Hooligan

I've been swimming a Scrounger this year, amongst others. I'm a definite convert.

Are you rigging exposed?

Exactly this, also noting that it does not have great knot strength because of its inherently low abrasion resistance.

From original post:

Don't worry about distance, worry about accuracy. Once you get accuracy down to the point that you put it where you want it every time all the time, the distance comes with it. Start at 15-20 feet and go from there.

Yeah. It handles unweighted plastics like a 4" Senko and light T-rigs beautifully.

That's cool, and all, but has absolutely no pertinence to the topic at hand. It has nothing to do with two different bluegill colors.

Most of the time I really don't even start throwing a jerk bait until the water hits 50°. At that point, I'll start with very slow retrieves, sometimes giving it 15-20 seconds of not moving it. Sometimes, I never stop moving the bait, but I'm not reeling or jerking, either, moving the bait in pulls. Other times, I'll give light twitches, others I'll be really ripping it. Most of the time, I'm giving a three to five second count with light taps between pauses. Sometimes the taps are the trigger, sometimes the pause is the trigger. The fish will tell you. Start slow, work faster until you get bit. You can never move too slow to start.

I love ST36, hate ST41. I got a huge deal on a large lot of the KVD Elite hook and am trying them this year. So far they're not terrible. My absolute stand-by, though, is the VMC 9650/9651. With those two hooks I can match most anything. I always have at least 24 in sizes 1-6 in my hook box.

I see what you're saying, and just looked at them again. It's the light in the picture. They're the same.

First things first, I never use a bright jerkbait in clear water, the most I'd go is lightly stained. Second, Husky Jerks have a time and place, but they're not my first choice. They tend to be a lot stiffer, if you will, in action. That is to say they don't have a whole lot of action; they're more subdued. Last is probably cadence. People throw Pointers, Flits, Squadminnow, and Vision because they work; some say better, others deny that a more expensive bait works better across the board. Personally that's their own brand of justification, nothing less nothing more. When I'm fishing tournaments, I want the best gear that I can afford, that's from rod, reel, line, to tackle, baits, lures, and hooks. All of it. It's not a prestige thing, it's not being a braggart, it's that I'm going to use any advantage that I can get to give me a leg up. Pointers very often fit that bill. They're a great jerkbait with a large variety of sizes, depths, and colors. I guess, in short, that you really answer your own question. You see a lot of people throwing LC Pointers because they work.

Pitzen on everything except joining lines. That's either a true bloodknot, bimini, or Alberto's.

I'd look at the 7-2 Xfast in that case. It's far and away my favorite spinning rod. I love the way it handles everything from small mojo rigs to 1/2 oz dropshot weights. It's very sensitive and the tip gives you the ability to work a bait very well.

The Excalibur and KVD aren't even remotely similar to one another in action. The Xcalibur rolls a lot more and has a much wider wobble. It's much better for working slow. The KVD is a tight wiggle with almost no roll to it and can be burned almost as fast as you can reel it without blowing out. Saying that you could use one for the other is apples to pears.

I use Venom Worm glue. Can never find Mend it.

I have never caught a fish on a Trickworm. Ever. Finesse worm, yes. Trick Worm, no.

But you don't get no questions asked warranties anymore. That's the thing. If you break a rod by car door, they are going to be able to tell that, and they're not going to replace it. They're not going light on the warranties anymore, I know several people that have had rods not replaced for the fact that there was nothing wrong with the blank, it was entirely user error. That's becoming more and more common. Where it is worth it is in those situations that you have a fee associated with replacement or warranty anyhow. The fees are going to cost you more money in handling and repair/replacement than the $17 at the time of purchase. What's more, is that it is truly no questions asked. The only other replacement of that nature is the Expediter, and that is $100. How does that not make sense? Furthermore, it's going to cost you more than $17 to ship a rod back to Shimano in the first place. For me, it's a no-brainer. It's insurance against the inevitable.

That's the one rod in the Cumara series that I wish I hadn't spent my money on. The rod is overly heavy, is slow to react, and doesn't fish it's action or weight rating. Not my choice in a spinning rod at all. The 7-2 Med Xfast dropshot rod is a far better rod for all applications, in terms of finesse, than the MH. If you're dead set on a MH I would look at the Avid or Loomis rather than the Cumara.

1/4 oz spinnerbait #4 Mepps Culprit worm

The 1.5 that matches the Pro Model cranks is what I would want in a bluegill pattern around here. The greens in the body and the Robin's Egg blue on the head, with the orange throat. The other doesn't look anything like any bluegill or sunfish I've ever seen. In the long run, though, I'm sure it won't matter. It will be close enough that the fish will eat it and that does matter.

You might feel the Crucial is a little overloaded with 5" Senko's. It fishes a 4" perfectly, but the 5" is pushing it weight wise. The Crucial is a little off in terms of power, I don't really know why that is, but it feels that way to me. I'd really encourage you to look into the St. Croix Avid 6-8 Med Xfast, too. It's my rod of choice for weightless plastics and shakey heads. The other is the Cumara 7-2 dropshot rod. It's a great dropshot rod, but it does everything else REALLY well, too.

I like a few different baits for different situations. The 4.20 is good for pitching when I want a light, slow fall. If I want a heavier bait looking for a reaction bite I'll toss a Flappin Hog because it moves so much water. I like the UV in stained water. The KVD baits are OK, I wish they were more bulky, though.

There's no such beast as over the counter anymore, not even on the Cumara. You might get lucky and have that done at a dealer, but Shimano wants everything shipped in for warranty. In terms of whether or not the additional cost is worth it, look at it this way: You burn a wild card on an NRX from your buddy stepping on it in the boat. You get the replacement and the rod breaks when you are fighting a fish. When you send that rod back to Loomis, it's determined that you had wear on the blank because you didn't put the rod in a sock in the rod lucker and the tubes have worn the blank to the point of being easily broken. Had you used the protection/service plan, you're only out $65, if you're going to use the Expeditor, you're out $100. Like I said in my previous post, the financial benefits are becoming apparent to me in terms of long term ownership. If I'm going to break a rod because of workmanship, it's usually almost immediately. If I break a rod a year and a half down the road, you can almost bet it's my fault, and the extra protection is going to save me $50 at a minimum.

Here's the scenario: You're going to fish a lake that you've fished a handful of times; just enough that you're not fishing totally blind. You are going to fish this lake for two days total, and are limited on the tackle you can take. You've got to make everything fit in a single "binder" type tackle bag. You can take four rods. Temps are in the mid 50's and the water is lightly stained to clear. What do you take in your bag? Rods: Cumara 7-2 MH, Cumara 7-2MHXF, Shimano Cumara 7-2 Dropshot, MBR783C GLX Tackle Vision 110 in GG Gill Pointer 100 in Sunfish 3/4 oz Willow/willow in bluegill 1/2 oz black/blue jig 1/2 oz Green Pumpkin jig Rage Craw Blk Blue/Green Pumpkin SK Finesse worm in Green Pumpkin 7" 5" Senko Green Pumpkin 4" Senko Smoke blk/purple Fat Ika GP Clackin Rap If I can't catch on those, I shouldn't be fishing.

More and more I'm becoming a believer in the BPS "protection" thing. GEar guard, I think it's called. If you consider that it is going to cost you $25-$35 plus the actual warranty processing fee, the gear guard is worth paying the $18 on a $159 rod. I have gotten it a couple times on rods now, and have been pleased with the result.