CrankFate

I don’t know. But the northern strain bass here are beyond difficult to catch. They are pampered. They have more food than they can ever eat and are rarely hungry. I see them literally farming bluegills. In my opinion, for all fish, no matter the species or strain, is that hunger and famine are the best thing for fishermen. If the target fish are never hungry and are always surrounded by bait, they are much harder to catch.

If you are insistent on covering a very wide range, you should add spool bearings to your reel. If you are looking for bang for the buck, Hawtech bearings will squeeze as much low weight as possible from a rod capable of going low. Otherwise a very shallow DIY spool will also squeeze lower weights out of most rods. Otherwise, your best bet would be a $100 spinning rod like a 6’ St Croix Triumph and a modern, 1000 size, decent brand spinning reel. For $150-175, a decent light spinning outfit with 4-6lb braid can easily do what you’re looking for.

I wear an UnderArmour with a T-Shirt over it. UA is still the best IMO. But I went crazy ordering the SA Company arm sleeves this season. I am keeping my fingers crossed on them making whole shirts some time soon.

I’ll pass this one on because it works — $1.00 children’s scissors from Staples. Cuts braid better than anything.

The best bet is get out there and fish. The internet is full of people regurgitating the same things they read other people say over and over and over and over, who know next to nothing. Trust me, half the time I sound like I know what I’m doing, but a lot of times I’m out there and it’s just amateur hour all day.

I’m going to give Cayuga Lake a try this summer. And a few other lakes in the area. Heck, I might even try and catch a few trouts since my current PB is tied between rainbows and browns at 4 ounces.

Nice. Didn’t know that. It’s also my youngest son’s birthday.

No pics, but no—get your minds out of the gutter—I had a shirt and pants on!!!

I have a clarus from a few years back. Great rod. It is rarely fished because I really only fish by weight and have too many rods to begin with.

Balsa Crank

And this old lady was walking by just as I opened the garage door to walk outside with my baseball cap, sun glasses, work gloves and SA Face Shield on. She nearly fainted.

I sometimes have to call it quits in strong winds. I usually fish too light to fight the wind. Sometimes, when I know there’s fish, I’ll go heavier.

Many times, and currently I never received my actual card. I have the email and license # though. Of all the times I’ve been caught without a license when I was younger I never got a ticket. The officers said they saw me doing things like balling up extra line and putting it in my box, instead of just throwing it on the ground or in the water. Or one time I was fishing a prohibited area, the officer who made me leave said I was the only person she ever saw in that spot releasing fish instead of poaching them. Now a days, I always keep my license up to date.

I have some old stuff, but as soon as I went with newer better gear, I did start catching more and bigger fish.

I usually go with the softer tip rod. But everyone’s different and also doing different things. You have to go with what matches what your doing.

I prefer a mechanical brake. I consider these “real” brakes. China has made major advancements in rare earths, but friction brakes still work better for casting hard for long distances. If you are going to be casting with full power for long distance, the SVS is better. Mags and things like Magforce Z are best for the short to mid distance casts you see in bass tournaments. So it depends on what you’re doing. I’m always aiming for max distance, but I get better accuracy with the SVS brakes, too. I always find it easier to dial it in with a mechanical brake than a magnet. No matter how many clicks there are on the mag dial, it still only works out to 3 levels—low, medium and a little more medium. You have to try both to see what works best for you. The Tatula 100 is an all around great reel. By price, it still wins for nearly everything.

The BPS is more of a composite type feel, no matter what they call it, but light and soft and flexible at the top. The DF is stiffer graphite/glass normal “mod” action made for heavier applications and has nicer looking components.

There is no reason to use more than 25 lb braid on a small baitcaster, unless you’re punching heavy cover. Maybe. Drop down to 10-20lb and you will be surprised how much better the reels will handle everything.

^ This.

To make it easier, you can put a dot of grease on it, so it “sticks” to the shaft. That might make it easier to pop back on. If you’re going to be working on reels, get a precision screw driver set. The small bits make it easier to do things like this.

Figure out what they are eating that aren’t the main forage. I think of fish like anyone else, they might eat the same old because it’s what they eat because they have no choice. You need to throw the big ones, who can easily eat all the forage they want a big juicy steak, a nice lobster, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge, a micro brew beer—something special that they are sitting around all day thinking about the next time they can eat it.

NY, NJ, PA, WV, OH, KY, IN, OK, MI, MS, OK, IA, FL, VT, IL, CT. Not this year. This year was not good so far.

no one else ever goes fishing.

Kistler Magnesium 2. Waaaay underrated for this application. Spend the extra $50. It is more than worth it. And will comfortably cover other applications. If it absolutely must be <150, BPS Crankin Stick.

Don’t do it. Unless you are a collector and enjoy the novelty of obsolescence, get something new.