gotarheelz14

So far, I have been using a St. Croix Avid 7', MH Fast action for all my Texas rigged baits. 98% of the time I will have a bullet weight on there. When calculating your lure weight to try to match it to your rod rating (mine is 3/8-1oz) what do you count in total? Do you count the bullet weight only or do you account for some of the weight in the soft plastic? I guess I want to know how much each of these soft plastics weight? I typically use about 5" worms, sweet beavers, Tubes etc. Should I include this in the lure total or should I go more by the weight of the bullet weight? Thanks, Carlos

So I know that my revo has the brake with the pins inside of it, the little knob next to the drag star, and a brake on the opposite side of the reel that has a dial that you move counter clockwise. I think the brake with the six pins is called a centrifugal brake, The one on the opposite side is a magnetic brake I think. In my manual it said something like that this magnetical brake could only be used if the centrifugal brake was on zero? Can someone either explain this or verify this? I really don't know how these things work. I can cast it really far though so you know its gotta be all the reel lol. Thanks in advance, Carlos

This thread is awesome for newcomers like me. So for all you guys' advice, thanks. But, can someone explain this one to me please "Never leave fish to find fish" What does this mean? Thanks, Carlos

So I know that for treble hooks you usually want something more moderate so that it can take the pressure off those tiny little hooks. For this reason, I have been using a 7' moderate action, MH Power Mojo Bass. It's their crankbait rod. I mainly use topwaters such as Jitterbugs, small Pop-Rs, Spooks, Torpedos and things of that nature. What would be the best rod Action for this? Carlos

Thanks a lot man. I'm definitely going to go with these then. I am really impressed with what you said about the 4 rods beating out all those other 500-800 rods I am looking at the 7'6 Heavy Flipping version. I am going to pair it up with an Abu STX with 30# braid. I am going to use it for pitching, frogs and maybe some lighter swimbaits! I hope its as good as the reviews i'm hearing ;D Carlos

Seems like it doesn't get as many reviews or praise as others. I did a search on here and only found a couple people referencing it but everyone really seemed to like it. Do any of you have any experience with this reel? I am looking at the Flipping Stick version, 7'6". I will also use it with some frogs and other stuff like that. I can get one for around $220 shipped on Ebay. I guess it's either this or the Shimano Crucial. So what's the deal? Why don't they get as much praise? Thanks, Carlos

Besides the lower gears to make it easier on your cranking arm, I think another really important thing is the length of the handle. This way, you can bury it in between your armpit and arm or your body and arm. I know a guy who teaches how to crank while holding the rod as still as possible, held tightly between your arm and body. This makes a whole lot easier than having to hold it with your hand where all the pressure goes to your fingers, wrists and forearms. Get a rod that has a longer handle. This might also help a lot.

Ridiculous!!! If I ever catch a Musky that size I will instantly retire from fishing lol!!!

So my carrot stix broke (hey carlos welcome to the clubbbb x_X). It was a 7'8" Heavy Power, Fast Action. I bought it as a workhorse to use it for Pitching, Frogs, and Swimbaits. So, I have decided to go in a new direction. I have narrowed my choices down to a Powell 765 Flipping Stick or a Shimano Crucial Flipping Stick, the 7'6" Fast, Heavy. I have been reading reviews and they both seem like great rods. For a Pitching/Frog/Light Swimbait rod, which do you think would be a better choice? I am leaning a little towards the crucial...

Thanks a lot. That last one really cleared some stuff up! Carlos

Ok so, I bought a 7'8 Carrot Gold Heavy/Fast that I was going to use for Pitching/Flipping, Frogs, and Swimbaits. I was going to use it as a workhorse. This rod is now broken so I am thinking maybe I need something else. I kind of wanted a rod that I could just use for Flipping and that I could work worms and such back to the shore. As I look at them, I have been impressed by the St Croix Legend Tournament rod and on a cheaper end of the spectrum, the Powell 765 Flipping rod that people on here recommended me. I want to know though, I have seen a trend of pitching rods being made in medium-fast which I think is to give you more leverage in pulling fish out of cover. The Powells though for example all have extra fast tips??? So, what do you think is better for this type of situation? Fast tip or something with a little more give? Thanks, Carlos

As always, I am extremely thankful for your help. You guys have given me a LOT of insight. Not only what to do, but the reason behind it and what the fish is doing to make things so. This place rocks! Thanks.

And by this, I mean mostly T-rigs and maybe Jigs. The reason I ask is because I almost always give them a good two to three seconds before setting the hook. I like to see at least some kind of line movement to know they have fully taken it. On the other hand, I don't want to gut hook many fish, which I typically do not, but I do get a lot of "cheek?" hooksets and not on the lip as I see many of the pros get. I would hate to miss a fish knowing that maybe he had only taken the back side of a worm or head of the jig. On the other hand, I don't want to gut hook fish or miss fish that spit out my bait after tasting or feeling something odd. Let me know what you guys think! Carlos

Zoom Magnum Finesse Worms do the trick when the fish are biting pretty good. If you need to downsize and go, in my opinion, true finesse the regular Zoom Finesse Worms are excellent. I caught a really nice five pounder yesterday at my local pond with the Zoom Magnum Finesse Worm in Watermelon Red Carlos

Thanks man, I measured it out to be 18 inches and 4/12ths of an inch, which becomes 1/3rd inches which becomes 18.333 in decimal notation. I want to get a photo mount at some point. That is a great idea. The only problem is, I dont have the $$$ for that kind of thing ;D It will have to wait!

I usually just get excited and say "oohp!" when I let them take it a little I usually start to get a little more creative. Last time I said PIG because well, he was a pig. He gobbled up that shakey head!

Once again, thanks for the advice fellas. I think I might have to wake up really early one morning and dedicate a solid 2hrs to an early topwater bite just fishing the spook. Repeat that a couple times until I feel confident in using the technique. Carlos

I just bought my first Zara Spook. My tacklebox is really small and I kept hearing about how good these baits are for topwater bass. I usually get a pretty good walking action when I flick the rod tip downwards on a little slack line, but I get, in my opinion WAYYY better results when I flick the rod tip upwards. Not only can I get the doggie to walk faster (if I want it to) and more consistently, but because of the high rod-tip placement, I am not as prone to set the hook too early as it often happens to me with top waters, and that extra added second allows me to improve in actual hook ups. This rod tip technique also works pretty well for me with poppers. Would this be ok though or do you guys forsee any problems with doing it this way? The only problem I can foresee is that I might be lifting the lure a little too much out of the water but this does not appear to be the case. Let me know what you think! Thanks, Carlos

I once caught a small channel cat on a standard size x-rap, not the little ones. It was extremely annoying trying to get the trebles out of that catfish's mouth... When targeting bass, the only times I have ever gotten excited when I caught something else were when I caught my first and only pickerel and whenever I catch crappie because if they are hitting stuff that size, you know they are going to be good hehe. Either way, I feel your pain. Carlos

I feel the exact same way man. I was out in days when it was like 96 F, heat index of 100F!!! In those days, I concentrated on pitching a Zoom Superhog in junrbuh color to the shade provided by trees, cover, and deeper drop offs of water. Now that I think back on it, those were some of my more productive days of fishing. The other fish were too lethargic to hit anything but those hanging out in cover were active and ready to go.

No siree, sure didn't. I always put all my fish back. I think the only fish that I would consider keeping would be Crappie and Trout. Even then, lol I feel really bad knowing that I would have killed an animal. I am such a sissy but I really can't catch my own food.

98% of the time I fish for Bass. Sometimes though, I will see monster Bluegills on their beds just hanging out and keeping other blue gills away from their spots. It's almost as if they are playing "King of the Hill" or something like that. Anyways, I saw one today that was probably the biggest blue gill I have ever seen in person. I threw on a dropshot hook and some of those synthetic Berkely grubs. I must have flipped to this fish at least a dozen times and he would not take it from having seen it. I ended up pitching to him one of those times and he turned against the grub. The hook ended up sticking on his gill and I ended up foul hooking him. > I wish I would have gotten him to take it. I love seeing these monsters when I am bass fishing and catching the biggies. Anyway, here's the fish...

Thank you all so much for your comments. It is very humbling to hear any kind of praise but especially from a group of experienced veterans like you all. As far as the Cotton Cordells, I have tried Rat-L-Traps, Rapala's Lipless Cranks, Strike King's Red Eye Shads and I will tell you that for the money, the Cordell's just can't be beat in my opinion. Something about them, whether it is the sound they put out or the amount of BB's in them just drives Bass nuts. I have caught tons of Bass on them this summer off the cordells. Probably a good 15 or 20 fish total. For my summer averages lol, that's a lot.

My friend and I took measurements. 26" in length, 18.3333 Inches in Girth. After snapping several pics and getting the measurements she was promptly and healthily released so that she may breed again, thereby raising the average size bass in our pond and that hopefully someone may catch her again. Maybe me during the Prespawn? I tried using three online calculators. The one here gave me a 12.14 which I think might be too big and the other two gave me the same exact 10.14. By the way, when you measure girth, do you do the trick where you open up the dorsal fin to get a couple inches? I didn't do this and I'm not sure if this is the right way but I have seen other people doing it that way.... Carlos

Seriously, couldn't have done it without you guys and the help I have received here. The fish were simply not biting today. I tried throwing a T-rigged worm with a very small 1/8oz bullet weight (shallow pond, tons of vegetation on the bottom). Nothing. Tried downsizing to a Zoom Finesse worm off a drop shot. Nothing. I thought to myself, "If they aren't hitting slow stuff, which they usually do, they might simply just not be feeding actively. I am really going to have to speed things up for them and get a reaction strike..." Caught this beauty off my first cast with a Cotton Cordell Lipless Crank in Baby Bass Color