plawren53202

Kind of like spilling Spike It. You can bet I won't make either mistake again.

Last night I was out fishing and realized that I had put a TRD Finesse (PB&J, to be specific) in the same pocket on one of my tackle bags as a Zoom fluke and a red bobber my little guy had been using. The result was not pretty ?? This was my first run-in with the power of the Elaztech over other plastic materials. Let's just say that y'all weren't joking when talking about it.

I had the same thought as others with Spike It/JJs. I recently got the set of Spike It markers and have been surprised at how well they color baits (I was picturing something that would wipe or wash off easily, not at all the case). It would be real easy to take the chartreuse marker and color up a white belly frog.

Well it's done, shipment from Tackle Warehouse went out today with scheduled arrival on Wednesday. Daiwa Aird ML spinning rod, Daiwa Regal LT in 1000 size, spool of Sufix 832 10 lb. braid and Sufix Advance 6 lb. for the leader. I'm really excited about this combo. I think it will really fill a niche for creek smallies, as well as the dink largemouth in my subdivision HOA pond; and I think it will also work nicely for some crappie fishing, a new effort for me since my dad just got a boat and a place at Kentucky Lake. I'll report back once it comes in and I can give it a test drive. Thanks again to everyone for the input, the members on this site have really guided me well in my last couple of rod and reel purchases.

My local Academy has the Shimano Sellus which I think is $49 and I have heard really good things about it for the price range. In the store it feels really good to me. I would have gone with a Sellus for my latest purchase but unfortunately they don't make a ML spinning in that line.

I have two Dobyns Fury rods (MH/F casting and M/F spinning) and I love both of them. Based on my experience with them I'm certain the Sierra will be a great rod. Like you I am looking to get a ML spinning combo that can double duty for crappie and light bass (in my case creek smallies mainly). I'd love to have gone with a Fury or Sierra but budget didn't allow. But I'm sure based on how sensitive my Fury rods are that the Sierra ML will be perfect for what you're intending.

I'll tell you what NOT to use as a push pole. Memorial Day weekend I was fishing in my brother-in-law's johnboat. It's a really nice fairly new BPS johnboat, but the motor is an old trolling motor. He's resurrected the wiring-to-clamps connection 20 times now with electrical tape. Memorial Day they finally bit the bullet, while I was all the way across our 7 acre lake (on the windblown side of course, so downwind from the dock) and I couldn't rescue them with the few items I had available in the boat. Also no paddle in the boat. I had to beach the boat, climb up in the thick overgrown woods, used a pair of needle nose pliers to cut down a small pine sapling, used the pliers to trim off all the little branches up the trunk, and poled my way back to the dock around the perimeter of the pond where it was shallow enough to pole. It was like some messed up contest on a Survivor episode. ?

On the public ponds and small lakes around here, I've been going by necessity at 5 am. I prefer to fish early mornings/late evenings anyway, but I've found that the Covid hordes of bobber tossers are nowhere to be found at 5 am LOL but are out in droves in the evening (and the middle of the day). Up until this weekend my observation had been that it had started getting better here in Missouri during the 3 weeks or so since Missouri started lifting restrictions. This weekend changed that evaluation ?? In the "old days" I might see one or two folks at peak times on my subdivision HOA pond. Yesterday there were at least 15 people there from 6:30-8:30 pm (and it's a small pond so 15 people makes any kind of effective fishing basically hopeless). It was bad. Saturday I was at a local park that has a stream running through it and it was packed as well. Looks like my alarm clock is going to be getting a workout again in the near future.

Random thoughts that popped into my head regarding this: --Spawn/post-spawn/fry guarders--If the spawn is still going on or just wrapping up, it is entirely possible that you've got fish that aren't really interested in eating the bait but rather are just trying to move it. My experience with them is that they won't suck it in but grab just enough to move it and spit it out, and they can do this lightning fast. --I might have missed it but didn't see what kind of line you are using. If you're using mono or something else high stretch and have a bunch out on a long cast, that can make an effective hookset especially on a T rig (or something similar like a jig) really hard. I used to bank fish with a M action spinning rod and mono, and when I would hook set while fishing something T rigged I felt like I had to get a running start backwards to drive the hook home. --How are you burying the hook point in the bait? Many many moons ago when I first started bass fishing, I thought T rigging meant you had to have the entire hook point buried inside the middle of the bait--as compared to what I almost always do now, "texposing" it where you bring the hook point all the way through the bait and out, and then just barely bury the tip of the point back in the plastic. This is especially true with bigger baits like the creature baits you were using. If the point of the hook is just buried inside the middle of the bait, it can make it difficult to get enough behind the hookset to drive that hook point through all that plastic and home. Especially if you have fish not swallowing the bait but just grabbing and moving/spitting it out.

At this point I think I'm leaning toward the Aird paired with the Daiwa Regal LT. I haven't owned a Daiwa before so I might enjoy heading that direction for that reason as well. That was the same logic that led me to go with a Shimano Sahara for my Fury/Sahara recent purchase (had never owned a Shimano before) and that turned out to be a great purchase. I'd love to wait and watch for sales but the creek smallies are calling and I don't know that I have the patience. For just a little over $100 total I think I can live with that and from the recommendations seems like I'd be getting a really solid combo. I'm leaning toward the 1000 size reel but a little torn about that. With this being a ML for lighter weight applications, I would love for it to be as lightweight as possible. That has me leaning toward the 1000 size. Also I don't need to cast 100 yards so especially with braid on it I think the capacity will be plenty. I'm going to be putting either 10 or 15 lb. Sufix 832 on this one with a 6 lb. Sufix Advance leader. But please let me know if I'm not thinking of something obvious regarding going with a 1000 versus 2000 size.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Aird is still a contender. I had looked at the Dobyns Colt, based on such good experience with my Fury rods. I will also take a look at the others mentioned. Anyone have experience with the Daiwa Revros combo? I've seen the whole combo selling for $59 or $69 which is really tempting given budgetary constraints.

My current spinning arsenal consists of my relatively new M weight Dobyns Fury and a Shimano Sahara, which I am absolutely loving; the Lews Xfinity M combo that I upgraded from, which is now my son's rod; and an UL from Bass Pro. I am doing more and more small creek fishing for smallies. The Dobyns works okay there; for sure it is sensitive enough loaded with Sufix 832. But the fish in the creek I am mainly fishing these days are a little on the small size so for a little more sport in reeling them in I'd like something a little lighter than my current Fury. Thus I am thinking that a ML spinning setup would fall right in that sweet spot for these small creek smallies. I would love to get another Fury but the budget probably doesn't allow that right now. I probably need to come in total combo cost at the Fury's price point ($119). So I am thinking around $70 tops for the rod and then I will probably go with something by Daiwa or Shimano in the $40-45 range, probably in a 1000 size. To me, sensitivity is by far the biggest characteristic I look for in a spinning rod. So any ideas would be appreciated. Daiwa Aird has caught my eye so far. Shimano Sellus and H20 Xpress Ethos Nano would also be in the picture if they had a ML but I think they only go down to M.

Was in Academy a few days ago and was looking at rods even though I have no business buying a new baitcasting setup LOL. The Ethos Nanos rods really caught my eye and, for as much of an evaluation as you can do standing in a store, seemed to be a really solid product for the money.

I've been doing my homework on ledge fishing at Kentucky Lake and apparently the Ol Monsters have been staples for that for some time.

Oh trust me, the thought was there.

Hate to add to my earlier comments but it got even a step worse today...now apparently we don't have to deal with just the Covid anglers, but now the Covid swimmers ?? It's now getting hot enough here in MO that people are going swimming. I was at a small stream that flows through a city park today. I was fishing in a spot where I had already caught a couple of little smallmouths when I see the bobber brigade coming up the path along the stream. They got to within 20 yards or so of me, so I thought, great, they're going to crowd my spot. Oh if that were the worst that happened. Better yet, about 15 yards downstream of me, one of the women with the group started wading out into the water carrying a camp chair. She started wading upstream and out into the middle of the stream...directly into the spot where I had been casting, straight out in front of where I am standing on the bank, and plants her chair in the water. Where she is is only a foot or two deep, but now she's directly in the line from where I was standing to the deeper water behind her where I was casting. Sure enough, here come the other four or five people with her and do the same thing. I'm standing there on the bank, clearly obvious to them the whole time, just dumbfounded. It was literally the most mind boggling thing I've seen fishing. So to top it off, one of the men asks me, "They bitin'?" I could barely contain myself at this point, so I say "Well they were." "Were until what?" he asks, obviously knowing what the answer is. "Biting until you all waded out right in the middle of where I was fishing." He offered an unconvincing "sorry" as they continued to arrange their chairs out in the water. If this were the only swimming water in the park, I might have been a little more sympathetic. But this park has over a mile of river frontage and lots of other places to go sit in the water or swim. This is yet another example that I wish I could attribute to new fishermen who don't know the "rules of the road," but this one clearly falls more into just not being a jerk of a person. It's several hours later and I still can't wrap my brain around clearly seeing someone standing on the bank casting into a spot, and then marching your whole troop out into the water directly in front of them and planting chairs right in the line of where that person was casting. Unbelievable.

I also have a pack of sungill Zoom Super Flukes. Last summer I had a lot of success in my subdivision pond using the Bluegill Flash color, which I can't find in person at any of my local stores and usually have to order online. Based on the success of this color, and the fact that baby bluegill are likely the predominant forage in this pond, one time while looking for Bluegill Flash in a store I found the Sungill flukes and got them, thinking they should work just as well if not better. I only fished them once but didn't seem to have any luck on them. However, intuitively they should work well, that seemed to make so much sense that I also picked up some Sungill color 6th Sense Divine Swimbaits when they were on sale little while back. I probably need to give them another chance.

LOL agreed. I couldn't bring myself to pay $7 or whatever a pack of the Nikkos is, so I compromised and bought a few boxes of the Bass Pro version. They're not Elaztech but they seem to get the job done. May actually be a benefit that they don't float; few weeks ago I was fishing a super clear farm pond using them just texas rigged with no weight, so they were slowly sinking. It was perfect for that presentation and I doubt I would have been able to fish them like that if they had been the floating Elaztech of the Nikkos.

So glad to hear that so many of you are in exactly the same boat as me (pun intended). I'm trying really hard not to be "get off my lawn" guy about the stampede of crowds. I understand that ultimately more fishermen=good for the sport, more revenue for manufacturers which means more new products, more license fees for the conservation department (well maybe, I have my doubts that a lot of these new "anglers" are buying licenses, see below), yada yada yada, but.... I understand some "etiquette" comes from time on the water, things you would only know from experience. For instance a couple of days ago I had a 8 or 9 year old kid cast across my line while bank fishing. Of course it was a line with a beach ball sized bobber on it, while I'm targeting bass in super shallow and very clear water ? but it's a kid, so that I can tolerate. On the other hand, a lot of the nonsense I'm seeing has very little to do with fishing experience and much more to do with just not being a jerk. Certainly more to do with just respecting nature in general. The litter has been awful in the places where I bank fish. Lots of live bait containers, but also wads of discarded line which really bothers me because that can be life threatening for birds and other shore animals. That has nothing to do with fishing experience and everything to do with just being a decent human. I try to pick it up as much as I can but I'm getting tired of going home every time out with pockets or a backpack full of garbage. Some of the other behavior is similar. Couple of weeks ago a group of older teens (looked 16-18) came and started "fishing" near me on a pond. I say "fishing" because they were holding rods and reels and ostensibly were casting in the water. But it obviously wasn't an earnest attempt to catch fish. They were shouting profanity, throwing rocks in the water, just acting absurd. I understand that with the crowds these days fishing isn't going to be like escaping to some remote fly-in lake in Canada. But their behavior was ruining the experience for everyone around that pond. And I was very glad I didn't have my 10 year old with me based on the garbage they were shouting. Again, no fishing experience needed to know not to act like a jerk. That's what bothers me the most about these sudden new crowds. By and large, I've found fishermen (and fisher-women) to (overall) be some of the most gracious, respectful, and welcoming people around. I know there's a few bad apples, and I've run into them on occasion. But so much of the time, I more often meet people who go out of their way to be decent. Guys on trout streams who gave me not only so much useful advice but also flies they've hand tied themselves. Guys coming off the lake as you're putting in who give you their leftover Cokes or beers in their cooler because they're headed home. So many instances over the years like that. My theory is that when you fish enough, you get skunked and get humbled enough to learn a little respect for the sport and for nature. Even more than a little more space or quiet out on the water, that's the part I miss more during this newfound rush of people.

?

I threw them on my M/H Dobyns Fury casting rod over the winter, and caught several so that seemed to work okay. Granted people say the Fury line tends to lean a little to the soft side, but it's definitely stiffer than my M spinning rod. Curve 55 is definitely a great crankbait. In particular it gets a lot of acclaim as a cold water crankbait, similar to the reputation of the Wiggle Wart. I haven't had an opportunity to throw it in warmer weather yet but they did do the trick for me in cold water this winter.

I've had a lot of luck with the two green/blue colors, moon juice and Okeechobee craw. The blue in moon juice is a little more subtle whereas the blue in the Okeechobee craw has more of a sparkle to it and is a little bolder blue. Based on that I tend to use moon juice in clearer water and Okeechobee craw in dirtier water. The thing that has impressed me about these green/blue combinations is how versatile I've found them to be, both Strike King and other brands. Few weekends ago, for instance, I was at our inlaws' property with two ponds, one which was pretty muddy and one was very clear. A green/blue worm caught a bunch on both ponds ("Bream" 4" Yum Dinger on the clear pond, and "Nirvana" 6th Sense Divine Shaky worm on the muddy). That is consistent with my experience on other water as well. Green pumpkin/watermelon had always been my most versatile color, but the blue seems to add another level to it.

After 2 or 3 trips, I can say this selection was definitely headed the right direction. Given my relative newness to creek smallmouths, I have done pretty well. The hellgrammites have worked well. Also have had really good luck with a Ned rig, the original ZMan Finesse TRD in Blue Craw especially, also PB&J, on just a basic ZMan mushroom jig head. Rebel Craw always manages to catch a couple also, along with a bunch of sunfish and bluegill.

I am mainly a bank-only angler. My experience with publicly accessible bank fishing spots in the St. Louis metro area has been that they have been ridiculously crowded. Even my subdivision HOA pond, which is supposed to be for subdivision property owners only (yeah right ? enforcement is nonexistent) has been slammed. At least 5x as many people fishing it as I ever saw on the busiest days pre-Covid. I think most people have experienced similar. I messaged back and forth with one of the people I watch on YouTube. He said that it had been so crowded in his area that it made it difficult to film videos. Some good news though...stuff started opening back up in our area about 3 or 4 weeks ago. My experience has been that the crowds have gotten noticeably better. Still more people than pre-Covid days, but much better than at the peak of quarantine.

Funny you say this...most of the weekend we spent crappie fishing because that's my dad's primary interest. So I'm going through basically the same learning curve for crappie, just had a little more time to work on it this past weekend. Although we didn't tear up the crappie, we did manage to catch enough for a big family meal. The crappie seemed to be on a similar pattern as the ledges for bass, they seemed to be wanting transition spots (between spawning areas and summer main lake areas), drop-offs along smaller creeks coming out of pockets, with brush on them. So the key was to find spots that had a break from 8 or 9 feet to 14 or 15 feet with brush or stake beds. Couple of times where we seemed to hit it right, I did have boats come in and get a little closer than etiquette would have seemed to permit. Those spots definitely got a waypoint marker on the Garmin.?