billmac

Is there some kind of default taper? If the taper isn't listed on the rod, should I assume fast? Moderate? If it's not listed I just put it back. Am I being too fussy with the little I'm willing to spend?

I was looking in the $50ish range.

Now I realize that part of this is my own fault because I'm not willing to spend major $$$ on fishing tackle, but I stopped in at Runnings today to see if I could get some decent, inexpensive rods. It's not like they didn't have any, but finding what I wanted turned out to be impossible. They weren't sorted in any particular order or categories that I could divine. I found several that looked pretty good, only to find they had the action listed but not the taper. Fully half the rods were two piece. Aaaagghh! Who uses two piece rods except backpackers? I don't think I saw a single rod with an extra fast tip. 7 feet seems to be an unpopular length, as most of the rods were 6 or 6'6". I'm going to pop in at Dick's tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

I used to use an old chain type stringer tied to a tough cord. Worked pretty good as I recall.

I don't have a problem with standing back per se, but my bank fishing is usually in cover heavy enough to make it impractical. But I don't like the idea of flopping the fish up onto the bank when landing it, and I seem to see that a lot.

I've done a lot of bank fishing, and I always stand as close to the water as I can. It seems like all the bank fishing videos I'm watching have people standing way back from the bank. What's the deal? Are they afraid of snakes or gator or something? Maybe I'm just watching the wrong videos.

This may sound crazy, but does anyone use a good braided leader on cheap braid backing?

I saw some really inexpensive braid last night at Walmart. I think it was Berkley Gorilla. It looked OK. Seems a little thicker than some of the premium braids. Anyone have experience with it? I was thinking of using it as backing on my reels.

You'll know it's true if you start to see bass with black marks on their fins.

I'm seeing a ton about how to fish senkos, how they outproduce other plastics. Roland M. thinks it's the greatest lure ever made. But I haven't seen the why. What's different about Senkos? I know they are salt impregnated, but I have no idea what that does for the bait.

I've waded rivers for trout and bass my whole life, using 4 and 6 lb mono on spinning and spincasting rigs on a regular size rod. We aren't talking big fish here, a 2 pounder would be huge. Just to clarify, I would use a heavier leader from the boat, drop shotting, etc.

I few of you have recommended ML over M for the spinning outfit. Can you tell me why? If I went ML on the spinning rod, with 10 lb braid, could it double as my bank/wading rod for trout and bass with a 6lb leader? I think I might have to go down to 6-6.5 in that case, as was suggested.

I appreciate all the info. Any compelling reason to use a shorter rod for any of the rigs?

What about the tip for the spinning rod?

Do most rods have the action and tip specs written on them? The action is easy to find but I don't always see the tip.

Points taken about the braid.

This is a followup on a post I made when I first joined. After a long fishing hiatus, I have to re-gear. This is what I've tentatively decided upon. 1 MH casting rod with casting reel. 1 M casting rod with casting reel. 1 M spinning rod with spinning reel. All rods would be 7 footers and all reels spooled with around 20 lb braid, and I'll keep various sizes of mono and fluoro for leaders. I can always add more combos in the future, but budget constrains me to 3 right now. I'm not a super heavy cover fisherman for the most part. I'll be casting to structure and doing drop shotting and the like in deeper water. Targets will mostly be smallmouth, pike, and walleye (and panfish). I know you guys probably have a million variations on this according to your preferences, but what I want to know is if I'm making some kind of fundamental mistake that isn't obvious to me. Thanks

I have to say, I don't think I've ever done the belly land, or seen it done until I started watching the modern tournaments. If there are a lot of hooks involved or it's a toothy fish, I've landed them by gripping just behind the head. I don't think the belly hold is a huge deal, but the belly hold often leads to a full body hug, and that's not cool.

Do you spinning tackle aficionados close the bail manually before you start to reel, or do you close it by reeling? The latter is one of the things I hate about spinning reels.

I didn't think any of the major tours allowed foul hooking, but I just saw Buddy Gross with a big foul hooked bass and he put it in the livewell. I'm pretty sure BASS doesn't allow it. I'd assumed MLF didn't but I don't think I've seen a rule. Update: It looks like no foul hooking might be a state by state rule, not a tourny rule.

I'm not faulting the MLF. They are doing it right. At least if you belly land the fish, your hand is going in the water and getting wet. It's the flipping them out of the water and letting them bounce all over the carpet that I really hate. (that, and holding them horizontally by the lip while you shake them at the camera and do a little dance). On that note, the MLF really needs a new video demonstrating how they release bass. The guy couldn't get the hook out and took forever with this little bank runner that sure didn't look healthy when he finally returned it to the water. I carry a pair of forceps that I clip to my shirt or vest. Way easier and safer to get deep hooks out and much better if it is so deep you have to reach in through the gills to get it out.

This may seem like a trivial question, but I and the friends I fished with growing up (and read every fishing magazine we could lay our hands on) were very careful to try not to touch the fish on the body. If we couldn't lip the bass, or had to land a toothy fish, we always wet our hands before touching them. In the time I took off from fishing did we discover that kind of thing doesn't matter anymore? It sure looks that way from the fishing videos I watch.

Maybe some of these guys can't adapt to the new format. Maybe they're just having a bad year. I don't really buy the idea that they are so used to catching big bass they can't catch bank runners. I'm in favor of any format that actually makes it harder for the competitors.

What is it about the MLF format that is hampering these anglers? Perhaps they are just slowing down.

I mentioned on the blade bait post that I missed some trends while I was out of fishing for a decade. Senkos, dropshots, chatterbaits, ned rigs, etc. Blade baits aren't new but I don't remember anyone using them back then. I don't think the term "stickbait" ever applied to plastics. Anyhow, are Little George type baits still a thing? I know you can get them, but I haven't really seen anyone talking about them. It seems like they would lend themselves to some of the situations you guys have been posting about.