Notorious B.E.N.

I bought a Team Lews Lite Speed Spool LFS with a 6.8:1 gear ratio at a CCA auction. I wanted to help the orgnanization and I fish saltwater when I can so I can use it there too. It pulls in 28" inches of line per turn. I'm also a kayak fisherman and I've been looking at getting a rod for squarebills and lipless. I'd have to reel a little faster to get the speed of a 7.X:1 reel for the squarebills and lipless but that's OK with me and then I should also be able to slow down enough for the smaller medium diving crankbaits so I might be able to do both with the same reel or should I look at getting something a little faster? I plan on getting a Dobyns Fury 705 CB rod which has a 1/4-1 ounce lure rating, Medium-Heavy with a Moderate-Fast action so it should do OK with the smaller medium diving crankbaits too and then I would have a dual purpose setup are my thoughts but I'm interested in hearing what others think. https://www.lews.com/casting/teamlewslite

I just had a warranty claim with a Mojo Bass rod of theirs I have. Based on my experience, I will be buying more of their products. As others have pointed out, St. Croix has a good bit more "tip" than other rods. The suits my casting style better than some of the broom handle stiff rods out on the market. I also really like what Dobyns has to offer for this same reason.

I'm a kayak fisher because I have young kids and busy with work too so I prefer equipment that has multiple uses. In the past when I boat fished 20 years ago, I used a BPS 7' MH Bionic Blade for fishing deep diving crankbaits because it was the best thing I found for casting them for me and the rod was loaded up when retrieving. After I really got back into Bass fishing about 5 years ago, I'm looking at upgrading some of my equipment and I want to try my deep diving crankbaits again. Most of them are 1 ounce or less Rapala's and Norman DD22's but I have some of the older Norman's that weigh over an ounce. The rods I'm looking getting are the St. Croix Bass X and Mojo Bass Flipping/Pitching rods. They have 2 possibilities probably using the same blank. They're listed at 7' 4" and 7' 11", MH, and Moderate-Fast. I want to make sure I have enough backbone so the rod isn't loaded when retrieving and also the length for being able to get the lures casted out far enough to have them at the running depth for a reasonable part of the retrieve. Does this sound like it would work or should I be looking at something else? I'm trying to avoid taking a bunch of extra gear because it seems to get to a point that it's not as fun. I can carry 7 rods but prefer to keep that at 5 or less. Having a box with some different crankbaits and another small box with jigs is doable but I try to keep things as simple rather than bringing the entire tackle store with me.

I have a 13 ***** that I have been using in saltwater the past 2 years. I was cleaning and lubricating it after a saltwater trip and I have a lock washer and o-ring that I cannot for the life of me remember where they go. I think they stuck to part of the handle drive assembly and then popped off when I was removing a cover plate to the gearing and that's why I'm having a hard time remembering where they go. So can anyone help me with figuring out where they go? I believe they both go on the bolt that holds the handle assembly in the reel.

So after a good amount of travel for work, I had a chance to sit down and try increasing the number of wraps I did with the FG knot. I went from 20 wraps to 40 and my knots didn't give on the pull test. I was also able to get out and attempt to put it to the test on Friday. I only caught one that was about 2.25 lbs. but the knot held up good. Also I am not sure where the wound on the fish came from. To my knowledge it did not get any stumps or anything when I was landing it but I was in an area with scattered timber. I landed quickly, put the bass on my fish grips while I got the camera ready, dipped the trough in water before measuring, and it was released in great condition. It didn't hesitate after I placed it back in the water to swim off. The lake I was on has a regulation of not allowing possession of bass between 14 and 24 inches.

Water depth is 6-8 ft and then it drops off the closer to you to the lake arm. Water clarity is moderate. Probably a few 2 feet on a good day. I will look in to trying a shakey head or a Senko. I have some Senko's currently but no shakey head gear (I do have a list at Tackle Warehouse though). For the Senko's, are you wacky rigging them or Texas rigging?

On the lake I fish regularly, there is a point I can catch bass on pre and post spawn. I usually catch fish on a spinnerbait or chatterbait. Around the corner of this point is a cove with scattered timber and mud bottom that looks like it could hold fish too but I haven't caught anything. I have tried crankbaits and working creature baits around the timber. Is there a certain jig I should try casting in addition to what I am doing or another lure like a tube with a rattle or even a good old fashioned Texas rig with a worm? I fished similar structure but a rock bottom growing up and it is starting to warm back up here so I am interested in other presentations to try. I appreciate and advice anyone has.

I decided to try out some P-Line TCB 8 braid and am having trouble with the FG knot. However, I can fairly easily pull the Seagur Invizx line that I am using for leader material out when I finish it up. The braid is 40 lbs. test and the leader material is 15 lbs. test. I've watched the Salt Strong video again and again to try and figure out what I'm doing wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

I didn't have much success with them in the past lol. So I'm going to look at some rods for throwing them. I have reels that are a lower gear ratio and that are still working from 20 years ago.

Nice, that's what I figured. Do you still base the rod to use off of the advertised lure weight or do you need to take in to account the weight of the hook, split rings, etc.?

I have some older Norman DD22 HD's that I purchased close to 20 years ago. Back then I was using a 7' MH/F BPS rod rated for up to 1-1/2 ounce lures and fishing flats and around bluffs on a lake in Texas near where I grew up. After spending a good bit of time in school and moving back to an area in Texas where it rains and having lakes nearby, I've gotten back in to fishing more than when I started school in 2001. I've also been learning more about bass fishing and a lot of things have changed and there is a lot more and better techniques and information that there was back then. I pulled out some of my older gear to sort and go through it and I weighed some of the lures that I can fish my what is now a rod that I'll use for crankbaits. It's 7' MH/M and I really like the slower action for lipless crankbaits and soon some squarebills. Concerning my older Norman DD22's, I'm looking for a rod to try some of these with when bass are deeper. But when weighing them, they're coming out at about 1-1/8 to 1-1/4 ounces. I saw the DD22 HD's out now are 1 ounce though so were the older DD22 HD's heavier or do they do the weights based on the plug without any hooks or bill? I am looking around for a longer rod to be able to cast these with. If they are supposed to be those weights but still count as a "1 ounce" lure weight, I won't take their weight too much in to considering. But if the older ones were heavier, I'll look for a rod that can handle lures of that weight.

I am looking at getting an 8wt rod to do some Bass and Inshore fishing with. The rods I am considering are a Medium-Fast action. Would these be OK for Bass and Inshore fishing or should I just look at Fast action rods only?

I've found some other threads on this site that have been helpful and I follow Gene on YouTube. Many of his videos are on my Bass Fishing playlist. I grew up between Waco and Dallas in a small town and fished Lake Whitney for bass mostly with very little success. My dad has a boat and he fixated on stripers, which Whitney is known for. We also would go fishing in Minnesota and did a few fly in trips in Canada fishing for pike and walleyes. My grandparents on my dad's side grew up in St. Paul and had friends that ran places where you could rent a cabin for a week. It was also a way to try and get out of the Texas heat. Today I don't have time for such things but I have always been an avid bass fisherman and I am beginning to do some inshore fishing since I live closer to the coast. I don't really have a place to keep a boat so I fish out of a Jackson Coosa HD. I enjoy the simplicity of the kayak and not having to worry about fuel with ethanol so it works out. Glad to be here!