Reel

A lot of the action depends on the thickness and the type of line.

The whole series of Shimano SLX rods and reels gives you a lot for your buck.

When you see a map with no detail, you are on the Humminbird basemap that is included with the unit. Go to the map menu and go right or lefy to select the source map. XD sould be your choice but give it a few seconds to load.

A lot of people use modern spinning tackle to catch 300 pound tuna, so for me, there is no difference if you have the right equipment.

Look up the Tiny Child Rig on the net and you will have the perfect rig for your pond. You can use a small nail ( or screw) for weight.

An ML rod would be better for lighter baits but I am very surprised you cannot throw 1/4 oz with the outfit you have. What kind of line are you using ? What pound test ? Is the spool full ?

They honor the garantee. I sent a 8 year old pair with a hole and they sent me a new pair.

My favorite ultra-light reel is a Vanford 1000

Just to set the background: I fish 2 or 3 times a week - I fish extremely clear water most of the time - I can see about 50% of the bass strike. I don't fish bedding fish because the season is closed so this is during July, August and September. My conclusions: Smallmouth don't strike the same way as largemouth. Fish that are alone don't strike the same way as fish that are with others. Fishermen don't feel more than 50% of the strikes when fish are alone, especially largemouth because the fish don't move. Smallmouth double strike a lot. They will take the bait into their mouth, spit it out, then grab it again. Largemouth not so much. When fish are in a group they will grab and run making for a harder strike. It's very difficult to feel the strike when a bass comes out of the grass, engulfs your jig and does not move. I've struck on fish like that when they were slightly opening their mouth to push the lure further into their gullet only to see the jig come out having felt just a tick.

1- Weedless Ned rig or Tiny Child rig 2-Waky or Neko 3-Spy Bait 4-Small Scat ( 2 1/2 inch) 5- Shakey head 6- Free Rig ( Small craw)

Here, it's a question of weight. These reels are almost the same inside.

I also use a MH worm rod for my large Whooper Plopper ( 130 size) and it works well.

The Expride B, 6 foot 10, extra fast ML is my favorite drop shot rod.

Marine Goop.

That's pretty much so in my part of the world ( Goby planet ). Green Pumkin = food for smallmouth. Like Red = food for people. But it's changing I think. White is gaining.

Yes, a couple of pound more can increase the diameter and shorten the cast especially if it's rough braid. Also, long casts are not pure power. You have to use the rod. You can increase the distance by 5 to 8 feet using your second hand at the end of the cast for a pull on the but of the rod. Gleen does it in the video but I'm not sure if he talks about it. Another way is to use a spinning reel with a shallow spool. The line lays more evenly, with no bumps in front or back, and spins out with less restriction.

Using a weighted fluke and a weightless fluke are two completely different things. A weighted fluke is like a worm or a creature bait , you can feel the fish before you strike. A weightless fluke is fished like a weightless swimbait or a jerkbait. You strike immediately. Also, get a stiffer rod, you are using mono.

Right now I'm using an old Compre spinning rod for my flukes because I really like the handle but if I were to change I would look at the Shimano Intenza model, MH Fast, at 7 foot three.

For me late summer is August, a really good mounth. Lots of fish everywhere, shallow in current areas and deep in calm areas. Shallow is 3-5 feet deep and deep is from 20 to 30. Not too many people on the river during the week. Do practice your Ned and dropshot. Drag a Carolina rig if you want to locate fish. Take a day to target largemouth.

Again, not any discredit here, but if you look at the best blanks mentionned above, the price starts at close to two hundred dollars + guides + reel seat + grip + miscellanious, it goes up real fast even if you don't use the best accessories. And that's not counting the tools and the time it takes to build the rod. I don't think even the most busy rod builders build more than 4 or 5 rods a week. With the variety of blanks and of accessories, it very difficult to know what the finished products will be like. Rod building on that scale is an art, not engineering.

You can fish crankbaits and you can fish swimbaits. You can fish points and you can fish weedlines. You can also fish ... fish !

You can use it with a float. The float creates an hinge effect that helps a lot when setting the hook.

Temperature is what you should be looking at. Air and water. If you are going to fish very early in the year you need heavier wader because the water is cold. Neoprene is not a bad idea. If it's warmer, forget neoprene and look at Gore-Tex or other lighter materials. If you are going to be walking a lot, don't go to light because your waders will wear fast. Waders with seperate boots are easier to walk in. Also use steel spikes for moss on rocks. I use Orvis ultra lights. I like them but I don't do a lot of walking.

I go against the grain and see about 90% of my topwater strikes. I fish clear water. For soft frogs I wait a bit but for all others hard lures I strike fast. I catch most of the fish that strike. I even like colored line so I can locate the lure more rapidly if I take my eyes of of it for a few seconds. Going by feel would not work for me. When I tournament fished, during practice I would not strike because I didn't want to catch the fish and did not feel half of the ones that struck. They just let go.

I just wanted to know if many people wanted a rod built with REC recoil guides. It doesn't seem the case.