sal669

Sorry, I didn't pay attention to "football". I'm using the regular Arkies. my mistake :-?

My best producing cold water bait for smallies in small rivers and creeks were this crappie tubes on 1/32 and 1/16 oz tube heads: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0000502112374a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=crappie+tubes&sort=all&Go.y=12&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&Go.x=19&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 As Crestliner stated, look for the deepest holes with just a bit of current, fancast and swim back the minow tube very close to the bottom with little shakes, stops and short jerks. You could use other brands, too. I used three basic colors: shad , something greenesh and something brownish (see which works better in your river) Also, 3" stickbaits on a split shot rig (strait or wackie) or weightless, if the current is not to strong. You could try 2-3" fluke stile/minnow immitators on small jigs, close to bottom. I fished them on 6-0 ML/Fast rod with 4lb line Good luck

I have some, use them. Work good in weeds, I don't know about rocks and wood.

I understand perfectly. Everybody knows (or should) that there is this thing called "year end clearance". Last year we had the Avids, this year the Technas. who knows what will have next year. Great rods for under $100 !!!! Or just a bit over $100, depending where and when you buying. And somebody allways gives a "heads-up" on this forum (and others), so if somebody is in the market for some equipment can get the best bang for their money. It's just mind bogling for me how people chose to spend the same amount of money on something ..."not as good" just because of the looks and a signature. That signature will not make a rod better, and somebody has to pay for it !!! Oh,yeah.....and they are ugly. PS: I apologise if I offended anybody, it was not my intention. Again, just my opinion.

I spent some time today in BPS and handled some of them. They didn't impress me at all. They are heavy, tip heavy, uncomfortable to hold and plain ugly bumble bees . They just look cheap. If I remember corectly the guides don't have inserts. In my opinion it's just one of those "BLING, BLING... GIMME YOUR MONEY" things. I wouldn't allowe one of them on my boat. I bought 2 Techna AV rods a couple weeks ago for about $95 each that would shame the Skeet rods 'till they become raspberry red. And again, it's just my opinion.

I have a 7'6" heavy flipping rod sitting in my garage for the last couple years; it's too stiff for the baits I'm pitching (1/4-1/2 oz), doesn't load at all. I'm using in stead a 7ft MH Fenwick HMG; it works a lot better for me. I'm pitching 90% of the time in weeds, and the MI bass are not that big that I can't handle them with a med-heavy rod.

Still catching them. .. :(as of this week) Jig with craw trailer( as light as you can handle) in green weeds. Bite is so light I missed 2 because i had no idea they have the jig in their mouth; I realised I got bit only when i started picking up my jig to make annother pitch. I still landed 4 in 3 1/2 hours. Interesting that I didn't catch any on Jerkbaits; maybe didn't pause them long enough. And the pike are out to play ......

Cabelas will exchange it, but i think all it needs is a good lubrication. Who knows how long it's been sitting in a hot warehouse ???

I own the AVS68MXF and I highly recomand it, but I'm fishig from a boat; the casting distance is not such an isue. You are fishing from shore, so annother 10ft on your cast could mean reaching "the spot" or not. The AVS70MF will load better and the extra lenght will give you longer casts. I think the AVS70MF would be a better option for your situation

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but i have some questions about the subject. It might help other guys, too. I don't fish lipless Cbs often;I didn't have to much success with them. I have some Rapalas, cordells and Xcaliburs, and all of them work at a pretty high speed. Are there any brands/models that work at LOWER speed/ retrieve???.I more often use "blade baits" like the Sonar and the BPS blade in situations where I could be better of using rattlers. Am I doing anything wrong ??? Are this two baits "interchangeble"?? Thanx in advance for any input.

15 # Power Pro with fluoro leader, Med-Light action rod 2000 size reel (pick your brands). My rod and reel are Daiwa.

And the baby bass super flukes are bad, too

What are you trying to accomplish??? "One-up" your buddy or buy a GOOD rod ?????????? My $.02.....St Croix Avid or upwords, or anything similar...

The only BC reels I'll buy in the near future are the Daiwa zillion 6:1 and 7:1, and the Daiwa Sol for light baits. You don't need anything else!!! Left hand, of course :

Last time I was at my local Gander Mountain they had the Saros in clearance AND 25%OFF on top of that; so it would cost you about $75. that beats the heck out of any other reel !!! I mean BANG for the BUCK$$$$.

Nice rewiew. Thanx !

LMAO !!! ;D ;D ;D I'm 6-03 and weight about 170. Therefore I am extremely sensitive !!! :

I have the 7 footers in med and med-heavy and like them a lot. I used glass rods before but since we moved to MI, most of my cranking happens around weeds (like milfoil, coontail, etc) ; very rarely rocks or wood. I found that a mod-fast action behaves better when the crankbait gets fouled: I give it a bit of slack and than snap it , and in most of the situation it's gonna loose the weeds and I'll just keep fishing it. they are soft enough to hold the fish on almost any size treble hooks, if you are not "horseing" the fish. I like the med-heavy for spinnerbaits, buzbaits and swim jigs, too.

All you need to become "self sufficient" is annother "platform"(???) with a barbecue pit on it ...Towed by the "Gazebo boat"

If I would be in this situation I would send it to St Croix

What RW said !!! Pay attention to the POWER and ACTION of your rods . I fish a St Croix Avid 68MXF with A Daiwa Capricorn 2500 ( the original, not the Dick's one) and 0.25 mm Tectan Premium line ( equivalent of 6lb) or 15lb Power Pro with a leader for weightless or very lightly weighted plastics (up to 1/8 oz). Anything a bit heavier goes on an Avid AVC70MF with a Zillion and 0.28 Tectan For jigs and weighted plastics (more than 3/16 oz) I'll use a Fenwick HMG 7oMHF, paired with a Daiwa TD-S with 12 lb BPS Fluoro . It will handle spinner baits ,spoons, light swimbaits and other stuf too. This will handle soft plastic stick baits (senco), too For everything top water, subsurface i'll grab the Avid AVC66MF, Zillion,Tectan or Trilene XL.This is a very versatile rod !!! I have dedicated rods for drop shotting and crankbaits but the AVC66MF or an AVS66MF could handle those.(Yes ,you can drop shot with a baitcaster but is not always efficient )

My best is 4-05. Looking forward to beat it !!

Nice smallies there and I like the rod holder on your canoe

St Croix Avid 68MXF with a Daiwa Capricorn 2500 and 0.25 mm (equivalent of 6#) Tectan Premium line, sometimes 15# Power Pro with a fluoro leader