Packard

14lb Sunline FC Sniper

What size spinnerbaits and are you adding weight to your senkos? Is it a spinning rod? If it is a spinning rod and you are throwing small 1/4 - 3/8 oz. spinners and weightless t-rigged or wacky rigged senkos then it will be perfect.

Saros is a nice reel. I would also save a little more for the CI4

I went out to fish today. You can fish for bass but can't keep them. Regulations say that C&R season starts in April but who says that I am not fishing for Crappie and happened to catch a bass.

Bought a Quantum KVD reel and half the time the thumbar won't engage. Their cheaper model seem to be crap. I do like their Smoke series though.

What is your hook set? I side sweep on shakey heads. What is the jig head, bait, line, and rod action?

Deep Cranks-10lb McCoy Mean Green Squarebills and Middies-14lb Sunline FC Sniper Lipless-12lb P Line C21 If I had to have an all around line then I would go with 14lb Fluoro or Copoly.

This. I am heading out for hopefully the first time of the year tomorrow as the weather is supposed to reach the 50's!

ww2farmer isn't trying to be a smart a**, just not giving you an opinion on something he can't vouch for. A lot of members have more than one rod for cranking. I have a 6'6" M/M for shallow to mid depth cranks and a 7'8" MH/M for deep and big lipless cranks. For ripping lipless cranks I will go to a 6'6" or 7"0' MH rod. The rod I have in my hand in the most is the 7'8" MH/M St Croix Mojo Bass Big Cranker. It is a great glass rod although it is heavy. I can throw any crank on it but other rods will do the job better for specific cranks. Now for your decision. I like a 6.2:1 for my cranks because it allows me to reel fast or slow easily. IF your price range is around $320 for both as it seems in your first post, then I would spend a little more on the rod than the reel. I would get a Lamiglas XCF705 as your rod. That can throw almost all the cranks you need well and spinnerbaits! For the reel I would look at the Shimano Citica 200G in 5.5:1 or 6.5:1 as well as the Lew's reels. Those reels are all nice, I own a Tournament Pro but have fished others. Just pick the one that fits your budget. Good luck fishing and welcome to Bassresource!

I disagree. I got my Tourney Pro for $154 on eBay and wouldn't take any new reel over it up until the $250 range. It is lighter and way smoother than Curados. Casts great and is well built.

I own the 7'8" MH Mojo Glass and the 6'6"MH KVD Cranker. The KVD rod isn't bad, it is pretty light but is graphite. The Mojo is really heavy but is a deep crank and lipless crank rod.

How are you set up in the way of hooks? Since you are new to fishing, I recommend you wacky and weightless texas rig your senkos. Once you learn to use them then you can almost always catch some bass! You are going to need hooks for T-rig which I would recommend 3/0 EWG hooks. I like the brands Mustad, Gamakatsu, Owner, and Trokar. For wacky rig you can use a variety of hooks but I like to use small octopus hooks. I wouldn't overwhelm yourself with a ton of baits and setups when you are just learning. You will have a hard time deciding on what to use and won't catch many fish. I'd also learn to fish a jig as it can catch bass year round. Good luck and welcome!

Pretty interesting. I didn't catch this bass but the person who did said that they did some research and contacted their dnr and they siad it was some type of pigment mutation. They also said that bass with this genetic mutation don't grow very large because it is harder for them to hunt for food because of that not so stealthy color.

Any baitcaster is going to make you use your hands.

I put the battery inside a tupperware container. Mine has a sealed hole at the top that I can run the wire through but I am sure you could drill a hole and place a grommet in it then run your wire through of the tupperware doesn't have a hole in the lid. I just placed it in the storage within my kayak because it is an Ocean Kayak sit-on-top. I considered the other fishfinders that you listed but went with this Humminbird because of the price, and that Humminbird sells a kayak mounting kit that will allow the transducer to go thru the hull of the kayak. It will also work with thin-walled canoes. http://store.humminbird.com/products/488399/MHX_XMK

I would just be glad that you still can fish. Water is still frozen here. Last time I got to fish 40 degree waster was in November. How does that have to do with anything? LOL

I have my grandfathers old conolon 2213-A casting rod. I would never think to use it though.

I wouldn't normally use a jerkbait in that type of water but if it works well in that lake then I would get either the Clown or Table Rock Shad color.

I own two Humminbird PiranhaMax 170 Depth Finders and have been happy with them. I use them out of my kayaks.

Sounds like a good choice. They only two colors that you really need is a chartreuse, white with chartreuse, and shad.

They have a lot of great colors. I'd suggest you get what you have most confidence in because they will all catch fish.

I prefer weightless for particular baits and presentations. I go weightless for stickbaits, fat ikas, flukes, and beavers. I like weights for curl-tail worms, creatures, craws, and lizards. I don't know of a bullet sinker that can be attached without re tying. I do use the Sebile Soft Weight System occasionally. You can take the weights off of the hook if you want a weightless instead of a keel-weighted presentation.

Rootbeer Chartreuse and Spooky Nasty are great.

You can rig them multiple ways. T-rig, C-rig, Drop Shot, Nose Hooked, etc. The way I fish them (and most others) the most is to take a tube jig head and insert it through the hole in the back of the bait and push it up to the front and poke the eye of the hook out. I just drag and hop it on the bottom. They work year round for big smallies. My top three baits for smallies would be a Jerkbait, Tube, and Senko.

Was definitely not from the "source." A Shimano rep at Bass Pro isn't the source. Hooligan's info is spot on.