CrankFate

Caught nothing but a 9 foot, 8” diameter log tha was lodged in the mud. Pulled it in maybe 100’ until my worm finally broke free and almost hit me in the eye. Not bad for 20 lb braid. Got to test out a 1/4oz dark sleeper. Way better than the bootlegs I ordered from China. Not a single bite. Woke this guy up:

I agree. Any carp over 2-3lbs is fun to catch.

Gave it a shot in a smaller shallower pond. I did see what looked like a brood scatter into deeper water when I first approached the water. And they were way bigger than I would expect at close to three inches. Saw some sunny activity on bread thrown in the water. Only fish I saw caught were eels. On worms. They don’t count. They can feed in 30 degree water. No one said they’ve seen any bass yet when talking to a few people that looked like they knew what they were doing. Had my dark sleeper snagged several times and almost shot my eye out a few times when it snapped free. It also shot itself off of branches in the water right into a few trees, but it was safely retrieved. The catch of the day was a log that was about 9 feet long and about 8 inches in diameter. I pulled it in a good 100 feet to save my rig which broke free a few feet from the bank, again almost shooting my eye out. Not bad for 20lb braid. finally switched to a crankbait and woke this guy up. Somehow, no one else even noticed. He walked right by an old man on a folding chair, right out in the open, he didn’t even see it.

Because it’s more than an ounce heavier and has more line capacity. Line capacity always = more unnecessary weight. By the time the reel has line on it and then when the line gets wet, it adds about 2oz of unnecessary weight to the reel.

High end is somewhere from about $350 and up. $250 here or there is fine with me, but IMO, I see little gains in utility for most gear over $250, but fishing style might matter because I prefer softer rods and they tend to be cheaper. With reels, I see no benefit to something over $250 with another $50-90 in bearing and drag upgrades as worth it. I think a $250 reel with high end bearings is probably better than a stock $500 reel. At least for me. I also don’t like a lot of bling, I want quality and function. And wasting money on overpriced bearings. People I see who saturate themselves with the most expensive everything that just came out because it’s expensive and just came out don’t enjoy anything but the new thing, 6 months later they’re onto something else. Im looking to make the setup an extension of my arm, where I am used to what I’m using and know what’s happening underwater.

*Most* fish are not very fragile. Unsafe handling, IMO, is a myth. If you have enough sense to not injure a fish more than you have to, you will almost always not injure a fish more than you have to. The people who go around injuring fish are the ones with no sense that are ripping stomachs out to save a rusted old hook or the idiots who are intentionally injuring them.

I get the look when I say most bass rods are too stiff.

Well, I am getting it Monday, so I’ll let you know what I think of it. I won’t be using it as a bass rod. It may become my go to rod for 2 & 3 oz saltwater use (which will be almost the same as jig fishing bass). I basically fish everything like I was basscasting. And I’m not a bass fisherman. I just wind up catching big bass and every other type of fish that I am better at fishing for is not big.

You also get the advantage of fishing your bait away from the shoreline structure and probably right over the strike zone the bass are hanging around waiting for things to come over. Instead of unnaturally pulling your bait from no structure up over the structure in the opposite to what the bass are waiting for.....

I’ll remember that next time I feel like eating one potato chip.

Yes.

I’m getting one. Clicking drag or not, for saltwater applications. Disappointed it’s not going to be out till April 30.

Yeah, thanks for helping me with this problem I have. Now I got one on the way

Could also be rock bass. They can be like overly aggressive bluegills at times and feel like bass that can’t be hooked.

It is great marketing and they probably are, because when you think about it, it’s not easy to produce thousands upon thousands of perfectly glazed rods. That takes huge overhead. And the epoxy coatings are heavy. It goes to the extremes of technology to produce nearly weightless, durable shiny coatings. It’s probably only possible for major corporations. Yet, I just ordered another unfinished rod...go figure... but made in America in a small shop is pretty hard to do, too.

200’ without wind with 12-15lb braid.

http://dbluefishing.com/goods.php?id=239

7lbs 12oz

I know what you mean. I’m torn on this. Some of my favorite rods are shiny and coated. Never had a problem with the finish on any rod. But I like unfinished blanks, too.

Once you frustrate yourself doing this to the point that you’d rather just risk the birds nest, you’ve almost got it,

It is very hard to explain. And IMO, is going to be different for different people based on body mechanics and how far you want to cast. IMO, you can learn gear to a point from practice, but if you find gear that fits you best you’ll get the best result. I throw pretty hard when I cast, so I need a softer rod. A stiff rod will overrun my reel. The way I know the rod “loaded” right is when the force of the rod bending backwards slingshots the lure forward, the shockwave from the rod snapping back straight travels straight down my arm and sends my right elbow in the opposite direction at just the right time that the spool is about to start to overrun after it launches the lure off (literally like a wave going from the rod to my elbow like an s) at just the right time that I only need to touch the spool again when the lure hits the water. That’s the only way I can explain it. If the rod is too long, too short, too soft or too stiff, it won’t work at full force. And you have to feel the rod is bent the right amount (“loaded”) with your thumb on the spool and release at the right time for it to happen. Other people may explain it differently, because the may do it differently. Because it works for them. Unfortunately for me, once I get everything dialed in, I’m better at casting and talking about it on the internet than actually catching fish.

I know. It happens all the time. That’s why I don’t get the whole I need the most expensive rod and reel I can get. I am usually the guy getting laughed at for fishing with a $500 rig. I don’t know where all the guys fishing with the $1,000 rigs are? I never actually see them in real life. I did, maybe twice, in a lifetime. That’s why I feel so much pain for people that trash themselves if they can’t afford the most expensive thing on the market. I am just as happy fishing my $250 Tatula 100 and BPS Crankin Stick with a few extra ceramic bearings in it. You can get crazy good gear in the $100-150 range now a days, yet people still get down on themselves over this stuff.

You’re right. I’ll still be happy with the 19 Scorpion and probably a Kistler KLX when I get them, even though they only have middle of the line up sizzle. But the savings off the higher end will get me a few steaks to go with my fish.....

I just look at it like this. If you always buy the most expensive [anything] you can afford, you will go broke no matter how much money you have. That’s just how math works. Once most people can afford the most expensive [anything] they start to realize a lot of that stuff is just a waste of money.

Yeah, the 1000:1 would ban me from everything if they knew how many rigs I pollute the ecosystem with. I do not litter, but fishing rocky areas requires losing rigs. The fish are not picking their dinner off the broad flat top side of a boulder. They’re grabbing it at the base or in between.