The Rooster

Looks like a Matzuo or one of the BPS or Cabela's branded baits. You can see why I thought Matzuo...........http://www.matzuo.com/AsaiShad.aspx

This was my first thought also but didn't know for sure. I just reasoned it but I tend to second guess myself on bait selections a lot.

I once had the 777 also, but I found it way too small. I went back to a bag with utility boxes. I used to keep my plastics in a zip up pocket on the side of this bag. Then I went to two pockets. Finally went to a separate bag just for plastics and filled the newly emptied pockets with more utility boxes. In fairness, I'm a tackle junkie and I regularly rendezvous with the bait monkey. Most people never need the amount of tackle I have, not even tournament guys. But I've met some that are FAR worse than me. Saw a boat once heading into a local tournament and they must have had at least 6 or 7 of those extra large plastic boxes similar to the 777 on board. Anyway, if plastics are your main thing then I doubt any suit case style box will do it for you. They're made more for plug style lures than anything else. They're large but I think it's a lot of wasted space. There's room for a little bit of each thing but not a lot of any one type of bait (said the guy who has 45 spinnerbaits and felt restricted to have to carry only 20 or so in my old 777 so take my advice with a grain of salt). I think a tackle bag is the best solution, even for all 45 of my spinnerbaits. They fit in a Plano 3730. Nice and compact and twice the cargo capacity. Saves the outer pockets for plastics (about 30 bags, or more utility boxes for 37 jerkbaits, or 60+ crankbaits, or 80+ roostertails, hey I told you I'm a tackle junkie)!

I get more on my casting reels but the baits are heavier so that's probably why. Spinning, I'm at about 40 to 80 feet as max distances, depending on what I throw, which is nothing over 1/4 oz. mostly. Casting, I'm at about 80 to 125 feet, depending on the lure weights. I know this because I marked off my back yard in 10 foot increments up to 120 feet and practice casted different baits. My best was 125 feet with a 1/4 oz rated spinnerbait on a 6' rod. My worst was 40 feet with a 7" zoom U-tale worm on a 3/0 hook and no weights. I hit 40 feet on casting and spinning gear, both. Might be time to do this again with my new rods, they're all longer now.

Is there any noise made when this happens, like a mechanical clicking sound like something stripped? Or is it just line noise from the backlash?

There are several ways it might happen, and I believe they've already figured out what is going on here, but I'll explain some stuff to you for further clarity. 1. Drag is extremely loose. This sometimes will let you still reel a bait depending on how loose it is, but on a strike and a hookset the drag slips a lot and causes a backlash. This is easy to check for and eliminate. Just tighten it. 2. Spool shaft pin is not engaging the pinion gear correctly. This would be mechanical problems and since the same thing happened on two different reels it's unlikely unless both were previously taken apart and reassembled wrong or there is damage to one or both parts, in both reels. 3. Pinion gear not engaging the drive gear correctly. Same as above. 4. Anti-reverse bearing failing. Also same as above. If this is the case then you would see the handle spin backwards on the hookset and backlash since all the other previously mentioned parts would be engaged correctly. This would be a great case for Shimano's assist stopper anti-reverse, which kicks in if the primary AR bearing fails, and could save an otherwise lost fish. You can also check for this by turning the handle backwards and see if it locks. Almost all reels today will not allow the handles to turn in reverse due to having an AR bearing. If it's over lubricated, this can happen. Has he oiled it recently? Again, the handle would turn backwards if this happened. If the reel has a ratchet type anti-reverse then it will turn backwards for a short space and then stop, unless this has failed. That's how you will know. But I'd say that somehow your friend hit the spool release when he set the hook. That's most likely.

He didn't say they were identical, he said they had identical stats, meaning the same power and action ratings, but he was talking about two different length rods rated the same otherwise. That's what I got from it. It's like, say two rods rated as MH/F, but one being longer than the other, then the longer one usually has the most backbone. I've observed this myself, but it also has been with two rods from the same manufacturer as well when I've seen it. For a long time when my rod shopping was limited to just a few places, this was almost always the case. Now that I get around a bit more and can travel to BPS and Cabela's and other big name places for rods, I've also seen it go the other way as well, where the shorter rod had more backbone than the same exact rated rod in a longer length.

There are hundreds of versions of chartreuse also. On those I just pick the ones I like best. On the chrome I'm leaning towards the blue, I just like it better. Honestly, I figure a lot of times color isn't nearly as important as we think. But sometimes it is. Just wondered how you all went on this particular choice.

I know of a strip mine pond that's deep, clear, and blue, even when the nearby lake (100 yards away) is coffee and cream brown. It has at least 5 pound bass swimming around in it, and I'd bet there's at least a few heavier than that. But these fish shut down immediately if they see you coming. And I've been there before when I started to crest the hill coming upon the pond and witnessed a very large school of sunfish on the surface all dive to the depths at once when my head came just up enough I could see them. I was still 25 yards away from the pond's edge but I know they saw me and reacted to my presence. When this happens you just have to get to your spot, sit down and give it some time, all while out of sight of water. We used to try to go in before sunrise to get there so the fish didn't see us coming. I've been to this place as early as 4 a.m. before. Nearly the only way to catch fish is to cast into the water from a sitting in the dirt position completely hidden from view of the water. The pond is down in a hole so it's not hard to stay out of sight if you just sit down a few feet back from the edge. You just cast and watch for your line to run. Most times you must use live bait as well but I've snuck Plastic worms in before, too, and had luck. Just a bunch of 1 pound spotted bass is all that will hit it. The 5 pounders have no interest at all. One thing that helps for hiding, but makes landing a fish a pain is that the pond is down in a hole about 6 feet below where you stand to cast. The pond is pretty long in shape but only a solid cast width across, and as best I could tell is nearly 30 feet deep in spots. Water is accessible to walk down to on each end only but cat tails grow so high you can't really fish from there. The opposite side is a shear cliff face going up about 50 feet, so you really only have just the one long side to fish from. There's not too much trouble from low hanging trees but brush is thick here so it's just hard in general to fish it. It's been many years now since I went there. I used to keep it in mind as a reserve spot for after a hard rain and my lakes were muddy. This pond is always clear. Not even murky, just super clear. It's been so long since I was there last that it might be overgrown now. Walking up to the pond from the car was a, not long, but seemingly so anyway, 5 minute trek through the woods and up a hill with chest high brush, burrs, briars, weeds, and more than once I saw a snake on the way up, too. I never caught any real quality fish there, but every time I ever went, and every time I took friends, we all each thought that would be the time someone caught a big one from it.

If you're in Lexington, KY as your profile says, what about Sportsman's Warehouse, or Backwaters (local place my bro-in-law goes)? My best suggestion is a medium heavy rod with a fast tip that handles lures from 1/4 oz. up to 1 oz. what rod that is, I don't know.

I guess every crankbait maker makes their baits in both chrome black and chrome blue. If you have one, do you really need the other?

It might, but you'd have to know that it was just because of the vibration. It could have been the rattle, profile, retrieve cadence, or anything.

I fish square bills through timber also. I don't get hung up that often either, just let the bait impact the wood, wait a second for it to float up and away and then start cranking again. Spinnerbaits can come through this same cover a little faster though, and, of course, without as many hang ups. Also a spinnerbait is easier to attach a trailer to. You can let spinnerbaits helicopter down near cover, fish them over grass beds and let them drop into holes as you pass over them. Crankbaits can't do this. Spinnerbaits also come through grass easier being more weedless. You can cast a crankbait out and let it sit on top of the water in one spot before starting the retrieve, pull it below the surface for a few feet and then let it pop back up. Spinnerbaits can't do that. So each has its advantage. Then there are places where each one would work just the same if it's just about vibration and passing by a piece of cover where a bass may be hiding. By the way, that bass in my avatar was caught on a little square bill Bandit 100 I casted out and just let float with the creek current on top of the water. This could have just as easily been a topwater, but definitely not a spinnerbait.

Every rod I use is 6'6" regardless of technique or cover being fished. I just change power and action according to what I'm doing but the length is purely based on comfort, ease of cast ability, distance of cast, and accuracy of cast. 6'6" provides a good balance of all that for me.

I haven't used the Bionic but I handled it at BPS recently and I really liked it. Of course, me being me, as soon as I got it I'd order bearings to fill in where all the bushings are and have it become a 9 bearing reel which would kill most of the savings you realized by going with it over the Revo. That's me though. But it does seem well made, and I'd probably prefer it's braking over the pitch centrifugal in the Revo.

Alright, I'm going to try some lighter line on it then. Thanks guys. I actually used to loosen my drag the same way with treble baits. It definitely worked, and was the little trick that I used to get the bass in my avatar on the second strike after tearing it off the first time. I have a crank rod now, but I like the action I get from jerkbaits on the Shimano rod better so I use it. I could back my drag off some, I know, but I'm actually more interested in making this cast rod work for spinning rod techniques so I'll just try lighter line and see what happens.

For a solid spinning reel that's below the $50 mark, a Pflueger Trion GX-7 is where it's at. I've had some line twist with it, but in fairness I do use Roostertails tied straight to the line with no swivels, ever. This will twist line, but I don't like swivels on those baits so I just live with it. Otherwise this reel has held up for 5 years now with no issues for fish after fish. This reel is still being sold at $40. It's basically a President without the handle knob bearings and $20 cheaper.

I have a Shimano Compre M/F rod, it's one of the older full cork handle rods. It's rated at 8 - 17 pound line. I have a Citica E on it now with 12 pound Berkley Sensations line, and I usually use this combo for soft jerkbaits and Texas rigged worms of about 7" with no more than 1/4 oz. weights. It works well for that. In the past I've also used it for 1/4 oz. crankbaits and jerkbaits with treble hooks and it works somewhat well for that but I'd say about half the time I don't get a good hookset with treble baits on this rod so I lose the fish. I think I'm just tearing them out instead of setting it right. So, to keep this rod's use from being so limited, I'm wondering about downsizing the line to 10 pound, or even 8 pound, so I could actually use it for some of the applications I might otherwise use a spinning rod on. Things like shaky heads, weightless plastic worms to let free fall near cover, smaller spoons, drop shot and split shot rigs, and so on. I normally think of some of those rigs as being light line, like shaky heads, I normally fish them on a spinning rod with 8 pound line. My thinking is, this is a medium rod, like a medium spinning rod but with a bit more backbone. Lately I've been thinking of getting a spinning rod that's just a bit stiffer than my current one, to help my shaky head technique. This might save me doing that. Also, I could still do the soft jerkbaits and Texas rigs with it (maybe not quite as heavy as now but I have other MH/F rods for that anyway). With lighter line, I know I'd introduce just a little stretch factor into it which might help in not pulling a treble hook jerkbait from the fish's mouth so easily. So, basically, I think downsizing the line would help this rod become more versatile. I'm already well covered on the heavier side with a MH/F and a H/F for larger plastics rigs, spinnerbaits, and other things. I also have another MH/MF for crankbaits, and even another rod for deep cranks. So the Citica/Compre combo could go lighter and it would be ok. It isn't covering something now that isn't already covered elsewhere in my arsenal anyway. What I'd like to know is how well a Citica handles line below 10 pound? It's actually rated to hold 10, but with 8 it might be too light and cause issues. Could it? Also, I've tried throwing just a weightless Zoom U-tale worm on a EWG 3/0 hook with it and only got about 40 feet max, sometimes less, but that was with 12 pound. With 8 pound, could this be any better, or would it even make a difference?

Got two new rods. Looking forward to hooking some nice bass on them. Plus I want another crack at that big one that got away last fall on m last fishing trip of the year.

No sales tax? I'd be in trouble, too.

3600 sized boxes are 11 x 7.25 x 1.75". Measure and see. There is a thin version of this box as well if you need it. I use an empty tackle bag for my plastics. I got the Plano bag with four 3650 boxes during the classic sale. Paid $20. It was a steal for that. I put all the boxes in my current tackle bag to allow room to expand my hard baits and used the empty bag to hold all my plastics. I don't just carry a few of each plastic bait. I keep them in their original zip lock sacks and carry the whole bags. I have too many for just another utility box to hold them, or put a few sacks in a pocket on the bag. So I just made another smaller tackle bag and store them all in it.

I fish the Ohio river here where I live and I catch bass on Roostertails. Sizes 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, and 3/8. They're all productive but my favorites are the heavier ones for distance casting from shore and to help sink in the current here. I fish below a dam where the current can be swift but I also fish a lot of the river above the dam where there isn't much current at all and I still usually throw a 1/4 oz then, too. Colors are firetiger, white of any kind, and chartreuse. I'm sure others work too, but those are my best. Also, some lipless crankbaits are needed too. Various colors, silver, chrome, chartreuse, white.

I've never paid more than $100 for a rod and I bought just two of those. They were the older, full cork handle Shimano Compre rods. They are nice though. I've had no trouble sensing the bottom and all its details through them. I'll get back to you on another rod though later in the year for one that's less than the $100 range, since your original posts seemed you might be interested in rods covering a broad range of price points. If you're looking for a decent budget rod, I recently bought two Cabela's Tourney Trail rods, retailing at $65 but with sale prices can be as low as $45, which is what I paid. Rods in this range aren't known for sensitivity but these do have some potential. One was just a crankbait rod but the other was bought as a heavy power, fast action for heavier jigs and plastics rigs. I haven't fished them yet, but here at home while dragging a spinnerbait slowly across the hardwood floor, I could feel the little bumps from the wood grain as the bait crossed them. That's a fair indication to me that the rod and line choice (Berkley Sensations) together might be a good one. On a side note, since this rod is the heaviest powered rod I've owned to date, and has a model number of 666, I've been referring to it as "The Devil's Sword". Haha.

On lures that have a split ring, can't you just tie to the same loop that the split ring itself is on, and bypass the split ring this way, to achieve the effect of not having it on there? Or would the split ring being loose next to the knot maybe cause it to fail somehow, especially since the gapped part might hook the line and fray it?

Zoom plastics come in more than just a few. As many as 20 for worms, and at least 9 lizards. What kind of bait profiles are you looking for?