Boomstick

If I am getting short striked, then I will try one. In open water, I would go with a trailer hook but if there's weeds around, I'll add a trailer as it the spinnerbait remains just as weedless as without one. However more often than not if I'm getting a bite on a spinnerbait, I'm getting fish so I don't usually need either.

I loved fishing in Canada! Never know if you're getting a bass, pike, bullhead or a muskie up there!

I would usually use 15lb for those lures so I'm ready if I'm throwing in some weeds. If you know you only fish clear water and don't have to worry about weeds, then 12lb is fine. I personally almost always stick to the clear line but green is fine too, I don't think it's a big deal.

Someone's going to have a good fishing season next year

Daiwa 7'2" MH/R Glass Cranking Rod (I actually have the old version, but got the new one as I use it a lot and having matching handles will be nice) Daiwa 7' M/R Glass Cranking Rod St Croix Mojo Bass 6'8" M?XF (topwater) rod Pflueger Patriarch Reel Then about $500 pre 20% discount in lures, mostly cranks with different wobbles and some poppers, jerkbaits and spinnerbaits as I lost a few last year. So I'm going to need a reel and some line and I'm set for next year! I'll post pictures when my orders arrive...

The reason I wasn't going to look at a Tracker is the rod locker won't git even a 7' rod on many of the models that I've seen, and the Pro Team 175 and 190 only fits a 7' rod max. Other than that, they're cheap enough and plenty of people had good use from their Trackers. I was going to look at the Lund Renegade, but the prices on aluminum boats is rising so fast I'm considering looking at fiberglass boats instead if I can ever get my finances in order.

I find that as long as it's not too cold out, braid will cast further than the same pound test mono. In colder weather, braid tends to stick to braid so that changes things.

Two or three of the lures on my wishlist for a month before Black Friday were on backorder already. Not a big deal, but of everything I bought, only two on backorder wasn't bad!

I meant fluorocarbon might drop faster, sorry.

I have no experience with that particular rod, but from my experience I would wagerr that should be a pretty ideal cranking rod. For shallow water you will want something like M/F, M/MF or MH/MF, and Dobyns runs around a half power stronger than their rating, so a MH/MF should basically run on the stiffer side of medium.

That's a little bit different than what I meant. With a Senko it effects the action but I'm always hopping it of the bottom. A mono might drop a little faster, and they tend to hit it on the fall. So that is an advantage with mono. Where I was running into issues is fishing with say a spinnerbait or a crankbait, which would drag along the bottom, stir up dirt, get caught inbetween rocks etc. In the same water with mono, it wouldn't sit quite as big of a deal because it runs higher in the water column, but would still hit the bottom but hop back up -- and at times hitting a rock on a bottom can trigger a bite.

If you are using it for topwater, you are going to want to go with mono. I'm fairly sure that this is a MH/F rod, so I would be going with 14lb mono and I would recommend Sufix Siege line because it's strong, abrasion resistant and has less memory than other mono I've used.

On my spinning reels, I almost always run braid to leader. On casting reels, I will run mono for topwater, braid for the reel I use for hollow body frogs and and usually fluorocarbon for cranks, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, soft plastics, jigs and everything else. I did consider using primarily mono last year as I find that I was often fishing rather shallow water and with fluorocarbon I found I was literally dragging by bait off of the bottom where with mono, it would bounce off the bottom. I used mono for these baits in 2017 without issue. I would highly recommend Sufix Siege mono line. It's strong, abrasion resistant and has a much lower memory than other mono lines that I have used.

That's what I figure as well.

Normally, I make an effort to not spend money on Black Friday, because having employees have to work at midnight or 2am in the morning and wreck their Thanksgiving is ridiculous! However, I had a full wishlist of lures and rods to purchase, so I figure I might as well take advantage.

Most of it was cranks with different wobbles and some lipless and some square bills and spinnerbaits of different sizes and with different blades. I also have to kids so try to keep a few extras in case they're fishing what I want to be fishing at any given time and it's nice to have backups especially on my goto lures. I don't worry about my selection as much with most other lures. I find certain wobbles or blades work exceptionally well in some lakes and at certain times of the year, etc. It could be worse, I could be spending all my money on drugs ?

I was supposed to get a raise effective 11/1 which means back pay. I figure if it goes through, the back pay will more than cover it. Plus I lost a ton of lures last year, and there's a lot of them I want to replace because they were successful and a lot oof new ones to try. That will largely cover my tackle needs for all of next year minus line and maybe a soft plastic resupply -- plus three new rods and a new reel.

I spent $1000 on Tackle Warehouse's Black Friday sale. I replaced all of my lost lures from last season and bought new lures to try for next season, three new rods and one new reel. A solid $250 of savings, so I'm happy!

I got my oldest son a Sierra 704C for his birthday. It's basically a stout MH/F rod, although it's rated as heavy. So I will second going with a 4 power if you are looking for a traditionalk MH/F rod.

Best is totally subjective. Among the three you listed, neither is the best as Daiwa's best would be a Steez that costs 3x as much as a Tatula, and Shimano's would be the Antares which is in the same price range. However, the best in the price range I would say is the Tatula SV if you ever cast baits 3/8oz and under, or the Pflueger Supreme XT. My oldest son has a Curado K, it's a good reel but I like the Supreme XT better. It holds the same amount of line, is lighter, is smoother, brakes better and I'm pretty sure it casts further as well but the Tatula SV wins for lighter lures. I will add that of the three you listed, I really doubt you'll be disappointed whichever you choose.

Same. The presentations I'll be fishing at night are more often than not more suited towards casting gear.

I'm sorry to hear. I don't really have any advice other than follow through with PT. I've heard enough stories where with enough repetition, people will recover their coordination after a stroke.

Oh my bad! I totally misread that. Yeah a 1/2oz crankbait will be perfect for that rod!

I got my oldest son a Dobyns Sierra 704C last year for his birthday. It's rated as a H/F rod, but is more of a MH/F rod and has a pretty solid tip. That rod is 7' and you could also go with the 7'3" 734C. Their support is also pretty solid. When I bought the 704C for my son, I knew what he wanted to fish but wasn't sure if I wanted a 703C or 704C so I told support what he likes to fish and they said the 704C would be a better fit.

The only thing I will mention which I don't think anyone else did, is with a trailer, the 1/2oz chatterbait will likely be closer to 3/4oz, so it won't be as perfect as throwing a 3/8oz chatterbait. Regardless, it should still cast acceptably and be safe for the rod so I wouldn't worry too much about it. 1/2oz itself should be the optimal weight to throw on that rod.