NavyToad

No biases, only peeves.

Easy peasy - don’t watch his videos. WAAAAHH!

7’ -7’3’ MH is my sweet spot. I use a 7’ MH crankbait rod for jerkbaits, a 7’3” Heavy rod for pitching and frogs, and a 7’ M for wacky and any smaller stuff. Otherwise - 7’, 7’1”, and 7’3” MH/F for everything else. I could settle for one 7’ MH for everything if I had to and I wouldn’t complain. I bought a BPS Rick Clunn spinnerbait rod in the late ‘90s and didn’t think it was any different from my other 7’ MH rods. I’ve bought a few technique specific rods over the years and now they’re all gathering dust in my garage. That said, I do have my eye on a 7’9” swimbait rod. It never ends I guess.

I still sometimes look at a backlash and think “no way this one’s comin’ out” but they always seem to come out OK. I know it’s been a loonng time since I had to put a rod down because of a backlash.

Weightless Super Fluke. Right place, right time, and I’ve had confidence in it ever since. That was 20 years ago and next to a spinnerbait, there’s no other lure I’d rather throw.

This. I crank the drag down tight and proceed as in the video. Denny Brauer showed how to do this years ago. A little practice and 99% of backlashes can be taken care of in a couple minutes.

I did my garage with the Rustoleum epoxy kit 20 years ago and it’s still holding up good as new. I didn’t own a pressure washer back then and I just scrubbed the heck out of the floor. Unless you have big oil spots it should be a piece of cake. Follow the instructions and focus your energy on the prep work. Rolling the paint/epoxy on is a no brainer. With YouTube’s help you shouldn’t have a problem. Prep, prep, prep!

All the old potheads know that there are 28 grams in one ounce. Just go from there.

Dobyns ratings are on the light side IMO. A M/H is closer to a Medium rating in my experience. A 5 (heavy) power on Dobyns scale is what I consider M/H. Call Dobyns to talk to a rep and explain what weights/baits you’ll be throwing and go from there. You’ll be talking to a human within a minute or two. 1 (903) 919-8028 I’m a Dobyns fan boy, (I own 9 of them) but there are a lot of good rods in the $150 range. Daiwa, Shimano, Ark, Dobyns, St Croix……..The world is your oyster.

FleaBay. Alot of vendors offering light weights with 4/0 & 5/0 hooks.

For surf, 1/2oz to 1oz white bucktail and 4-5” grub trailer. Grub on a jighead catches fish under the widest range of conditions that I’ve experienced. I learned to fish river smallies using a grub and a 5” berkley black/chartreuse curltail worm and it’s a confidence bait for me.

Beat me to it. Saw it on a Texas site and was initially thinking what the heck?? Good one.

I bought a used Ray Rice jersey on Ebay a couple years ago. I don’t condone what he did, but I think the NFL screwed him. I like professional football, I hate the NFL and Roger Goodell. Goodell caved to public pressure back then - now look where we are.

Oh God.

3/8” heatshrink.

$31.79 shipped. Don’t need ‘em but a decent deal. Thanks

Everyone should catch a bowfin at least once. It was a thrill and a mystery the first time I caught one. I knew it was big, and then I didn’t know what it was. Turned out it wasn’t that big (4lbs) and ultimately they just ruin spinnerbaits. The first time was exciting and worth it.

Applies as much, or as little tension as I want.

Works great. Keeps good tension on the spool.

Fishing 2’ of water in August when the air temp. is 95+. I’ve had some (not many) days when I’ve fished every depth in a lake and decided to fish the shallowest section of the lake and had a bonanza. There’s usually algae blooms and the fish seem to go there for shade/cover even if the water is uncomfortably warm. My brain said no, but the fish had other ideas.

If I had 3 rods to take I’d leave 2 of them at home and take a 7’ MH baitcaster, 15# mono, and a small selection of lures/plastics.

I’ve used alot of different reels on a MH for weightless Super Flukes for the last 25 years. I can sling those things a mile and accurately. When fish are actively feeding in shallow water it’s my favorite way to fish. It doesn’t get any better than having a a fish boil on a fluke in shallow water. I like and use quality equipment, but I don’t pay much attention to technique specific rods, and a reel is a reel to me.

I look at the 10 day forecast for temp, wind speed, and baro pressure. I don’t give a lot of thought to wind direction. Some days I know beforehand that I want to be sure to be on the water on a certain day. I’m no expert, just something I saw on Bill Dance a long time ago.

Wind from the south, fish open their mouth. Wind from the North, don’t venture forth.

Yesterday I was 25 and raisin’ hell in P.I. Now 63 and triple dippin’.