jwo1124

Why when I have been told over and over that for baits like cranks and jerkbaits, a Moderate action rod is optimum, do Manufacturer's label Tech. specific rods with actions like X-Fast for Jerkbaits, and Fast for crankbaits? It seems like for each Rod maker, the "best" action for any given lure is completely different? This stuff is killing me... > I understand that an X-Fast rod will allow for the best action to be put into a jerkbait, but what about when you hook a fish? With a rod as stiff as a pool cue, you are going to rip those little trebles right out of a bass' mouth

Who ever says the bass is the at tjhe top of the food chain should think again. It hurt to watch this, but it's worth it.

I need to find a good spinenrbait rod. I am confused since sometimes I here a spinnerbait rod should have a Fast Taper and other times I hear that a spinenrbait rod should be more like a crankbait rod, soft tip, and a forgiving action. If some one can set me straight on this topic it would be appreciated. I plan on purchasing two set ups. Both probably Medium spinning. One will be Fast action for soft plastics(weightless, tubes, light texas rig, and shakey head) and small to medium jigs. The other will be more Moderate action for medium sized crankbaits, jerkbaits, and topwater plugs. I also fish with spinnerbaits a lot, and recently last season got into buzzbaits. Whether or not I need a softer rod or a faster rod for spinner/buzzbaits, I will have a rod for them...I just need to know which rod to throw a spinnerbait on. I have never had problems fishing spinnerbaits on my old ugly stiks, but throwing one on a MH fast action Lighting Rod seems to put too much stress on the rod tip and feels like I'm reeling in a jack hammer when working a spinner bait.

I saw that post, I was thinking about just getting two new General Purpose rods for bass fishing. It seems that only in bass fishing are there so many different rods for some many different applications. I was think about a ML spin and a MH spin. I'll throw weightless and finnese soft plastics, small jigs, Medium sized topwater plugs, jerkbaits and shallow and medium cranks on the ML. And then I'll use the MH for jigs heavier plastics applications bigger spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. Maybe some frogs and toads. I like what you said about focusing on the rods for the techniques instead of practicing the technique. Sort of like lure, we focus on buying thousands of lures, and only use them for a dozen casts then swtich to another...

Thanks Road, good to know. I had a feeling it could be done, just how well? My main concerns are the added weigth to the rod/reel set up for a heavier spin set up, and finding MH rods. I was thinking about getting a M power Tiger Lite(Ugly Stik) It's like 6'6" or 6'9" and hold up to 3 ounces. I was thinking about getting this for swimbaits and huge topwaters. See if I can yank out a trophy this year. Was gonna get a H power version of the same rod for coastal stripers.

Hey Mackkie, http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20374&id=0043238121995a&navCount=56&podId=0043238&parentId=cat20374&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IJ&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20374&hasJS=true It's a little expensive, but I have heard Kistler rods are dang good. Ever see that commercial where Scott Martin pulls his boat back to shore using his Kistler? But even if you dont go for this specific rod, you want something short enough where you can accurately pitch the bait, and strong enough to handle a big fish pulling line around pillings.

Ok, some Fresh Water spinning rods come in MH and even H powers, while the other portion mainly stop at M power. In the world of bass fishing, where baitcasters rule supreme, most anglers never use a spinning rod over M or even ML. Most only have one or two of these forgotten spinning rods for drop shotting or other finesse tactics. My question is, how many of you guys have owned, own, use or have used MH spinning rods for bass fishing or other freshwater fishing? I only ask because I have a MH Lighting Rod, and I have fished with it on a couple of occasions, and while the sensitivity if good, the rod is really really stiff. I am wondering if I should buy a new needed reel for it, (because I took one of the spinning reels off another rod so I could use the Lighting rod.) Should I bother? Or should I just sell it, forget about it and focus on baitcasters for anything over a ML power? I love spinning reels, I am comfortable with them, and even though I tell myself I am going to buy a $100+ baitcaster and perfect the new reel, I keep thinking about sticking with spinning for as long as possible. I think it is a "leaving the comfort zone" type of deal... I know that a MH spinning reel that is going to hold the heavier line is going to be heavier, almost twice as heavy as a biatcaster...but will that added 9 or 10 ounces of added weight for a larger spinning reel really make a difference? I mean guys use big spinning reels in the ocean for blue and stripers and chuck and wind plugs and lures for them for hours on end, and even look at surf casters...same deal...so why is there such a big deal with baitcasters and bass fishing? Some say the added weight of the larger spinning reel will noticeably fatigue your arm, but if you use the reel a few times, I'm sure your body will adapt to the added half a pound. Just a thought. I would really like to be able to be skilled with a baitcaster, but it's the whole learning process filled with back lashes and frustration that gets me. Not to mention learning how to fish holding the rod in my left hand instead of my right and reeling with my right hand instead of my left...I guess I could just get a left handed version... Why did they originally make baitcasters the complete opposite of the spinning reel, meanings which hand you hold the rod in and which hand you reel with?

RW, does the Hybrid float line mono or sink like fluoro? I just got done reading over a couple dozen reviews of the line on cabelas.com and only two reviewers had problems with the line.

I know what you mean Matt, and that would be a good idea with spinning gear, but I was also talking about baitcasters. By the way, how are the carrot sticks? I was thinking about getting one or two of the $150 models. But RW, have you tossed that 12 into and around the "nasty stuff"?

I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this, and I'm sure there are some that practice this, but I thought of owning a couple reels to every rod in hopes to be able to fish more technique specific applications with as little gear as possible(mainly because I'm a broke college kid and I don;t have the expendable income for fishing as I wish I did.) I'll give two examples of a crankin; rod and a flippin stick. You can have one 6'6" M or MH/Mcrankbait rod and have a reel spooled with 10-12# mono the standerd mono size for fishing crankbaits, one spooled with 14-17# mono for fishing topwater plugs like Spooks and poppers, and you can have another spooled with some fluro carbon when you need that extra no stretch sensitivty when bottom bouncing or deep crankin. In this example you exxentailly have three set ups and save the cost and space of two rods. This can be a savings of any where from $100-$500 depedning on what type of rods you fish with. Another example is having a 7' MH or H/F flippin stick. With one reel, you can only fish with either mono, braid, or fluoro(not talking about backing and leaders) With two reels you can fish with heavy 80-100# braid when working that nasty stuff around trees, docks, or any other heavy cover where you are liable to break off in, and another reel spooled with some 14-17# fluoro to use when carolina rigging. Sure you could use a leader to attach mono or fluoro to the braid, but for the guys like me, who aren't knowledgable or experienced in line to line knots, or who don;t want to lose a fish due to a slippage in one of these knots, two reels seems like a good choice. This can be applied to any type of rod, a M spinning rod with 10# mono, second spool or second reel will allow you to fish 40-50# braid. This allows a guy, who was before limited to fish mainly open water with sparce cover due to only have 10# mono, to be able to fish heavier cover because now he/she has the power of braided line. Now, obviously this is aimed at a certain demographic of angelrs. This is not an efficient way for tournament anglers to fish. They just don;t have the time or energy to spend on switching reels and untying and re tying lures. But for recreational anglers who are not fishing against a clock, and can take 5 minutes to un tighted a reel and put a new one on and re tie a lure, this makes sense. Now I'm not saying buy one or 2 fishing rods and a dozen reels...becuases that's just rediculous. But a couple reels for 2 or 3 rods betters your chances of fishing in more places where the fish might be, and fishing more techniques that may be needed to catch those fish at any given time. If anyone practices this method, please let me know how it works out, or if it is more trouble then it's worth. I figured it would be a good way to be a more successful, yet more frugal angler.

I am looking for a new spinning reel for this up coming striper season. I am going to be putting it on a Ugly Stik tiger Lite 7' H 14-40# line. I will mos tlikely be using 17-20# test. Looking so spend around $60-80, will go higher if need to, but preferably not.

Seems like I'm in the same boat as a few other anglers. I see a few posts where spinenrbaits and plastics are up on their best lure list. No suprise though, those two lures alone have probably caught they majority of bass ever.

I spent the final fishable days of '07 and a warm day last week practicing the $35 Wal-Mart special baitsaster I have. It is a cheap 1 BB reel that I figured I'd learn with, buying a cheap reel in case I didn't use it much it wasn;t a big loss. But then I read a few posts that gave the advice to peopl etrying to learn a Bait Caster are better off investing at least $100 for a quality BC which will provide better performance and make learning a little bit easier buy running smoothly. Well, with my few times practicing with my cheapo reel, I have became good at slinging out a 1/2 bait as far as I can without getting a backlask 90% of the time, but I still find it hard to toss a lure at a close up target with aim. I figure if I get a higher quality baitcaster, with more Ball Bearings, learning will become easier and more enjoyable. I would like to know if I should get a low profile or conventional model. I read A LOT of GREAT reviews of the Abu Ambassadeur, which is a conventional, so I was thinking about getting one of those for around $90, and going from there. I am also thinking about picking up a new spinning reel for a 6' MH Lightin' Rod I have a big Okuma on there that is too heavy and holds too much line. I originally got the reel to go with a 6'6" Ugly Lite for trolling, so I got a reel that would hold 195 yards of 10# test. Its too big for casting baits for bass though. I'm thinking about a spinning rod in about the 40-50 dollar range. If you can reccommend a different baitcaster for around $100 I'll appreciate it. I heard that once you use a quality BC reel, it's like night and day compared to a cheap version. I heard casting is smoother and easier, backlashes are fewer, and the overall performance and feel of the reel blows the cheaper models out of the water. Thanks -Joe

I don;t knwo about you guys, but I have a few lures I catch almost all of my bass on. Not in any order, they are spinnerbaits, soft plastics(various kinds and presentations) and topwaters(hardbait) 75% of the time I'll be using one of the above mentioned lure types, but I also like crankbaits, jerkbaits, and buzzbaits. I fish mostly shallow water, and from the shore alot, so these baits seem to be very prouctive in getting the bass to strike, espcially in the summer when vegetation and algea mats come in full. I bring this up becuase with the new season approaching, many of us are going to go out of our minds shopping for new lures, and keeping in mind the lures you use the most and have the most productivity with, will help you when you pacing up and down the aisles to focus on the right lures, and not to buy everything you see. Set 'em hard and reel 'em in.

Funny you bring this up, because I just posted about the MA state record. It was 15.8 lbs. in 1975, caught out of apond too. I would have a heart attack if I caught a 15# bass. Hell, it would be worth it though. ;D You gotta think how old that bass must be though, I remember Bill Dance talking about growth rates of southern and northern bass, and I think it takes like 3 seasons for a norhtern fish to get to a pound. I'm not sure how much it grows after that, but that thing must have been eating anything and everything she could fit in her big ol' mouth. I think I may try the big bait approach this season and see if I can pull out a hawg out of any of the ponds I fish. I would take day after day of being skunked if it meant one huge fish for that season. Like they say, catching the fish is easy, but finding them is another story. I bet if you find the absolute best bass environment for your body of water for that given time of year, you will find the big bass. The biggest most dominant bass are going to dominate the best territory

I didn;t hear anything about a lunar eclipse, plus I'm not sure if it will affect the fishing. But, today is a full moon, and I'm pretty sure that will affect the fishing somehow.

I didn't read everyone individual posts, so forgive me if someone already entioned this, but, why don;t you just focus on your State's record largemouth bass. That is truly the only fair way to do it seeing how bass have a longer feeding/growing season down south, not to mention guys can fish for thm more often than the northern guys due to ice over. You;d be suprised to think that Northern Bass cant get that big...The Massachusetts State Record for a Largemouth Bass is 15.8 lbs. caught in 1975 out of Sampson Pond in Carver, MA by Walter Bolonis. Got that straight from the mass.gov/wildlife web site. Imagine a 15 lb. Lunker swimming around in your local pond!!!!!

My cabin fever was bad a month or two ago, but once the WIn/Spr semester started I've been so focused on school I haven't really had time to think about fishing. I just came back to the forum a few days ago after not posting for awhile. It seems the more I think about fishing when I can;t fish, the madder I go. It's like staring at a nice hot meal in front of you when you are starving but not being able to take a bite. I am really considering moving down to a southern state when I am done with school. Fish at least a couple hours a day after work, everyday, for the rest of my life...HEAVEN!

WOW...is all I can say after reading RW's post/ I'd have to say that his posts are almost always right on the money and full of wisdom. Almost any bass fishign site you go to they will say that the best rod for bass fishing is a Medium power spinning or casting rod. That's pretty much all you really need to fish almost any lure(within the medium power lure ratings of course) not only satisfactory, but compentently. For some, like RW said, they like knowing they have the right tool for any job. Having the confidence that a certain rod/reel is the 100% best choice for fishing a certain lure is important to some people depending on your level of commitment to the sport. For me, I've always been a sort of in the middle, average, C+ kind of guy. I get by sufficiently, but never focus on going over the top or above and beyond. For some guys, buying an abundance of tackle makes fishing more enjoyable, for other's they feel they need it to catch the most fish and get the most out of their time on the water, others think it will make them better, other's find confidence in it... But, as the wise Road Warrior said, it is a matter of "need" vs. "want" after the first two rod set ups he mentioned. You can probably fish a good 75% of lures in 75% of the areas of the body of water you'll be fishing. It's that last 25% that drives the bait monkey... ;D Think about it, with a M/F you will be able to fish the good majority of all soft plastics, jigs, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits effectively. You can also fish, cranks, jerkbaits, and topwaters with this one rod too. It would be best to have a moderate action or soft tip, but you dont need it. It's the simple, simple vs. complex complexity. Do you need a rod for each and every line size? Do you need a rod set up for evry type of soft plastic, or three different rods with the same spinnerbait but different color? Some say yes, some say no, some say it may make a difference...it all comes down to personal preference. No one person's is better than the others. If you can have a rewarding enjoyable bas fishing experience with only using two different multi purpose rods, good. If you can;t, go out and burn that credit card until you feel satisfied... I am trying to live the simple life and make the most out of moderation. I think I will consider what RW said, and stick to the basics, becauses that's where the liuon's share of success comes from. The small tweaks here and there do make a difference, but usually only a small one. Mh/F 10-14# line ___ MH/M 10-12# line___l------These will do the trick in most bass fishing situations. Some times having a lighter rod with lighter line would be pmore preferable and some times having a heavier rod with heavier line will be better, but some time you have to compramise...Add a ML/F with 6-8# line and you have the perfect bass fishing rod reel combo trinity. I don't know how my post went from rod sensativity to how many rods are needed...I think I got sidetracked by RW's post.

I think you should be focusing on your gear as a supplement to what the actual focus should be. Since this is your first time fishing tournaments, you should be focusing on building an arsenal of knowlege and experience, and then supplement that with the right type of gear. I say this becuas eit seems that bass fishing has became a sport that emphasizes what gear your use as much as the knowledge and experience you have. Realize that better or more gear will not make you a better fisherman unless you become a better fisherman. A better quality rod with more sensitivity will make it so that you can feel you rlure and feel a fish take your bait better, but it won't make you better. Focus on learning from the guys that you are fishing with, and even against. Just be a sponge, absorb as much as you can. You make find that you may not need as much gear as you thought you did, and end up wasting more money on rods and reels that you could have spent on stocking up on a few "proven lures" in that area that work very well all season long. I just recently contancted a guy that runs a local bass fishing club and I plan on going to the first meeting the first week of march. They also fish tournaments all through out my state as well as out of state. I plan on buying a few new set ups, but I am really focused on learning from more experienced and more knowledgable anglers. To acknowledge your post more accurately: 6'6" medium heavy rod with 7:1 baitcaster Use for T rigging and jigging, buzzbaits, spinnerbait(burning) 6'6" medium rod with 6:4:1 baitcaster can also use this as a worm/jig rod, as well as spinner/buzzbaits/rat'l traps 6' medium rod with spinning reel 6'6" medium rod with spinning reel I would use your spinning stuff for lighter plastics like tubes, weightless soft plastic apps like wacky worms, soft plastic jerkabits, senkos, as well as cranks,jerks and topwaters. The softer action of a spinning rod will be better for these lures with treble hooks. I would suggest you get a crankin rod(glass or compostie) and a 7-7'6" rod for flippin/frogging/carolina rigs. So a couple hundred more dollars and you will have a d**n good arsenal or rods and reels for tournament fishing.

I'm going to chime in with an unorthodox response because since I started fishing around 10 years ago, I have used nothing but spinning gear for all my fishing. I think one perk of spinning gear is that you can use any lure you would use on a baitcaster on spinning gear, but not the other way around. Casting tackle allows for using bigger lures and bigger lines without really beefing up too much on the rod and reel size. Where as if you want to use 14-20# line and throw lures 3/4oz. and up you are going to need a really big spinning combo, almost similar to what you'd use for Medium saltwater fishing(I use 14-20# line for striper fishing) and the rod rated for that line is a 8' Ugly Stik spinning rod. It'd be pretty uncomfortable casting that heavy a rod all day bass fishing. You could get away with using a Lighter 6'9" US Tiger Lite rod for throwing heavier lures on spinning gear, but the rod is a lot heavier and less sensitive than a Casting rod would be for the same application.

That is one of the sadest sights I've ever seen. And to see a Bass around 12# that will never be caught by an anglers is a shame. I think that there needs to be a lot more water/fisheries management operatins throughout the country on all bodies of water and not just Large popular lakes. Obviously scientists can't maintain every pond stream and lake, but making an effort would be a start. I read some where that there are more anglers in the United States than golfers and tennis players combined...not to mention the profits made by the fishing tackle industry, I think fishing is one the the last few activities people can take part in to enjoy mother nature fully, and that should be priceless. Saying that I think local governments should realize that, and make more of an effort to maintain and manage lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams. I'm not saying that this event could or could nto have been prevented or minimized, but knowing that their are specialized trained, and educated people dedicated to the causes would be refreshing.

I have a couple. One my best friend and I wnet Striper fishing off a local pier a few summers a go on his birthday and each got a barely keeper fish. it is memorable because since High school we have sort of drifted a part. I went the college route, and he started working full time, putting in a lot of hours. So between scheduling conflicts and living our own lives, we don;t see eachother as much as we used to, so it was nice to get out for a day and share something we both enjoy. Another time was just this past October when me and my brother were fishing at a cemetary pond that his friend had told him about. We were chucking shiners since that's the only way to keep him interested in fishing(god forbid he goes a coupel minutes with out a bite). On the second cast he got the biggest bass we both have ever seen. The scale would turn on, but the thing was easliy pushing 5lbs. So to see him catch his biggest bass ever, and beat my PB, was special because I know how much he enjoys catching fish(not so much the whole fishing part) so just to see him yank a big fish out of that pond was pretty cool. Final one, was a long time ago, probably around 10 years ago when my father was still alive, and he took my and my brother down to a pond by my great aunt's house. And me and my bro were fishing, and he was just lounging in a folding chair, and every so often he would coem to and start busting our chops like "Wow they're really biting today", or "You guys are regular BassMasters". This was when I was like 11 and my bro was 7 or 8 And I had just gotten into watching the Bass shows on TV and reading the mags. It's really the only time all three of us were out fishing together. I hope in a couple years I'll be able to post some more special outings.

The weather around my parts in Massachusetts have been relatively Mild this past week. Last weekend we got crazy snow squals for 15-20 minutes at a time that would give way to bright warm sunshine. Yesterday and today have been beautiful. Yesterday it hit 60* and today it's in the 40's. It windy today, but I'll take that over a still day in the 20's which is usual weather for this time of year. I took a ride to the local ponds yesterday and I was bummed at first when I drove past the first pond. It looked as it was still completely frozen with thin ice, but then when I took a side street to another part of the pond I realized that the majority of the pond is open. I practiced my baitcaster for the third or fourth time yesterday for about an hour until I lost my Rat'l Trp I had tied on. The other main Pond I fish is still pretty much frozen except for a small but fishable area by the Ramp. I saw a guy fishing there with some Powerbait for trout, but I was only there for a few minutes so I don't know if he caught anything. They did just stock that pond a month ago with Broodstock Salmon again so Maybe if the weather stays mild I'll be catching some slamon soon... As far as gear goes, Haven;t bought much, only a handful of new lures. After dropping 200 on past gym dues and a new membership and paying this month's car insurance, my funds have been milked pretty low. I have four shifts this weekend at the restaurant, and with only my cell phone bill to pay this month, the majority of the money can go towards my fishing fund....not to mention the all mighty TAX RETURN!!! I think I'm going to be good this year and try for only two new set ups, a quality baitbasting combo, and a quality spinning combo, then just use my older gear as needed.

Why do they only put Lindner's angling Edge on at 4 in the morning? I think all fishign shows are good to watch because you will msot likely find that you learn something from each one. I like In-Fisherman because it's one of the shows that isn;t directly Bass oriented. I can;t think of a "bad" fishing shows.