Leaderboard

The best casting outfit is my wife's, mine is the second best ;-)

New babies!!!!!

Winter buying has already started.

If it's for "feel" type baits (jigs, worms etc) skew the budget in favor of the rod. For moving baits (cranks, spinnerbait. swimbaits etc) skew the budget toward the reel.

Couldn't refuse, price was too good. Go domestic!

I don't follow baseball much but a one game series is crazy after a 162 game season. They should have a tie breaker like the team with the biggest run differential over the season advances. A one game playoff reduces the value of the (too) long season.

This combo has me playing favorites. Need more steezs in my life.

As the waters cool off up here in the northern mid-west, one of my favorite techniques comes back into play - Blade Baits. The air & water might be cool or even down right cold - but the blade bite can be Smoking Hot ! Up until recently, my success with this technique was marginal at best. A few years ago I watched the attached video trying to gain some insite as to why I was not getting the results I expected. Mr Scott Dobson's approach to fishing these baits was a GAME CHANGER. The less is best deal Really worked for me - A fairly weed free clean bottom of sand or gravel really helps here. If you have the right conditions and haven't tried this yet, or have but would like to give it another shot, watch this clip. Reproduce this technique the best you can and have the net, scale & camera rolling. You'll be glad you did. A-Jay

Line diameter comparison, Yo-Zuri Hybrid vs Sunline Natural Nylon/ Defier Nylon Diameter Yo-Zuri vs Nylon ,010D 6 lb. 10/ 11 lb. .011D 8 lb. 12/13 lb. .012D 10 lb. 14/15 lb. .013D. 12 lb. 16/17 lb. Why not take a Sharpie pen and remark the Yo-Zuri labels the higher lb. test that they are? I wouldn't go over .011 diameter ( 8 lb Yo-Zuri or 12/13 lb Nylon) with a 2000/2500 series spinning reel, casting reel it's more of a line capacity issue, small 50 & 100 size spools are limited to about 100 to 120 yards of .012/.013 diameter line. Tom

This topic my be the more confusing than any other. Define copolymer fishing line? What is a hybrid fishing line? What is mono line? How do they differ? 1. Copolymer line is a blend of 2 polymers, they are mixed during the pellet melt cycle when extruding the line into 1 filament. 2. Hybrid line is 2 polymers,1 Nylon and 1 fluorocarbon that are co extruded. The nylon polymer is the core and the fluorocarbon is extruded over the nylon becoming the outer surface of the single filament line. 3. Mono has become the term for single filament Nylon polymer line. 4. All of the above single filament lines are monofilament or single filament strand of fishing line, they appear or look the same. How do they differ? Fluorocarbon is heavier than Nylon and less flexible, it's not stronger or doesn't have higher physical strength, therefore it stretches equally to Nylon. Nylon absorbs water, fluorocarbon doesn't. Nylon being lighter weight tends to float on top of the water, fluorocarbon sinks. Fluorocarbon is claimed to be less visible to fish do to lower refraction of light...who knows how fish see line or care? Single filament line that measures the same diameter have nearly equal strength, that includes all of the above; mono, copolymer and fluorocarbon and they all stretch equally. The primary difference being coefficient of drag going through water, fluorocarbon has less than Nylon and fluorocarbon sinks where Nylon tends to float. The downside of fluorocarbon is it's less flexible and tends to break if bent or notched (low notch strength) resulting in lower knot strength. Copolymer single filament line offers blended additives to help increase strength (questionable), self lubricate, improve heat resistance and UV resistance compared to a single polymer Nylon line. Hybrid single filament line claims to be less visible like fluorocarbon with a fluorocarbon jacket and remain flexible with good knot strength like Nylon. Hybrid sinks slower than fluorocarbon, stretches and is the same strength as Nylon or "mono" line. Beware that line manufacturers have learned to increase the line diameter and label the larger diameter (thicker) with lower pound test rating. Evaluate all single filament line by it's diameter, do not be fooled by (thick line) with larger diameters, unless that doesn't matter to you. Bottom line; no difference between "mono", copolymer and hybrid single filament fishing line, fluorocarbon offers less drag coefficient, heavier and sinks with less knot strength. No panacea in fishing line. Tom

All good choices. Id add a weightless worm, a silver buddy and a Huddleston 68. A chatterbait can be deadly too. Once you find out where you are going let us know.

I'm always relieved when when the decal turns out flawless. That is the hardest area to keep clean working in a basement with a lathe nearby and 3 dogs running about!

On a punch rig with a skirt. It may not look like much, but is a great little bait for getting in and out of thick grass.

She INHALED a 6" savage gear line thru trout and weighed in at 7lbs 3oz topping my previous PB by 9oz which was caught last fall... That's 3 consecutive falls giving me a new personal best, I'll take it! Haha, tight lines and get on that fall bite!

A 6:X:1 is a good all around ratio. To me inches per turn 'ipt' is more important than the reels gear ratio. A reel that picks up 26-28 ipt is fine.

LOL...one ain't much good without the other.

No it was me. I was minding my own business at my secluded cabin in the Okiefinokie swamp, when I got a suprise visit from Tupac (Tupac lives). So we played a couple games of Madden when out of the blue he asked "Have you checked BR lately?" I said "Naw, you know I quit fishing when they outlawed the Alabama Rig in competition." he said "Well there's this clown that goes by Raider talking smack, saying he's gonna turn you into a coat." So I grabbed my iphone exed out of Candy Crush Saga, and couldn't believe my eyes. There's a welder, pipe fitter, and an electrician sayin' they gonna snipe me from a roof in Georgia. Well, I doubt I am even big enough to make a coat for you, mabye an ill-fitting blazer, but not a Squatch fur coat. I can't believe this, me and your sister went to prom, then you talk behind my back? C'mon Raider. I challenge you and your tradesmen friends to Ultimate Paintball, against me and Tupac. We are undeafeated, against the Leperchauns and Chubacabras, so far.

Jeff makes a great case for Custom Rods. The only thing I'd add is that you don't have to know the answer to every component choice. The sheer number of optons is overwhelming to many people. A competent Rod Builder will be able and willing to walk you through the entire process.

Don't know that I've ever caught a bass on a blade, lots on jigging spoons though. I'm kind of like the guy that tears them up on a T rigged worm but can't get a bite on a jig. Baits are so similar, but I just can't seem to get one of them to work. Glad I watched the video, sounds like I might be overworking the bait. Just bought a few Silver Buddy blades on clearance a couple months ago, hopefully I can catch some smallmouth on them in a month or so when the water gets cooler.

I love fishing blade baits from around Mid October to Ice up. The only blade bait I use is a silver buddy. It is an outstanding bait. I prefer to fish them around off shore structure that is mostly gravel and rock that is holding baitfish. Most of the time I am fishing it near schools of small young of the year smelt catching bug smallmouth and largemouth. This weekend might be the first time I will cast it this fall if the conditions are appropriate.

Nice write up. I've got a couple custom rods built on Batson blanks. However, they were purchased used so if a favorite, it is by accident. As it turns out the first one I bought is definitely one of my favorites even tho the second is built on a more expensive blank. Unfortunately I don't ever seem to think about having a custom rod built when looking for another to add to my stable. Probably because I don't spend the time on the water most do, and therefore don't notice the little things much.

Way to go Cubs. Great game. See y'all Friday!

I know exactly how you feel. I deal with the same thing here. The early fall is tough. Big pike will move right into prime spots and the bass that were there will move right out and the only way to know is to fish it & find out. The Common response here is that bass don't hang with big pike and I'd agree that this is more or less correct. But what is not mentioned is that these spots WERE GREAT bass spots Until the Pike moved in. Bass usually move to the next best available ambush spot and take up a post there. It's a skill to recognize one from the other. Especially when the "New" bass spots are often Very Non-descript. I hate losing tackle so I rig with tie able wire. American Surflon Micro Supreme 7 x 7, Toothy Kritter & Not2Kinky all work. A-Jay http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/162396-fat-rage-blade-pike-video/ ​

the p model is 4.9:1, the h is 6.3:1, the sh is 7.1:1

If you buy one it is $89.00, if you call you will get two for $100.00. The shipping is a flat $19.00

I usually use mono and braid, but I picked up a 300 yard spool of Vicious Co-Polymer super-cheap a couple months ago ....even the cheap stuff has noticeably better abrasion resistance, less memory, and less stretch than a standard mono like Trilene. I haven't decided if I'll move over from mono to a co-polymer completely, but I'm definitely impressed enough to sample a few more brands and use it more regularly.

But it's 9 cents!

If you used your feet to type on a keyboard while blindfolded, your grammar would still be better than tipptruck's.

If you intentionally spelled every word incorrectly and never used punctuation, your grammar would be better than tipptruck's

Dunno, but I have a lot of it.

I strongly disagree with any advice that suggest buying a low quality reel. I understand it and they mean well but hear me out on this. A decent reel could last a decade or two and has good used resale value. I am not saying you need a $300.00 reel but reels in the $100-$150.00 range will suit. I have seen used Curados sell on eBay for more than I bought them for new after Shimano discontinued making the reel. Same is probably true for a lot of the Diawas that tend to have a cult following. Rods don't last that long anyhow and don't typically resale well if you find out its not something you like. I wouldn't advise against buying less expensive rods because its very difficult to know exactly what you like in a rod in your early years of fishing. DVT is correct regarding bottom contact baits but I don't think its relevant to price the way it used to be. The last few years we have seen rod companies sneak $100.00 rods into the market that outperform many of the other companies best stick. Dobyns and Loomis aren't lowering their prices and improving their low end because they want to, the market is forcing them.

What is with you and body hair?

Advantages less stretch, less lost fish copolymer. All I use is Excalibur silver thread copolymer line.

Yo-Zuri Hybrid works for everything. If you want to get more technique specific, use monofilament for treble hooks.

For me it would be all reel, the rod can wait.

You could try spraypainting it pink, almost a guaranteed 13 pounder!

I´ve read it many times before and it always makes me ROFLMAO !!! BTW we southerners across the border are grown tough, my mommy gave me this:

My daughters barbie pole with the spincast is the most comfortable I've held ever. 10X better then ECS, TCS, ACS, SK2, Stealth Reel Seat and ITS. ​

LOL, check you local regulations.... Metric may be outlawed, could be SAE only. My waters would require at least a 1/2 if not a 3/4 to target the big ones....

Take a soda cap and fill it with cleaner. Then put the spool up on end so the bearing is submerged.

I think if you really want to "treat yourself", you should start looking at a custom. I love my St. Croix rods, but they're still mass produced, which means you have to pick from what they offer and deal with any little thing you don't like. On the other hand, a custom you can get everything exactly as you want it down to what color thread is on the guides and if it has a hook hanger or not, the options are limitless. In fact, one of our sponsors produces some of the best blanks and components you can get. http://batsonenterprises.com/

Those species of fish are good sized and probably will require a slightly more powerful rod. As with anything it depends upon the weights and techniques you will use it for. I would probably be looking at a MH rod in the 1/4 to 3/4 oz range for lures.

Thats a very nice reel, i wouldnt put it on any regular ol rod. Personally id get shimano or falcon rod. As for power and action just depends on what wieght lures you will be throwing. For all around get a mh-f or m-xf

I mean, they're fine. Good, not great. Warranty is solid. Really hard to say no to the Zodias at the same (or slightly lower) price point.

Thanks! I always use power pro, I've only used spider wire and fire line and power pro has been the best so far. I will try 50 lb. I didn't even think about it digging into the spool while flipping! Thanks again!

Private water bass are so snooty.... Always looking down on the public water bass.... No, they don't behave differently per se.... but receiving little or no fishing pressure should make them much easier to catch with conventional methods.

^Self contradiction

What water??? Depth. Anyway, I would go with moving baits like lipless cranks, regular cranks, spinner/chatterbait. Cover plenty of water until you find aggressive fish. Don't forget about the almighty JIG!!!!

One of my favorite pics....just a beautiful Jersey largie!!!