webertime

Clear YZ Hybrid in 4lb like RW said.

Pit Boss by a mile. I have caught fish with it on a C-Rig, Flipping and Swimming it T-Rigged (1/4-3/8oz weights) as a jig trailer and even drop shotting it. Okachobee, Bk/Bl, Green Pumpkin are my 3 favorites. Slip a glass rattle into it and flip it with a punch skirt into the wood and hold on! Craw Fatty... Hate it.

Up where were are there are a lot of rock and Zebra Mussels. A FC leader will sink and and scuff over these and break more than a mono leader since it tends to suspend/float in the water. That's just been my experience and that of a lot of guys in my club.

They should float, I bet yours has a pinhole leak that is allowing the bait to fill with water, I had one do that. They can be tuned, they are actually my favorite crankbait (the 5 and 5XD). Sink it overnight in a cup of water, take it out and wipe it dry, then hang it over a newspaper to see if it leaks and where it is coming from. If it is leaking water, email/call Strike King and see what they can do.

A 2500 sized Daiwa Tierra or Advantage should fit the bill. A 3000 sized Saros or Stradic should as well. I have a Tierra and really like it, very smooth and solid. I also like my Pflueger Supreme XT, but in 2 seasons of use it's showing its age.

Get the C3 (5.3) it has a lower gear ratio than the C-4 (6.4?). The above posters are right about the brakes. I have a 5501C3 that I used with 20lb CXX and tossed 6" Wood Punkers, 7" Tru Tungstens, and 6" Hudds with NO issues at all. A C3 plus a bearing (if you want) and a Smooth drag upgrade with cost the same as a C4 and be a better reel for Swimbaits.

On Lake Champlain some females have been netted by F&G that have spawned already (this was in an article from the 25th of March). "Spring has come so early to Lake Champlain that biologists conducting trap-net surveys in the northern end of the lake determined that as of last week, the pike spawn was already essentially over. Even some of the largemouth bass they collected were spawned out, which Chipman calls 'really weird.'"

overstockbaits and my local dicks has them

Phenix Recon 715c. Balances great with a Curado, 7'1" 3/8-1 1/4 oz baits. I've had mine out half a dozen times already throwing paddletails, spinnerbaits, jigs and flipping t-rigs. My new favorite rod.

Talon's weigh a fair amount more (the parts that you mount to the hull/jackplate). Something to consider if you are mounting it to an older or tin boat. The motor and hydralics on a pp are in the boat, all the moving/heavy parts on a talon are outside. I've fished out of both and the PP was nice and did get out of the way for casting out of the back of the boat. The Talon owners I have fished with were very luke-warm about them.

Flip/Pitch it. Yo-Yo swim a T-Rigged one. A Jig Trailer for all types of jigs. Try sliding a glass worm rattle into one (you're welcome). The Pit Boss is are one of my favorite plastics (only beaten by the Fat Ika). My favorite colors are Ockachobee, Black/Blue, Big Texas, and Lime Purple Passion.

Quantum has a few blue models.

Paycheck also makes a version.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120324031 I have fished 4 days and even saw the water hit 63 last weekend!!!

By all accounts I've read Shooter is a fantastic flip/pitch line. The relations between shooter and sniper are akin to Trilene XT (shooter) and XL (sniper). I have 16lb Sniper for Jigs, spinnerbaits and 8lb on a spinning rod for DS and Shakyheads. I like the 16lbs a lot so far (fished it 3 days for about 15 hours so far).

Their soft magic swimmers are very very versitile. I've caught fish drop shotting, C-Rigging and Flipping them. Rig them on a chatterbait head or scrounger for great action. I really like them. The Ohnduspoon is pretty crazy too, a very wide swing/wobble, a great deep water bait.

Technically "Machining" could could mean that the screw holes were machined out of the casting. Ahhhh technicalities... The STRONGEST Aluminum based frame would be a cold forged 7000 series billet that is then machined down to the frame. THAT is insanely expensive. Any Aluminum framed reel that is properly designed should be strong enough to last a lifetime regardless of cast vs forged vs machined.

I've caught plenty of lake fish with them too! Very expensive bait though.

Better price. MORE choices of colors and whatever length you want (at no extra charge). LOVE mine http://shop.coletackle.com/

I'm in.

My buddy got stopped last year after C&R closed by a Warden and was getting questioned pretty hard about it. Warden, "What are you fishing for?" Friend, "Perch" Warden, "Those are bass baits." Friend, "I didn't tell you I was very good at it." Warden laughed and all went about their business.

Cut a slit in the back of a Hollow Frog and jam a senko in there and have the tip stick out. That enticing wiggle with trick the bass into thinking the frog is "in disposed" and trigger a hit.

It's the first week of March and from Shelburne Bay to the south (including South Bay) on Lake Champlain is open! There are some isolated random spots with ice but she's open. Too bad it's 37 days until catch and release starts. (I have the itch bad...)

Daiwa rods are pretty "true" a medium is definitely a medium. I might suggest you look at Kittery Trading Post, they have the Tierra for $40-47 then a 17% discount on top of that. The Tierra and the T are the same rod, just cork vs. split EVA. Oh and free shipping. I have a 6'6" M Tierra I use for Jerks/TW and like it a lot.

I assume you aren't talking Hollow Belly/Shadalicious types I started with: Weedless 6" Hudds both ROF 5 and 12 Blackdog Lunker Punkers and Shell Crackers Mattlures Perch and Ultimate Bluegill. I ended up LOVING the Hudds and Shell Cracker, the Punker was pretty cool to fish but the Pike were always first on the scene when I used them. The Mattlures baits were nice, not something I'd replace if I lost them though. I did get a floating Mattlures Pumpkinseed, now THAT thing is SICK!