kikstand454

C-rig is great! Research it. Use your favorite plastic. Catch fish!

A kayak! Lol. Try to launch a heavy jig or c-rig out into the deep water and cross your fingers.

You don't NECESSARILY need a depthfinder to fish deeper. Next time you go and shallow bite is non existant, find a main lake point and drag a jig, t-rig or better yet a c-rig down the point's slope. Start up shallow and gradually work your way out to deeper water. Count the time it takes your bait to hit the bottom and use that as a depth gauge. If you start catching fish when you throw to a 6count of water and they hit half way back to the boat. ... then you're looking for points and cover in 10 count water. Just an idea. Good luck next time!

If you're going to try and use it with as many techniques as possible, then I would suggest the 7'3 MH. It will have that slight bit more of "give" that you will want for cranks and spinnerbaits etc. It will also easily handle all your bottom presentations, and will work as a frog/toad rod too In moderate cover. IME - I only feel the need for a HEAVY action rod in HEAVY cover ie: matted vegetation fishing-pitching, flipping,punching, frogs etc. I own neither rod, but they are both highly regarded. That's the length and action I would choose though using your parameters.

I'd be using it for spinnerbaits, chatters, and swimjigs. Topwaters too!

If you have a dicks sporting goods nearby, try and see if they are still having a closeout sale in your area. I recently got $450 worth of Abu Garcia veritas rods for $160. 7 mh with a fast tip will do alot of things for you, rigged up with 30 or 50 lb braid. For a reel, you can find good deals online for high end reels used, or, the bass pro shops pro qualifier, or the daiwa tatula are good <$100 reels.

I need to make a Walmart run then. ....

I think if you replaced your line with 30# braid it would help tremendously. But then you have to decide if braid is what you want to use for other presentations if you have only one rod. That's your call- lots of people do it. The lack of stretch will make up the difference in the medium rods flex. Its added toughness will help ensure you get the fish in once you hook it. That's the cheapest/easiest solution. The expensive solution is obviously to buy a "frog" or more appropriately maybe a "slop" specific rod that is 7' MHF. And even better if you can go with a baitcaster set up. Though plenty of people do just fine with spinners. This would allow you the proper set up ( with aforementioned braid) to throw frogs, toads, buzzbaits, etc into heavy cover with a decent chance of success with good sized fish. Congrats on the frog bite! Exciting huh? !

The c-rig bite is generally either a bump then weightlessness, or a solid tug from the fish moving off with the lure. Its pretty easily discerned from bumping cover. You will lose rigs to snags just like any good technique, but they can be minimized by paying extra attention to what is going on on the end of the line, the old " bow and arrow" trick, and a lure retriever. Its a numbers technique for sure, but we catch PLENTY of big ones on the c-rig.... believe that!

I fish the c-rig. ....alot. Any soft plastic will do ( as will other things like mentioned above. ..) but day in and day out I catch ALOT more fish on a zoom trick worm. Black is my go to- watermelon/red flake, and watermelon/chart tail my second choices. Based on water clarity of course. Cast out and slowly drag your bait back to you with 2-3 ft sweeps of the rod sideways. Don't make too big of a sweep or you will be twisted and out of position to set the hook. Every occasionally, you can make the same sweep in an upward motion to hop the lead and give the lure some irradiation action. This also makes more noise on your lead/bead combo. But the goal is to stay in contact with the bottom, so hopping it to much is counter productive. To stay focused, feel the feedback and try to imagine the bottom. Picture the dips and humps and what kind of bottom is there. If you hit any cover, pause and then shake a bit. Continue on. Most bites are going to be when you make contact with trash on the bottom, be it wood or rock. Good luck, its a fun way to catch alot of fish and an EXCELLENT way to learn the bottom composition of your spots.

Flip your braid. Change your mono and flouro. Call it a day.

In before the lockout. I think while MB could've got his point across better. ...it is a valid point to ponder. Maybe we all need to step back and think about the issue. I spent $160 ( of money I don't really have, on rods I don't really need) last week and barely batted an eye. I stared at the tungsten price on the auction site for 10 full minutes before I hit the buy now button yesterday. What kind of sense does that make?

I'm interested in this also. Ill be in Melbourne for Xmas and want to make a run south and try to catch a peacock bass. Ft Lauderdale is closer (safer for someone who doesn't know where they're going? ) and knowing a specific body of water would be nice too.

^^^^^ while I agree that the pros certainly fish with free reels and promote whoever is paying them the most - by the same token I'm sure they don't feel confident putting their career on the line trusting cheap junk. Pros need to stay relevent to stay sponsored, and if they feel their gear will let them down when it counts- well I imagine they wouldn't want to be involved with it. No matter how much they're getting sponsored. Of course they over hype and over exaggerate the quality of the stuff they're pushing- that's their job. But I think there has to be a level of confidence and trust in the product for them to physically use it when there's $100k on the line. One reel failure at the wrong time could be disastrous for an entire career. I'm sure that's taken into consideration.

#12 is fine- until it isn't. Only you can make that decision. PERSONALLY- if I were going to use #12 for the things you described, I'd be using a copoly like yozuri hybrid instead of mono. Its has a much higher tensile strength and less stretch. Fish what you have until you decide its not working FOR YOU. Then make a switch. Good luck!

I get two of the Walmart coolerbags for $2 and put one inside the other. I put some ice in the outside bag , and some on the inside. Put your fish in the inside bag. The outside one insulates it in the summer heat. I put my (frozen) drinks in the outside bag as well. For extra fishy protection, on your way out of Walmart, snag a handful of the umbrella bags and use those to put your fish in and not make your ice fishy. This great set up costs $4. It works awesome for me. EDIT: Similar to this. The Walmart bags are tougher. ....but these work well too. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003LIQJVW?pc_redir=1406126178&robot_redir=1

I LOVE stalking redfish in backwaters with a topwater in my kayak. Their mouths are on the bottom of their face, so they have to try really hard to hit a topwater..... but they do it with a vengeance. Its like someone dropping a bowling ball into the water in front of you! And then.....once they're hooked... they fight like they're 4x bigger! Its just super exciting all around. Many times you will see huge 24" and bigger reds with their backs out of the water they're so shallow. BEST part? I use a 7'mh bass rod with a shimano curado and 15# yozuri hybrid. Favorite lure- bone zara spook one knocker.

I try my best not to fish bedding bass unless I'm in a tournement. They have enough problems. It is fun though. I find patience and a trick worm usually pays off. And knowing which fish are going to bite and which ones aren't. That's the real key I think.

Most of the ones around here start about 8 and end at 12- 1.

Take a piece of PVC, put it in a rodholder on your crate, and jam one of those solar/battery operated yard lights from the dollar tree in the top. Boom. 360° white light for a couple of bucks.

I'm confused as to why the detractors here keep referring to quantums as zebcos. That's like referring shimanos to Bantums isn't it? The departments have parted ways many, many moons ago and aren't related in anyway. Comparing a quantum pt tour edition to a zebco 33 is just. .....I mean. .... that's just. ... I don't even have anything nice I can say about that. Someone else said they couldn't throw a "zebco" all day and catch bass with it. That its not up to the task. What? There seems to be plenty of professionals that do it every day and make alot of money at it in the process. I have lots of quantum reels and I have used them for 6-8years now and never. ....not one time ever. ...had a problem with a single one of them. Ever. From the blue PT tour all the way down to the old old grey accurist- they are solid reels that I still fish with every time I go out. Fresh and salt. All brands have bad reels/ models. Every shimano I have used below a citica is junk. Daiwa? Tons of junk below $150. Low profile Abu that's NOT a revo? ?? Starter reels. Brand loyalty is fine and everyone loves what they love. But outright brand hate is ignorant/pointless . EDIT: All that being said- if you have any quantums you think are zebco junk, especially accurists, energy's , kvd, or tour pros- feel free to contact me on taking them off your hands and disposing of them properly. Ill even pay the shipping.

Best advice....seriously. ...is to go and try out as many as possible. Rent them, go to demo days, join a local forum and ask to borrow/ tag along in as many as you can. Every persons needs/wants are different as is every persons habitat of use. I could go on and on about how the length and speed of my Wilderness Systems Tarpon140 is just awesome for me, but it'd be useless to someone who mostly fishes small waters or rapids. It also doesn't lend itself to standing up! I also have absolutely zero need/desire/love for a sit inside. ....but people up north may have their reasons for wanting one. Research as much as you can online, then demo as much as you can in real life. Don't be afraid of the cheaper big box offerings because here's reality- no matter what you get, after a while in one you're going to either want to upgrade or find you have no interest in continuing. Either way you're not out much. Research the "budget" yaks and pick one that best suits your needs. However- don't forget that as with most things, the gently used market is the beat deal on a true quality yak. I got my $950 tarpon in like new condition with a seat, paddle and life jacket for $400. Demo demo demo. Buying a kayak is one of the best decisions I ever made. Period. Good luck!

Great video....way to catch em up man! Nice to see some flipping on video.

http://www.***.com/Jewel_Bait_Hound_Dog_Lure_Retriever/descpage-JBHDLR.html

Someone start a thread on the perils of winning the powerball so I can read it before this weekend.