Luke Barnes

Ok so really try and stay on the ML side. I can see that. I think it would help for sure.

I guess I ought to mention, I have a 7' M Diawa Procaster that I use for catfishing that I've been tempted to use for the ned and get a different cat rod.

Read another thread almost identical to this one. Seems ML is preferred. I found a Bass Pro Crappie Maxx combo on sale for I think $30. 6'6 ML and its tempting me. I looked at the Lews Wally Marshall speed shooter but its twice the price. I have the money to buy a more expensive setup but I am a cheap skate sometimes.

I see on DSG website they have a Lews American Hero spinning combo, not the camo or black and blue, its white. It's only $25 and is 6'6 M. I have the american hero baitcaster and love it. Bottom of the line or not, I still love it. Anybody know anything about these? Sounds to me it would be suitable for a ned rig setup.

And the rod I have is junk. I lost a fish right by the bank. I set the hook and it tried to jet and snap!! My drag hadn't even started screaming and the rod I realized didnt do its job of absorbing the weight.

I've got the heads and lures. I'm just looking for a better rod/reel to use them with. Currently on my cheapo setup I've got 15lb hi vis braid to a 12lb fluoro leader, but will probably step down to 10lb braid. I've got a 700 yard spool of the cheap zebco mono already and that's exactly what I do with it!!! About all it's good for is backing!!! I'm hoping to find a combo over buying separately but I've heard from alot of people in the crappie world about the pflueger president being a great reel. I see they make pflueger trion and president combos too.

Currently I use a Shakespeare Crusader reel and a H2O Express Angler rod. Talk about cheap!! 1 bearing and total setup cost me $20! But I dont like the sensitivity or flex of the rod and the reel is ungodly slow at I think 4.5. Plus ita only got one bearing so it's nowhere near smooth and has a very rough spot in the turn of the handle. So I want something better.

Ok thank you for the info. I believe it now. I got a clear day at a very clear pond and had my Oakley Deep Water Polarized glasses on and saw what you all mean. I was excited and said to myself, I cant wait to see what kind of fish made that, only to see bottom. I've also been paying very ose attention to turtles, and they account for so many of the circular ripples I see. On the other hand I've paid very close attention and recognize nervous water now that I know what it is. So thank you for all the info. One day I'll record some of it!! In the end, everytime I through to "any" ripple, I never get bit. I'm thinking if it really is a fish, they are spooked and wont bite. So now I avoid them!

Under $100. I know, I know. For $120 or $150 I could get a more amazing combo. $100 is this tippy top only if it's the be all end all of combos. More like under $75. Stimulus check has to be saved but I have to get a better spinning setup for the ned rig. I keep a combo solely for it. But my current one is garbage. I'm partial to Lews and Abu Garcia but if something is just plain better I dont care. Looking in the 6'6 - 7' M/F area. I just started throwing the ned this year and was so skeptical for so long, but it flat out catches fish when nothing else will. So I want a dedicated combo for it. Thanks!!

In that case, throw a ned rig.

My guess has been sunfish and minnows. But when I see a V wake going from the bank that gets to 5 feet wide before it flattens out makes me think that in particular is a bigger fish. I just thought of something. I'm going to take my fly rod and put a dry fly on it and toss it into nervous water and see if I get any takers. Then maybe switch to a wet fly that slowly sinks and see if it turns up anything.

2 words. Ned. Rig.

I went back yesterday and paid close attention. I saw actual bugs making a V wake, but the nervous water there were no bugs I could see. My dumb butt got so caught up in fishing I forgot to film it. I brought corn in attempts to chum and hopefully catch a carp, got so caught up in fishing for bass I forgot I had it!! Next chance I get I'll go back and record it and chum and see if ita carp and tie on some of my crappie lures to see if i get a taker. Speaking of crappie, i caught my PB crappie there yesterday!! Caught it on a Berkeley Pit Boss t-rigged haha. Who says they always feed above them??

Yesterday when I saw this it was in a storm retention pond, so I doubt it. Unless someone stocked them in there. But I did find out a few weeks ago a pond about a half mile away has shad in it because I snagged one.

I'm going out today so I'll take a video of what I'm seeing. As far as the v shape wake, I can understand the wind doing it, but on a slick calm almost zero wind day I've seen it. Also starting from the bank. Like I disturbed a fish or something. These are all in ponds btw. I've never heard of nervous water but I'm going to read more about it. What I'm seeing isnt the pings and circular ripples that are iconic with fish feeding. It's like fish moving. I always have a ned rig tied on a spinning setup so I tossed it into them when I would see them. I'm not sure if there are carp in the pond I was at yesterday but I may take some corn and chum a spot and put some on a small hook and see if I can catch one to verify.

I look for 5-10 mph winds. Breaks up the surface and the top of the water columns visibility a bit. I've had the most success when it's got a little wind going. I feel so much more confident to power fish and rip reaction lures through the water with some wind.

Ok so it's hard to describe. But when I'm fishing, alot of times I see ripples that are not caused by wind, or the v shaped wake of what's obviously a fish swimming fast. Basically disturbances on the surface that I'm pretty sure are fish swimming. Is there any way to tell by them what species it is or am I crazy? Like tonight I saw it alot. I know its fish making those ripples. But I have no idea if it's a 2 inch bluegill or a 2 lb bass. One I did decide had to be a catfish at the surface because of the way it looked to be swimming. Does anybody have experience with this? Whether scientific or just years of know how?

The lipless I caught my first, and only, walleye on has teeth marks on it. I love it! I dont think there any other toothy species besides stripers where I live though.

That's like I was fishing for small mouth and had a lipless tied on and caught a walleye!!

After reading on here about a SK Rage blade vs. A Zman chatterbait, I have both, I decided the rage blade would be best for what I was wanting to do, which is slow rolling it on the bottom. It worked haha. I caught a catfish on a lure for the first time! I've heard of people catching cats on cranks and spinners. Next I pulled out the ultralight with 2lb test for some gills and hooked into a bass. A good bass. It had the drag screaming and thrashing left and right. I thought for sure I was going to lose it. But I managed to get it to the bank and weighed it at 2.2lb. My biggest fish on the ultralight!! Overall a fun time!

What size of Choppo do you use? I have the 110 in like a sexy shad color and was thinking about getting a 90 in black for dirtier water.

Agreed. Some days in a public pond I'll throw everything, then switch to my trusty spinnerbait and start catching fish. Same with the lake from the bank. Caught one with a chatterbait in an hour and got tired of throwing it. Switched to a spinnerbait and caught 2 in 10 minutes.

When I go fishing I usually throw something I'm not good with to get practice in. Then when I'm tired of doing that, I tie on a spinnerbait to get serious about catching fish. I dont have a ton of them but I have skirts I can change colors without retying.

It still amazes me how much swimbaits are. I understand if it's someone that hand makes them like Marling Baits, but a mass produced one I couldn't understand a super high price.

I like the colors on these better than the baby bull shads. I would try a spro before a baby bull shad for that fact alone. Thay and the size and shape are almost the same so with colors I like better with the spro, I think I will try one soon!