Kyle S

I've heard of people liking that vengeance series of rods but have never personally used them. I fondled a medium heavy vengeance in store a while back and immediately noticed the heaviness (weight) of the rod. If I come across the heavy model i'll have to check it out.

All of my affordable gems seems like they've already been mentioned and praised. Huge HUGE fan of the Hank Parker rods at walmart. I own 4 or 5 of them. Both in MH and M. I also have a handful of Aird X rods, and just recently purchased two more ML Aird X spinning rods. Though I have others, I own I think 11 Shimano SLX casting reels. The SLX is without a doubt my favorite casting reel I own. Hence why I own 11 of them haha The SLX MSRP is $99 but I wait until they're on sale and pick them up for around $80 during the Black Friday sale at TW. A cheap gem of a spinning reel and my personal favorite is the Daiwa Revros. I also own quite a few of them. Quite a bit of value packed into The Revros. Like you @TatulatardI too am looking for that affordable gem flipping stick. I think I'm going to have to give the heavy Aird X rod a go since @MN Fisher has had such success with it for so many applications. I love a good deal lol

Recently I hung up a bunch of pegboard and very neatly organized my tackle. Doing so has resulted in easily being able to visually lay my eyes on many items that I do not normally use. It has also resulted in many new ideas, modifications of lures and different instances where I can now see myself using various lures that have been hidden away, not catching fish. A big part of me simply enjoys collecting the tackle whether I use it or not. It sure is fun to look at a wall covered in tackle and think of it as your own personal bait shop haha I still don't know how to turn the photo so its not sideways lol but this is what I've been working at. Many thing are extras of bait that I use frequently and others are a result of the bait monkey.

I'm a younger man but have come to love the Johnson silver minnow. Admittedly though, the odds of me picking one up and using it would've been slim to none if i didn't listen to what you guys had to say about its effectiveness in grass...

Here in central Virginia, The entirety of March has treated me well with prespawn fish. Lots of great fishing to be had in the spring.

This is great! Responses all over the spectrum. I'll have to go to my local tackle store and fondle a bunch of the suggestions. Thanks!

I'm looking to get much more into fishing heavier vegetation this upcoming season. I'm looking for advice on what to look for in a rod that I could use to punch. Weights will range from 3/4 oz 1-1/2 oz.

For those of you who have access to wintertime fishing, what bodies of water do you prefer to fish in the wintertime? During the months of December, January and February I struggle to catch bass. I've fished my favorite river (Pamunkey River) many times when the water temps were less than 50 degrees or so in Dec-Feb and VERY rarely do I ever catch anything. I have a strong feeling I'm fishing in the wrong locations for them however when the water temps are right around 50 degrees in the first few days of March I can catch some studs. I'd love to fish some ponds during the cold weather however I don't have access to any. All of the ponds around are Private. There are a few lakes and reservoirs fairly close. Very little confidence fishing them though. Any advice or suggestions?

The temperature isn't what makes me stop fishing, its the lack of fish activity when the water temperature drops that makes me stop. My local rivers water temperature was only down to 48 degrees last weekend but I couldn't buy a bite, even on the best tide. Fishing in the cold isn't that bad when you're catching fish, but when you're not all my mind focuses on is how cold my toes are. I'm surprised to see that the heat drives many folks to stop fishing. Perhaps I'm ignorant but never once have I ever thought it was too hot to go fishing. It can get pretty miserable as far as heats concerned but it doesn't bother me like the cold weather does that's for sure.

Here's our River boy, only sideways hahah or at least the image is on my screen. I can't seem to get it to work correctly. I have such difficulty on this site posting photos.

That’s too cool! Our puppy is also named River! We love him more than anything. He actually looks somewhat similar, just a shade darker. I’ll post a picture as soon as I can resize it.

Our nearly one year old puppy, River has eaten many many things at this point in his life. The most noteworthy meal of his was when he was about 5 months old, he swallowed an entire pair of underwear. I'm fortunate to have a retired veterinarian as a friend who advised us to administer hydrogen peroxide orally and then run River around in the yard to get it all mixed around and bubbling up in his gut. Within about 5 minutes, River paused and up came the entire pair of underwear, along with a bunch of kibble and grass clippings that he recently enjoyed. Pepcid Ac helped calm his stomach back down. @A-Jay The rabbit poop does seem like little morsels of goodness to dogs. I often wonder why. Glad River isn't the only one who enjoys it.

Thanks fellas! much appreciated

Preparing for a trip this weekend and plan to throw an a-rig for the first time. What brand/style/size jig heads would you recommend? I plan to throw 3" grubs and 2.8"- 3.3" keitechs. Been looking for a quality jig head at a fair price. The strike king squadron/ baby squadron heads seems to look like they could fit the bill. Alternatively the plain ol gamakatsu ball head jigs look like they could work. What do you think?

Shimano Sensilite is my preferred panfish rod. Specifically the 6'-6" UL model. I own 3 or 4 of them. Fantastic rods for casting and reeling jigs. I also own a B&M TCB series rod, which is a little soft for my liking but still a nice rod all things considered. Dobyns has a trout/panfish series of rods in their Sierra lineup. I own the 6'6" UL as well...or at least I did until i thought it was a good idea to boat flip a 1lb largemouth with it...Great rod but a little pricey IMO I've fondled a couple of B&M rods at my local academy sports. B&M certainly does have some options as far as lengths, powers and actions are concerned. That BPS panfish Elite also looks pretty nice... I hope you find a rod that suits your needs. What rod have you currently been using?

I do the exact same thing. Got tired of searching for a specific bait. I too like viewing all of my options at once. 3701 Plano thin boxes helped make it happen. Like @WRB said though, excess worms and lures stay at home for restocking.

I've got a couple that I would immediately replace if something happened... Shimano Sensilite 6'-6" UL. Lew's TP1 Black 6'-10" MH Moderate fast Shimano Clarus 7' Light Also a HUGE fan of The Lew's Hank Parker casting rods. They only sell 2 casting models I believe. I probably own 4 or 5 of them.

Yesterday's trip to the Pamunkey River. Made a long run to a creek that I've wanted to try. Very shallow with and filled with grass. This fish weighed in at 4.12#. A great day indeed. I owe @Catt a big thank you for posting pictures of a couple of his johnson silver minnows with skirts and trailers installed on them. The silver minnow lure truly does work wonders in grass. @Glenn did a video demonstrating how the minnow has a 'cacheing' action as you retrieve it. I would highly recommend checking that video out of you fish grass! Here a some better pictures of my recent post just resized

I too, do all of the same modifications.

Zoom Z Craw Jr is my personal favorite

Thanks for the replies fellas, I'll inspect everything again and make sure it isn't another problem causing it. if not, i guess its new battery time.

First fishing trip of the year yesterday. Everything started fine at the dock, drove up to one of my favorite creeks a short distance from the ramp and fished for nearly 8 hours. When I went to start up the outboard, my lead acid group 27 interstate battery that came with the boat and is only 2 years old, didn't have enough juice to start my 40 hp mercury. Which left me having to jump it using my trolling motor batteries. My cranking battery provides power to the outboard, 2 lowrance elite Ti 9's (only one of which was on for the entire 8 hours) , live well (which I don't use), nav lights (which weren't on), pumps (which also weren't on)...and I believe that's it. When the boat is on the trailer at home, all three of my boat batteries, (2) deka GP 31 deep cycle AGM batteries, and (1) interstate GP 27 cranking battery, lead acid stay plugged into my onboard Dual pro 3 bank, 15amp/bank charger. Ive ran this setup for almost 2 full seasons and never had any issues until now. Any advice on what I should do, or change with my setup? Should I get a new, better cranking battery? Or even add a separate battery just for my electronics?

Tom, that is one of the coolest tips i've ever heard of. Really appreciate you sharing!

That looks awesome! I see lots of boats that look very similar here on the Pamunkey River. Things gonna be a fish catching machine!

Small fish may have been the culprit. I should've given a popper a fair chance. I did throw a spook and land one. Dang... Thinking back, a popper sounds like it would've been perfect?