Christian M

Welcome Frogman!

St Croix's Rage series makes a 7'1" MH w/a nice moderate tip for shallow cranking, its super sensitive & the tip has just enough give so that you dont rip the treble hooks out & get a good hookset, it also has tons of backbone to pull those big bass out of heavy cover. Either way I would take the advice on the abu rods, they definitely are under-rated & tend to be a lot more stiff than other rods in their class.

In clear water during July & August I love a T-Rgged weightless w/a 3/0 EWG Trokar. Motor oil seems to be the killer color. I've caught some decent fish w/it on a shakey head too

I like to use the plano guide series boxes for my more expensive lures & tackle. They're waterproof & as long as I keep the water out my lures stay rust free. They come in a few different sizes too.

I like the red eye in 3/4 chartruese sexy shad & chrome shad. Another Lipless crank I do really well with is the Rapala one knocker in 3/4 & 1/4 yellow perch, and I have one that I bought a couple years back that I cant find anywhere, its the 1/4 in a red craw color, the back is a dark brown that fades into bright red sides w/a bright orange belly. I catch bigger largemouth with the 3/4 yellow perch during the summer jigging it in deep water, but I catch more species & numbers of fish with the craw pattern, ill try to load a pic of it up on the site. Another Lipless crank I really like is the Live Target Golden Shiner, Last March I caught a 14" Rainbow trout using the Live Target.

X2!

I took my little nephew on the boat w/some worms & shiners this past summer. I'm a tournament angler also & I was having trouble at first trying to use a bobber, then free spooling the shiners. I just kept getting hits & losing my bait. After a few lost shiners and a bunch of strikes w/no hookup, I took a size 2 Gamakatzu drop shot hook, tied a Drop Shot rig, & lip hooked a shiner. After only a couple minutes of frantic tapping, I set the hook on a bass! I loosened up the drag and let my nephew fight the fish back in, had my bro snap a pic with me & my nephew holding his first fish ever & let the fish go. After that it was non stop action with the shiners/worms on the drop shot. We were landing Largemouth Bass, White Perch, Yellow Perch, Sunfish, & Black Crappy. All in all it ended up being a 20+ fish day that he'll never forget.

I really like Lunkerville, it definitely is a "reality" show. There are other shows like "Facts of Fishing" and "Getting Schooled" that I really like, but when I watch the shows that have bigtime sponsors I filter out all the brand names and concentrate on the information being given (eg. hook size, line type/lb test, rod action, ect). When I watch Lunkerville there is no filter to turn on, the show really does capture the purity and essence of fishing.

This past season I fished two open buddy tourneys that happened to fall on the same weekend, one on Saturday, one on Sunday. The club I belong to hosted the one on Saturday and another local club hosted Sundays event. An extremely well known pro entered with a buddy and lost the first day, then came back, and took it all home the second day. I didn't have any personal issues with it, actually I thought it was really cool to see a pro of that caliber fishing an open buddy.

The XTerra is basically the same truck as the frontier mechanically, you can also get the XTerra with a supercharged engine. They hold their value pretty much as well as Jeeps do. I had a 2000 Xterra that went to 260,000 with regular maintenance and never had a major problem until it gave out. I would tow my buddies 17' Tracker with no problem. The engine blew and I sold it rather than fix it, but the guy that bought it from me put a new engine in it and still drives it daily. I'm saving up for a 94 frontier w/40,000 miles on it. My boss owns it but its more of a show truck than a daily driver. He has a Hummer & an H2 so hes gotta make room in his garage. I would say go for it. Nissans from those years are absolute beasts. You can upgrade pretty much everyting when it comes to brakes and suspension too.

Don't over complicate your start in bass fishing. I remember wanting to start bass fishing after my buddy bought his first bass boat. I went to & bought a cheap bass kit, my buddy chuckled & said he'd help. My advice to you would be go get a decent spinning rod & reel combo, some 10lb flourocarbon, a couple bags of 4-5" senko (stick style) baits, & some 3/0 size EWG HOOKS. After that learn how to texas rig a worm & just go get that bait in the water. I wouldn't use any weights until you learn how to detect a strike without the weight. I would say forget the books and read as many articles on this site as possible. Welcome & good luck!

Yea come to think about it 2lbs isn't so dinky in NJ, especially for the first trip of the season!

I put a trailer on a hollow body frog, Chatterbaits, Buzzbaits. I also use a trebel hook as a trailer on hollow body swimbaits when im fishing them in open water. Be creative, you'll be surprised how many ways u can use a trailer hook!

I have a Veritas 7'6" MH, fortunately I bought it knowing that they under rate the Veritas rods. I use the one I own for flipping & pitching & I absolutely love it.

paul. X2, I bought a pinnacle slyder before they redesigned them & I loved the reel. It cast a mile, the spool was top quality & allowed me to pack more line on the spool because of the cone shape. Very easy to dial in & very few backlashes. the only thing I would say is I wish they used better bearings. After a season of heavy use, the bearings wore out, forcing me to keep the brakes on 8-10 at all times, and the reel to scream like a referees whistle, but for $60 bucks it was an awesome reel. I moved toward high end quantum reels because they manufacture their own bearings for the reels & as long as I maintain them I don't have this issue. My buddy bought a deadbolt & slyder & when his started screaming he just called Pinnacle & they sent him a new set of bearings. he replaced them & had 2 good as new reels.

I have the green Scanoe and I think the fish just look at it as a log floating overhead. Not a far fetched idea, it's moss colored, has little to no hull slap, and like you said if you can find where they're schooled up, you can easily use your motor or paddle to circle around and drift back over a spot, all without ever spooking a single fish. With smallies you also have the added advantage of them being naturally curious, sometimes one gets hooked or sees your lure, and the rest of the school gets excited. I plan on buying the foot pedal for transom mount trolling motors for mine. Also the Scanoe takes up to a 5hp motor, so you can fish bays, and rivers with no worries.

If you're price range is under $100, IMHO, I would say you don't have to go for a lower end name brand rod. You could do just as well with a higher end Field & Stream or BPS rod. I love shakey head fishing, its one of my go to techniques & lures. I bought a Field & Stream Tech Spec "shakey head, drop shot" rod & I absolutely love it! Its 6'10 Medium action w/a fast tip. For $60 I would really reccomend it. I own St. Croix, Abu Garcia, Shimano, Quantum, Wright McGill, & Carrot Stix rods. I use the Field & Stream rod for shakey head fishing ONLY w/a higher end Abu or Diawa reel. I like using 6lb flouro as opposed to braided because the technique is all about keeping constant bottom contact. If you find braided works better for you, then go for it, but def check out the F&S 6'10" shakey head rod. It wont break the bank, & with a $100 price range, you can buy yourself a reel too.

I think selling/trading used gear is a good way to get some great deals on fishing gear and other much needed things. I recently traded a Quantum Code (newer design) reel to my buddy for some mechanical work on my car. He had a Code rod that he needed a reel for so I offered the reel and some cash for a brake job. I ordered my pads & rotors from a wholesale warehouse, saving about $120, and he did front & back brakes & rotors, plus bled my brake lines & compressed my calipers for $140 cash plus the lure. We both ended up happy, I got about $400 worth of work for half price & the reel was used once, I was trying to learn how to flip & pitch w/the opposite hand & just got frustrated lol. I'll eventually get around to it.

I absolutely love fishing out of my 14' Scanoe. it gets me into those streams, creeks, channels, & coves that you could'nt dream of taking a bass boat or even a small jon boat into. I ran wires up the gunwhales on both sides so all I have is about a foot of waterproofed wire with a quick disconnect in front for the battery & in back for my 55lb MK. I also have a swivel seat in the back so I can fish all day comfortably. I definitely notice when im on smaller, more shallow lakes, I catch more fish in my Scanoe vs. my boat. Its just so stealthy on the water. I can get right up on top of the fish and they don't spook. I have the swivel seat there for when im tying on a new lure or positioning myself, but honestly I spend most of my time standing and fishing, its that stable! The only thing that I dread is loading my Scanoe up. I primarily fish from it alone, and its back breaking work car- topping the boat, loading up the battery, motor & tackle, not to mention the scratches I have on the roof of my vehicle. Good news though, I found a canoe loader/carrier on Cabelas that is designed for 1 person to load their canoe alone! Most of the reviews were 4 stars, its $100 so I think I'm gonna get it. I would use my Scanoe A LOT more if it were just easier to load up.

I'm definitely gonna post some photos, I'm going over tomorrow to pick upba few more topwater plugs & cranks. I didn't wanna be greedy so I limited myself the other day. I definitely want you guys to check out this zara spook & these jitterbugs I got. Apparently what I saw the other day was just the tip of the iceburg

My vote goes to MK, I've had 4. The first was a MK Endura Transom mount that I beat on more than you can imagine & it still runs like new. The second is a MK 55lb transom mount that I had paired up w/a bow mounted all terrain, I replaced the all terrain w/a power drive & my only complaint is the crappy foot pedal.

My neighbor came over yesterday to drop off a thank you gift for helping them during the hurricane. Somehow we got to talking about fishing and she told me her father was a more than avid fisherman. I told her I fish local tourneys & showed her my collection of lures, rods, & reels. When she saw how obsessed I am she revealed a little secret. She said she has tons of tackle that her father left to her, but she refuses to sell it because she believes that it deserves to go to a good home where it will be appreciated & used. She then invited me over to the house & handed me a canvas shopping bag & said take what you like =) I ended up with some real gems. I got a handful of handmade spinnerbaits with triple crescent shaped hammered blades. Some cedar wood rapala, bagley, & handmade crankbaits & jerkbaits. Some jitterbugs that make the ones on the shelves in stores now look like garbage, and possibly my favorite out of all the hard baits was the Zara Spook made from balsa wood, with a glittered texture on the sides that looks like a baitfish losing scales. All of this on top of a ton of custom jigs, both rubber & hair, roostertails, and a lure called a frontrunner that I had never seen before. Add to this bags full of spoons for saltwater and salmon fishing, and hundreds of soft plastics, I could'nt take the smile off of my face as I thanked them again and again! Cant wait for tournament season to roll around again!!!

I think I'm gonna keep my boat and wait to buy a bigger, better rig for tournaments and larger waters. I can always fish as a non boater until I get the boat I want.

Sounds like you already have a solid rig that you know inside & out. I would be careful trading, looks can be deceiving, you don't want to end up inheriting someone else's headache. What are you're reasons for wanting to trade for an older boat?

I'm not sure who has jurisdiction over the water and the wildlife in it. From what I understand the state stocks the pond using property tax that the residents pay. At least that's how it works on every other private pond I've fished in New Jersey. There are NO TRESPASSING & NO FISHING signs posted, However, as of right now there is no reason at all for a change in venue. Actually the resident and I are very friendly. I see him almost every time I go fishing at that pond and he occasionally joins me. I not only educate him about the ecosystem, but I also show him my fishing techniques & tactics. I also try to be friendly with the other residents that I see walking, and I converse with the residents that stop and ask me how the bite is, and I carry a trash bag and pick up and garbage I find. Whatever it takes to stay on the good graces of the residents. This was an isolated incident, and as I stated in my initial post, I didn't catch the fish or say anything to the man when he mangled the Pickerel. My buddy was the one who caught the fish and expressed his disapproval of the mans actions.