Armtx77

Finesse for me is a 7' ML-F HMG. With a Daiwa BG 1500 and 8lbs NanoFil. I can feel the pulsation of a 1/16th Rooster Tail, willow leaf. It is faint, but noticable. My biggest lure is 1/8th oz with this rig, but it can handle heavier. That set up is around 180.00(minus line) and I recently bought a second BG 1500. As always, your milage will vary.

So, I LOVE Keitech Swim Impacts in the 2-3" variety on a 1/16oz jig. That action, catches me more fish than any other soft plastic I throw. I caught 3 18" LM on back to back to back casts sunday on a 2" pumpkin color as a a front was rolling into town. BUT, they just dont hold up. 3-4 fish and they are dead. I know we are talking about a small lure and the choices are limited, but does anyone have a runner up to Keitech or something they feel is just better and holds up better?

I do a lot of wade and bank fishing. Im assuming you are either bank or wading this creek? What color clothes are you wearing? Are you using the sun to your advantage by not casting a shadow on the water? Are you fishing upstream or at the least a 45 degree angle? So there are some questions to be answered. A couple of tips: -Ask other fisherman what they are using. I lie to everyone and tell them there is not a fish in this river, unless they see me with a fish and THAN come ask me. Cat is out of the bag at that point. -I wear light blue shirts when it is sunny. Grey when cloudy and while there is no evidence this helps catch fish, it gives me confidence that I am trying to blend into THEIR enviroment. -I try to cast from the shawdows as often as I can. Again, blending in. -Always cast up stream and work back with the lures...ALWAYS. -Current and lure size, can play a critical factor. If your lure is too light, you may not be in the right zone to catch them. Change up the weight, but use the same lure(plastics are the easiest to do this with) Be patient. I have a city "lagoon" a 1/4 mile from my house here in Metairie LA. I got skunked the 1st, 5 or 6 times I went. THREW everything I had at them...nothing. I saw guys catch fish, not many, but they were there. I can now go to that little lagoon on any given day and pull 3 to 4 LB in the 10-18 inch range. I went to 1/16th oz lures and it did the trick. Be paitent, keep grinding and when you crack the code, it will be glorious.

Lure Monkey is screaming at me...those look really good!

So, I dont get any smallies down here in SE Louisiana, but I get their hard charging cousins the Spotted Bass in several shallow rivers. I grew up in NW Illinois and spent A LOT of time fishing small rivers and streams for smallies in SW Wisconsin. I say this, because I use the same lures and tackle that I did 15 years ago in WI for bronze backs. As I do now for Kentucky/Spotted here in LA shallow rivers. Last fall, I started using a 7ft ML fast with a Daiwa BG 1500 spooled with 8lbs NanoFil. Im a fan of Rooster Tails in 1/16-1/8 oz varietys, but Mepps and a few Panther Martins are outstanding choces as well. The first lure to be thrown, after a swimbait, for me. A Rooster Tail in all white with a silver willow leaf in 1/8th oz and sometimes in 1/16th if I start on slack water. Last fall, when I got back into small river wade fishing. I hammered them on a 1/16th Rooster Tail in a Crawfish pattern. In line spinners, have their place for smallies. I bought $150 worth of them back in February and plan to really try to master them...if there is a such a thing. If you look at Rooster Tails, go direct through the manfactures website. They have all the sizes,colors, blade combos. It will take longer to get them, but worth the wait. GOOD LUCK..I miss hooking into smallies.

YEAH, this right here. I fish slow/medium rivers and carry a net on the back of my vest. River fish are typically more engaged in a good fight, than their lake cousins care for. I carry a net to end the fight earlier. I dont keep many fish, so I want to end the fight as soon as possible and get that fish back into the water ASAP. A net lets me get them BEFORE they get to "the boat and make another run". A net in a bass boat, can get a guy, to catch some ribbing from his buddies IME. I feel the run when the at the boat, is what what makes a fish vunerable when released.

I fish a lot of small rivers and lakes, either wading/bank/kayak. I start with a Keitech 2.8 FAT Swim Impact(white/pearl)on a 1/16oz single mono jig. I will swim it a couple of times and than jig it a few times, than finish with a erratic retrieve. Since I typically only carry one rod, when not in the yak. I like the versatility of the swim bait. Im a mixed bag kind of guy, so if brim and paper mouthes want to get involved...fine by me.

My son is 2 1/2. Im itching for him to be old enough to make trips with me. Thanks for posting this up.

I recently picked up a HMG 7'0 in ML-F and love it. Im a quantity, mixed bag fisherman and have down sized into 8lbs line and 1/16-1/8oz lures. Im presently debating getting a HMG travel rod and was thinking about asking the community for their thoughts on it.

Just got another 1500 in the mail today.

Sort of. I was fishing for reds out of my kayak, during their annual migration into marsh(October) around Grand Isle. I decided to troll a gold spoon and a world record red(had to been, right?) hit that lure and pulled the rod out of the holder. So, it wasn't technically in my hands, but that fish took a 200.00 set up none the less.

Im a little late, but you will have to jead north or west. I wade fish the Comite River, just north of BR, several times a year. Your best bet will be a canoe, kayak small John Boat and hit the smaller rivers up your way I have also hit HWY 51 right off the road a few times, but it is sketchy.

By no means am I knocking it. I just find it odd, based on the ability to get good baitcasters in left retrieve today, than say 25 years ago, but I assume it is based on the fact that this is how you were 1st introduced to baitcasting.

Im in the minority here, but I run a Diawa BG 1500, with 8lbs NanoFil. I have run 10lbs without issues, but the .006 in 8lbs Nanofil, seems to be a sweet spot for me. I do run very light lures in the 1 1/6-1/8oz weights, to be fair. I have no problems recommending the BG series of spinning reels in that $85-$110 range

Odd looking fishing boat too?

What I always found odd, was seeing somone with righty retreive on their baitcasters, but their spinning gear would be lefty retrieve. My first baitcasting setup was a Abu Garcia BlackMax in left retrieve. That was in 1993 and I was 16yo. Still have both those lefty BlackMax in a box somewhere.

Didnt Castaway make some back in the 90's- early 2000's?

Plastic bills, treble hooks, split rings, crazy colors that dudes on LCD could not have dreamt up...people still catch fish. I have used green 8lb NanoFil exclusively for the past 9 months. I caught 19 spotted bass last weekend, on a hot pink/black, 1/16th oz Rooster Tail and I tie direct to my lures.

BR has been a great resource for me the past year. I have been out of bass fishing since I moved to SE LA 13 years ago. I had several rods that were close to 20 years old. BassPro IM6 with power hump handles. They were I could afford in my early 20's and they served me well, but it was time to upgrade, when I made the decision to come back to feshwater fishing. The opinions here on BR led me to Fenwick HMG series rods. I have been lurking for the past year and should probably say thanks to all who have helped me along in my journey back to bass fishing.

I use 6ft a bunch, but than go to 7ft, with nothing in between