papajoe222

That's exactly how I do it. 7ft. rod X 2.5 equals .5 ft above fish hoilding at 18ft.

Suspended fish have been my daddy for years, so I rarely target them. One of the few things I've tried that seems to fire up the school is twitching a Red Eye Shad right in the school. Similar to stroking or vertical jigging, but with much more subtle rod movement, the bait flops on its side when falling a short distance prior to twitching it again. Once/if I hook up, I fight the fish at that level prior to reeling it in. Subsequent casts get a much more aggressive retrieve and the fish seem to be more aggressive for a while. Sometimes I can get a couple more fish before the school returns to their neutral mood. Obviously these are fish I've marked on my electronics. What presentations do you guys employ for suspended fish?

Deep diving cranks were my go to summer baits for years and I had the forearms to prove it. I still use cranks in 18-25ft. of water, but rarely are they the big billed ones. I believe cranks are rarely seen by fish at those depths which makes them a great alternative to other presentations. BTW, in the video, the reason the technique is working for them is that they aren't bouncing the bait off the bottom, or cover. Anytime I fish a crank and am not making contact with something, I use a similar retrieve using the rod.

Original blue Stren, but honestly, I've never used any line under 8lb. test so I don't know how visible the lighter weights are. Under a blacklight at night, it looks like rope.

I never woulda guessed. I bet it's a Norman. Same goes for me. There is something to be said about precise depth control, which I can't achieve with a spinnerbait, jig, worm, or others. I know what depth my cranks run and how they 'feel' when I'm cranking. I'll fish a new one for hours just to get in tune with it.

A Spook for me, mainly because it's the first one I reach for and the one I have the most confidence in. A buzzbait (double blade in black) is my best producer at night.

My favorite for big fish is a 5in. hand poured tube rigged with a 1/4oz. 60degree line tie jig. I can rig that tube with the jig set far back from the nose for some awesome action on the fall, or pushed all the way in for dragging along the bottom.+ For numbers, a 3in. tube (also hand poured) rigged with a 1/8oz. jig.

What makes you think it's your hook set? Many EWG hooks have very little bite because of the relation of the hook point to the line tie. They hook and hold great when the line tie is outside the fish's mouth and the hook point isn't, but their weak spot is when the hook is completely in the fish's mouth. Give a round bend worm hook or a straight shank one a try and see if things don't improve.

It isn't unusual for fish to key in on certain types, or profiles off baits and I won't even get into color preferences. This situation can be both a blessing and a curse. As long as the fish continue to hit one or two baits, it's a blessing. As soon as the bite turns off, or you return on a different day and start throwing the same baits, expecting the same action, it becomes a curse as you'll stick with those baits/presentations longer than you should wasting precious fishing time.

Drop a line and maybe a pic, to Heddon. Their products are outsourced, so there is a possibility that the issue hasn't been brought to their attention. Who knows, they may even replace the defective ones.

I could see this happening with a spinning reel. With a casting reel, I learned to clamp my thumb down on the spool when setting the hook. I can keep the drag set fairly loose when fishing open water and not have to worry. When fishing cover, I just keep my thumb on the spool and if the fish surges when it sees the boat, I just release pressure. I guess you could do something similar with a spinning reel, but it'd take some practice for it to become automatic.

This was my way of thinking until I started pitching. A faster retrieve speed pays off at the end of the day in the form of more casts (pitches) per day, assuming you only work the spot you cast to and then retrieve/repeat.

Just wondering why you would spend $500 on one combo when it'd be your only one. I'd go with two combos so I could be a little more versatile with presentations. A cranking stick and worm/jig one would give you a good one-two option. There are endless, quality rods under $150 as are quality reels. To your question, it's a matter of personal preference when it comes to rods and reels in that price range. You mention that you sold all your gear and are getting back into it again. If you were happy with what you previously had, I say stick with those brand's current offerings.

They can be pesty, but the flip side of the coin is; If the bluegill are active, so are the bass. I just keep fishing, usually deeper or where there's some kind of change, either in cover, or the bottom composition.

For casting heavy lures, unless distance is your main objective, I don't know why anyone would switch to these bearings. If they did, they'd likely hate them. I wouldn't say I hated their performance casting unweighted 5in tubes, but a jig/tube would likely ruined all my anger management training.

I actually went back to the stock bearings on one of my Alphas for this very reason. I have what I consider an educated thumb, but even after adjusting the cast control and magnets, I would get over runs and I attributed it to the quick spool start up. Every third cast, I'd be picking out a backlash. I put the stock bearings back in and didn't have any issues the next time out. I'll likely put them (the new bearings) into a different reel and give them another shot on a day when the fish aren't cooperating.

I have three rods I use for crankbaits. All are graphite composites. I was out last week and my fluorocarbon snapped on a cast that took about 30yrds of line with it. Not having any fluoro on hand, I spooled up with some 12lb SuffixProMix and continued fishing and catching. I also noticed the fish I caught on mono had choked the bait whereas those I caught with fluoro were hooked on the edge of their mouth. So I'm rethinking using fluoro, again, and just going with mono, or possibly Yozuri Hybrid for my cranking applications. Is mono your line choice for cranking, or do you insist on fluoro?

Rocks. I've yet to get a strike using one.

For clear water, I prefer natural colors and seeing as a jig/trailer often imitates a crawdad, that can vary quite a bit. green pumpkin, to me, is more of an imitation of a bluegill, which is also on a bass' diet. I throw what I have and I have a lot of black/blue, brown/green and black/black (often times with a few strands of yellow in the skirt). I also work a jig faster in clear water, therefore I go with a heavier jig. I don't want the fish to get a good look at it as it falls, so I'll also go with a trailer that doesn't slow it down too much. I like to stroke a jig in the summer letting it sit between 'strokes' but in clear water it will no sooner hit bottom and I'm stroking it up again.

Same line of thinking here. Even knowing the water temp. as stated, not all bass spawn at the same time and thus, not all are in a post spawn funk. Fish in a negative mood, whether it's post spawn, post frontal, or just off their feed can be caught. Whenever they are in that mood, no matter what the reason, they can be caught. Whatever your choice is for post spawn fishing can be applied to post front conditions and visa versa.

First things first, what material are the drag washers? Until I switched to Carbontex drag washers, I never paid any attention to them. The first thing I did, however, was get myself some Cal's. I first ran them dry, but didn't care for the jerky start-up. The Cal's gave me a much smoother start-up. As it's the only drag grease I've ever used, I couldn't suggest anything else and when you consider the fact that you use so little, it doesn't become a costly investment.

The deepest I've had a smallmouth come up for a Spook was 25ft. I've caught them over deeper water, but they weren't on the bottom, so I have no idea how far up they actually came. For largemouth, 18ft. More than once from the same, short piece of structure.

Shoot me a PM with your info and I'll send you a couple

In response to the OP's first question, there are a number of good fishing reel bearing suppliers out there and most of them, like Boca, list spool bearings by both size and reel. The have bearing kits for many popular reels. A quality ABE7 bearing is fairly inexpensive and replacing spool bearings is a simple task. Just be careful not to loose the retaining clip for the bearing in the side plate. They have a history of flying off into nomans land never to be seen again. I keep extras on hand even though I take precautions when removing them.

How do you retrieve yours?