catchnm

Be careful with those "strippers". I hear they're all over down there in Florida but most aren't worth catching. ;D

In 1991 my lovely wife surprised me by booking a trip with a guide at Lake Fork. During the weeks leading up to the trip I spoke several times with the guide about baits and equipment. This was going to be on my birthday weekend, the second weekend in April. The guide kept telling to be sure and bring Slug-Gos and Chatterbaits if I brought nothing else. I had never heard of either. Never did find any of the Chatterbaits, which I know now was basically a slug-go with a rattle chamber and rattle added, but I did get a few bags of Slug-Gos. Didn't know anything about how to rig them or fish them, but off I went to Lake Fork with them in the box. When I arrived and met with the guide he rigged up a 6" Alewife colored one for me at the dock. The first place we went to was an area just west and south of the south dam. He said just throw it out, let it sink to bottom and then twitch and let it sink again. Do that all the way back to the boat, they'll hit it on the fall. On about the third cast I buried the hook into a nice solid 6 pound fish, biggest of the day.....sadly, I was dreaming of BIGGER. But all total I caught several nice ones on the bait that day and have had some in my box/bag ever since. The last time I threw a Slug-Go was on a donkey rig and landed a few good fish then too. Ought to throw them more I guess, I've got about 50 in assorted sizes and colors. I recently received a sampler pack of the 3" size from Lunker City when I ordered some Fin-S-Fish. They look awesome and would be great on a drop-shot rig. Slug-Gos are still made and are pretty hot baits still. Check them out at Lunker City's website.

The Supreme is a great reel. Has a faster gear ratio than the President, weighs less, runs smoother, I love my 8030MG. It handles 3-5 lb. bass with no problems. YoZuri Hybrid Ultra Soft 6lb., 12 lb. breaking strength....perfect setup on a 7' med. action Quantum rod.

Man you got that right. I don't think there's any plastic that I've tried on a shaky head that hasn't got bit. Right now senko style baits are working for me. Bottom shaking or swim shaking, either is working. I've also had great results using craw chunk trailers. Paca Chunk, Rage Chunk, Chigger Chunk, all produce.

;D Absolutely Shaner.....absolutely.

Daiwa Exceler 4.9:1 $79.99, Pflueger Trion 3WLPCR 5.2:1 around $100, or the PQ is a good choice as well.

.RM. Thanks for that post. Very informative.

Thanks for the advice on the TAS rods. Food for thought.

I jumped on the St. Croix Premier 7' MH that was in the flea market, Got a Kistler Carbon Steel 7' Med. off Ebay for a great price, now I need one more 7' med. to finish out my intentions. I'm looking at a Quantum QEC705F Energy PT, a Browning Midas MI70MT, Fenwick HMXT70M-F Triggerstick, or another Kistler. The Kistler is a Magnesium MGAPSMH69 6'9". Of these four the Kistler would be the more expensive and a little above my budget but I think I could swing it. I've heard great things about the Midas rods, this is one of the later BPS models, and how they are close to a Johnny Morris Elite in sensitivity and strength. Serious opinions on all four please.

How would the Kistler Carbon Steel be for what I'm needing? Or the St. Croix Triumph....same blank as the Premiers? I've also been looking at the Team All Star and ASR rods.

I'm interested in purchasing 3 full cork handled rods. These will be used with YoZuri Hybrid line. I am interested in 7' length, blank exposed reel seats, SENSITIVITY is a must. Medium to Medium Heavy fast action. Will be used for plastics, and jigs of all sorts and styles including but not exclusively, shaky heads, c-rigs, tex-rigs, swim jigs. What brands/rods should I most consider?

Sounds like it should be working for ya then. I don't let mine fall on a slack line like jig or worm fishing. I keep taut line contact with the lure at all times.

Vertical jigging. The Little George was designed to be a 'yo-yo' bait. Cast it out, let it sink, then "pump" it back to you using your rod and then reel.

The reels are great! Keep it lubed though. The rods are IM-6 graphite and some are two-piece. Probably pretty sensitive and would be alright for moving baits. But if jigs, Tex-rigged plastics, or C-rigs are your thing then I would recommend a more sensitive rod.

I've fished it with Senkos, Slug-Go's, Fin-S-Fish, Bass Assassins, Fluke Jr., and Super Fluke. Twist is an issue but with the top swivel floating up and down the line it's an easy and quick fix. The Senkos drop further quicker but the Slug-Gos drop the fastest. I let either of these hit bottom and then start a slow twitch, twitch, pause cadence. Fish hit on the pauses usually. Fluke types will settle real lightly on top of bass grass beds and not bury into them. It's a great rig and gets fished a lot on my boat.

He calls it a double Zulu, but it's a "donkey rig" alright. I use Super Flukes for mine. Rig 'em the same way using a 4/0 EWG hook. Doubles are not only possible but probable. http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=8F21Ss3moZU&feature=related

Just the ones that get away......they grow rapidly. ;D

That's my intentions Dozer, thanks. I've been using the polomar exclusively for many years. I have noticed that the fluro coating on the YoZuri caused a little bit of slipping in the knot when under the pressure of landing a good fish so I started leaving about a 1/2 inch tag, will do the same on the braid. I don't plan on using a leader at this time.

Yes sir, I have 4 of them. I'm going to remove the line form one and use the braid on it. I've been using YoZuri Ultra Soft for a couple of years now and have had to 'lighten" the hook set while using it. Transitioning to the braid's lack of stretch will not be that hard. The thing that concerns me the most about using braid is the knot strength/slippage.

Ordered a reel and it came with a free spool of Berkley Fireline Braid. So now I can try some braid without being out any expense. When I started a thread about this a few weeks ago, the Fireline braid came highly recommended. The only question now is which reel.....Citica 200E, or TrionLP? I've never used braid before so this should be quite interesting. I intend to use it for a jig/T-rig setup on a 6'6" MH Techna AV rod.

http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/products/products.php?p=4 I now have three of the old style narrow spool versions (great model closeout sales) and one wide spool cranking version. The wide spool versions are a bit bulky but the narrow spooled ones are on the money for my hands.

OK great guys. What about sensitivity.....compared to ????....you fill in the blank.

Opinions? Look to be a nice sub-$100 rod. Do they have reel seats with the blank exposed? What is SCII graphite?

http://www.fishusa.com/tackleshop/multi_view.asp?ProductFamilyID={03DB3C45-D340-4DE7-BBAC-C1D934D3B9EB}\ I'm liking it.

I've got three of the newer Classics and they are definitely rock solid and sensitive. I figured to step up to the IM10 rods hoping they would be more sensitive. Most of my fishing is slow with plastics rigged a number of different ways so I want to feel the most subtle pick up.