

Thanks, I will try that. I use a lot of fluke trailers, keitech's and Lake Fork Live Magic Shad.

For bass fishing, I doubt you'll ever use more than 100 yards of line. The benefit of a spool that holds 140 yards of 12lb line is that you can still hold a solid 80 yards of 20lb line, but if you're running 12 or 14 or even 17lb, that's more than you need.

I have used a 6'10" rod for the past two years, and that was about perfect. I would think 6'8 - 6'10" is the happy medium range depending on the height of the person using it. I would imagine most people aren't making their longest casts when fishing a frog as well, so the only downside of the shorter rod is you'll have to work harder to pull a big fish out of the weeds. I purchased a 7'1" H/F rod for jigs and frogs for this year, but haven't got to use it yet -- the water's too cold.

In similar situations, I will always fish topwater when viable, as topwater won't get snagged. Also you can usually fish a moving bait if you pay close attention to reeling so it only hits the rocks but does not sink down to the rocks where it can get stuck. Football head jigs are designed to not get stuck in rocks, but it does depend on the rocks of course too. Finally, finesse baits like a ned rig or a drop shot with the long cylinder shaped weights also don't tend to get stuck, but might not be the best option if you have current to contend with.

I use a MH/MF "glass" rod for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs and crankbaits in grass or around stumps. It casts great and I've had no issues with getting a decent hookset. My theory is that since I'm either keeping the bait moving or fishing it on a stop and go, I'm always waiting to reel so I'm always ready to give it a quick hookset, and in turn the extra bend helps me from pulling the lure out of the fish's mouth. The weight doesn't bother me personally. I will use a fast action rod for soft plastics, other jigs and frogs, but for moving baits I find I don't need a fast action unless I'm using the california hooks.

The real question here is did you still manage to land that fish?

That's like something out of a comedy routine. Speaking of falling out of the boat though, that might happen with me. I've developed symptoms of meniere's disease recently and I was fishing on a dam and couldn't even stand on that because I kept getting dizzy, so one of these days that might be me.

I haven't really done anything too stupid *fingers crossed*. My youngest kid once hooked my side and I pulled it out, barb and all with pliers. That hurt a bit and bled for a while but fortunately it was one hook from a smaller treble hook on a crankbait. But perhaps the dumbest thing I did was I was fishing from a rowboat with my kids and I just hooked the biggest fish in my life. I'd think it was a massive pike, but from what I saw it looked like el mondo - and the boys said it looked like a giant bass as well. I gave it a sweeping hookset and smacked my oldest son in the face. It towed the boat around for a little while, then went under the boat and set itself free. Had I got a better hookset, there's a very good chance I'd be a member of the 10 pound club.

It's not always about the size of the fish, but the cover you're fishing in and the lure you're fishing. Also while you are used to catching dinks, you never know when you'll pull out el mondo, she's just there waiting

My oldest son's first baitcaster was a medium GX2 with an Abu Garcia Black Max. It was originally a Cabela's rod (forget which model) which broke on the slightest snag, so I bought him an Ugly stick to replace it. The reel seems appropriate for the rod. I would imagine a heavy GX2 would be good for chatterbaits and lipless crankbaits in thick grass as the tips tend to be towards the moderate side. You could also probably fish a spinnerbait or deep diving crankbait with it, and jigs (at least swim jigs). Also they make good rods for throwing heavy lures for catching catfish. Some people may also throw frogs on these, although I personally prefer a faster tip but you could give it a try and see how it works for you.

Well stated. No need to be an elitist jerk because you don't like someone's brand of choice.

If the jerkbait is working, keep using the jerkbait. Also if the lake is filled with slimy stuff, try a spinnerbait or chatterbait.

I believe the rule is if it can fit it in it's mouth, it will eat it!

Sorry about the boat, but grats on taking second! At least the boat can be fixed, but seeing all that hard work pay off and getting second is nothing to be ashamed of! Just trying to see the glass as half full here

You mean there isn't? I'm going to try this the next time I'm out. All the money I spent on jig trailers better not have been money wasted.

I bought a spool of Fluoroclear, 15lbs for my son. At first, it's great, no issues with knot strength (uni knot) but after only a couple weeks, the memory in the line was so bad that it was looking like it was a spinning reel with line twist. He wasn't fishing anything on it that would cause line twist either. I switched to 15lb Yo Zuri hybrid and had no issues. In fact, I think I put that line on in mid July last year and it lasted the rest of the season with some occasional KVD without a problem. At the start of this season, I threw some of what we had left on for early season fishing when it could still get below freezing so I figured better that than good line. We had the same problems. I never saw line on a casting reel behave that way.

I saw the post you're talking about. At the time, I had never owned anything Shimano but I never heard of users complaining about their Shimano reels falling apart -- even the entry level models. When I saw it was his first or second post, I figured it was probably an fanboy/agent of a competing brand or being a troll. Now, isn't that going against the point of this thread? I haven't tried any Googan baits yet, but I hear they work pretty well. Well at least they're trying to promote what works for them instead of saying "what you all use is junk!" Why not both? I own a Fender and a Gibson and the voices in my head are constantly at war with each other...

That's my larger point as I don't think it really matters too much if his scale is reading to the hundredths of an ounce. I haven't personally bothered weighing lures, but I've always suspected that a 3/8oz spinnerbait or jig is heavier than a 3/8oz crankbait largely regardless of manufacturer.

I have never had a problem with the Plano boxes warping. Are they left outside in the sun all day per chance? Also the Bass Mafia boxes are expensive, but you get what you pay for. There's videos of people running them over with their truck on youtube -- and they survive!