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what didnt you like about the rod? In my opinion, it has a very whippy tip with poor recovery, a very slow action, inadaquate backbone, poor sensitivity, and I didn't like the way it balanced and felt with a Revo mounted on it. But if it works for you, go with it. I think the fast action ones would make for decent rods for moving lures where sensitivity is not critical, like buzzbaits and spinnerbaits fished on or near the surface.

Right on the button.

I was waiting for that. ;D ;D ;D

Hey thanks again for that link Roadwarrior. I was practicing tying those Alberto Knots the other day while the NFL Draft was on. I like it better than the Double Uni becasue it has a smaller profile, although it's not as easy to tie.

I find braided line with a fluoro leader to be a cheaper alternative than straight fluoro because braid doesn't need to be respooled as often as nylon lines generally do.

I've never fished with them, but I hated them from the second I picked one up in the store and put a STX on it while shopping for cranking sticks. I wouldn't recommend these to anyone for more than $50. You can make much better use of that $80 in the flea markets on this site or others, or with a new St. Croix Premier for $100.

You can find them online for $95 and $145. I would pay the extra 50 personally and go with the Curado E7.

Mine was my PB smallie, 6 lb. 1 oz scaled. It was caught when I was about 15 years old, just a mile away from home while my bike was chained to a tree in the woods. It was August 1998 I think, and I was moving away from shorefishing with livebait rigs and getting into wet wading and flyfishing. I was scouting out what would become my personal playground for the next decade until I was able to afford and store a fiberglass rig, the Beaver Islands on the Mississippi River in St. Cloud. I had just picked up flyfishing for bass that Summer and was also learning how to tie deerhair bassbugs. I was using my first bassbug that I tied that I was actually happy with, a bulky 7" white and olive Dahlberg Diver with red and gold tinsel. This added to the appeal of the fish, for sure. The bass was in a deep, slow eddy and sandy boulder field area that was just out of the main channel current. This area had been yielding nice SMB and walleyes and I began and ended most wading trips there. My PB walleye, a 31" fish that I didn't weigh, also came from that same stretch on a jerkbait a few years later. I still can't believe the smallie didn't saw me off because it kept running into those boulders over and over again for at least a few minutes. I could feel the line grinding on those pitted granite boulders. I lucked out. My tapered leader snapped on a dink maybe an hour later. I wish I had taken a pic of that nice looking dark smallie, but I didn't have one at 15, and likely wouldn't have carried it anyway because of the risk of getting it wet. Slipping and falling was all too common in those years before purchasing my first pair of felt bottomed boots. haha

Nice add Crestliner2008. That would fit perfectly on the back seat post, and for those who rarely take fish pics like myself, the cost is only $3. I take lake pictures all the time and make them desktops and screensavers. I've been considering a tripod for the boat.

I determine sensitivity in the store by very lightly scraping the tip guide on the stores carpet or on a knot on the wooden floor. I have yet to find a more accurate way to judge a rods sensitivity without actually fishing with it. I prefer this over putting it on someone's throat or on a cellphone set to vibrate. While doing this, you should also flex the rod firmly against the floor and quickly lift it and hold it still, watching how fast the tip recovers and stops moving. If the rod is whippy and the tip doesn't recover very quickly, put it back on the shelf because it's junk. Along with judging the weight and balance of the rod with the reel on, these two quick little tests are the best way to compare rod quality in the store.

That's really helpful. :-/ A crisp rod will help quite a bit. Getting a feel for smoothly loading the rod on the cast is important, too. Thats done easily with little heavier lure and a slow, sidearm, two handed cast. It takes a long time to get completely comfortable with baitcasting equipment, but even then it will happen occasionally.

Your local rod builders can take of that for you. For me it's $10 for the Fuji tip guide, $15 for the others.

60% mono backing, 40% braid. So about 50 yards I'd say.

That's slightly under the going rate it seems. http://www.***.com/Kistler_Helium_LTA_Spinning_Rods/descpage-KLTS1.html

Thats a great deal on those if you buy enough to dilute the shipping costs. Anybody looking for panfishing jigs should give those tinsel jigs a try. They're really nice.

I'm accurate up to about 30', after that I'm not nearly as accurate and I have a hard time keeping the bait close to the water on the pitch so the entry is not as subtle, which defeats the purpose of pitching. Past 30-35', I feel I'm better off with a gentle roll cast or a skip.

1st three: Watermelon/red and black flake Black/blue flake Green pumpkin/black flake 2nd three: Junebug Black/red flake White

Senkos or tubes skipped under docks.

You can't go for reaction strikes with swimbaits nearly as well as you can with jigs and T-rigs. For that reason, jigs and soft plastics will always be at or near the top of the list, IMO.

I'm surprised that they slow the descent that much. I'm excited to give them a try this year.

2" Tiny Paca Chunks.

Punching with the standard 1-2 oz weights is overkill in the Upper Midwest, but there are plenty of opportunities arounds the pads, milfoil, and coontail for punching with 1/2 and 3/4 oz weights, which more often than not, will match up just fine with standard MH and H power worm/jig, toad, and frog equipment. That's the point I was trying to get across, you'll never need a mag-heavy set up with a 1-2oz on it. Honestly, 1/2oz-3/4oz is more than enough Gotcha. 8-)

You could weight it a little around the front hook or a little behind it. Not enough to make it suspend, but enough to punch thru the wind better.

This would be a nice little setup to get started with. Not many people use dry or wet flies, and you don't see many streamers either. Many of the flies you'll likely be using for bass will be deer hair bass bugs, rabbit strip divers and cork popper, so sensitivity is not crucial with topwater flies. I own 2 of the Avid fly rods, and they are nice, but expensive. These St. Croix Triumph rods are a great starting point, and they're discontinued and cheap. I've used them before in two sizes. The would recommend the 9' 8 wt, 2 piece, but it's sold out. There is a great bargain on the 4 piece. 908-4: http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=&id=0044052320007a&navCount=0&podId=0044052&parentId=&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=9IS&rid=&parentType=&indexId=&cmCat=netcon&cm_ven=netcon&cm_cat=Google&cm_pla=st%20croix%20fly%20rod%20combos&cm_ite=netcon&rid=2146251080&hasJS=true The place many people skimp on is the line. Thats a big mistake, especially in hotter climates, because cheap line gets sticky in the heat and doesn't shoot on the cast very well. Treat it well and it will last a long time. The combo I linked comes with some Cabelas line, which is pretty decent stuff. He's my favorite line for bass bugs. http://anglerhangout.com/product/1/1543/Discounted-Cortland-444-Series-Tropic-Plus-Redfish-Fly-Line-On-Sale.html

I use a 7' 6" ML/F spinning outfit. Delaware Valley Tackle's suggestion is a good one.