Swest18x

I don't work summers but my wife does and we've got 4 kids ages 8 -13. Everything feels like a micro trip lately, such as fishing while the kids are at Vacation Bible School, and night fishing trips typically cut short by lost lures and mosquitoes. But late November my micro trips often require more elaborate forms of planning. There's a very specific bite here around Thanksgiving time where if you know the right place and and the right technique it's fish every cast virtually non stop during daylight hours for a week or two. These conditions lead to other micro trips such as: "Honey, my mom needs help pulling the turkey out of the oven I'll be back in 30 minutes." Unfortunately one of my most infamous busts came under these conditions when I locked my keys in the trunk putting my gear away to rush back home. I'm not 100% sure but this might have been one of the contributing factors to my wife adding me to the tracking app on our phones.

That's funny I find it the exact opposite but now that I think about it all of my longer rods are spinning and my baitcasters tend to be my shorter rods. I've always thought of the leverage working for me not against me in the fight but in terms of casting a longer baitcaster I can see what you mean. LOL looking at your location and PB maybe on a 9lb largemouth I'd feel differently!

Well done! For your next first, try tying on double flukes and go for two at once!

I think the fight once you hook them is a big difference too. I personally like the fight on a longer rod especially for smallies. A shorter rod you're muscling the fish but a longer rod you're controlling them.

Yes, I bought that zoo dog and it arrived today. Will give the pocket frog a try...also ordered a couple other jr frogs. Any suggestions for rods? I'm thinking of going with spinning since I need a basic all purpose medium heavy spinning rod any ways. Would MH be stout enough for smaller frog hooks?

" You're not going to get good at bass fishing just because you like it. You have to have good instincts and that only comes from time on the water. It takes weeks and months and years to develop your instincts, but every 10 minutes you can add, you're that much closer to it. Fish as much as you can - every minute on the water makes you better. Time and experience are everything." - Seth Feider

I was assuming lower hook up rate with a bigger frog... 13-16 inch smallies are the norm here and I just couldn't picture a big frog stuffing in their mouth easy. They also seem to slash more at my other top water baits. I don't have much experience with frog fishing, so appreciate any input.

I'm dealing with a bad situation on my fishery, floating slime has invaded and it's really limited what I can do with top water. Smallmouth are predominant here, do you have any suggestions for a small, quality frog? I have a Jackall Kaera but I'm thinking even smaller than that. Lunkerhunt makes a "pocket frog" but reviews say they don't last.

I use a P5 Z Crank Elseil for a Showerblows 105, that is my primary topwater set up and it works to perfection. The distance I get with the 105 on the Elseil is unreal. I also occasionally use my P5 Madbull which is fine for the 105 but handles slightly larger topwaters as well. 👍 The Windbuster is a fantastic jerkbait rod!

I was on a school of fish one morning hitting smallies cast after cast, hooked a big carp in the middle of it thought about re-tying but didn't want to lose the time. Next fish broke off right in front of me, at the lure. I stopped then and there tied on a whole new leader and promptly caught this on the next cast. My rule of thumb ever since is re-tie every time I think about retying!

I'm braid to leader for everything. Past years I ran a 6 to 10 foot fluoro leader for jerkbaits, I might run it down to as little as 4 feet before it gets changed. This spring I ran crazy long leaders (25-30 foot) and tripled my fish every outing. Not sure if it was the long leader or not but I was fishing same spots, same baits, same temperatures. For baits like a spy bait where I want straight fluoro I have a dedicated reel, tie on leaders long enough to not reach the braid which basically becomes a backing. Still saves me $ on fluoro though. Let me add, this was for smallmouth, cold water, clear water, suspending jerkbaits. In most other applications I don't hesitate to run shorter leaders. But my experience this year has certainly gotten me thinking about it

I've never had a problem with braid sinking a mono leader. Works fine for me.

My spinning set up is 15 braid to 7-10 lb leader on a medium rod and it can do a lot of things. I agree with above posts ml is probably too light for some of what you describe. Baitcaster i run 20 braid to 10 mono for topwater no problem and I've used my jerkbait rod for topwater swapping fluoro for mono. I'm up north so rarely run into any bass bigger than 3-4 lbs. 5-6 lbs max. I have a Steez MML spinning rod that is probably closest to what you describe, the first part of the blank is quite light and would work fine for small treble hook baits but definitely more a medium when you load up on it. Very pricey rod but one of my most versatile.

I don't have the Oneten Special. I do have the P5 Madbull. That's a nice rod for medium to medium large treble baits (rates up to 1 ounce), some would say it overpowers a Vision 110 but in a pinch I think it would work. I've thrown a 110 Max LBO on it and it's a perfect rod for that, this spring I used it for a Duo Realis 120SP (5/8 jerkbait) , and I plan on using it for some 5 inch Magdrafts. Before I bought my ZCrank Elseil the Madbull was my walking bait rod and it was very good for that (think Showerblows 105). There's a good review on YouTube for the Madbull if you PM me I can point you right to it. I did not like the ZCrank Elseil for jerkbaits at all. It's too soft in the tip section, at least for me. I like a crisp tip for jerkbaits and you end up having to move the bait with your whole forearm on that rod. It was designed for Megabass crankbaits so it's probably great for that but I don't crank much. I will say this. My first rod was a $60 Okuma. My second rod was a $50 Berkely. My third rod was a $500 Windbuster. I bought the Windbuster to be an all purpose rod, then got into bait casters because of all the choices in rods. I have probably dropped 4k in rods since then. Apart from the ZCrank (topwater is one technique I would always prefer a baitcaster) and maybe one of my lipless rods, I could have saved all that money. The Windbuster is still my best "if you could only have one" rod. And oh yeah, did I mention it's incredibly sensitive for finesse techniques? my Steez MML AGS spinning rod is a close second, if that gives you some idea. From what I remember reading the 110 Special is a bit stiffer than the 110 Stick but usually any good jerkbait rod will work for top water, and if it's sensitive light plastics and jigs I'd think.

For 10, 15, 20lb braid to 8, 10, 12 lb leader I tie the double blood knot. I use it on baitcasting and spinning reels. It is so much easier to tie than the FG, I tie it in less than a minute and never had one fail. It's a great knot worth checking out, PM me if you're interested I can give you a couple tips for it.

What Scott said. One of the reasons I like braid to leader.

When I'm boating I usually bring a pair of clear safety glasses with me for cloudy mornings just because my eyes dry out in the wind. A couple weekends ago I was out fishing in a light rain, my safety glasses were on because I'd just gunned down the lake and I hooked a good size pickerel on a Vision 110. I lifted him most of the way out of the water by the line but was just kind of kneeling there debating how to grab him when he gave a big shake. Faster than I could even register what was happening the lure came back and hit me square in the left lense, I mean I never saw it, never even blinked. That was three trebles to the eye if my glasses weren't on and let me tell you it woke me up. I know it's been discussed before on this forum but I just wanted to remind people. I took my kid fishing a few days later and that's the new rule on the boat, life jackets and sunglasses at all times.

Thanks for the replies everybody. The cool weather this spring has everything behind up here but the cottonwood is coming and man it's a PITA. Jackstraw I'm west of the Genesee, out here the canal is best for smallies but on your side I hear there's a widewaters that produces big largemouth. It's a weird body of water, for those who don't know it picture miles and miles of riprap that drains and refills every year with virtually no weeds or structure except the rock, now try to figure out where the bass are.

Looking for a rod that I will only fish with during a short window of time in Spring so I want to keep the price under $200. I need a spinning rod with decent sensitivity and larger guides (definitely nothing close to micro) to fish flukes and possibly senkos during the cottonwood bloom in June. The canal where I fish fills up with cotton on the surface and so bait casters, braided line, and small guides are out of play for about a month, as are most treble hook baits. Sounds like a standard MH to me, I bank fish there so 7'0 to 7'5 would be ideal. I might throw light jigs, creature baits with it too. Bass max out around 2.5 lbs there so I don't need anything too crazy.

Yep, I see what you're saying, I didn't think that through. Maybe better to just cut off where I want it and have a rod builder add a brand new butt to it?

I have a Z Crank Elseil that I bought for another purpose, ended up tying on a walking bait and safe to say it's my lifetime topwater rod now. I remember one of the TB guys saying how much he likes his for topwater and I have to agree. It's the only category of rod where I've flat out stopped looking for anything else because I feel like I've just got the best.

Yes I agree with that. Spinning outcasts casting. But given the specific question about casting distance and that the poster was trying to compare those exact two rods, I wanted to share my experience. Honestly wish I had heard similar feedback before buying half my gear.

Quinggustic, I have to disagree with some if the previous posters. I own a Windbuster and the 110 Stick and the Winbuster far outcasts the 110 Stick, at least for 110 Jrs. For that reason, my 110 Stick pretty much sat unused for a year. This spring I was determined to get some use out of it and took it out on the water with a full size 110 tied on and distance is ok. Reel waa a Curado 70, I've also tried a Daiwa 80. But when I'm fishing bank, and distance is premium, I rarely bother with a casting rod anymore, the Windbuster with a good spinning real (ballistic or vanford for example) just tops them all. Also be aware, the fight on the 110 Stick is a totally different experience from the Windbuster and a spinning rod in general. To each their own but I much prefer the controlled play on spinning than just winching them in. BTW I've been out 4 times this year, 95% fishing a jerkbait, almost 100 smallies in the bag mostly in the 2-4 lb range, fishing those two rods side by side. I wish I could like the 110 Stick more, it's absolutely a premium jerkbait rod but again, if you're used to spinning it's very different. Here's another option: I bought a MB Cookai Gulf 7'2 spinning rod over the winter for a friend who was looking for his first high end rod and needed a 2 piece, I saw a deal used and grabbed it, now I'm keeping it. It's the same 5 D tech as the P5s but geared towards saltwater. I fished it my last two trips trying it out with a 110 tied on. It's a little faster, not quite as parabolic as the Windbuster, but handled every fish fine and the distance I got on this rod was unbelievable. I also threw a Nishine MD 3/4 ounce and it handled it great. It's hard to find info on these rods so I'm thinking of doing a review on it here. Also considering picking up the 7'7 which has a regular bend more like the Windbuster. PM me if you want more info. Steve

Is it possible to cut down the butt end of a production rod to shorten the handle length? I'm picturing cutting, sectioning out 4 inches, lightly boring the interior of the butt piece with sand paper to increase ID by a few thousanths, then sliding back on rod and epoxying. Would this work? Would the integrity of the blank be compromised? Anyone interested in doing this professionally for me? Or tips for me to do on my own?

What about replacement hooks for a Luckycraft Staysee 90 v2? Quick online search says Gama round bend 4s even though it comes with 5. I've got several options here at my shop for 5s. Dam I've spent enough on baits don't want to go buy a gram scale but that bait needs to be right in cold water.