Hooligan

I fish them a lot, still. They're such a great bait for many tactics. I use them as is, twitching on the surface, I use them with SuspendStrips on them as a suspending jerkbait when I need something really quiet, I use them as rip baits ticking the tops of grass... The list goes on and on. I use them in a lot of situations and a lot of lakes and locations. All in all, I've caught more outsize brown fish on Rapala Floaters than any other bait.

Let me clarify, too, that they're not my sponsors, but sponsors here at BR.

It's noticeable, to say the least. One of the big things, though, is the weight. Personally, I'd take a Chronarch 51 MG over the Core. I've just got an odd affinity for that little reel.

I've never been one to recommend things, really. I can offer suggestions of actions, suggestions of the way it works, provide someone with information so that they may make their own informed decisions. There are very few things I've recommended, ever, in fishing terms, all three of those are things that have greatly contributed to my success; two of them are sponsors: Rage Tail baits and North Star Custom baits. They're well built, backed by good people, and they're both sponsors here; the fact that I've won quite a bit of money in the past couple years does help in my belief in them. The third is Seaguar Tatsu, I'd recommend it to anyone fishing fluorocarbon because it really is that much better than any other readily available product. But really, my recommendation would mean nothing more than I like the bait, the way it works, and the action it has. It's a frog that has worked for me in several situations since I got them, yet it's still just another tool in my arsenal.

Ha! That's pretty slick. I dig the look of the new Chronarch. Worth every penny, man.

KVD Frog is a decent bait, but it isn't a walking frog. The Koppers is a nice frog, but it has a totally different action and presentation than the Evolve. The Koppers doesn't have a nice wide walk, the KVD won't walk at all. The evolve is a frog built for the specific walking action. It has a nice glide on the swing that pushes a lot of water and creates a big disturbance. It's also got a decent hook. It might look similar to the Koppers, but that's about it. IMO, the SPRO frog is better than the Koppers. The KVD frog has the advantage of having AWESOME hookup percentage. The way the hook is formed outside the body and the points don't come back in at all makes it one of the best hooking frogs out there. The downside is that if it lands upside down, that's the way it is going to stay. It won't right itself and the hooks will then foul in weeds.

As with most baits, they work when the time and conditions dictate. I've caught fish on all of the Koppers cranks in various situations. They all work in the right conditions.

I'll get some pictures when they're posted. We took some with the winning bag this time, too; usually just take one with the check presentation. We both fish Curado/Core/Chronarch on NRX/Cumara for bottom contact. Partner throws either Outlaw or Cumara for reaction baits, and I throw Loomis, St. Croix, Cumara or Lamiglas for reaction baits. Yesterday, I think a lot of my success with keeping fish pinned on the spinnerbait was due to the fact that I was throwing it on a 7' Heavy Cumara Reaction. The softer tip allowed me to put a little more power to the fish to move them out of cover without worrying about ripping hooks out of them. Made a big difference in getting them landed.

Awesome, Red. Way to get the boys on some fish.

We had a tournament on a lake in SC Iowa yesterday, and did pretty good, all things considered. We started the day fishing on top, trying to put five in the box fast, and upgrade from there. A pattern that had been very consistent for the past three weeks, nearly every day. That didn't pan and it was a definite harbinger of what the day was to bear. Both my partner and I know the lake very well, so we thought we were going to be able to recover nicely; it took a bit but we made it work. After spot #1 failed us, we tried another tactic, working a large grass bed that was out of the wind because of a point, but the point still let current in the area. We fished the whole area with nothing coming, a real let down. We moved slightly up the same stretch with an old creek channel and some timber shallow, close to a main channel swing with 30' of water less than 10 yards off shore. Immediately caught two keepers, then had nothing but 10"-13" fish. We knew we could probably sort through to find a limit but the time that it was likely to take doing it would mean that we weren't going to upgrade man, another move in store. We ran down lake to a spot that had fished very well in the past, but we were both leery of it as soon as we see three other boats in the same area. We were pretty sure that they hadn't hit the actual spot, because of its location. Many won't find it except by complete accident. We started working the area with a jig, and within two minutes we had both caught a couple of fish but neither measured. We continued through the area, and I hooked a very nice fish, very easily in the six pound range, got her boat side and we failed to connect on the net. I knew I didn't have her hooked well, and I couldn't move her around the boat because of a tree that was in the way. Win some, lose some but those sorts of big fish hurt when you lose them. We fished through the area for another hour and a half, not a hit, didn't mark any fish on electronics, either. This left us somewhat stumped, because we'd now fished three types of water that traditionally holds better fish this time of year on the lake. We decided to move to another area with a solid amount of structure and cover, thinking that the recent rains may have pushed fish into different water than we'd find them for the usual patterns. Immediately upon moving into the area, we noticed a huge number of suspended fish, with a thermocline at the 14' mark. We knew that that was going to eliminate a lot of the structure in this area because of the depth it was at, but we also thought that it may push the fish up onto flats and points that were above that mark. We first started casting jigs and plastics to the areas we thought likely to hold fish. We connected, but lost them immediately. Not a good sign. Seeing the number of suspended fish we both thought a crank might be just the ticket. I started cranking the area with a Little John MD, and got bit off the bat. I landed four fish, none of them keepers. My partner started throwing a NorthStar 3/4 ounce in Bluegill and started getting bit left and right, but couldn't keep the hooks in them. He jumped off two fish that were well over five, and one that was an easy seven. It was the stuff of nightmares. We continued to fish the area, and I wasn't getting decent fish cranking, so I tied on a Northstar 3/4 in New Gill and went to town. With under two hours left of fishing time, we were talking about making a move, until I landed the first fish out of the area, 5.65. We weren't going anywhere, now. It took all of that time but we eventually landed the remaining fish, and swapped in a couple bigger fish. I was ready to drop the spinnerbait five separate times, and each time was telling myself not to do it. It's a good thing, too, because on the next cast I'd connect. The fish came from a very specific area, with very, very specific depths and structure. We'd initially talked about moving out of the area because of the water clarity, but that is what saved us in the end. The dirty water was what was actually keeping the fish there, and it was keeping the larger fish in pods roaming a small flat between two sets of channels where a point pushed in. It was so specific that you'd fish for 15 minutes or so and not get hit, like they were making a circuit of the area and falling back in and you'd hit another. We lost another big fish at the boat, but caught four that we weighed. In the end we weighed over 17lbs and had two over five. It was enough to give us a first place check, and one of the best lessons we've had about adjusting to change.

How is it misleading? 237 on plastics, 289 on everything else. What's misleading about that? Plastics are an essential tool to have and master, as are crankbaits, spinnerbaits... You get the idea.

Personally, I prefer the Core. I like the design and the way it fits my hands better. I also like the spool and bearings.

Nope, you're right. Should have taken it to a PM from the start; bad advice, misread, misinterpreted, doesn't matter. Bottom l line of the thread is this: You're not crazy to spend more on a reel, but the majority of opinions would say to spend more money on the rod than reel. It's going to be of more benefit. As previously mentioned, there are a lot of rods that are available to match the dollar amount you're wanting to spend.

There's a lot of choice, really. Heck, you could fish Waubesa, Mendota, Monona and have a grand old time. Plus there's actually some pretty classy fishing on all three of them. There are always a few nice reports off of Koshkonong, it's a fun lake for the kids because they have good numbers of good sized panfish. Muskego and Pewaukee wouldn't be bad choices either.

Actually, you don't make mention of combo at all. The $400 range, from the way your response reads is a singular, particularly when followed with "Another $100 rod I like..." And you're right. I switched to casting reels. However all the rods in question are as spinning models in my thought. Simply because I used the Citica upgrade as an example of putting a less expensive reel on a better rod. Team Daiwa Advantage anyone? I paid plenty of attention to the original post.

You'd be fine with a 7:1. I fish swimbaits up to 6" on an E7. There's a minimal difference in power with fish, again, you rely on your rod more for that. When you're chuckin Flat CBd20's and DD22s and Little John Deeps all day, that's when you want to E5.

E7 for what you're doing. You're not encountering a lot of resistance in swimbaits, which is the primary reason many drop to the 5:1. You'll want the 7:1 fishing plastics and other baits, all but the largest of large cranks I fish are on a 7:1.

So, I shouldn't spend $240 on a Cumara and $179 on a Curado? Or $340 on a Dobyns and $280 on a Zillion? Terrible, terrible advice to give. In almost every case, I'll spend more money on the rod. The rod is what matters most, next to your line. The rod is your tool for fighting fish, for putting baits in the right place, and for feeling the bites. It's the second most important connection. Any time I can edge up on rod, and save a little on the reel, I will, so long as I'm still getting quality. I'd seriously consider looking for a reel in the $120-$150 range, and a rod appropriately matched with the difference. You can get a LOT of rod for that $180-$200: The new GL2, the new Crucial, the Duckett, GL3, heck, save a few bucks and get a Cumara or a Falcon Cara. At the range you're talking, there's NO shame in putting a Citica on a rod and upgrading the rod. For YEARS I've fished Citica reels and upgraded bearings and components as needed (which is very rare...I've upgraded most of them just because I could...).

Great buy at $80. Don't let the GL2 scare you. They're a well made, sensitive rod. Are they worth $200" Maybe not, but with what they've done to the actions of the rod, they're going to be competitive again. They'll give a lot of the lower mid range rods a run for their money. They're likely a VERY apt purchase in comparison to the Avid now.

Yes and yes. It's not the greatest thing ever for lipless baits, because of the length, but it works very well for it. I love it for squarebills because of the fact that it's so stinkin fast you can move fish with it pretty quickly, yet it's still soft enough that if a fish runs on you, the rod will load enough to protect the hooks. I really like it for fishing wood where there is grass mixed in. It's particularly good for baits like the Little John and Jackall. It's the perfect rod for throwing squarebills in tight cover.

The 6-9 length is the Reaction. The 6-8 are both bottom contact. Sorry, should have clarified that initially. The 6-9 MHXF is a pretty serious rod, really. Like Skunked said, it's probably rated lighter than they say, but it's so versatile it's hard to classify it as being JUST 1/2 ounce and heavier spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. I fish a lot of 3/16 and 1/4 on that rod, too. I fish a lot of lipless and squarebills on it, for that matter. It's one of the most versatile rods I own.

Love em.

No longer true. They used to, however BPS now owns all of their own tooling and utilizes an OEM contract in Korea to make the vast majority of their reels. End result is that BPS reels are their specs with the manufacturing process controlled wholly by them. In terms of longevity, it is true that they've been questionable. The Carbon Black and Elite being two that have been problematic. The Signature 2 and Pro Qualifier, however, have been relatively problem free.

I have all three of the Cumara's mentioned, and I use the 6-9 MHXF for more lures than the recommended 1/2-1oz baits. It's probably one of my most versatile spinnerbait/buzzbait/crank rods. The MXF is tremendously useful as well, but it doesn't have the span that the MH does.

What do either of these two things have to do with one another? Nothing, that's what. Patrick Sebile can't be all wrong in his use of single siwash hooks. We do it a lot in saltwater to no adverse effect, it will work in freshwater, too. The largest objective is finding a hook that is sized properly.