fishindad

Great idea! I've got the exposed cleats and broke my favorite Falcon last Spring : ( I'm gonna get busy this Winter and make a couple, thanks.

Rods: Falcon Cara (casting), Dobyns (spinning) Reels: Daiwa Lines: Braid-832, Fluro-Sunline, Mono-McCoy's or Maxima Leader : Yozuri Hybrid or Sunline Sniper Hooks: Gamakatsu Soft Plastics: Yamamoto or Jackall Jigs: Missle Baits Hard baits: Duo, Lucky Craft

I grew up using only spinning tackle and still use it about 50% of the time throughout the year. Mostly because I prefer fishing open water for smallmouth on the big lakes where it is normally too windy to cast a baitcaster without backlashing, for me at least. Plus, the water is very clear meaning longer casts and covering more water yields more fish (in my experience) so whenever I try to throw with abandon, it's backlash city and that reel is out of commission, lol. But for smaller lakes and rivers it's 90% baitcasting with heavy line in some form of heavy cover.

Like others, I don't keep such detailed records and practice CIR most of the time. My best guess for the lures that took my biggest bass would be: Baby Bass Magnet crankbait 5" single tail grub (Kalin or Yamamoto) 5" Senko Fat Ika 4" tube

Spend the money to upgrade to the Legend Extreme (or Elite) MHF. I spent much of my youth fishing from shore and can tell you that transporting and fishing a one-piece rod that's over 7 foot is asking for trouble. Unless it's an Ugly Stik. No way I'd be taking an NRX 7'5" rod in and out of the vehicle and hiking through the brush. Would also agree with TS, save money towards getting off the shore, whether kayak, float tube, jon boat, etc.

I agree with Bluebasser and JFrancho, first figure out what you love to fish the most. Could be spinnerbaits, jigs, crankbaits, whatever. For me, I always prefer to fish for smallies since I live near great smallie fishing so I would spend the most money on a spinning rod for dropshotting and finesse fishing. My close second would be fishing jigs and soft plastics. Both of those presentations require excellent sensitivity, light weight in hand, and strength to handle hard-pulling bass. If I loved fishing cranks I'd invest in a high end crankbait rod (and reel). Most of all it would depend on the types of lakes/rivers you fish and how big the bass get. If I lived in Florida, with all their grass lakes and FL strain largies, I probably wouldn't even own a spinning rod : )

Welcome to the site. In terms of your rod, it sounds like it will work fine. Some of the same lures you use for trout also work for smallies: inline spinners, twister tails, floating Rapalas, etc. If the pools are deep or the current is strong you might need to go with a Med power rod and more weighted lures but as mentioned, try it out and see. Don't worry about what brand your tackle is, just put a lure in front of a hungry smallie and they will smash it!

Agree with slonezp, there are quite a few around the SE MI area lakes and Smokercraft seems to have been around for long enough that owners must be happy. But as with any used boat make sure you take a test drive to see if there's any water in the bilge afterward and that it feels solid (the hull that is). Sounds like a nice boat/deal.

If you're looking for a specific jig rod (3/8th w trailer) then it could be worth it to get the NRX since that is one rod (jigs) that should be the best you can afford. I fish GLX and Champ Extremes and feel the GLX is a lighter, more sensitive rod - as it should, being $100 more expensive (retail) than the DX. That said, I have no problems fishing jigs with the Extremes and don't feel I miss any bites because of it. In the end, only you know your budget and whether it is worth the extra money to get the NRX.

Better be ready to spend a lot more money because you will probably be wishing you had more than one NRX.

Most sensitive rod that doesn't break? Ugly Stik. Agree with JF that you need two (or more) rods to cover 1/4 -3/4 oz jigs. My advice would be to focus on putting your jig in the right place (work on your casting/pitching skills), use the best quality and right line for the situation (braid, fluoro, copoly), and get in tune with what the jig is doing down there. But if you want my choice for jig fishing it would be Falcon's Cara Finesse jig, Head Turner, and Amistad for 1/4th, 1/2, and 3/4th oz jigs, respectively. NRX are probably more sensitive but they are also double the price of the Caras and in no way going to get me twice the number of bites, or bass.

IMO, you'll get wind knots with any braid on spinning tackle unless you drag the line through the water every few outings. As JFrancho and others have mentioned before, people think braid isn't prone to twisting or wind knots at all but, with spinning reels it's inevitable, and with all lines including braid if you don't "untwist" it before or after a couple outings. This is off topic but my main goal this season was to try and limit my use of spinning gear and - other than casting upwind or crosswind in open water (which is avoidable 90% of the time) or needing to cast <1/8th oz. baits - I rarely used my spin setups this season. I've upgraded my casting reels and lines such that I don't believe spinning gear is as necessary for bass fishing as we (at least me) are led to believe. And I grew up on spinning tackle and finesse fishing. I'll probably always have a couple spin sticks on board for dropshotting but I've caught smallies dropshotting with my MBR782 GLX on LSC. Doesn't feel "natural" to me though.

I'm also a huge fan of 832 for spinning, the lime green and neon yellow since my old eyes need all the help they can get. Like NH, I find 832 sinks much better than my second favorite, YGK SS112, which is the smoothest, quietest braid I've used to date. SS112 just tended to blow around in the wind too much for my liking. I also use original PP but it is noticeably noisier than the 832, at least through my rod guides. Disclaimer: I've never tried the SX-1 or PP Slick lines so cannot give a direct comparison.

Mike, I don't claim to be an "expert" but have fished with a dropshot for almost 10 years, mostly for smallies. Since you say you're a newbie to dropshotting, I will suggest the most trouble-free and simplest rig and that would be straight mono. If you fish with spinning gear a lot then go straight fluoro as mentioned but I would skip the braid/leader or swivel rigging since it potentially can be a headache - and time consuming to re-rig, especially for a newcomer. That said, twisting of the rig at the hook/sinker end is terrible, and inevitable, especially when you hook up and play the fish. In those cases it's easier to just clip off a couple feet of twisted line and retie the hook with a simple Palomar and tag end and you're good to go again. It doesn't hurt to have a backup combo in case you're on a hot bite but I assume you only own one DS outfit, lol. Be patient, you'll definitely get bit. It's not the most exciting or fun way to catch 'em but it is very productive, especially for deep water bass that only respond to finesse plastics rather than hair jigs, spoons, or football jigs. Remember to play out the big ones and always close your bail by hand. And don't set the hook as you normally would jig fishing, just 'reel set' and keep pressure on and make sure your drag is good. GL and report back after the tourney.

Guy makes "going Ike" seem tame in comparison..

Thanks, A-jay, I was eyeing those as well since they supposedly have some stretch properties. The one knock for me about my Guidewear is they are built for folks with a bit more "body" so it seems like I'm wearing one or two sizes too big even though the Medium fits my sleeve and inseam perfectly. Guess I'll have to plan a trip to the local Cabela's soon and try on the bibs and jacket.

From that photo, it looks good to me. I would definitely not crank down harder on the locking nut.

I have a 2500 Daiwa on my DX742 (pre-HP) and also have not had any issues. I've never read or heard anyone having such issues on an over-the-counter Shimano or Daiwa spinner so you should contact Gary or Richard and see if they can help figure out what's going on. No reel handle threads should be exposed.

Can't help since I live and fish in Michigan where we only get about 3 months of warm weather, lol. Seriously though, I invested in a set of Cabela's Gore Tex Guidewear bibs and jacket about 20 years ago and they are without a doubt the best fishing investment I've made. If I lived in your location down South I'd probably not even use warm weather rain gear - I'd welcome the rain to cool me off! I'd listen to the other anglers who fish open water year-round. GL!

Tom, thanks for starting this topic. What some forget as you mention is that the high end rods, at least those rolled within the US, are rolled by hand. Sure the mandrels may be close to identical and the graphite may be cut (by hand) almost identical but at that level even a minute variation is magnified from finished blank to finished blank. As you mention add in the handles and guides, again secured by hand, and the finished product is surely going to have some slight variation, however slight. I am sure those of us who have purchased a duplicate or triplicate of our "favorite" rods find that even they have a slight difference in feel! That's what blows me away about the Elite pros, how they can switch rod sponsors and get dialed in so quickly to the feel of a new set of rods - whether they be better quality or worse (see AMart, lol). And to your comment about losing your sense of touch in old age (I'm 59 so my apologies if you're younger than I am) I find that my sense of feel hasn't (yet) dulled but the amount of hours I can stay on the water has decreased and the amount of muscle aches and pains the next morning has increased. If I try fishing >6 hours, especially in the middle of Summer, I cannot focus because I'm so tired/fatigued. I know his 'job' is fishing but I really respect Larry Nixon for still competing with the "young guns" at his age. Back on topic, I wonder what fishing an NRX rod feels like to lady anglers, given their innate, heightened sensitivity, compared to us cretins.

I respect your knowledge and passion as well as the input you share on this site. And being a scientific researcher I completely agree with you that in a lab, there's no doubt one can quantitatively measure transmission of impulses, etc. But...I am sure you will agree that these differences in rod blanks could be statistically NS in that using a n value of say, 10 blanks per company, might translate into a (as an example) 0.0001% difference between blanks. There may even be blanks within each company that test at the top and bottom of this bell curve. Still a measureable, absolute difference of course. But, if you built a rod with each of the 30 tested blanks and put each into the hands of 10 anglers (even pros), I'm sure you'll agree that even you or I might not feel the most sensitive (by lab testing) rod feels the most sensitive in our hands. I guess, in the end, I am in total agreement with you that sensitivity can be measured and is not subjective - in the lab. Great topic on one of the most-asked questions on fishing sites - which rod is the most sensitive?

T9, I am sure you are one of the more experienced anglers on this site though. What I'd like to see for myself is: build 3 identical rods (just as an example) using the exact same handle and guides, etc. on three identical 7 foot, fast action blanks in the same price range - Loomis NRX, Kistler Z-Bone, Phenix K2 (again, just as an example) - using the exact same FC line and blindfold anglers while they work a jig back to the boat. I might believe an experienced, seasoned angler might be able to feel a difference but I am betting the average 'weekend warrior' angler wouldn't be able to tell the difference?? In that sense I'd agree with you, it's not subjective. But slap the sticker of a rod maker (Loomis) on the rod and then that introduces bias = subjectivity. I know first hand that's why researchers are supposed to be blinded when analyzing data since there is definite bias introduced when the experimental and control groups are not masked. I guess what I'm saying again is IMO, rod sensitivity and feel don't much factor in to a bass Elite pro's thinking such that they know it's way down the list in terms of contributing to their ultimate success (or failure). We non-pros (myself included) pay way too much attention to wanting the lightest, blingiest, most sensitive rod out there. It definitely increases the fun and excitement factor to feel every twig and weed stalk and magnifies the bite such that we can feel it with gloves on. But we should focus on a rod's other, more important characteristics.

As mentioned, rod sensitivity is subjective since it's judged or measured by how much each angler can feel in their hand(s) gripping the rod. It can be quantitatively measured by extrapolating the rod's material characteristics using state-of-the-art equipment. But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't mean as much as we want to believe in terms of more bass or bigger bass landed. If it did, every Elite pro would be fishing with the "most sensitive" (i.e. NRX) rod they could get their hands on, if it meant more and bigger bass = placing in the money more often. Cashing a check in an Elite event has got to be worth more than dollars earned from a rod sponsorship. I started fishing with Fenwick Lunkerstiks (glass) rods geared towards bass fishing out in Washington state. In the late 70's (I think) Loomis had IM6 rods and then GL2, GL3, IMX rods and eventually GLX rods. Gary Loomis was the one who led the way with using higher modulus graphite rods, mostly geared towards fly and steelhead rods/anglers. Bass-specific rods came about in the last 20 years with Falcon being one of the first to offer them. I have no doubt modern bass anglers would probably catch as many bass using MBR and SJR rods as with technique specific rods (DS, crankbait, C-rig, flip, jig and worm, swimbait, etc, etc). Back to rod sensitivity. Do I feel more or less with my Legend Extreme vs my Falcon Cara or IMX? Hard for me to even say since every bite/cast/situation is different. Do I think one rod will get me more or bigger bass? Of course not or else I'd use all the same rod line. Which makes no sense since I believe no one rod company makes the "perfect" rod for every situation or presentation. In the end, it's great to have so many rod choices and to try new tackle/rods to find that "perfect" rod that fits our style of fishing.

There's excellent, bank-accessible smallmouth fishing in the Huron River from Dexter all the way down to Ypsi (and further). Do yourself a favor and stop by Schultz Outfitters in Depot Town. The owner, Mike aka Schultzy, is a great guy and even though he owns a fly shop, he's more than happy to point you to some good water - provided you're a C&R guy : )

In no particular order: 1. Topwater: popper (like a Pop-R), prop bait (i.e. Skitter Prop), buzzbait 2. Senkos plus EWG hooks 3. Squarebill crankbait 4. Jig, 3/8th oz. plus bag of trailers 5. 7" worms plus bullet sinkers, worm hooks 6. Spinnerbait You should be able to find all of these around $7 (wait for online sales and save on Senkos). I would stay away from using light line (under 10lb test), especially with the downed timber or you'll lose a lot of tackle.