jwo1124

I don't know how well this stuff works on Carp because i have yet to go carp fishing. But I bought Berkley Powerbait carp doughballs in a Natural scent, (which is green) I know the blue gill love it because i tried a small piece of it on a hook and chummed with it a ltitle, and the gills come up and blast it. So fish like it...is it a productive carp bait...I dunno

I think your best bet will be with Rapala Floating Minnows, Husky Jerks, and spoons. This is what I have caught most of my trout on. I am not a big fan of inline spinners, mainly because on too many casts I have got the lure back to me and the blade will have stopped spinning. I highly suggest you buy a spoon with a feathered dressed tail because it looks so much better when the tail treble actually moves and looks like a minnows tail. ACME Kastmasters come with a glod spoon and yellow dressed hook which looks great. If you can't find any though, just take the hook of a dressed inline spinner and put it on the spoon. I'm not sure of the size of the fish youa re targeting, but I fish for stockie trout around 1lb. 14-16" and I use mainly 1/8oz. stuff Just remember that rout have soft mouths, and when they come up and dance on the durface and shake their heads, a heavy lure will provide momentum to pull the hooks out of their mouth. This happened to me when I hooked a nice rainbow on an X-Rap. Remember, trout aren't bass, they are used to eating bugs, so you don;t have to offer them a huge lure.

Ok, this may sound crazy depending on who reads this. I was watching a movie the other day, and at one point these three kids were out hunting deer because they were driven out of their town and had to get food some how. Anyway, this kid shot the deer, and being his first kill, the other two guys encouraged him to drink the deers blood out of one of those tin cantene cups. They said now he's a "real" hunter. Now this may sound inhumane to someone, but so is blasting a deer in the lungs with a rifle... I know it was a movie, but I got to thinking, does that sort of stuff go on during hunts. I have never been hunting, but though of taking it up, just to keep the beast alive so to speak, and I'm sure that's why others do it as well. To tell you the truth though, I am kind of conflicted about it (to kill :-/ or not to kill)since hunting really isn't a recreational activity around my parts. Anyway, I may be over imaginative thinking that a hunter would drink a deers blood, but just wanted to inquire about it. And if you have or know of someone who has, and don;t want to post it on the forum, just MP me and I'll keep it private. I hope people don;t think I'm some sort of sick freak now for asking this, cuz I'm really just a normal person wondering about a crazy thing I saw. But I would have to say it seemed pretty bad *** to take a sip of blood from the deer you just took...

This one is aimed at all the Northern Boys like me who are stuck in the cold, snowy northern states. Who's Ice fishing yet??? I haven't been yet, and to be quite honest I only went a couple times last year, which was my first year walking on water The ponds froze early this year, around mid decemeber, where as last year they did not freeze until mid january. The ice hasn't really been thick or safe enough to fish on as we have had some warm highs in the upper 30's lately. Today looks like a change, the high is 15* and the low tonight is going to be 7*. This should freeze the water over nice and thick, and maybe with some luck it will stay below freezing for most of the days so I can get out and get a fishing fix. Post your catches or outings so I have something to read Tight Lines.

I saw that same show. And to be honest the lure looks a little goofey, but as you saw on Mr. Dance's show, it flat out catches fish. I have never tried one, but I'm sure it will produce.

OK...I read a post here awhile ago that mentioned this topic, I can't emember exactly what it was about, but I think someone said that storing the rods in freezing temps can mess with the glue and weaken the graphite...

The rod fishes well for a $35 rod, I can't attest to the breaking of the front cork handle, but as Robby put it, it was due to over tightening the handle. Now, should a rod do that...?...probably not, but it could be seen as a mistake on my part. I was thinking about going with shimano rods too, so funny you guys mentioned them.

I just wsant to know how bad can cold weather(Northern Winter temps) effect rods and components. I have had my rods out on my aunt's three season room. I am going to be putting them in the basement which is room temp. I just want to know if I caused any serious damages to them? Most of them are glass or component but one is a graphite.

Early last year I bought a 6' MH Lightning Rod at Wal-Mart. I have to say for a $35 rod, it is a good buy. I have found two problems with the rod though. First, the front cork grip broke into two pieces...which really isn't that big a deal, but still. The second problem is: when fishing a 1/2 spinnerbait on the rod, the tip of the rod seems like it is getting over loaded. When retrieving the lure through the water it just causes a lot of pull on the rod. I don;t know if it is because the rod is shorter than I'm used to, or because it is a spinning rod. I'm used to fishing with compostie rods, so maybe just the fast taper of the rod is new to me, but it just didn;t sem right. Has anyone else had this problem? I'm guessing that it is just because I'm dragging a 1/2 spinnerbait with two big Blades and the vibration is just so strong that it's causing the tip to pull down, and it's probably just new to me since like I said I'm used to compostie and glass rods with whippy, less responsive tips.

Just my initials and my birthday...kind of boring huh?

I fish for stockie trout in ponds, and I have never had a problem with fish shaking loose. Don't get me wrong, I have had a couple fish come off after hooking them. Typicall I'll use anything from UL-ML with 4-6# test. The rods I use are either ugly stiks or Cabela's version of the ugly stik - the Whuppin' Stick which is an all glass rod, not a bad rod for $20. I use a slower rod because I mainly fish things like spoons, in-lines, and small jerkbaits with small trebles. The true problem is probably the barbless hooks. I have never pinched down the barbs, never needed to, so I don't know of the added difficulty that coems from this while fighting a fish, but my guess would be it makes it harder. I have never used a soft plastic or jig for trout, and I would say try something with trebles, like one of the lures I mentioned, but it would be a pain pinching down all those barbs. But hey, you never know...

I would like to get a PS3, but for $600, I have more important expenses. Plus I need to make sure I have enough money left over to pay for all my fishing gear I purchase each year. Usually a good portion comes from my tax return though. Anyway, the graphics look much better than the PS2, they are much more detailed and life like. Plus it works as a High Def. Blue Ray DVD player. I just have a question about PS3 and the graphics. If I hook it up to a regualr TV, not a flat screen, LCD or plasma or an HD TV, will I still notice a big diffference in graphics or do you need to hook it up to a high end TV to get the full effect?

Hey WW2, Why didn't you like the 6'6" and loved the 7'? I can't wait until I get my new Debit Cared and PIN in the mail so I can order a couple of these before they sell out.

As long as my budget allows for this, these are my new bass fishing rods I will be using this year. BPS Crankin' Stick 6'6" M casting BPS Crankin' Stick 6'6" MH casting cranks, topwater plugs, jerkbaits BPS Extreme XPS Woo Daves sig. 6'6" M casting BPS Extreme XPS Woo Daves sig. 7' H casting plastics, jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, frogs, toads I figure since I can get the crankin sticks on sale, these four rods should come to $210 plus tax and S+H. I already took into consideration the $6 fee per rod for the 1 pc. special shipping. Now I'm looking at another $300 for reels for all these things. And I haven't even bought any new lures... :-[

Joel, I have noticed that most Crankbait specific rods are rated for M 1/4-5/8 and than MH 3/8-1oz. I plan on picking up a M and a MH, and then maybe a 7' MH that is rated for up to 1.5 oz. But, BPS does have last years model on sale for 22.50, I'm going to try to pick up at least two of them, and then save up for some reels.

For lures try small jerkbaits and inline spinners. I have caught decent sized bass(2-4) on Light tackle. I was using an UglyS tik though, so who knows how things would have gone in I was using an UL or L graphite rod which is much more fragile than an Ugly Stik. You could pull up a bus from the bottom of a lake with one of those.

Has anyone used or own this rod? I am thinking about buying a couple for the upcoming season. I need new cranking sticks, and these seem to be the best value.

After reading some of the posts after mine, I should say that I can and only have the right to speak for myself on this or any issue. I think rods in the $150 dollar range are the cut off for me, and couldn;'t see myself paying $300+ for a single fishing rod. Now, this doesn't mean that I will or I won't some day, but I just don't see it happening now. As flechero pointed out, I should have worded my statement differently saying that a $150 is probably the best value pacgage since you are going to get quality craftsmanship, quality material and components, and a good warrenty to go with it. I plan on shifting to Shimano rods this upcoming season and plan on getting a few new rods from them. All their rods come with a Lifetime warrenty, plus they are a veteran in the fishing industry.

I agree with Low Budget that paying $300+ for a fishing rod is a lay me down with out a date. I have came to understand the difference between a $35 rod off the walmart shelf and a $150 high end fishing rod. Where do you draw the line though? I mean how much better can a $300 rod be over a $150 rod. I think these guys sit in the board room and say" hey get this, we priced these rods at $300 and these shmucks are actually paying it." It's encoded in our brains that the more something costs the better it is. So why wouldn't corporations use this basic mind f***ing to screw with us. If they list a rod at $300, WOW...That must be a much better fishign rod than this, it must be able to catch me mroe fish...And sadly people fall into the trap. I will pay for quality, but I won't pay for a brand name, psuedoconfidence, or boasting rights... IMO I think $150 is a reasonable price for a high end fishing rod. Once you start passing that price, you know the bait monkey has you by the family jewels. As far as the carrot stik...I don't know, I would like to get one since they are reasonably priced, but I'll wait until the hype fades, and the facts come out until I make a purchase.

thats a cool little game, but I think I'd rather have nails put through my palms than play it for more than a couple minutes

I think Hoover hit the nail on the head. I do love being outdoors. I never liked just sitting in a classroom or behind a computer, unless I'm looking a fishing stuff on the web. The thing is I sort of d!cked off in High school and never took any real trade courses. I am a hard worker, I have lots of energy, and anything I have ever went after seriously in life I did it 110% I think I would like to get a job doing something outdoors that involves labor. It will keep me healthy and in good shape-how many americans are overweight or obese from sitting in the office all day and not getting any physical activity. All my relatives say "You may not mind busting your hump now in your twenties, but wait until your 40's or 50's and you will wish you were behind a desk." And that sort of scares me because what if it's true? On the other hand, I see a lot of older guys that still do labor because they have been doing it for 20-30 years and they have adapted to actually being a working man and doing work for a living instead of just writing reports or crunching numbers all day. But yeah, I agree with what Sam said, I'll focus on school for now, and then my future.

Thanks for the help guys. I just got home from my shift and I don;t think I;d want to be doing that for the rest of my life. I thought it over last night and today, and even if I am two years behind, getting my bachelors and even a master's will be worth it in the long run. Life's a marathon, not a sprint, and being sort of impatient, I have to remind myself this at times. Even if I don't get into my career field until I'm 26, I'll have my Master's degree, a bunch of knowledge about the field, and I'll be worth a lot more. I hear what someone said about the hours in the restaurant biz. SOme managers that have to close work a 5-12/1am shift and then have to be there at 11am the next day. It must just drain you physically. I'll stick to my gameplan for now...

There is a member here: Fish Chris who is sponsered by Okuma. I have three Okuma spinning reels and I like them. I was using my 6'6" Ugly Stik Lite, a medium power, and my Okuma Hardstone spinning reel with 10# stren high impact line, baitfishing for schooly stripers off the coast. I hooked into a nice 20" and the reel's drag held up well. Just so you know, salt water stripers fight. A 5 lb. saltwater fish feels like a 10 lb freshwater fish.

8# test is the cut off. Some will say 10, and you can certainly use 10# on a spinning reel, but I'm sure that most experienced bass anglers who use baitcasters for the majority of their fishing will chose a baitcaster over a spinning rod unless it is absolutely neccessary. As beginner bass anglers, we use spinning gear for mostly everything, since that is all we know. But, once you learn how to use a baitcaster, you will opt for it over your spinning tackle. Spinning gear, as far as largemouth bass fishing goes, is usually used with light lures like weightless plastics, for exaple a wacky worm, or a weightless soft jerkbaits, drop shoting. I saw a show with Hank parker and some kid from california drop shotting in 40+ feet of crystal clear water and they were using 4 and 6# test and catching decent sized bass. Usually in bass fishing you will use a ML or M power spinning set up with 6-10 lb test. Anything above that is best on baitcasters just because they are much lighter compared to the capacity of larger lines they can hold. A baitcaster that holds 150 yds. of 14 lb. test will weight less that 10 ounces. A spinning reel that holds that much 14 lb test will weight close to 20 ounces. That's a big difference when you are casting lures for hours on end. it can take a toll on your hands and wrist.

I agree with most here, I think the old monage, If it ain;t broke, don;t fix it applies well here. Mono has been around forever, and will probably always be, until some new space age line comes out. I have heard that Seagar is a GREAT fluro line, but this was in regards to using it as a leader while bait fishing for stripers. This is the only time I plan on using fluoro. As far as freshwater fishing goes, I never though there was "really" a "need" for superlines, but after seeing some pics for last years Guntersville trip, and several other timber fields and lily fields that are the area of a baseball field of nothing but old broken tree stumps sticking out of the water everywhere, or areas that are just covered in lily pads or grass where you can hardly see the surface of the water. Now I know why they invested braided lines. I have yet to use them, since I have yet to need them, the onyl freshwater fishing I do is in local ponds where the elements aren;t that bad.