JacobK

Thanks, she actually dropped a majority of them before & right when i landed her. but i managed to get a few. I saw a few guys using centerpin rigs, but i cant justify one for the small crowded river that I fish, we simply just can't drift that far. I'm planning a custom rod in the 10' range and a stradic ci4 3000 though! that way the ci4 can see double duty for bass too. do you guys prefer stouter rods or wet noodles? I think I'm gonna have my custom rod built like a bass rod, i'm not too keen on the light actions. ;D

Rods: Daiwa & a select few Loomis Reels: Daiwa casting & Shimano for spinning Line: Sufix and Seagaur Hardbaits: Strike King, Sebile & Yozuri Plastics: Strike King, GYCB, Roboworm Storage: Plano/Falcon trays, inside a Shimano boat bag.

I use the Shimano Boat bag, It fits a huge plano that fits all of my soft plastic bags (maybe 50 bags+?), 3 plano 3700 boxes and a FTO 700 jig box. plus it's pretty much waterproof. http://www.***.com/Shimano_Banar_Boat_Bag_Medium/descpage-SHBB.html

sensitivity plays a huge part in jig fishing, get the best you can afford! go used if you have to.

Well lets start off with a bit of a story. I never fish river systems at all in MI because we're blessed to have so many lakes. I never intended to start Steelhead fishing but the cabin fever started to get a hold of me & bass season doesn't open for a few months. A buddy of mine offered to show me the ropes for a few hours in the morning before he went to work and i took the offer. I met him up at the local river and he showed me how to set up a float rig and gave me a few lures. He fished with me for a bit until he had to go to work but we didn't catch anything. I hooked one after my buddy left to go to work and it came off to my disappointment > :(. Not knowing how to fish a river & casting randomly without a purpose PLUS losing my first steelhead wasn't much fun so I went home and researched a bunch, stocked up on a few lures from BPS and went back the next day with confidence! Well whattya know, all that research done gone and paid off, on the 3rd cast I hooked one & off she went! The fish took me down stream about 50-75 yards & I fought it for a good 20 minutes before it got into the net! It had to be the most intense 20 minutes of my life! I was floating a powerbait trout worm with a 6lb fluorocarbon leader with 40lb power pro as a main line. Well enough talk, heres the pictures! my first steelhead, a 27" hen. 1st Steelhead by J.Kue, on Flickr

To tell you the truth, it's all personal preference! Just take the suggestions that you've gotten here and try to test them out in person before you buy.

i love my roboworms!

stradic ci4 3000 & cumara 7ft med xf?

cumara and ci4 or fuego and fuego

I say guido craw for the orange one. (referring to jersey shore orange tans!) ;D

what size hornet/live shad do you fish?

When I use traps they're predominately being ripped from grass. That being said last season I tried #12 yozuri and #12 flourocarbon, both were still a bit too stretchy with a limber rod so this season I'm gonna try a stouter rod with #12 flourocarbon & if that's still too much stretch, I'll go with braid. I was using a 7ft MH MF carrot crankin stix last year, this year I went with the loomis 7ft MH MF Crankin' rod.

I really enjoyed my carrot stix! I never had any breakage or guide issues either. The only problem is I hate the orange.

the mix of random plastics/rubber could've caused the rubber band to deteriorate. kinda like mixing strike king elaztec/3x with other plastics.

personally i would wait it out for them to be 50% off to stock up. the baits work pretty well, i flip the hawg and use the monkey as a jig trailer. i have enough rage products & coffee tubes from the last sale to last me 2 seasons. ;D

Theres a ton of shimano fan boys here (and i literally mean boys) so you're going to get an extremely biased opinion. I've owned both and fished them for about a season and a half. I'm not a huge fan of shimano's braking system but it never gave me any trouble. Distance wise they both can cast a heavy lure a country mile! and in my personal opinion they both suck with the lighter baits! As for durability I have two friends one fishes nothing but revos and the other guy has nothing but currados and to be honest neither is too kind to their gear. Both the reels are mechanically fine but the finish on the revo seems to go faster than the currados! It's seriously just a personal opinion on which reel/reel seat combo fits your hand better. If you end up ordering from ABO, he's a local in the area and a real cool guy!

I asked this question last year with no results lol! Just google it, there are reviews on other forums where it's more popular.

practice, practice, practice! it's just like any sport, it doesn't happen overnight. (although i wish it did!)

he definitely has the best costumer service! we should have a sticky for DVT reviews!

You can skip almost anything! I usually skip soft plastics like senkos or jigs even spro frogs under docks, laydowns etc.

cocaine shad

DVT is definitely legit, and extremely trustworthy/honest! He's got my business forever!

they're nice jigs! i fish the casting one in 3/8 & 1//2 oz sizes. quite convenient when you need a heavy weight but small profile.

one of my best decisions was to start using a baitcaster. use a heavy lure/casting plug if you're just starting out. 3/8oz and up and avoid the wind. also your settings will play a major roll in how well you do.

Never lost a fish on my lipless cranks last year! & I never changed a hook.