Boomstick

I've had good luck with paddletail swimbaits with an underspin or spinnerbaits depending on the cloudiness of the water in shallow lakes when fish are active. Also you can kill it on topwater. When they're not, try something with a more vertical presentation like a jig or a Texas rig. If there's not a lot of cover in the lake, that's a hint that you may want to try a drop shot in the deeper areas.

Here is a great youtube playlist that covers a lot of the basics of Bass fishing for beginners. There's certainly a lot it doesn't even get into like establishing patterns and whatnot, but it will give you everything you need to get started.

I was thinking the same thing, but wasn't entirely sure.

I just got a 5'6 Daiwa Triforce rod for under $30 for trout and panfish. I was hoping for 6', but most rods are closer to 7' or 5' so it's a happy medium I guess. It's short enough where it won't muscle them out and long enough I can still cast it somewhat.

Here you go:

Either will do fine to be honest, but 50 casts further.

bigfruits got confused as to which rod was the $22 rod. Too bad ffo doesn't take suit and follow lol No, it was just confusion, the $22 rod is the Shock unfortunately. Still a good deal.

If the $22 rod was the Tatula, I'd have one on the way right now. I'm still considering a Shock rod or two at that price.

I haven't actually came across fake reels yet but I always limit my searches to within the US or North America as well. I'm honestly not 100% sure if the fishing market is saturated with fakes, but I also play guitar and people will post a fake Gibson Les Paul that would sell for say $2200 normally and sell it for $1800. In the past, you couldn't miss the fact it's fake, but the fakes are becoming more and more convincing looking, especially in pictures. A lot of these are sold straight from Asia and some inside the US, but reputable sellers generally won't even sell them or will sell them at a fake price for their real value (like $200 if that)

Smallies always seem to like a vertical presentation.

I have a 100% track record with ebay. When checking a seller, I will check they have a decent volume of prior sales. If they have a lower amount of sales, say a few thousand or less, then I will only buy from those with a 100% rating (or if I read the negative review the person said took over a week to arrive or wrote a positive description and it appears like they gave them an accidental negative -- which happens). If they are a power seller, they will have negative reviews too, so I'll read them. Usually people complain about slow shipping, which I can live with but look out for things like "advertised as new but clearly used" or "received a Chinese knock off instead of the advertised product." But most importantly, only buy from North American sellers. If it ships from China or Hong Kong it is almost certainly a fake, if they send you anything at all. If not all of the above is true, walk away no matter how good the deal seems. A brand new NRX rod for $100 shipped is $100 that some scammer is pocketing while sending you an Ugly Stik with "G Loomis" and "NRX" spray painted on it, and $100 you'd rather have back. As far as fishing gear, I have purchased from the sellers below without issue and would again. https://www.ebay.com/usr/sportsmansoutfitters?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754 https://www.ebay.com/usr/triacetackle2016?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754 https://www.ebay.com/usr/departureoutdoors?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

Yeah 1/2oz is a little bit aggressive. My favorite frog is the 2 1/4" LiveTarget hollow body frog though which is 5/8" so hopefully it will be good with that rod.

I posed the idea that maybe the bass to not hear the primary frequencies in the rattle, but there is likely other frequencies put out in the rattle that are not as loud that they might hear, although possibly not as effectively as a lower pitched rattle. But I don't really know for sure.

I will throw a 3/8oz or 1/2oz spinnerbait on my Daiwa Tatula 7'2" MH/R glass cranking rod. When I move up to larger spinnerbaits, I will throw them on my Tatula 6'10" MH/F rod for the extra hooksetting power through extra weight and depth. I can also throw smaller spinnerbaits on a MH/F rod as well, it's just a matter of what else I plan to have rigged up.

The difference is an inch. If the power and the action and the price is the same, buy whichever is cheaper. You won't notice the difference.

Same deal with Tide pods, don't eat them.

I would buy both of those rods at that price. That's too good to pass up. For the Stradic CI4+ 2500, you would ideally want either the 702SF or the 703SF, the 703SF if you prefer shaky heads and the 702SF if you prefer a drop shot. But at that price I would spool up 8lb line and run a slightly heavier drop shot (could also do braid to leader, but I'd likely almost always use a 8lb leader).

What do you think of the frog rod? I've heard so many good things about the Tatula Frog rod. It might be on the longer side (I'd prefer maybe 6'8" or so because it's easier to walk a frog on a shorter rod) but it should double up as a jig rod nicely.

Sorry! I totally confused myself as to which thread this was when I read my last comment. I thought this was the Tatula 7'2" MH/R glass cranking rod, which I picked up later in the year for moving baits (I think I paid $120, the price fluctuates from $110 to $150 on Amazon depending on the day and time of day). So I guess you can say I liked the 6'10" MH/F Tatula enough I got another Tatula! The 6'10" MH/F Tatula is great. And since I added the cranking rod, I am really glad that I got the fast action model as I will use it for a lot of soft plastics, jigs, and frogs, so the fast is appreciated where if I got the MH/R model, it wouldn't compliment the cranking rod so nicely. My one complaint about it is the insert in the tip popped out, and I couldn't find an insert small enough anywhere so I had to call Daiwa for a replacement. I assume that will be a one-time issue. As JustJames said, for a MH rod that leans on the heavier side of MH, the tip is a little soft (too thin for any of the replacement tips you can buy in a store) so it's not the best for heavy jig use. I usually use a 5/16oz and 3/8oz jigs and find any realistically matched trailer to be fine which is acceptable for where I fish. At some point I also plan to add the Tatula frog rod which I can use for those really heavy jigs. As for the gout, I have barely drank any beer and quit meat and anything with high fructose corn syrup in it (which I am convinced is the worst gout trigger from personal experiences and friends withgout) after I had gout in since October when I got hit with gout in both ankles and my left toe at once. I have had it several times before, each at least a year apart and never in multiple places at once. I quit meat for 6 months after the prior attack and lost a bit of weight, and I've lost more since quitting meat entirely back in October so that should help me. I was on allopurinol but a doctor told me that being so young that it will kill my liver by the time I am in my 60s, so I opt to manage it through diet and weight loss.

I didn't get to use it a whole lot before I was incapacitated with gout, but in the short amount of time I did get to use it, I really liked it. It's about the perfect spinnerbait or chatterbait rod, or for square bills through grass and weeds. Since I don't own a boat, that is the majority of my crankbait fishing anyway. You can also feel everything that goes on with it, it's just muted a little bit vs a pure graphite rod. Ideally at some point, I will add a rod for open water and topwater crankbaits, but that will wait until I buy a boat as I can only fit so many rods in my car at once. For someone who can only transport so many rods (usually fish with my boys too), it compliments my MH/F rod and spinning rod for finesse tactics nicely. Tackletour did a review of it, which was that ultimately sold it for me. It feels inline with the Mojo Bass spinnerbait rod which I got for my youngest son for Christmas. They tested it to be a little bit stiffer than the average deep diving crankbait rod. It was close at first, but as the weight goes up, it gets stronger, so it has a little initial flex in it but a lot of hidden power reserves. Overall, I'd say it's not too dissimilar from a M/F rod in the first pound or so, it's just where it flexes. I've been using it with some heavy mono line for added stretch and strength, but will probably try some fluorocarbon this year and see how that works out. I use it with my 6.3:1 Tatula SV reel and did add a 7.1:1 to the MH/F rod. http://tackletour.com/reviewdaiwatat721mhrbg.html

I figured as much. I've seen $10-30 typically. But I will need it.

I might be in the same scenario. Hoping our local storage facility will have power.

Hopefully at 37, when I will have enough putaway to land my first (and maybe only?) boat.

Thanks! I will check it out should I go the M/F route. Sounds like a true M/F rod.

Wow, nice boat! I hope to buy something half as nice next year